Isaiah 50:1
Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
Cross-reference
Isaiah 59:2 echoes this: iniquities create separation from God. Both verses identify sin as the cause of divine distance.
Isaiah 52:3 declares that those sold for nothing will be redeemed without money—fulfilling the hope beyond judgment implied here.
In Isaiah 42:24, the same logic: Israel's sin, not God's caprice, caused their plunder.
Isaiah 24:5 attributes earth's defilement to breaking the covenant — same cause as the divorce here: sin against God's covenant.
Leviticus 25:39 describes Israelites selling themselves due to poverty, directly echoing the 'sold yourselves' metaphor for sin in this verse.
Matthew 18:25 depicts selling a debtor's family—an example of the practice God denies using in His divorce metaphor here.
Jeremiah 4:18 attributes doom to 'your ways and deeds,' matching Isaiah's assertion that iniquities led to being sold.
Jeremiah 3:8 explicitly states God gave a certificate of divorce to Israel, directly parallel to the metaphor in Isaiah 50:1.
Jeremiah 3:1 uses the same divorce metaphor for Israel’s unfaithfulness, reinforcing the idea in Isaiah 50:1.
Psalm 44:12 asserts God sold His people for a pittance, directly opposing God's denial of selling them in this verse.
Nehemiah 5:5 gives a historical example of Jews selling children into debt slavery—mirroring the metaphor of Israel selling themselves for sins.
2 Kings 4:1 depicts a creditor seizing sons for debt—the very scenario God denies having done to Israel in this verse.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 provides the legal foundation for the certificate of divorce metaphor that Isaiah 50:1 uses.
Deuteronomy 32:30 states God sold Israel to enemies, while here God denies selling them—creating a tension about divine agency in judgment.
In Hosea 2:5, Israel's spiritual adultery is portrayed as the reason for the divorce-like separation.
Judges 2:14 explicitly says God 'sold them' into enemies' hands for their sins — the same divine selling Isaiah 50:1 refers to.
In Jeremiah 2:19, Israel's own evil chastises them, mirroring the 'for your iniquities you were sold' theme.
Jeremiah 2:14 asks why Israel is a prey, implying their sin made them slaves, parallel to being sold for iniquity.
Judges 3:8 repeats the pattern: God sold Israel to a foreign king because of their evil. A clear historical example of being sold.
Judges 4:2 again states God sold Israel to Jabin. This continues the theme of divine selling as punishment for sin.
In Judges 10:7, God sells Israel into enemies' hands for sin — the same 'sold' metaphor here explains that exile is due to sin, not God's weakness.
1 Samuel 12:9 records God selling Israel into enemies' hands for forgetting Him — directly echoing the 'sold for iniquities' motif here.
In Romans 7:14, Paul uses the same 'sold' metaphor – 'sold under sin' – directly echoing Isaiah's language of being sold for iniquities.
In 1 Kings 21:20, Ahab 'sold himself' to evil — the same 'sell' metaphor applies personally, showing that sin is a self-inflicted sale.
In Malachi 2:16, God declares He hates divorce – aligning with Isaiah's metaphor where God denies divorcing Israel, emphasizing His faithfulness.
In Matthew 19:7, the Pharisees cite the law of divorce using the same 'certificate of divorce' phrase – here a legal debate, while Isaiah uses it metaphorically for the covenant.
Mark 10:4 references the same divorce certificate law from Deuteronomy that Isaiah 50:1 metaphorically applies to Israel.
Exodus 21:7 provides the legal context for selling a child into slavery—the very practice God denies using in the divorce metaphor here.
Jeremiah 14:9 shows the people pleading not to be abandoned, contrasting God's claim that he didn't divorce them.
In 1 Corinthians 7:11, Paul gives instruction on marital separation and reconciliation – a literal application of the divorce theme Isaiah uses for God and Israel.
Hosea 2:2-4 uses the marriage unfaithfulness metaphor but without the divorce certificate, a related but less direct parallel to Isaiah 50:1.
Jeremiah 11:15 questions Israel's standing in God's house due to vile deeds, echoing the divorce-for-sin theme.
1 Samuel 4:3 shows Israel's misplaced trust in the ark — contrasting Isaiah 50:1 where God clarifies their sin, not His lack of power, caused separation.
Psalm 27:9 pleads not to be cast off — echoing the fear of abandonment that Israel felt, though here God says the separation is due to sin, not arbitrary.
Esther 7:4 uses 'sold' to mean being handed over to destruction, broadening the concept of being sold beyond debt slavery here.
2 Chronicles 6:26 connects sin to drought and includes repentance — illustrating the same sin→judgment pattern and offering a path back, unlike the divorce here.