Isaiah 51:23

I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord addresses Israel after removing the cup of His fury from their hand, declaring that this judgment will now be transferred to their oppressors.

The words — `שְׁחִ֣י (she.Chi)` means “lie down,” paired with `מוֹגַ֔יִךְ (mo.Ga.yi/kh)` for “your tormentors,” describing the forced posture of submission under military occupation.

The thread — The motif of a divinely administered cup appears in Isaiah 51:22 and is echoed in Zechariah 12:2, where God makes Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to surrounding nations.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that humiliation inflicted by human oppressors is ultimately under divine jurisdiction and will be reversed according to God’s precise judgment.

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

וְשַׂמְתִּ֙יהָ֙ve./sam.Ti./haand/ I will put/ it בְּיַד־be./yad-in/ [the] hand of מוֹגַ֔יִךְmo.Ga.yi/kh[those who] torment/ you אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-who אָמְר֥וּ'a.me.Ruthey said לְנַפְשֵׁ֖ךְle./naf.She/khto/ self/ your שְׁחִ֣יshe.Chilie down וְנַעֲבֹ֑רָהve./na.'a.Vo.rahso/ let us pass over [you]וַתָּשִׂ֤ימִיva./ta.Si.miand/ you made כָאָ֙רֶץ֙kha./'A.retzlike the/ ground גֵּוֵ֔ךְge.Ve/khback/ your וְכַח֖וּץve./kha./Chutzand/ like the/ street לַעֹבְרִֽים׃ סla./'oe.Rimfor <the>/ [those who] pass over

King James Version

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

Cross-references

Joshua 10:24 When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.
Zechariah 12:2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
Psalms 65:11 You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty.
Proverbs 11:8 The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
Proverbs 21:18 The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright.
Isaiah 49:25 Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.
Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
Revelation 11:2 But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
Revelation 13:16 And the second beast required all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
Revelation 17:6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.