Bible Strands
Isaiah 33:1
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Isaiah pronounces a woe against an unnamed oppressor who has never faced destruction or betrayal. This declaration stands immediately before a communal prayer for divine grace and strength in times of trouble.
The words — The Hebrew שׁוֹדֵד (sho.Ded) means "destroyer," paired with שָׁד֑וּד (sha.Dud), meaning "destroyed," to create a direct lexical chain between the oppressor's actions and his coming fate. The term בּוֹגֵד (vo.Ged) similarly links "traitor" to the verb בָּגַד (ba.gad), "to deal treacherously."
The thread — The text's pattern of reciprocal judgment runs into Matthew 7:2, which states that the measure used to judge others will be measured back to the judge. Isaiah 10:12 and Isaiah 24:16 further echo this trajectory of divine retribution against the arrogant or oppressive.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that oppressive power is temporary and that the methods of violence and deceit will ultimately turn against their perpetrators. It requires the reader to accept that justice operates with precise, inescapable symmetry rather than arbitrary mercy.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Matthew 7:2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Isaiah 24:16 From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery.
- Isaiah 10:12 So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.
- Isaiah 21:2 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
- Jeremiah 25:12 But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
- Obadiah 1:10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.
- Revelation 17:17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
- Judges 1:7 Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
- 2 Kings 18:13 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 28:16 At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria.