Isaiah 51:14
in Isaiah 51The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The captive exile shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
KJV
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
9 notes on this verseMy son will come quickly, treading on and trampling your adversaries, to open for you the way of victory: whether to open the abyss, which he will not destroy until complete annihilation; but he desires to save the converted.
This site's exposition
The captive exile hasteneth
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail, a single verse promising speed and provision together, release near enough that the exile himself hastens toward it. The older writers read the pit as the language of prison and near death both, the exile's condition described at its worst just before the promise turns. Delitzsch reads the verse as deliberately brief, a single sharp assurance set between the longer arguments on either side of it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And his bread will not fail because I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves, the Lord of hosts is my name." The phrase "and his bread will not fail" appears in the Septuagint with an asterisk. The text …
The Medieval Church1 voice
934. Third, he shows the order of comfort: he shall quickly come, namely, Cyrus, that is going to open, the prison for the captives, and he shall not kill you, like the other kings of the Chaldeans, neither shall the bread of his sustenance fail …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The Lord of hosts is his name, his name for ever, the name by which his people have long known him. And, as he is able to help them, so he is willing and engaged to do it; for he is thy God, O captive-exile! thine in covenant.
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed “He marcheth on with speed, who cometh to set free the captive” - Cyrus, if understood of the temporal redemption from the captivity of Babylon; in the spiritual sense, the Messiah, who comes to open the prison to them that are bound.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The scene is primarily Babylon, and the time near the close of the captivity. Secondarily, and antitypically, the mystical Babylon, the last enemy of Israel and the Church, in which they have long suffered, but from which they are to be gloriously delivered. pit--such as were many of the ancient dungeons (compare Jer 38:6, 11, 13;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The captive exile - Lowth renders this, evidently very improperly, ‘He marcheth on with speed who cometh to set the captive free;’ and supposes that it refers to Cyrus, if understood of the temporal redemption from the captivity at Babylon; in the spiritual sense, to the Messiah. But the meaning evidently is, that the exile who had been so long as it were enchained in Babylon, was about to be set free, and that the time was very near when the captivity was to end. The prisoner should not die there, but should be conducted again to his own land. The word used here, and rendered ‘captive exile’ (צעה tso‛eh from צעה tsâ‛âh), means properly ‘that which is turned on one side,’ or inclined, as, e. g., a vessel for pouring Jer 48:12. Then it means that which is inclined, bent, or bowed down as a captive in bonds. The Chaldee renders this, ‘Vengeance shall be quickly revealed, and the just shall not die in corruption, and their food shall not fail.’ Aben Ezra renders it, ‘Bound.’ The idea is, that they who were bowed down under bondage and oppression in Babylon, should very soon be released. This is one of the numerous passages which show that the scene of the prophetic vision is Babylon, and the time near the close of the captivity, and that the design of the prophet is to comfort them there, and to afford them the assurance that they would soon be released. And that he should not die in the pit - That is, in Babylon, represented as a prison, or a pit. The nation would be restored to their own land. Prisoners were often confined in a deep pit or cavern, and hence, the word is synonymous with prison. The following extract from Pax. ton will illustrate this. ‘The Athenians, and particularly the tribe of Hippothoontis, frequently condemned offenders to the pit. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And you forgot the Lord your Maker and you did not rely on Him.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִהַ֥ר | mihar | he will hasten | H4116 → | 68 times |
| צֹעֶ֖ה | tzoeh | [one who] stoops | H6808 → | |
| לְהִפָּתֵ֑חַ | lehipateach | to be let loose | H6605 → | 144 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָמ֣וּת | yamut | he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| לַשַּׁ֔חַת | lashachat | to the pit | H7845 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֶחְסַ֖ר | yechsar | he will lack | H2637 → | |
| לַחְמֽוֹ׃ | lachmo | food his | H3899 → | 298 times |
מִהַ֥רhe will hasten
miharH4116 →68 times
צֹעֶ֖ה[one who] stoops
tzoehH6808 →
לְהִפָּתֵ֑חַto be let loose
lehipateachH6605 →144 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָמ֣וּתhe will die
yamutH4191 →839 times
לַשַּׁ֔חַתto the pit
lashachatH7845 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יֶחְסַ֖רhe will lack
yechsarH2637 →
לַחְמֽוֹ׃food his
lachmoH3899 →298 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Zechariah 9:11As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit.
it leads to
- Exodus 24:8
So Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
- Psalms 102:19–21
For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth
- Isaiah 42:7
to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Matthew 26:28
This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
- Exodus 24:8
Through
Isaiah 49:10They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
it leads to
- Revelation 7:16–17
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
- Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- Revelation 7:16–17
Through
Isaiah 48:20Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:45
Come out of her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:45
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:51.15 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.