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For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.
Isaiah 33:22 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
  • BSB For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.
  • NKJV (For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us);
  • NASB For the Lord is our judge, The Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king; He will save us—
  • NLT For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.

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

Yahweh alone is judge, lawgiver, and king, and therefore he is the one who saves his people.

Overview

This verse roots Judah's hope in the threefold rule of God over justice, law, and kingship, concluding that he will save. Because the Lord holds all authority, salvation rests in him, not in human leaders or alliances. It foreshadows Christ, in whom God's role as judge, lawgiver, and king is fully revealed, and through whom salvation comes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 28

  • Jas 4:12Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?
  • Acts 5:31God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.
  • Zeph 3:15–17Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.
  • Isa 12:2Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.”
  • Isa 25:9It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”
  • Ps 89:18For our shield belongs to Yahweh; our king to the Holy One of Israel.
  • Isa 35:4Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong. Don’t be afraid. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will come and save you.
  • Zech 9:9Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
  • Rev 19:16He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
  • Ps 75:7But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.
  • Ps 50:6The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.
  • Matt 25:34Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
  • Isa 11:4but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
  • Isa 16:5A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.
  • Deut 33:2He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.
  • Jer 23:5–6“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
  • Gen 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
  • Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
  • Neh 10:14The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahathmoab, Elam, Zattu, Bani,
  • Ps 74:12Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth.
  • Ps 147:19–20He shows his word to Jacob; his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
  • 2 Cor 5:10For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
  • Ps 44:4You are my King, God. Command victories for Jacob!
  • Heb 5:9Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
  • Matt 21:5“Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
  • Titus 3:4–6But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
  • Matt 1:21–23She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
  • Luke 2:11For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 33:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 33:22 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.