Isaiah 33 · Verse 23

Isaiah 33:23

Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
Isaiah 33:23, King James Version

Isaiah 33:23 in other translations

BSBYour ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.
WEBYour rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great plunder was divided. The lame took the prey.
ASVThy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey.
YLTLeft have been thy ropes, They strengthen not rightly their mast, They have not spread out a sail, Then apportioned hath been a prey of much spoil, The lame have taken spoil.
DARBYThy tacklings are loosed; they strengthen not the socket of their mast, they cannot spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
BBEYour cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war.
WebsterThy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

What does Isaiah 33:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. tacklings--Continuing the allegory in Is 33:21, he compares the enemies' host to a war galley which is deprived of the tacklings or cords by which the mast is sustained and the sail is spread; and which therefore is sure to be wrecked on "the broad river" (Is 33:21), and become the prey of Israel. they--the tacklings, "hold not firm the base of the mast." then--when the Assyrian host shall have been discomfited. Hezekiah had given Sennacherib three hundred talents of silver, and thirty of gold (2Ki 18:14-16), and had stripped the temple of its gold to give it to him; this treasure was probably part of the prey found in the foe's camp. After the invasion, Hezekiah had so much wealth that he made an improper display of it (2Ki 20:13-15); this wealth, probably, was in part got from the Assyrian. the lame--Even the most feeble shall spoil the Assyrian camp (compare Is 35:6; 2Sa 5:6).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 Thy tacklings are loosed - Here the Assyrians are represented under the figure of a ship wrecked by a violent storm; and the people on the beach, young, old, feeble, and diseased, gathering the spoil without any to hinder them. Kimchi, who understands the whole of this chapter of Hezekiah and the king of Assyria, says, "There are others of our rabbins who apply it all to the days of the Messiah." Their mast "Thy mast" - For תרנם tornam, "their mast, "the Syriac reads תרניך torneycha, "thy mast;" the Septuagint and Vulgate, תרנך tornecha, ὁ ἱστος σου εκλινεν, "thy mast is fallen aside." - Septuagint. They seem to have read נטה natah or פנה panah, תרנך tornecha, or rather, לא כן lo con, "is not firm," the negative having been omitted in the present text by mistake. However, I have followed their sense, which seems very probable, as the present reading is to me extremely obscure.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 33:15-24

The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and their water sure, but they shall…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 33:15-24 →

Isaiah 33:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

נִטְּשׁ֖וּni.te.Shuthey are looseH5203
חֲבָלָ֑יִךְcha.va.La.yikhropes yourH2256
בַּל\־bal-notH1077
יְחַזְּק֤וּye.cha.ze.Kuthey make firmH2388
כֵן\־khen-[the] base ofH3653
תָּרְנָם֙ta.re.Nammast theirH8650
בַּל\־bal-notH1077
פָּ֣רְשׂוּPa.re.suthey have spread outH6566
נֵ֔סNes[the] sailH5251
אָ֣ז'azthenH227
חֻלַּ֤קchu.Lakit will be dividedH2505
עַֽד\־'ad-booty ofH5706
שָׁלָל֙sha.LalplunderH7998
מַרְבֶּ֔הmar.Behin abundanceH4766
פִּסְחִ֖יםpis.Chimlame [people]H6455
בָּ֥זְזוּBa.ze.zuthey will take as spoilH962
בַֽז\׃VazspoilH957

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 33:23

  • 2 Kings 7:8

    And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

  • 1 Corinthians 1:27

    But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

  • Psalms 68:12

    Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.

  • Isaiah 33:21

    But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

  • Acts 27:40-41

    And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

  • Acts 27:19

    And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.

  • 2 Kings 7:16

    And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

  • Acts 27:30-32

    And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.

  • 1 Samuel 30:22-24

    Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.

  • Ezekiel 27:26-34

    Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land; …

  • Isaiah 33:1

    Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

  • Isaiah 33:4

    And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Thy tacklings are loosed. or, they have forsaken thytacklings.
21; Eze 27:26-34; Ac 27:19,30-32,40,41
then.
1,4; 2Ch 20:25
the lame.
1Sa 30:10,22-24; 2Ki 7:8; Ps 68:12; 1Co 1:27

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 33:22

    For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.

  • Isaiah 33:23

    Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

  • Isaiah 33:24

    And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Read all of Isaiah 33

Isaiah 33:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Tus cuerdas se aflojaron; no afirmaron su mástil, ni entesaron la vela: repartiráse entonces presa de muchos despojos: los cojos arrebatarán presa.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Tes cordages sont relâchés: ils n’affermissent pas le pied de leur mât, ils ne déploient pas la voile. On partage alors la proie d’un grand butin, les boiteux pillent les dépouilles;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Schlaff hängen deine Taue; sie halten nicht fest das Gestell ihres Mastes, halten das Segel nicht ausgebreitet. -Dann wird ausgeteilt des Raubes Beute in Menge, selbst Lahme plündern die Beute.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Laxati sunt funiculi tui, et non prævalebunt; sic erit malus tuus ut dilatare signum non queas. Tunc dividentur spolia prædarum multarum; claudi diripient rapinam.