Isaiah 33:1

Judgment and hope for the righteous

1 Doom to the destroyer left undestroyed, you traitor whom none have betrayed: when you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped betraying, they will betray you.

Isaiah 33:1 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 33:1

Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou [wast] not spoiled
Which some understand of Nebuchadnezzar; others of Sennacherib, which is more probable; it seems best to interpret it of the Romish antichrist. Kimchi thinks that, if it respects the times of Hezekiah, Sennacherib is meant; but if the times of the Messiah, then the king of nations that shall be in those days; and he adds, this is the kingdom of Persia, in the vision of Daniel. Vatringa applies this to Antiochus Epiphanes, and the whole prophecy to the times of the Maccabees; but it best agrees with the beast of Rome, to whom power has been given over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations, the Apollyon, the spoiler and destroyer of the earth, especially of the saints, whom he has made war with and overcome; see ( Revelation 9:11 ) ( Revelation 11:7 Revelation 11:18 ) ( 13:7 ) now this spoiler of man, of their substance by confiscation, of their bodies by imprisonment and death, and of their societies and families by his violent persecutions, and of the souls of others by his false doctrine; though he may continue long in prosperity and glory, and not be spoiled, or destroyed, yet not always. The Vulgate Latin version renders the last clause interrogatively, and perhaps not amiss, "shall thou not be spoiled?" verily thou shalt; the same measure he has meted to others shall be measured to him again; the spoiler of others shall be stripped of all himself; he that destroyed the earth shall be destroyed from off the earth; he that leads into captivity shall go into it; and he that kills with the sword shall be slain by it, ( Revelation 11:18 ) ( 13:10 ) : and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with
thee;
or, "shall they not deal treacherously with thee?" so the above version renders it with an interrogation; and both this and the preceding clause are thus paraphrased by the Targum,

``woe to thee that comest to spoil, and shall they not spoil thee? and who comest to oppress, and shall they not oppress thee?''

truly they shall; the kings of the earth that were in confederacy with the beast, and gave their kingdoms to him, shall hate the whore, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, ( Revelation 17:16 ) : when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shall be spoiled;
when the time is come that antichrist shall be suffered no longer to ravage in the earth, and spoil the bodies, souls, and substance of men, then shall he himself be spoiled of his power and authority, riches and grandeur; his plagues shall come upon him at once, fire, famine, and death; for his cessation from spoiling will not be his own option, nor the fruit and effect of repentance and reformation, but will be owing to the sovereign power of God in restraining him: [and] when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall
deal treacherously with thee;
for the coming of antichrist was with lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; he has the appearance of a lamb, but speaks like a dragon; has used many wiles, arts, and stratagems, and treacherous methods to deceive and impose on men, and to ensnare and entrap them; and when the time is come that he will not be permitted to proceed any further and longer in his deceitful practices, the kings of the earth, who have been deceived by him, and brought in subjection to him, will pay him in his own coin; see ( 2 Thessalonians 2:9 2 Thessalonians 2:10 ) ( Revelation 13:11 ) ( Revelation 17:12 Revelation 17:13 Revelation 17:16 ) .

Isaiah 33:1 In-Context

1 Doom to the destroyer left undestroyed, you traitor whom none have betrayed: when you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped betraying, they will betray you.

2 LORD, show us favor; we hope in you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in times of distress.

3 At the noise, peoples fled; on account of your roar, nations scattered.

4 They gathered spoil like insects; they rushed upon it like a swarm of locusts.

5 The LORD is exalted; he lives on high, filling Zion with justice and righteousness.