Isaiah 42:22
in Isaiah 42But this is a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them, and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
KJV
But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
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This verse in Isaiah 42
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verse 22) But the people are plundered and devastated: all the youth are trapped in snares, and hidden in prison houses. They have become a prey, and there is no one to deliver them; a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them.' LXX: And I saw, and behold a people is destroyed and taken captive. For there was a snare in the hidden places, and a net over their houses. They have become a prey: and there was no one to deliver the spoil: and there was no one to say, Restore.
This site's exposition
for the sake of His righteousness
on Isaiah 42:21-22
The purpose of God outlasts the servant's failure, for the LORD was pleased to magnify His law and make it glorious. The description that follows is stark, a people plundered and looted, all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue them.
This site's exposition
a people plundered and looted
Verse 7 gave the Servant these dungeons to empty. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown link the lack of anyone to say send them back with 63:5, where the LORD finds no one to help. Wesley adds that the people were taken in snares of their own making.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He has taught us both the divine object and the free will of the human creature. Although he desires, he says, that you be justified by choosing godliness, you have, on the contrary, taken the opposite way and reaped death. "For there is a snare …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he also shows their contradiction, because they sinned against themselves: but this is a people that is robbed, by demons through various sins, and therefore they are wasted, by enemies, above: from a people rent and torn in pieces (Isa 18:7); also by others …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But - But not withstanding this respect which God hath to his people, he hath severely scourged you for your sins. Hid - They have been taken in snares made by their own hands, and by God's just judgment cast into dungeons and prisons.
Called thee - To declare my righteousness, or faithfulness. With-hold - Will give thee counsel and strength for the work. Give thee - To be the mediator in whom my covenant of grace is confirmed with mankind.
But this is a people robbed and spoiled,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They, and all they have, are for a prey and for a spoil; and there is none that delivers either by force or ransom, nor any that dares say to the proud oppressors, Restore. There they lie, and there they are likely to lie. This had its full accomplishment in the final destruction of the Jewish nation by the Romans, which God brought upon them for rejecting the gospel of Christ.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
They are all of them snared in holes “All their chosen youths are taken in the toils” - For הפח hapheach read הופחו huphachu, in the plural number, hophal; as החבאו hochbau, which answers to it in the following member of the sentence. Le Clerc, Houbigant. הפח huppach, Secker.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The connection is: Notwithstanding God's favor to His people for His righteousness' sake (Isa 42:21), they have fallen into misery (the Babylonish and Romish captivities and their present dispersion), owing to their disregard of the divine law: spiritual imprisonment is included (Isa 42:7). none saith, Restore--There is no deliverer (Isa 63:5).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But this is a people robbed and spoiled - The Jewish people, though highly favored, have been so unmindful of the goodness of God to them, that he has given them into the hand of their enemies to plunder them. This is to be conceived as spoken after the captivity, and while the Jews were in exile. Their being robbed and spoiled, therefore, refers to the invasion of the Chaldeans, and is to be regarded as spoken propheticly of the exiled and oppressed Jews while in Babylon. They are all of them snared in holes - This passage has been variously rendered. Lowth renders it, ‘All their chosen youth are taken in the toils;’ following in this the translation of Jerome, and rendering it as Le Clerc and Houbigant do. The Septuagint read it, ‘And I saw, and the people were plundered and scattered, and the snare was in all their private chambers, and in their houses where they hid themselves;’ - meaning, evidently, that they had been taken by their invaders from the places where they had secreted themselves in their own city and country. The Chaldee renders it, ‘All their youth were covered with confusion, and shut up in prison.’ The Syriac, ‘All their youth are snared, and they have hid them bound in their houses.’ This variety of interpretation has arisen in part, because the Hebrew which is rendered in our version, ‘in holes’ (בחוּרים bachûrı̂ym) may be either the plural form of the word בצוּר bachûr (“chosen, selected”); and thence “youths” - selected for their beauty or strength; or it may be the plural form of the word חוּר chûr, “a hole” or “cavern,” with the preposition בּ (b) prefixed. Our translation prefers the latter; and this is probably the correct interpretation, as the parallel expression, ‘they are hid in prison-houses,’ seems to demand this. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהוּא֮ | vehu' | and it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | [is] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בָּז֣וּז | bazuz | despoiled | H962 → | 43 times |
| וְשָׁסוּי֒ | veshasui | and plundered | H8154 → | 11 times |
| הָפֵ֤חַ | hafeach | they are trapped | H6351 → | |
| בַּֽחוּרִים֙ | bachurim | in <the> holes | H2352 → | |
| כֻּלָּ֔ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| וּבְבָתֵּ֥י | uvevatei | and in houses of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כְלָאִ֖ים | khelaim | imprisonment<s> | H3608 → | |
| הָחְבָּ֑אוּ | hachebau | they are hidden | H2244 → | |
| הָי֤וּ | hayu | they have become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָבַז֙ | lavaz | <into> spoil | H957 → | 25 times |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַצִּ֔יל | matzil | [is] a deliverer | H5337 → | 212 times |
| מְשִׁסָּ֖ה | meshisah | plunder | H4933 → | |
| וְאֵין־ | veein- | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| אֹמֵ֥ר | ʾomer | [is one who] says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הָשַֽׁב׃ | hashav | bring [it] back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
וְהוּא֮and it
vehu'H1931 →1879 times
עַם־[is] a people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
בָּז֣וּזdespoiled
bazuzH962 →43 times
וְשָׁסוּי֒and plundered
veshasuiH8154 →11 times
הָפֵ֤חַthey are trapped
hafeachH6351 →
בַּֽחוּרִים֙in <the> holes
bachurimH2352 →
כֻּלָּ֔םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
וּבְבָתֵּ֥יand in houses of
uvevateiH1004 →2046 times
כְלָאִ֖יםimprisonment<s>
khelaimH3608 →
הָחְבָּ֑אוּthey are hidden
hachebauH2244 →
הָי֤וּthey have become
hayuH1961 →3559 times
לָבַז֙<into> spoil
lavazH957 →25 times
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מַצִּ֔יל[is] a deliverer
matzilH5337 →212 times
מְשִׁסָּ֖הplunder
meshisahH4933 →
וְאֵין־and there not
veein-H369 →789 times
אֹמֵ֥ר[is one who] says
ʾomerH559 →5305 times
הָשַֽׁב׃bring [it] back
hashavH7725 →1056 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
Psalms 102:20to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,
it leads to
- Psalms 79:11
May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
- Psalms 146:7
He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,
- Exodus 3:7
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Isaiah 61:1–3
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
- Psalms 79:11
Through
Psalms 50:22Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
it leads to
- Job 8:13
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget…
- Psalms 9:17
The wicked will return to Sheol— all the nations who forget God.
- Psalms 7:2
or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Job 8:13
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 on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on 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; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 13:42.22 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
