All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.
Parallel translations
- WEB All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away.
- KJV All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.
- NKJV All your rulers have fled together; They are captured by the archers. All who are found in you are bound together; They have fled from afar.
- NASB All your rulers have fled together, And have been captured without the bow; All of you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far away.
- NLT All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jerusalem's leaders flee and are captured without even a fight. It matters because it shows the collapse of leadership when a people abandons trust in God.
Overview
The city's rulers run away together and are taken prisoner by the archers, captured as they flee. Their cowardice and capture reveal a leadership stripped of courage and strength. When a nation forsakes its true defender, even its leaders are powerless. The verse underscores the helplessness of those who rely on themselves rather than the LORD.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 3:1–8For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
- Jer 39:4–7When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they went out along the route to the Arabah.
- 2 Kgs 25:4–7Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
- 2 Kgs 25:18–21The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
- Jer 52:24–27The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 22:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.