Isaiah8
New International Version
1The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”
2So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me.
3Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
4For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
5The Lord spoke to me again:
6“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates— the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel!”
9Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
11This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12“Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
13The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
14He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
15Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”
16Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
18Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
19When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
20Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
21Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
22Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 8.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Exhortations and warnings. (1-8). Comfort for those who fear God. (9-16). Afflictions to idolaters. (17-22).
vv1-8
The prophet is to write on a large roll, or on a metal tablet, words which meant, "Make speed to spoil, hasten to the prey:" pointing out that the Assyrian army should come with speed, and make great spoil. Very soon the riches of Damascus and of Samaria, cities then secure and formidable, shall be taken away by the king of Assyria. The prophet pleads with the promised Messiah, who should appear in that land in the fulness of time, and, therefore, as God, would preserve it in the mean time. As a gentle brook is an apt emblem of a mild government, so an overflowing torrent represents a conqueror and tyrant. The invader's success was also described by a bird of prey, stretching its wings over the whole land. Those who reject Christ, will find that what they call liberty is the basest slavery. But no enemy shall pluck the believer out of Emmanuel's hand, or deprive him of his heavenly inheritance.
vv9-16
The prophet challenges the enemies of the Jews. Their efforts would be vain, and themselves broken to pieces. It concerns us, in time of trouble, to watch against all such fears as put us upon crooked courses for our own security. The believing fear of God preserves against the disquieting fear of man. If we thought rightly of the greatness and glory of God, we should see all the power of our enemies restrained. The Lord, who will be a Sanctuary to those who trust in him, will be a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offence, to those who make the creature their fear and their hope. If the things of God be an offence to us, they will undo us. The apostle quotes this as to all who persisted in unbelief of the gospel of Christ, I Pet. 2:8. The crucified Emmanuel, who was and is a Stumbling-stone and Rock of offence to unbelieving Jews, is no less so to thousands who are called Christians. The preaching of the cross is foolishness in their esteem; his doctrines and precepts offend them.
vv17-22
The prophet foresaw that the Lord would hide his face; but he would look for his return in favour to them again. Though not miraculous signs, the children's names were memorials from God, suited to excite attention. The unbelieving Jews were prone to seek counsel in difficulties, from diviners of different descriptions, whose foolish and sinful ceremonies are alluded to. Would we know how we may seek to our God, and come to the knowledge of his mind? To the law and to the testimony; for there you will see what is good, and what the Lord requires. We must speak of the things of God in the words which the Holy Ghost teaches, and be ruled by them. To those that seek to familiar spirits, and regard not God's law and testimony, there shall be horror and misery. Those that go away from God, go out of the way of all good; for fretfulness is a sin that is its own punishment. They shall despair, and see no way of relief, when they curse God. And their fears will represent every thing as frightful. Those that shut their eyes against the light of God's word, will justly be left to darkness. All the miseries that ever were felt or witnessed on earth, are as nothing, compared with what will overwhelm those who leave the words of Christ, to follow delusions.
Key Words
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
גָּדוֹל: great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent
גִּלָּיוֹן: a tablet for writing (as bare); by analogy, a mirror (as a plate)
כָּתַב: to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
אֱנוֹשׁ: a man in general (singly or collectively)
חֶרֶט: a chisel or graver; also a style forwriting
מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז: Maher-Shalal-Chash-Baz; the symbolical name of the son of Isaiah
עוּד: to duplicate or repeat; by implication, to protest, testify (as by reiteration); intensively, to encompass, restore (as a sort of reduplication)
Cross References
Isaiah 8Identifies the child 'Immanuel' whose land is threatened as the promised Messiah, Jesus.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Directly quotes Isa 8:14, applying the 'stone of stumbling' to those who reject Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Quotes the 'stumblingstone and rock of offence' to describe Israel's rejection of Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Quotes 'Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me' in a messianic context.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Explicitly connects the 'waters of Shiloah' with the pool of Siloam, which means 'Sent'.
Supported by JFB
Directly connects the title 'O Immanuel' back to the virgin birth prophecy of chapter 7.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Identifies 'Uriah the priest' as Ahaz's idolatrous accomplice, making him an indisputable historical witness.
Supported by JFB
Records Tiglath-Pileser taking Damascus and Samaria, fulfilling the prophecy of verse 4.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Alludes to Isaiah's command 'neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid' in times of trial.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels writing a vision plainly on tablets/rolls so that the common man can read it.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Explains the biblical metaphor of overflowing, strong waters representing invading armies and nations.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the Assyrian flood reaching 'to the neck', sparing the head (Jerusalem) in Sennacherib's invasion.
Supported by JFB
Simeon prophesies that Christ is set for the 'fall and rising again' of many in Israel.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Illustrates seeking 'familiar spirits' in times of distress, as Saul sought the witch of Endor.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Intra-chapter link highlighting 'the law' and 'the testimony' as the ultimate standards of truth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Echoes pointing seekers to 'Moses and the prophets' rather than seeking signs from the dead.
Supported by Matthew Henry