All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too.
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.
- BSB All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.
- 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.
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, Yahweh of Armies, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;
- Jer 39:4–7When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.
- 2 Kgs 25:4–7Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah.
- 2 Kgs 25:18–21The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold;
- Jer 52:24–27The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.