What Does Isaiah 33:23 Mean in the King James?
Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Hebrew says the lame “plunder plunder”: those marked as unable become the active takers.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now wherever a structure loses its hold: what it carried becomes available for division. The lame are not merely counted among the beneficiaries; they are the ones who plunder. Limitation does not keep them outside the sharing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that only the strong can take part in what is released: the lame themselves carry off the spoil.
THE ROOT
בָּזְזוּ בַּז
bazzu baz
GROWS FROM
בָּזַז
b-z-z
to plunder, strip, or take as spoil
The closing phrase repeats the same root in verb and object: “the lame plunder plunder.” The English “take the prey” preserves their action, while the Hebrew echo makes the lame unmistakably the agents of the seizure.
ALSO GROWS
bazaz: to plunder or take as spoil
בָּזַז
This verb is the action the verse assigns to the lame.
baz: spoil or booty
בַּז
This noun is the very thing being plundered, repeating the verb’s root.
חֻלַּק
ḥullaq
GROWS FROM
חָלַק
ḥ-l-q
to divide, apportion, or share out
“divided” in this verse is ḥullaq. The verse moves from plunder to distribution: what is seized becomes a share. The root connects dividing something with the portion each person receives.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēleq: a share or portion
חֵלֶק
This branch names what division produces: an allotted share.
maḥaloqet: a division or assigned section
מַחֲלֹקֶת
It carries the same idea of separating something into apportioned parts.
יְחַזְּקוּ
yeḥazzequ
GROWS FROM
חָזַק
ḥ-z-q
to be strong or firm, strengthen, or hold fast
“strengthen” in this verse is yeḥazzequ. The ship’s rigging cannot hold its mast firm or spread its sail. The root ranges from strength to holding fast, so the image is of support that can no longer keep its grip.
ALSO GROWS
ḥazaq: strong or firm
חָזָק
This branch names the stability the ship’s structure lacks.
heḥeziq: to hold fast or grasp firmly
הֶחֱזִיק
It brings out the failed act of keeping the mast and rigging secure.
THE PATTERN
When the grip holding resources breaks, what was withheld can become shared spoil, including for those not counted among the strong.
And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.THE THREAD
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.The word translated “lame” in Isaiah 33:23 appears again here. In one verse the lame plunder the spoil; in the other the lame leap as waters break out in the wilderness.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us