Isaiah 52 · Verse 4

Isaiah 52:4

For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
Isaiah 52:4, King James Version

Isaiah 52:4 in other translations

BSBFor this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause.
WEBFor the Lord GOD says: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there; and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.
ASVFor thus saith the Lord Jehovah, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without cause.
YLTFor thus said the Lord Jehovah: ‘To Egypt My people went down at first to sojourn there, And Asshur--for nought he hath oppressed it.
DARBYFor thus saith the Lord Jehovah: My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and Assyria oppressed them without cause;
BBEFor the Lord God says, My people went down at first into Egypt, to get a place for themselves there: and the Assyrian put a cruel yoke on them without cause.
WebsterFor thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down formerly into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

What does Isaiah 52:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. My people--Jacob and his sons. went down--Judea was an elevated country compared with Egypt. sojourn--They went there to stay only till the famine in Canaan should have ceased. Assyrian--Sennacherib. Remember how I delivered you from Egypt and the Assyrian; what, then, is to prevent Me from delivering you out of Babylon (and the mystical Babylon and the Antichrist in the last days)? without cause--answering to "for naught" in Is 52:5; it was an act of gratuitous oppression in the present case, as in that case.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Thus saith the Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah; but Adonai is wanting in twelve of Kennicott's, five of De Rossi's, and two of my own MSS.; and by the Septuagint and Arabic. Some MSS. have יהוה צבאות Jehovah tsebaoth, "Lord of hosts;" and others have יהוה אלהים Yehovah Elohim, "Lord God."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 52:1-12

The welcome news of Christ's kingdom. (Is. 52:1-12) The humiliation of the Messiah. (Is. 52:13-15) Verses 1-12 The gospel proclaims liberty to those bound with fears. Let those weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears, and loose themselves from those bands. The price paid by the Redeemer for our salvation, was not silver or gold…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 52:1-12 →

Isaiah 52:4 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.

כִּ֣יkiforH3588
כֹ֤הkhohthusH3541
אָמַר֙'a.Marhe saysH559
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai[the] LordH136
יְהוִ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3069
מִצְרַ֛יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
יָֽרַד\־ya.rad-it went downH3381
עַמִּ֥י'a.Mipeople myH5971
בָרִֽאשֹׁנָ֖הva.ri.sho.Nahat the former [time]H7223
לָג֣וּרla.Gurto sojournH1481
שָׁ֑םShamthereH8033
וְאַשּׁ֖וּרve.'a.Shurand AssyriaH804
בְּאֶ֥פֶסbe.'E.fesfor nothingH657
עֲשָׁקֽוֹ\׃a.sha.Koit oppressed itH6231

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

Cross references for Isaiah 52:4

  • Genesis 46:6

    And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

  • Psalms 69:4

    They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

  • Acts 7:14-15

    Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,

  • Job 2:3

    And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

  • Psalms 25:3

    Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

  • John 15:25

    But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

  • Isaiah 36:1-22

    Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? …

  • Isaiah 14:25

    That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

  • Jeremiah 50:17

    Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
My people.
Ge 46:6; Ac 7:14,15
the Assyrian.
14:25; 36:1-37:38; Jer 50:17
without.
Job 2:3; Ps 25:3; 69:4; Joh 15:25

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

Context

  • Isaiah 52:3

    For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.

  • Isaiah 52:4

    For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

  • Isaiah 52:5

    Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.

Read all of Isaiah 52

Isaiah 52:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Porque así dijo el Señor Jehová: Mi pueblo descendió á Egipto en tiempo pasado, para peregrinar allá; y el Assur lo cautivó sin razón.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Car ainsi dit le Seigneur, l’ Éternel: Mon peuple est descendu en Égypte, au commencement, pour y séjourner, et l’Assyrie l’a opprimé sans cause:
German
Elberfelder 1871
Denn so spricht der Herr, Jehova: Nach Ägypten zog mein Volk im Anfang hinab, um sich daselbst aufzuhalten; und Assyrien hat es ohne Ursache bedrückt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: In Ægyptum descendit populus meus in principio, ut colonus esset ibi, et Assur absque ulla causa calumniatus est eum.