Isaiah 14:2
in Isaiah 14The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Jehovah for servants and for handmaids: and they shall take them captive whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
KJV
And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the people shall take them - That is, the people in Babylon. And bring them to their place - That is, they shall attend them to the land of Judea, and aid in restoring them to their own country. There is reference here, doubtless, to the fact that Cyrus would assist them (compare Ezr 1:1-11), and that many of the inhabitants of Chaldea who would become proselytes, would be willing to accompany them to their own land.
This site's exposition
will have compassion on Jacob
on Isaiah 14:1-3
The LORD's compassion on Jacob opens the promise before the taunt-song. The foreigner who joins the house of Jacob describes proselytes drawn into Israel's household, and the reversal of verse 2 answers the exile's humiliation. The mercy promised here is bound to a real land and a real people.
This site's exposition
The nations will escort Israel
Barnes reads the escort as the help Cyrus gave the exiles, the nations of Babylon bringing Israel back to its own land. Wesley saw the promise kept after the return and more fully in the gospel. The nations that carried Israel off now carry it home.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 2.) A stranger will be joined to them, and will cleave to the house of Jacob, and the peoples will hold them, and will bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as servants and handmaids; and those who had taken them captive will be taken captive, and their oppressors will be subject to them. We infer that many from various nations have come to Jerusalem with the people of Judah, believing in the God of Israel and forsaking the idols of error.
The Medieval Church1 voice
As to honorable retention: the people, among whom they were taken captive, shall take them, namely, the Jews, as though to carry them in their arms, below: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders (Isa 49:22); …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Rule - Which they literally did, after their return into their own land. But this was more eminently verified in a spiritual sense, in the days of the gospel.
And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For servants and handmaids - For thrallis and thrallesses. - Old Bible. Male and female slaves.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For the Lord shall have mercy on Jacob to keep for them the promise of their redemption from Babylonia.
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. 4 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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְקָח֣וּם | ulekachum | and they will take them | H3947 → | 966 times |
| עַמִּים֮ | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וֶהֱבִיא֣וּם | vehevium | and they will bring them | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מְקוֹמָם֒ | mekomam | place their | H4725 → | 401 times |
| וְהִֽתְנַחֲל֣וּם | vehitnachalum | and they will receive as an inheritance them | H5157 → | 59 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַ֚ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַדְמַ֣ת | ʾadmat | [the] land of | H127 → | 225 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַעֲבָדִ֖ים | laavadim | to [male] servants | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וְלִשְׁפָח֑וֹת | velishfachot | and to female servants | H8198 → | |
| וְהָיוּ֙ | vehayu | and they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שֹׁבִ֣ים | shovim | taking captive | H7617 → | 47 times |
| לְשֹֽׁבֵיהֶ֔ם | leshoeihem | <to> captors their | H7617 → | 47 times |
| וְרָד֖וּ | veradu | and they will rule | H7287 → | 26 times |
| בְּנֹגְשֵׂיהֶֽם׃ ס | benogeseihem | over oppressors their | H5065 → | 23 times |
וּלְקָח֣וּםand they will take them
ulekachumH3947 →966 times
עַמִּים֮peoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
וֶהֱבִיא֣וּםand they will bring them
veheviumH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מְקוֹמָם֒place their
mekomamH4725 →401 times
וְהִֽתְנַחֲל֣וּםand they will receive as an inheritance them
vehitnachalumH5157 →59 times
בֵּֽית־[the] house of
beit-H1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַ֚לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
אַדְמַ֣ת[the] land of
ʾadmatH127 →225 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַעֲבָדִ֖יםto [male] servants
laavadimH5650 →799 times
וְלִשְׁפָח֑וֹתand to female servants
velishfachotH8198 →
וְהָיוּ֙and they will be
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
שֹׁבִ֣יםtaking captive
shovimH7617 →47 times
לְשֹֽׁבֵיהֶ֔ם<to> captors their
leshoeihemH7617 →47 times
וְרָד֖וּand they will rule
veraduH7287 →26 times
בְּנֹגְשֵׂיהֶֽם׃ סover oppressors their
benogeseihemH5065 →23 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
Isaiah 60:14The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy…
it leads to
- Revelation 3:9
Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know…
- Isaiah 14:1–2
For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
- Hebrews 12:22
Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Revelation 3:9
Through
Jeremiah 30:16Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile. Those who plundered you will be plundered, and all who raided you will be raided.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:25
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished…
- Isaiah 33:1
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
- Exodus 23:22
But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
- Jeremiah 10:25
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
