Bible Strands
Isaiah 33:4
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the hostile nations immediately after their flight before the Lord's voice and just before the declaration of Zion's filling with justice. The statement occurs at the moment of national scattering and impending judgment.
The words — The Hebrew phrase שׁללכם (she.lal./Khem) means "your plunder," while חָסִיל (cha.Sil) literally denotes "locusts." The text explicitly compares the collection of this spoil to the rapid, overwhelming sweep of a locust swarm.
The thread — The motif of gathered spoil appears in 2 Chronicles 20:25, where Jehoshaphat's people collect goods from defeated bodies, and in Isaiah 33:23, which promises divided spoils after failed naval defenses. It parallels 2 Chronicles 14:13, where Judah's army pursues the Cushites and carries off their wealth.
Why it lands — The text declares that hostile nations will lose their accumulated wealth to a swift, inescapable gathering. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates with the certainty and total consumption of a locust swarm.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 14:13 Then Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell and could not recover, for they were crushed before the LORD and His army. So the people of Judah carried off a great amount of plunder
- 2 Chronicles 20:25 Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to carry off the plunder, and they found on the bodies an abundance of goods and valuables—more than they could carry away. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.
- Isaiah 33:23 Your 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.
- Joel 2:9 They storm the city; they run along the wall; they climb into houses, entering through windows like thieves.
- Joel 2:25 I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
- 2 Kings 7:15 And they tracked them as far as the Jordan, and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in haste. So the scouts returned and told the king.