The Meaning of Isaiah 52:4 Explained

Isaiah 52:4

KJV: For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

YLT: For thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'To Egypt My people went down at first to sojourn there, And Asshur -- for nought he hath oppressed it.

Darby: For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and Assyria oppressed them without cause;

ASV: For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without cause.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For thus saith  the Lord  GOD,  My people  went down  aforetime  into Egypt  to sojourn  there; and the Assyrian  oppressed  them without cause. 

What does Isaiah 52:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Sovereign Yahweh further declared that the Israelites had gone down to Egypt of their own volition in the days of Jacob. Later the Assyrians had taken them captive against their will. These earliest and most recent oppressions represented all of them that Israel had undergone. The implication is that since God can freely liberate ( Isaiah 52:3), He could redeem His people from enemy-imposed captivity as easily as He could redeem them from self-imposed captivity.

Context Summary

Isaiah 52:1-15 - "thy God Reigneth!"
It is not God that has become lethargic; but we that have slept and need to awake. Being awakened, we discover that two sets of attire are waiting for us: First, His strength, so that we may not be afraid of ten thousands of people who set themselves round about; and secondly, the beautiful garments of our Lord's character. See Colossians 3:9-17.
At last the climax of the long prophetic stairway is reached and the summons for the exodus from Babylon rings out, Isaiah 52:11. It was God's return to the desolate city, Isaiah 52:2; Isaiah 52:8. The stately procession moves slowly and fearlessly. It is not the escape of a band of fugitive slaves, dreading pursuit and recapture, Isaiah 52:12. Before it speed the heralds, appearing on the sky line as they ascend the mountains which surround the Holy City, publishing peace and salvation, Isaiah 52:7. The central body is composed of white robed priests, bearing with reverent care the holy vessels, Isaiah 52:11, of which Nebuchadnezzar despoiled the Temple, but which Cyrus restored. See Ezra 1:7-11. Thus, also, the Church marches through the world. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 52

1  Christ persuades the church to believe his free redemption
7  To receive the ministers thereof
9  To joy in the power thereof
11  And to free themselves from bondage
13  Christ's kingdom shall be exalted

What do the individual words in Isaiah 52:4 mean?

For thus says the Lord GOD Into Egypt went down My people at first to dwell there and Assyria with no [cause] oppressed them
כִּ֣י כֹ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה מִצְרַ֛יִם יָֽרַד־ עַמִּ֥י בָרִֽאשֹׁנָ֖ה לָג֣וּר שָׁ֑ם וְאַשּׁ֖וּר בְּאֶ֥פֶס עֲשָׁקֽוֹ

כֹ֤ה  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֹּה  
Sense: thus, here, in this manner.
אָמַר֙  says 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֲדֹנָ֣י  the  Lord 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יְהוִ֔ה  GOD 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
מִצְרַ֛יִם  Into  Egypt 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְרַיִם  
Sense: a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows adj Egyptians = “double straits”.
יָֽרַד־  went  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
עַמִּ֥י  My  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
בָרִֽאשֹׁנָ֖ה  at  first 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רִאשֹׁון  
Sense: first, primary, former.
לָג֣וּר  to  dwell 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: גּוּר 
Sense: to sojourn, abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, be a stranger, be continuing, surely.
וְאַשּׁ֖וּר  and  Assyria 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: אַשּׁוּר  
Sense: the second son of Shem, eponymous ancestor of the Assyrians.
בְּאֶ֥פֶס  with  no  [cause] 
Parse: Preposition-b, Adverb
Root: אֶפֶס 
Sense: ceasing, end, finality.
עֲשָׁקֽוֹ  oppressed  them 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: עָשַׁק  
Sense: to press upon, oppress, violate, defraud, do violence, get deceitfully, wrong, extort.