Isaiah 8:1-18. Further oracles from the time of the Syro-Ephraimitish war The passage may be analysed as follows: 2 Samuel 8:1; 2 Samuel 8:1. The prophet, having utterly failed to influence the policy of the court (ch. Isaiah 7:1-17) is directed by Jehovah to impress his divinely inspired view of... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. ch. Isaiah 30:8; Habakkuk 2:2. _a great roll_ A GREAT TABLET (R.V.). The word is used in ch. Isaiah 3:23 of polished metal mirrors; here it means a smooth flat tablet of wood, stone or metal. _with a man's pen_ i.e. "in common characters" (R.V. marg.) easily legible and understood by the peop... [ Continue Reading ]
The twofold sign of Maher-shalal-hash-baz.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I took_ The Hebr. pointing gives AND I WILL TAKE (as in R.V.). The speaker is still Jehovah. The LXX. and other old versions have the imperative ("and take for me") which, as addressed to the prophet, reads more naturally. Uriah the priest is mentioned in 2 Kings 16:10 ff.; Zechariah is unknown... [ Continue Reading ]
_the prophetess_ Isaiah's wife is so called, not because she herself possessed the prophetic gift, but because the husband's designation is transferred by courtesy to the wife; as a German might have said "die Frau Prophetin.... [ Continue Reading ]
The period here indicated, about a year, is of course shorter than in ch. Isaiah 7:16, the date of the prediction being about a year later.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Assyrian invasion of Judah threatened.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the waters of Shiloah_ According to Delitzsch the older and correct pronunciation is _Shillôaḥ_. The _pool_of Siloam (Nehemiah 3:15; John 9:7, now called _-Ain Silwân_) was situated on the south-west side of the Temple Mount, at the lower end of the Tyropœon valley. From a very ancient time it has... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore_ lit. "and therefore," introducing the apodosis; a combination not found elsewhere. _bringeth up upon them_ Not North Israel, but Judah, "this people." _the waters of the river_ The Euphrates, explained in the next clause as a symbol of the Assyrian power. The figure of the verse is... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he shall pass through Judah_ Better as R.V., AND HE SHALL SWEEP ONWARD INTO JUDAH. _overflow_and _go over_are rightly taken as synonyms (not as R.V.). _shall reach even to the neck_ (cf. Isaiah 30:28). Judah is in the utmost extremity of danger, yet is not wholly submerged. _shall fill … land... [ Continue Reading ]
_Associate yourselves_ Rather: BE EXASPERATED. A.V. follows the Targum and Vulgate, whose translation is based on a wrong grammatical analysis of the word (the root being _râ-a-_, not _râ-âh_). _and ye shall be broken in pieces_ Lit.: AND BE DISMAYED, a consecutive imperative (Davidson, _Synt._§ 64... [ Continue Reading ]
The challenge of faith to the combined nations of the world. Cf. Psalms 2:1-6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take counsel … nought_ "If ye resolve on a scheme it shall be frustrated." _speak the word_ A WORD, i.e. "proclaim your resolution." _For God is with us_ See on Isaiah 8:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah was able to stand alone against the nation during this crisis, because he knew that his thoughts were controlled by a Power not his own.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with a strong hand_ Better: WHILE THE HAND (of Jehovah) GRASPED ( ME), (an infinitive construction). The phrase (cf. Ezekiel 3:14) refers to a prophetic trance, in which the true view of the aspects and issue of the situation was borne in upon Isaiah's mind with irresistible force. His mind was as... [ Continue Reading ]
_A confederacy_ Strictly: A CONSPIRACY (R.V.). But the word "conspiracy" does not necessarily imply (as some have thought) treason within the state. It may be used (as the verb is in Nehemiah 4:2) of an external coalition threatening the integrity of the commonwealth. On the whole this seems to give... [ Continue Reading ]
Render: JEHOVAH OF HOSTS, HIM SHALL YE COUNT HOLY, AND LET HIM BE ( THE OBJECT OF) YOUR FEAR AND ( OF) YOUR TERROR. "Count holy" (Isaiah 29:23); recognise as the Holy One, especially by absolute trust in His providential disposition of events; fearing only what would offend Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
To those who obey this admonition, Jehovah _shall be for a sanctuary_; to all others a stumbling-stone. This contrast would certainly be clearer if (with the Targ. and Vulg.) we might insert "to you" after "shall be." But the want of these words hardly justifies us in changing the text, or even in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_many among them_ Not all; a "Remnant shall turn" and be saved: _how_, is more fully shewn in the next verses. The expressions of this verse are reproduced with little variation in ch. Isaiah 28:13. They are frequently alluded to in the N.T. (Luke 2:34; Matthew 21:44: Romans 9:33).... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. ch. Isaiah 30:8; Daniel 12:4. _Bind up … seal_ The imperatives can only be understood as a command of Jehovah to Isaiah, as in Isaiah 8:1 ff. But in the next verse Isaiah himself is the speaker, and since the change of person is somewhat abrupt, the suggestion deserves consideration that the two... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophet, recognising the failure of his work as regards the nation, prepares a written record of his teaching, and deposits this as a sealed document in the custody of his disciples. By this solemn act he forms an inner circle of religious fellowship, which is the nucleus of the new people of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
_that hideth his face_ A very common expression for Jehovah's anger: Deuteronomy 31:17 f.; Micah 3:4; Jeremiah 33:5; Psalms 13:1; Psalms 44:24; Job 13:24, &c. The special mark of displeasure which Isaiah has in view is the cessation of those admonitions and warnings which Jehovah had sent through hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_I and the children whom the Lord hath given me_ Like Hosea, Isaiah had been directed to embody leading ideas of his teaching in the names of at least two of his children, _Shear-jashub_and _Maher-shalal-hash-baz_. His own name, also, though not an uncommon one, expresses what we may regard as the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they_(the infatuated, God-forsaken people) _shall say unto you_(believers in divine revelation). _them that have familiar spirits_ Hebr. simply _hâ"ôbhôth_. Strictly, the _"ôbh_is the "familiar spirit" itself (Leviticus 20:27, &c.), i.e. the disembodied spirit after death; the necromancer... [ Continue Reading ]
Religion and superstition contrasted.... [ Continue Reading ]
_To the law and to the testimony_ See on Isaiah 8:16. Apparently an exclamation of the distracted people (see on next clause). The remainder of the verse, where the construction is very difficult, ought probably to be rendered: SURELY THEY SHALL SPEAK ACCORDING TO THIS WORD WHEN THERE IS NO DAWN (i... [ Continue Reading ]
_they shall pass through it_ Obviously, the land; but something must have fallen out before this verse, to account for the reference of the pronoun. Throughout this and the following verse, "they," "their," "themselves," should be "he," "his," "himself." The subject is either the whole nation or an... [ Continue Reading ]
Another scene, representing the utter desolation of the land, and the miseries of the survivors.... [ Continue Reading ]
The last words of the previous verse should be taken along with this one: AND HE SHALL LOOK UPWARD AND SHALL LOOK TO THE EARTH: AND BEHOLD, &c. Whether he look to heaven or earth, no ray of hope shall appear (cf. ch. Isaiah 5:30). _trouble and darkness_ Render with R.V. DISTRESS AND DARKNESS, THE G... [ Continue Reading ]