Isaiah 20:2

At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. SPAKE THE LORD BY ISAIAH - literally, by the hand of (cf. ). LOOSE THE SACKCLOTH - the loose outer garment of coarse dark hair-cloth worn by mourners () and by prophets, fastened at the waist by a girdle (; ; ). HE DID SO WALKING NAKED - rather, uncovered. He merely put off the outer sackcloth, retaining still the tunic, or inner vest...

2._Go and loose the sackcloth from thy loins. _In order to confirm this prophecy by the use of a symbol, the Lord commanded Isaiah to walk naked. If Isaiah had done this of his own accord, he would have been justly ridiculed; but when he does it by the command of the Lord, we perceive nothing but what is fitted to excite admiration and to strike awe. In this nakedness, and in the signs of a similar kind, something weighty is implied. Besides, the Lord does nothing either by himself or by his servants without likewise explaining the reason; and therefore the Prophet does not merely walk naked, but points out the design which the Lord had in view in ordering him to do so. In other respects false prophets imitate the true servants of God, and put on varied and imposing shapes, to dazzle the eyes of the multitude, and gain credit to themselves; but those symbols are worthless, because God is...

Verse Isaiah 20:2. _WALKING NAKED AND BAREFOOT._] It is not probable that the prophet walked uncovered and barefoot for three years; his appearing in that manner was a sign that within three years the Egyptians and Cushites should be in the same condition, being conquered and made captives by the king of Assyria. The time was denoted as well as the event; but his appearing in that manner for three whole years could give no premonition of the time at all. It is probable, therefore, that the prophet was ordered to walk so for _three days_ to denote the accomplishment of the event in _three_ _years_; a _day_ for a _year_, according to the prophetical rule, Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. The words שלש ימי...

BY ISAIAH - Margin, ‘By the hand of Isaiah.’ So the Hebrew. That is, by the instrumentality of Isaiah. He sent him to make known the fate of the Egyptians, and the folly of trusting in them on this occasion. GO, AND LOOSE THE SACKCLOTH - For the meaning of the word “sackcloth,” see the note at Isaiah 3:24. It was commonly worn as an emblem of mourning. But there is reason to believe that it was worn also by the prophets, and was regarded, in some degree, as their appropriate dress. It was made usually of the coarse hair of the goat, and was worn as a zone or girdle around the loins. That this was the dress of Elijah is apparent from 2 Kings 1:8 : ‘He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather;’ that is, he was clothed in a garment m

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 20:1 A PROPHECY AGAINST EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. The Assyrian inscriptions enable us to date this prophecy with a near approach to exactness. Ashdod was besieged by an Assyrian army twice in the reign of Sargon—in his ninth year and in his eleventh year. On the former occasion it is probable that the arms of a general (Tartan) were employed; on the latter it is nearly certain that Sargon made the expedition in person. The capture of Ashdod, here mentioned, is consequently the first capture. Egypt and Ethiopia were at the time united under one head, Shabak, or Shabatok; and the inhabitants of Ashdod looked to this quarter for deliverance from the Assyrian power. Shortly after the first capture, they revolted, deposed the king whom Sargon had set over them,

AT THE SAME TIME SPAKE THE LORD BY ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOZ,.... Or, "by the hand of Isaiah", by his means; and it was to him likewise, as the following words show; and so the Septuagint version renders it; he spoke by him, by the sign he used, according to his order, and he spoke to him to use the sign: SAYING; so the Arabic version, "with him"; and with these versions Noldius agrees: GO, AND LOOSE THE SACKCLOTH FROM OFF THY LOINS; a token of mourning, and which the prophet wore, as Kimchi thinks, because of the captivity of the ten tribes; and it may be also on account of the miseries that were coming upon the people of the Jews; though some think this was his common garb, and the same with the royal garment the prophets used to wear, Zechariah 13:4 but that he had put off, and had put on sackcloth in its room, which he is now bid to take off:...

CHAPTER 20 The Near-Punishment of Egypt by Assyria 1. _Isaiah walks naked and barefooted (Isaiah 20:1)_ 2. _The meaning of his action (Isaiah 20:3)_ 3. _Egypt punished by Assyria (Isaiah 20:4) _ A strong party in Jerusalem looked to Egypt for help from the threatening Assyrian invasion. This prophecy shows the utter hopelessness of expecting help from Egypt. The victory of Assyria over Egypt is predicted....

ISAIAH 20. THE SIGN OF EGYPT'S OVERTHROW. The year in which the Assyrian Tartan, or commander-in-chief, came to Ashdod was 711. This city had been in negotiation with Egypt against Assyria, and so too had Judah, Moab, and Edom. Isaiah had protested against this policy by the sign here recorded. To show the futility of trusting in Egypt and Ethiopia he put off his outer garment, and for three years walked stripped and barefoot like a captive, symbolising the fate that was coming on these lands. Ashdod was quickly captured, many of its inhabitants were taken to Assyria and their place supplied by other exiles, as had been the case with Samaria. We do not know how Judah was treated. The desperate measures taken by Isaiah, and the summary punishment of Ashdod, may have kept Judah from open rebellion. Isaiah 20:2 seems to represent the command to walk in captive's dress as given to Isaiah in...

THE SAME. that. BY. by the hand of. ISAIAH. See note on Isaiah 13:1. NAKED. Put by Figure of speech _Synecdoche_ (of the Whole), for being scantily clad....

A narrative introduction....