Isaiah 51:23

23 I will put it in the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, 'Bend down, so we can trample you,' and you flattened your back on the ground like a street for them to walk on."

Isaiah 51:23 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:23

And I will put it into the hand of them that afflict me
As the Lord did to literal Babylon, ( Jeremiah 25:15 Jeremiah 25:16 ) , so will he do to mystical Babylon; he will retaliate upon her all the evils she has done to others, and destroy them that destroyed the earth; see ( Revelation 11:18 ) ( 13:10 ) ( 18:6 ) , which have said to thy soul, bow down, that we may go over;
who not only afflicted the bodies, but tyrannized over the souls and consciences of men; obliging them to a compliance with their idolatrous practices, to bow down and worship the beast, and his image; and thereby acknowledge subjection to the see of Rome, and its authority over them: the allusion seems to be the custom of the eastern kings trampling upon the necks of their conquered enemies, ( Joshua 10:24 ) , and the pope of Rome has, in a literal sense, trampled upon the necks even of kings and emperors. And thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them
that went over;
which expresses the low estate of the church of Christ, or holy city, while trodden under foot by the Gentiles during the reign of antichrist, ( Revelation 11:2 ) , and may also denote the sneaking outward compliance of some through the force of persecution, when they did not cordially embrace, nor with conscience, and from their heart, submit to the authority of the church of Rome; but though the people of God are represented in such a low and grovelling condition, yet they shall arise out of it, and come into a very flourishing one, as the next chapter shows.

Isaiah 51:23 In-Context

21 Therefore, please hear this in your affliction, you who are drunk, but not with wine;

22 this is what your Lord ADONAI says, your God, who defends his people: "Here, I have removed from your hand the cup of drunkenness, the goblet of my fury. You will never drink it again.

23 I will put it in the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, 'Bend down, so we can trample you,' and you flattened your back on the ground like a street for them to walk on."