Isaiah 42:24

24, 25. The enigma of Israel’s history is that Jehovah its God has given it over to its enemies,—a truth which the nation as a whole has never yet laid to heart.

for a spoil] A better reading (which is probably that intended by the consonantal text) is to the spoiler. (Cf. ch. Isa_10:13.)

did not the Lord] The whole of this answer is regarded by Duhm and Cheyne as spurious. Its removal gets rid of an awkward alternation of persons, and enables us to read Isa_42:25 as a continuation of the question in the first part of Isa_42:24. But Duhm goes too far when he objects to the substance of the answer, on the ground that so explicit a confession of sin is improbable before ch. Isa_43:1 ff. The two last clauses are to be translated as relatives, and in whose ways they would not walk (so R.V.), and whose law they would not obey.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 42:24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.

Ver. 24. Who gave Jacob for a spoil?] Omnia magno adfectu sunt pronuncianda, debentque singula membra huius orationis expendi. This is a very remarkable passage. Let us cry out, "Oh the severity!" and beware. Cavebimus autem si pavebimus. Moreover, we will beware if we are terrified.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who--Their calamity was not the work of chance, but God's immediate act for their sins.

Jacob . . . Israel . . . we--change from the third to the first person; Isaiah first speaking to them as a prophet, distinct from them; then identifying himself with them, and acknowledging His share in the nation's sins (compare Jos 5:1).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. We have sinned - "They have sinned"] For חטאנו chatanu, "we have sinned," first person; the Septuagint and Chaldee read חטאו chateu, "they have sinned," in the third person.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) Who gave Jacob for a spoil . . .?—The sufferers, whether in the nearer or more distant exile, are reminded that they have brought their sufferings upon themselves, and that it is Jehovah who sends them in the wrath which, as aiming at their restoration, is but another aspect of His love.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger,.... The Lord was angry with these people for their rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his Gospel; and therefore his wrath came upon them to the uttermost, not in some small drops, but in great abundance, to the utter ruin of their nation, city, and temple. Josephus says (e),

"the Romans came to subdue Palestine, but their coming was the pouring out of the heat of the wrath of the Lord:''

and the strength of battle; or "war"; all the miseries and calamities that are the effects of war. The Targum is,

"he hath brought upon them the strength of his warriors;''

the Roman soldiers:

and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart; the Roman army set fire first to the lower part of the city of Jerusalem, and then the higher (f), and wholly consumed it; and yet this has not to this day brought this people to lay it to heart, to consider and observe the true reason of it, their rejection of the Messiah.

(e) Josephus apud Forerium in loc. (f) Josephus de Bello Jud. l. 7. c. 7. sect. 2. and c. 8. sect. 5.

Next: Isaiah Chapter 43

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Who gave Jacob for a spoil? - Who gave up the Jewish people to be plundered? The object of this verse is, to bring distinctly before them the fact that it was Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and of their nation, who had brought this calamity upon them. It was not the work of chance, but it was the immediate and direct act of God on account of their sins. Probably, as a people, they were not disposed to believe this; and the prophet, therefore, takes occasion to calf their attention particularly to this fact.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We. Septuagint, "they have sinned," which seems preferable. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Do not flatter yourselves with a conceit of impunity, because you are a people whom God hath favoured and endowed with many and great privileges, which the Jews were very prone to do, as we see, Jer 7:4, &c., and elsewhere; for as God hath punished you formerly, doubt not but if you continue to sin, he will proceed in punishing you more and more for your sins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jacob... Israel, (comp. Isa_40:27 Isa_41:8, 14 43:1, etc.) He against whom we have sinned. The prophet identifies himself with his people in loving sympathy, just as Daniel does in Dan_9:5-15, and Ezra in Ezr_9:6-15, of their respective books. (comp. also Isa_59:9-13)

Vers. 24, 25. Ineffective judgments.

God has even burned Israel, and "yet he]aid it not to heart." There is immediate reference to the sufferings of the people during the Captivity. It did seem strange that such manifest Divine judgments were not duly considered and properly effective in securing humiliation for national sin and penitential return to God. The secret of the failure of the Divine judgments then is the great secret of failure still; it is this when men fall into trouble they persist in looking only at the second causes, which are the mere occasions, and will not recognize the true and only cause, or recognize God"s hand in them. It has been so in all ages. One of the most striking instances is that of the Roman siege of Jerusalem under Titus. Distinctly foretold as a Divine judgment on the nation for its rejection of Messiah, the Jews to this day will not so regard it. To them it is still only a national calamity, and so it has been hitherto ineffective in the production of a due sense of national sin. So many sides and aspects of this subject have been treated, that we only give a brief outline of the topics which may be wisely and helpfully considered.

I ALL SUFFERING IS DIVINE JUDGMENT. Whatever else may be said of it, its explanations are never exhausted until the Divine purpose in it is explained. The connection of a particular judgment with a particular individual it may be unwise for us to attempt to trace. But we can always see the judgment aspect of race, national, or family calamities; and we know that God can show the judgment clement in each man"s woe.

II ALL JUDGMENT IS CORRECTIVE. It is a Father"s rod. No father chastises save for correction, and with a view to the profit of the corrected.

III ALL JUDGMENTS ARE WITHIN STRICT LIMITATIONS, They are precise to individual cases. Sometimes light, sometimes heavy. Sometimes brief, sometimes long-continued. Always in exact adaptation. There is never any exaggeration, any overdoing, in God"s judgments. They are just adequate to the ends sought. They take due count of reasonable response from those to whom they are sent.

IV ALL DESPISED JUDGMENTS MUST BE RENEWED IN SEVERER FORMS, Because they create new and more serious conditions, and these must be adequately met. God can never permit effective and successful resistance and rebellion. If a man will not bend, he must break. Heavier judgments must grind him to powder. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“Who has given Jacob for a prey, and Israel to spoilers? Has not Jehovah, against whom we have sinned, and they were not willing in His ways to walk, and did not hearken to His law?” This was what they were to bear in mind, viz. that what they suffered was ordained of God and on account of their iniquities. The errors of which this verse is the negation are those of supposing that they suffered without fault, and that they suffered, as it were, in spite of God’s protection, or because He was unable to prevent it. The interrogation makes the statement more emphatic: Who else can be imagined to have done it, or for what other cause except our sins? The change of person in the last clause is a common Hebrew idiom and does not seem to be significant. If the Prophet identifies himself with the people in the first phrase, he cannot be supposed to exclude himself in that which follows. This verse is strictly applicable to the sufferings of the Jews in Babylon, and it was no doubt so applied by them; but in itself it is a general declaration which has been often verified and was especially exemplified in ancient Israel, viz. that the sufferings even of God’s people are the consequence of sin.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This, that we sinned against Him This is what caused the plunder and the spoiling, what we sinned against Him.

and they did not want Our forefathers did not want to go in His ways.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Who gave Jacob, etc. Then the people will confess and say: who has given us for a spoil? Certainly the Lord, it is He (זה═זו this), against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways our forefathers refused to walk.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.