✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Isaías 50

BLIVRE · Chapter 50/66

1Assim diz o SENHOR: Onde está a carta de divórcio de vossa mãe, com que eu a mandei embora? Ou a qual dos meus credores foi que eu vos vendi? Eis que por vossas maldades fostes vendidos, e por vossas transgressões vossa mãe foi expulsa.

2Por que razão quando eu vim ninguém apareceu? Chamei, e ninguém respondeu. Por acaso minha mão se encurtou tanto, que já não posso resgatar? Ou não há [mais] poder em mim para livrar? Eis que com minha repreensão faço secar o mar, torno os rios em deserto, até federem seus peixes por não haver água, e morrem de sede.

3Eu visto aos céus de negro, e ponho um saco como sua cobertura.

4O Senhor DEUS me deu língua de instruídos, para que eu saiba falar no tempo devido uma [boa] palavra ao cansado; ele me desperta todas as manhãs, desperta o meu ouvido para que eu ouça como os instruídos.

5O Senhor DEUS abriu os meus ouvidos, e não sou rebelde; nem me viro para trás.

6Dei minhas costas aos que [me] feriam, e os lados do meu rosto aos que me arrancavam os pelos; não escondo minha face de humilhações e cuspidas;

7Porque o Senhor DEUS me ajuda; portanto não me envergonho; por isso pus meu rosto como pedra muito dura; porque sei que não serei envergonhado.

8Perto está aquele que me justifica; quem se oporá a mim? Compareçamos juntos; quem é meu adversário? Venha até mim.

9Eis que o Senhor DEUS me ajuda; quem é que [o que] me condenará? Eis que todos eles tal como vestidos se envelhecerão, [e] a traça os comerá.

10Quem há entre vós que tema ao SENHOR, [e] ouça a voz de seu servo? Aquele que andar em trevas, e não tiver luz nenhuma, confie no nome do SENHOR, e dependa de seu Deus.

11Eis que todos vós que acendeis fogo, e vos envolveis com chamas, andai entre as labaredas de vosso fogo, e entre as chamas que acendestes; isto recebereis de minha mão, e em tormentos jazereis.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God rhetorically asks whether he abandoned his people for any valid reason, making clear the fault was theirs. The third Servant Song shows someone who voluntarily endures physical humiliation, yet trusts completely that God will help him and he will not be put to shame.

Explanation

The question "where is the bill of your mother's divorcement...?" uses the legal language of Israelite family law to challenge the idea that God had abandoned Israel without cause — the implied answer is that the people themselves had drifted away because of their sins. The third Servant Song describes someone who gives his back "to the smiters" and his cheeks "to them that plucked off the hair," not hiding his face "from shame and spitting" — a description of voluntary suffering and resilience that the New Testament directly links to the passion of Jesus. The Servant's confidence, "the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded," models a faith that endures even amid unjust mistreatment. The practical application today is that suffering unjustly for doing what is right, while holding on to trust in God, is a pattern of integrity that runs through the whole of Scripture.

Fun facts

  • The description of someone who offers "his back to the smiters" and "his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair" is interpreted by Christian tradition as a detailed prophecy of Jesus's physical suffering before the crucifixion.
  • The concept of a "bill of divorcement" (v.1) refers to an actual legal document required by the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 24:1) to formalize a separation, used here metaphorically for the relationship between God and his people.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 50:1The question about the bill of divorcement rhetorically asks whether God formally rejected the people, the way a husband does in divorcing a wife. The implied answer is no: it was the people’s own wrongdoings that caused the separation.
  2. Isaías 50:2The question “was there no man” challenges the people’s lack of response when God called, and the list of powers — drying up the sea, turning a river into a wilderness — reinforces that the distance isn’t due to any lack of strength on God’s part.
  3. Isaías 50:3Clothing the heavens in blackness and covering them with sackcloth, the fabric used for mourning, is an image of an eclipse or storm described as a gesture of cosmic mourning, reinforcing the universal reach of the power mentioned in the previous verse.
  4. Isaías 50:4“The tongue of the learned” describes the ability to speak the right word at the right time to someone who is weary, and “wakeneth morning by morning” suggests a daily habit of listening before any word is spoken.
  5. Isaías 50:5“Opened mine ear” and “was not rebellious” describe active obedience: this voice of the Servant presents itself as someone who listens and responds without resisting, unlike the rebellious people criticized in earlier chapters.
  6. Isaías 50:6The back given to those who strike and the face to those who pluck out the hair appear in the third Servant Song, now with details of physical suffering and public humiliation. Again, Jewish and Christian readers associate this figure with different references, without the text declaring who it is.
  7. Isaías 50:7“My face like a flint” is an image of unshakable determination, someone resolved to press on despite opposition, trusting in God’s help so as not to be humiliated in the end.
  8. Isaías 50:8The courtroom language, “who will contend with me,” “let us stand together,” describes the Servant daring any accuser to come forward formally, confident that he will be justified.
  9. Isaías 50:9Comparing the accusers to a garment slowly destroyed by the moth describes the idea that any opposition, however threatening it seems now, will wear out and disappear over time.
  10. Isaías 50:10The question about who fears the Lord and listens to the Servant extends the invitation to the reader: even walking in darkness with no light at all, the advice is to trust in the name of the Lord rather than give up.
  11. Isaías 50:11Girding oneself with sparks is a warning against trusting in solutions of one’s own making, like someone lighting their own fire instead of waiting for God’s light. The warning is that this kind of homemade light ends up leading to torment, not safety.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play