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Isaiah 50

KJV · Chapter 50/66

1Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

2Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

3I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

4The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

5The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

6I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

10Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

11Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

📖 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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

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