Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 50:1
1This is what the Lord says: Where is your mother’s divorce certificate that I used to send her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was sent away because of your transgressions.
Isaiah 50:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thus 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.
- New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Thus says the Lord: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord: “Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce, Whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
Context of Isaiah 50:1
This is what the Lord says: Where is your mother’s divorce certificate that I used to send her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was sent away because of your transgressions. 2Why was no one there when I came? Why was there no one to answer when I called? Is my arm too weak to redeem? Or do I have no power to rescue? Look, I dry up the sea by my rebuke; I turn the rivers into a wilderness; their fish rot because of lack of water and die of thirst. 3I dress the heavens in black and make sackcloth their covering.
Read all of Isaiah 50Isaiah 50:1 word by word
כֹּ֣ה׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה אֵ֣י זֶ֠ה סֵ֣פֶר כְּרִית֤וּת אִמְּכֶם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר שִׁלַּחְתִּ֔יהָ א֚וֹ מִ֣י מִנּוֹשַׁ֔י אֲשֶׁר־מָכַ֥רְתִּי אֶתְכֶ֖ם ל֑וֹ הֵ֤ן בַּעֲוֹנֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ נִמְכַּרְתֶּ֔ם וּבְפִשְׁעֵיכֶ֖ם שֻׁלְּחָ֥ה אִמְּכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- the billסֵ֫פֶרsêpher siphrâh · scroll: documentH5612
- of your mother’sאֵם'êm · motherH517
- divorcementכְּרִיתוּתkerîythûth · divorceH3748
- whom I have put awayשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: divorceH7971
- or which of my creditorsנָשָׁהnâshâh · to lendH5383
- to whom I have soldמָכַרmâkar · to sellH4376
- you? Behold, for your iniquitiesעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
- yourselves, and for your transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
Cross-references for Isaiah 50:1
- Deuteronomy 24:1“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.
- Jeremiah 3:1If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled? But you! You have prostituted yourself with many partners — can you return to me? This is the Lord’s declaration.
- Hosea 2:2Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.
- Mark 10:4They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away.”
- Exodus 21:7“When a man sells his daughter as a concubine, she is not to leave as the male slaves do.
- Leviticus 25:39“If your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him to do slave labor.
- Deuteronomy 32:30How could one pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?
- 2 Kings 4:1One of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”
- Nehemiah 5:5We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
- Esther 7:4For my people and I have been sold to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”
- Psalms 44:12You sell your people for nothing; you make no profit from selling them.
- Matthew 18:25Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
- Isaiah 52:3For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without silver.”
- Isaiah 59:1Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
- 1 Kings 21:25Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him.
- 2 Kings 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and interpreted omens. They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight and angered him.
Commentaries on Isaiah 50:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Thus saith the Lord - This chapter has been understood of the prophet himself; but it certainly speaks more clearly about Jesus of Nazareth than of Isaiah, the son of Amos. Where is the bill "Where is this bill" - Husbands, through moroseness or levity of temper, often sent bills of divorcement to their wives on slight occasions, as they were permitted to do by the law of Moses, Deuteronomy 24:1. And fathers, being oppressed with debt, often sold their…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Thus saith the Lord - To the Jews in Babylon, who were suffering under his hand, and who might be disposed to complain that God had dealt with them with as much caprice and cruelty as a man did with his wife, when he gave her a writing of divorce, and put her away without any just cause. Where is the bill of your mother‘s divorcement? - God here speaks of himself as the husband of his people, as having married the church to himself, denoting the tender…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The rejection of the Jews. (Is. 50:1-3) The sufferings and exaltation of the Messiah. (Is. 50:4-9) Consolation to the believer, and warning to the unbeliever. (Is. 50:10,11) Verses 1-3 Those who have professed to be people of God, and seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain, as if God had been hard with them. Here is an answer for such murmurings; God never deprived any of their advantages, except for their sins. The Jews were sent into…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1God was not responsible for the people's problems; their sin caused their exile (see also Isaiah 59:1–15). Jerusalem, the main city of Judah (Psalm 87:5–6), was destroyed, and the people of Judah went into exile in 586 BC.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-111. Where ... mothers divorcement--Zion is "the mother"; the Jews are the children; and God the Husband and Father (Is 54:5; 62:5; Jr 3:14). Gesenius thinks that God means by the question to deny that He had given "a bill of divorcement" to her, as was often done on slight pretexts by a husband (De 24:1), or that He had "sold" His and her "children," as a poor parent sometimes did (Ex 21:7; 2Ki 4:1; Ne 5:5) under pressure of his "creditors"; that it was…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 50:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 50
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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