Bible Strands
Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses Judah's leadership during a period of systemic decay, positioned between the metaphor of silver turning to dross and the Lord's declaration that He will avenge Himself on His enemies.
The words — The Hebrew שֹׁ֔חַד (Sho.chad) translates literally to "a bribe," while סוֹרְרִ֗ים (so.Rim) means "rebels" or "those who turn away," describing the rulers' deliberate alignment with thieves and their active pursuit of illicit gain.
The thread — The explicit rejection of bribes and the mandate to protect the vulnerable appear in Exodus 23:8, which warns that bribes blind the righteous, and Zechariah 7:10, which commands against oppressing the widow and fatherless.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to identify how the pursuit of personal reward corrupts authority and systematically excludes the powerless from justice, demanding a clear-eyed assessment of where institutional priorities override ethical duty.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Cross-references
- Micah 7:3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Zechariah 7:10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
- Luke 18:2 “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
- Acts 4:5 The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
- Isaiah 3:14 The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.
- Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
- Jeremiah 5:28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Luke 19:46 He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”