Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? and shall he that is rightfully captive be delivered?
Isaiah has been promising rescue to a people held down by stronger enemies. This verse raises the obvious doubt: can anyone pull plunder out of a strong man's grip, and can a captive held by right ever go free?
(The ESV says "the captives of a tyrant." The older translation quoted below says "the lawful captive" — a captive held by right.)
The question is not a taunt. It is how things look when you weigh the oppressor's strength against Israel's weakness.
But Israel's foes are mighty. To human reason alone it may seem impossible that the poor, downtrodden Jew will ever be freed from the oppressor. Jehovah answers their fears with this promise: "The captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered." And God will deal with those who have oppressed His people.
The word "lawful" is the hard part. The captivity was not bad luck. The people had earned it, and that is why release looks impossible.
That intervention will mean the deliverance of all those who fear His Name. Many of them will be in a captivity brought on them by their nation's sins. Isaiah asks this question, and in the next verse he answers it... He will take possession of them by taking captive those who held them in captivity.
Israel did once come home from exile in Babylon. One writer argues that this promise reaches much further.
"For thus says Jehovah, Even the captive of the mighty shall be taken away... and I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children... and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob" (vv. 24-26)... So, applied that way, this chapter cannot be exhausted by the return from captivity in Babylon. Without doubt it speaks of the far more complete gathering in at the end of this age.
God does not simply overpower the claim against His people. He satisfies it, and then the rescue becomes public.
It will all be done in righteousness as well as in grace: "the prey is taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered" (v. 24). Then everyone sees His salvation. "And all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (v. 26).
Other writers apply the question to the gospel. There the strong one holding the prey is Satan, and the rescue had a cost.
Christ is our only hope. He is stronger than the strong, and has overcome the enemy... But how was this deliverance brought about? How was the victory won? By death. Through death the Saviour brought to nothing the one who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14)... By submitting to death for one brief moment He has broken the power of Satan for ever. Like David with Goliath, He has cut off the enemy's head with his own weapon.
Applied to one person, "lawful" becomes an accusation you cannot answer:
Your sins had made you a lawful captive. For your sins you deserved the just judgment of God. You could be saved only when that judgment was satisfied and Satan's power was broken.
What Isaiah could only ask, the gospel now answers each time someone believes.
"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty and the lawful captives delivered?" was asked long ago. We have the answer to that question today. The gospel about God's Son has delivering power. Every soul saved is a fresh piece of ground torn out of Satan's rule — a fresh piece of ground added to the Lord's kingdom.
- Lawful — sin earned the captivity. That is what makes the question look unanswerable to human reason.
- Answered — Isaiah does not leave the question hanging. The very next verse promises that the captives of the mighty will be taken away.
- Righteous — God frees the prisoner in righteousness as well as grace. He never sets His own justice aside.
- Costly — the victory came by death; the Saviour broke the enemy's power by submitting to it.
- Public — the outcome reaches beyond Israel. All flesh will know the Lord as Saviour and Redeemer, and every soul saved today is ground won back.
For thus saith Jehovah Even the captive of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; and I will strive with him that striveth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Zion has just heard that God cannot forget her, yet one doubt remains: her captor looks far too strong to rob. Verse 25 is God's reply — a rescue for Israel, and for every sinner Satan holds.
Verse 24 asks whether prey can ever be taken from a strong captor. God's reply settles the fear and tells the nations who He is.
Israel's foes are mighty. To human reason it may seem impossible that the poor, beaten-down Jew will ever be freed from the oppressor. Jehovah answers their fears with this promise: "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued." What is more, God will deal with those who have oppressed His people… By this judgment the nations — all flesh — will know that Jehovah is the Saviour of Israel, their Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Some read the chapter as fulfilled when the exiles came home from Babylon. Commentators here argue the promise is far too large for that, and that it reaches Zion's little ones too.
God's severe vengeance on the enemies of Israel has come. This is the future that Jehovah guarantees to Israel after the rejection of the Messiah. So this chapter cannot be used up by the return from the captivity in Babylon. Without doubt it speaks of the far fuller gathering in at the end of this age… When Zion might have thought herself completely forgotten, Jehovah turns His hand toward these little ones and puts down the nations of the earth.
God does not send help from a distance. He takes the quarrel as His own. Writers place the rescue at the moment Israel looks most lost, and they name the One who steps in.
When this great mercy reaches Israel, their plight will be very great. We can gather that from verse 24, and the opening verses of Zechariah 14 confirm it. Just when they seem to be the helpless captives of their foes, Jehovah will step in and deliver them. The New Testament makes it very clear who this Jehovah is. According to Zechariah 14:3 He goes out to fight against those nations, and He is none other than our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. By His hands "the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued."
Older translations call them lawful captives in verse 24. The word matters. The captor's hold was not just brute force; it had a legal claim behind it. So the rescue cannot be a raid. It must satisfy justice.
He will do it all in righteousness as well as in grace — "the prey is taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered" (v. 24). Then everyone sees His salvation.
One writer imagines the devil making that claim out loud, and shows what silences it.
Suppose the devil had stood up and challenged God's right to bless us. Suppose he had said: "They are my lawful captives, slaves to sin and under the condemnation of death, and Your enemies. You cannot bless them righteously, and You must condemn them if You are still to be the just Ruler of the Universe." God's answer is that in the Beloved they have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. That is conclusive and final… The blood of the Beloved answers every claim.
A rescue like this needs someone stronger than the captor. Commentators press the question Isaiah leaves open: how is the prey taken?
Christ is our only hope. He is stronger than the strong, and He has overcome the enemy… But how did that deliverance happen? How was the victory won? By death. Through death the Saviour brought to nothing the one who held the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Isaiah 53:12 puts it this way: God will divide Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death. By submitting to death for one brief moment He has broken the power of Satan for ever. Like David with Goliath, He has cut off the enemy's head with his own weapon.
God has answered the question. Now it becomes an errand to carry.
Long ago this question was asked: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty and the lawful captives delivered?" We have the answer to that question today. The gospel about God's Son has delivering power. Every soul saved is a fresh bit of territory pulled out of Satan's rule — a fresh bit of territory added to the Lord's kingdom.
- Question. Human reason says no one escapes a captor that strong. This verse overturns that despair.
- Claim. The captives are called lawful. The captor had a legal hold, so the rescue must be righteous as well as gracious.
- Cost. The blood of Christ answers that claim. The Stronger One broke the captor's power by going into death Himself.
- Contender. God does not send aid from a distance. He fights the battle Himself, and writers name that Deliverer as Christ.
- Reach. The promise reaches past Babylon to Israel's final gathering and her children — and today to every soul won back from Satan.