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Isaiah 8

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Prophecy of Mahershalalhashbaz 1–4

1
Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. ​
2
And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. ​
3
And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. ​
4
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. ​

The Waters of Shiloah and the Flood of Assyria 5–8

5
The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,
6
Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; ​
7
Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: ​
8
And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. ​

God's Sovereignty Over the Nations 9–10

9
Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. ​
10
Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. ​

Fear God, Not Man 11–15

11
For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, ​
12
Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. ​
13
Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ​
14
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ​
15
And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

The Law, the Testimony, and the Darkness 16–22

16
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. ​
17
And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. ​
18
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. ​
19
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? ​
20
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. ​
21
And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. ​
22
And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 8

Verse 1

a great roll — Gillayon, a writing surface, found only here and in Isa 3:23. 'A man's pen' is the plain writing of men, 'plain upon tables' (Hab 2:2). The name Mahershalalhashbaz ('hasting to the booty, swift to the prey') is set down before the child is conceived (v.3), and occurs only in this chapter.

Verse 2

faithful witnesses — These are two witnesses, the number the law required: 'at the mouth of two witnesses… shall the matter be established' (Deut 19:15). The writing was attested before the events it names. Uriah is Uriyah, 'flame of Jah'; a priest spelled Urijah builds Ahaz's altar in 2 Kgs 16:10–11. Zechariah's father's name means 'blessed of Jah'.

Verse 3

the prophetess — The title also belongs to Miriam (Ex 15:20), Deborah (Judg 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kgs 22:14). 'Went unto' is qarab, to draw near. As Shearjashub was named for a message (7:3), the child is a sign by his name, spoken to Isaiah in v.1 before his conception and now repeated as a command.

Verse 4

before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother — The measure of time is of the kind given in 7:16, 'before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good'. 'Spoil' is the shalal of the child's name. The Assyrian king 'went up against Damascus, and took it… and slew Rezin' (2 Kgs 16:9).

Verse 6

the waters of Shiloah that go softly — The stream at Jerusalem, 'the pool of Siloah by the king's garden' (Neh 3:15), Siloam in John 9:7, which 'is by interpretation, Sent'. 'Softly' (at) is gently; its small flow is set against the 'strong and many' waters of v.7. The people 'refuse' (maas, spurn) it and rejoice in Rezin and Pekah.

Verse 7

the waters of the river — The Lord himself 'bringeth up' the flood, and it is 'the king of Assyria, and all his glory'. 'The river' is the one beyond which Assyria lay (7:20, 'by them beyond the river'). The verb 'bringeth up' returns in 'come up over all his channels'. God rebukes such rushing of nations 'like the rushing of many waters' (17:12–13).

Verse 8

even to the neck — The flood passes through Judah and rises to the neck, not over the head. Its 'wings' fill 'the breadth of thy land', and the land is addressed as Immanuel's: Immanuel, 'God with us', the child's name from 7:14 and applied to Christ in Matt 1:23. The LORD's own breath is likewise said to 'reach to the midst of the neck' (30:28).

Verse 9

ye shall be broken in pieces — The warning ends three summons: 'Associate yourselves', and 'gird yourselves' twice. Chathath is to be shattered or dismayed. It is addressed to 'the people' and 'all ye of far countries', the nations behind the flood, whose rushing God rebukes in 17:12–13.

Verse 10

for God is with us — The reason given is the name itself, Immanu El, the child's name of 7:14 and 8:8 spoken as the answer to every plan. 'There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD' (Prov 21:30). Paul asks the same of believers: 'If God be for us, who can be against us?' (Rom 8:31).

Verse 11

with a strong hand — Chezqah, prevailing strength; compare 'the hand of the LORD was strong upon me' (Ezek 3:14). 'Instructed' is yasar, the verb of correction and discipline, so the word came with pressure upon the prophet. It forbids walking 'in the way of this people' (compare Prov 1:15, 'walk not thou in the way with them').

Verse 12

A confederacy — Qesher, a binding together, an alliance or conspiracy; Athaliah cried 'Treason, Treason' with the same word (2 Kgs 11:14). The prophet's hearers are not to take up the people's cry nor 'their fear'. Peter takes up the line for believers who suffer: 'be not afraid of their terror' (1 Pet 3:14).

Verse 13

Sanctify the LORD of hosts — Qadash, to set apart as holy. The two words of the people's alarm in v.12, fear and being afraid, are the same roots (mora, arats) now turned to the LORD: 'let him be your fear, and let him be your dread'. Peter quotes the command: 'sanctify the Lord God in your hearts' (1 Pet 3:15).

Verse 14

a stone of stumbling — The LORD is 'a sanctuary' (miqdash, from the qadash of v.13) to those who sanctify him, and to the rest a stone and rock of offence. Paul joins the verse with Isa 28:16 in Rom 9:32–33; Peter says it of the disobedient (1 Pet 2:8). 'Gin' and 'snare' (pach, moqesh) are traps for birds and beasts.

Verse 16

Bind up the testimony, seal the law — The pair is that of v.20, te'udah and torah. 'Disciples' is limmud, taught ones, the word of 'the tongue of the learned' (50:4) and of 'all thy children shall be taught of the LORD' (54:13), which Christ cites in John 6:45. A sealed writing is kept until its time (Dan 12:4).

Verse 17

I will wait upon the LORD — Chakah is to wait, and 'look for him' (qavah) to look with expectation. The LORD 'hideth his face' (sathar), the very penalty announced in Deut 31:17–18 against a people turned to other gods. The same waiting is commanded in Hab 2:3: 'though it tarry, wait for it'.

Verse 18

I and the children whom the LORD hath given me — Isaiah (Yesha'yah, 'Jah has saved') and his sons are 'signs and wonders': Shearjashub, 'a remnant will return' (7:3), and Mahershalalhashbaz (vv.1–4). Hebrews 2:13 quotes the verse as the words of Christ, 'Behold I and the children which God hath given me', of those he is 'not ashamed to call them brethren' (Heb 2:11).

Verse 19

familiar spirits — Ob is a necromancer's spirit or the medium who has one; yiddeoni (wizard) is 'a knowing one'. 'Peep' (tsaphaph) is to chirp, and 'mutter' (hagah) is the verb of 'in his law doth he meditate' (Ps 1:2). The law forbids seeking them (Lev 19:31); Saul died partly for asking counsel of one (1 Chr 10:13).

Verse 20

To the law and to the testimony — The pair bound up in v.16 is now the test of every voice. 'Light' is shachar, dawn: where the word is not followed there is no morning. Peter likewise calls the word of prophecy 'a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn' (2 Pet 1:19). The darkness that follows runs to the end of the chapter.

Verse 21

they shall fret themselves — Qatsaph, to burst out in rage. Hunger turns the people's anger on 'their king and their God', as Prov 19:3 describes: 'his heart fretteth against the LORD'. 'Hardly bestead' is qashah, hard-pressed. The look 'upward' is followed at once by a look 'unto the earth' (v.22).

Verse 22

trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish — Four words of distress are piled up: tsarah (trouble), chashekah (darkness), mauph (dimness, a word found only here) and tsuqah (anguish). Then 9:2 follows: 'The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light', which Matthew applies to Galilee (Matt 4:14–16).