Bible Strands
Isaiah 42:24
Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They were unwilling to walk in His ways, and they would not obey His law.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Israel, asking who surrendered Jacob and Israel to their captors and immediately answering that Yahweh delivered them due to their sin. The question follows a call to heed divine warning and precedes a description of God’s poured-out fury.
The words — מִֽי־ (mi-) translates literally to "who?" and frames the verse’s central inquiry, while נָתַ֨ן (na.Tan) means "has he given," establishing the surrender as a deliberate act.
The thread — The motif of God handing Israel over to plunderers for covenant failure appears in Deuteronomy 28:49, Deuteronomy 32:30, and Judges 2:14. Each passage attributes national defeat to divine judgment rather than enemy strength.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to identify the cause of their circumstances as deliberate disobedience and to acknowledge divine sovereignty over historical judgment. It demands acceptance that disaster is a direct consequence of rejecting His ways and law.
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
Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- Judges 2:14 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- Judges 3:8 Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.
- Judges 10:7 So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites,
- 2 Chronicles 15:6 Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God afflicted them with all kinds of adversity.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
- Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Psalms 106:40 So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
- Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.