We believe the first half of this verse refers to the army of Judah taking down its battle standard since it has won the victory. It looks forward to the last half of the verse, which speaks about Judah enjoying the spoils of victory. This interpretation differs from that in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions. They believe verse 23a looks backward to verse 21, so it continues to speak about enemy warships unable to come to Judah. The ships cannot come because of defective parts. The Hebrew nouns in verse 23a are ambiguous and allow for either interpretation (see the comments below). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible seems to support our interpretation by rendering verse 23a as “Your ropes are loosened, they no longer maintain the mast/pole, the standard [or, flag] is not unfurled [or, spread out].” Whichever interpretation translators follow, they should include a footnote to indicate that their rendering is uncertain because of difficulties in the Hebrew text (see the second model below).

Your tackle hangs loose: According to many translations, this line means the ropes or the rigging on the ships cannot hold the sails in place, so the ships cannot move properly. However, we believe it means the ropes holding Judah’s battle standard are loose, so the standard is unfurled. The army has loosened them. The pronoun Your refers to the people of Judah since the prophet is addressing them. It is a feminine singular pronoun in Hebrew, so it may refer specifically to Jerusalem. Some scholars have suggested that it refers to the Assyrians or another enemy, but there is no satisfactory evidence that there has been a change of addressee in this chapter. The Hebrew noun rendered tackle has various meanings, depending on the context. In verse 20 it refers to the “cords” of a tent. Here it can refer to the rigging of a ship or the ropes supporting a flagpole. We prefer the latter sense.

It cannot hold the mast firm in its place is literally “they do not make strong thus their pole.” For many translations this means the ships’ masts are not held strongly in place, but we believe it says the flagpole is not held firm. The Hebrew word for mast can refer to the tall pole on a ship to which the sails are attached, but it can also point to a flagpole, as in 30.17, where it is rendered “flagstaff” (see the comments there). Basically, it means “tall pole.” The pronouns “they” and “their” could refer to the enemy’s army, but we believe they point to Judah’s army.

Or keep the sail spread out is literally “they do not spread the flag.” For many translations this means the ships’ sails are not unfurled, but we believe it says the battle standard is no longer flying. The Hebrew word for sail primarily refers to a banner under which an army fights (see the comments on this term at 5.26, where its rendered “signal”). It may be rendered “flag,” “ensign,” or “banner.”

Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided: After the people of Judah defeat their oppressors, they will take booty from them. The Hebrew word for prey refers to animals hunted or seized for food, but here it is probably used figuratively for slaves taken by the people of Judah. For spoil see Isa 33.4. Prey and spoil is literally “the prey of spoil,” so these two terms may be combined by saying “booty,” “spoils,” or “gain of war.” In abundance qualifies the word spoil, indicating that there will be a lot of booty. Revised English Bible and New American Bible add “the blind” as the agent of the passive verb will be divided. They do this by changing the Hebrew text of this line to make “the blind” parallel with the lame in the next line. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends staying with Masoretic Text. The implied agent here is the people of Judah. If an active form is required, translators may render this line as “Then they will divide the abundant spoils.” Good News Translation says “We will seize all the wealth of enemy armies.” It uses the pronoun “We” to be consistent with its earlier references to Judah in verse 21 (“us” and “We”). How translators refer to Judah here depends on how they have done it earlier in this section.

Even the lame will take the prey: Even the lame who normally would not participate in war will be able to join in plundering the enemy. Prey is synonymous with spoil. For the Hebrew word here see the comments on 10.6, where it is rendered “plunder.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Your ropes have been loosed,
their flagpole is not firm,
and the flag not flying.
Then they will divide the abundant spoil,
and even the lame people will join in the plunder.

• Your ropes hang loose,
the flagpole is unstable,
the standard is not flying.*
Then the abundant spoil will be divided,
even lame people will take plunder.

* The Hebrew in the first half of this verse is difficult to understand, so the translation is uncertain. It could refer to the battle standard of the army of Judah at rest after victory, or to the defective sails of their enemy’s ships.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .