Isaiah 50:1

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

Thus says the Lord, “Where is the certificate of divorce By which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, And for your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2Why was there no man when I came? When I called, why was there none to answer? Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink for lack of water And die of thirst. 3I clothe the heavens with blackness And make sackcloth their covering.”

Isaiah 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

• Thusכֹּהkôh · thusH3541
• saysאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Whereאַי'ay · where?H335
• certificateסֵ֫פֶרsêpher siphrâh · scroll: documentH5612
• of divorceכְּרִיתוּתkerîythûth · divorceH3748
• By whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: divorceH7971
• your motherאֵם'êm · motherH517
• awayשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: divorceH7971
• Orאוֹ'ô 'av · orH176
• to whomמִיmîy · who?H4310
• of My creditorsנָשָׁהnâshâh · to lendH5383
• sellמָכַרmâkar · to sellH4376
• Beholdהֵןhên · look!H2005
• iniquitiesעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
• transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588

Cross-references for Isaiah 50:1

• Deuteronomy 24:1“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,
• Jeremiah 3:1God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.
• Hosea 2:2“Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,
• Mark 10:4They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
• Exodus 21:7“If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do.
• Leviticus 25:39‘If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service.
• Deuteronomy 32:30How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the Lord had given them up?
• 2 Kings 4:1Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
• Nehemiah 5:5Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
• Esther 7:4for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.”
• Psalms 44:12You sell Your people cheaply, And have not profited by their sale.
• Matthew 18:25But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
• Isaiah 52:3For thus says the Lord, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”
• Isaiah 59:1Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.
• 1 Kings 21:25Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.
• 2 Kings 17:17Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking 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

• Backsliders
• Divorce
• Jesus Continued

In the dictionaries

• Children of God
• Creditor
• Debt; Debtor
• Divorce in the Old Testament
• Husband
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to
• Mother
• Saviour
• Song of Songs

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