Isaiah 20:3

And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; LIKE AS MY SERVANT ISAIAH HATH WALKED NAKED AND BAREFOOT THREE YEARS (FOR) A SIGN. Isaiah's symbolical action did not continue all this time, but at intervals, to keep it before the people's mind during that period (Rosenmuller). This is the only instance of a strictly symbolical act performed by Isaiah. With later prophets, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, such acts were common. In some cases they were performed, not literally, but only in prophetic vision. WONDER - rather, a portent; an omen: conveying a threat as to the future. UPON - in reference to; against. As Isaiah my servant walked naked and barefoot at certain seasons and occasions from time to time, for the space of three years....

3._Three years. _Why for such a period? Because that was the time granted to the Egyptians and Ethiopians, during which the Lord gave them a truce for repentance, and at the same time wished to make trial of the obedience of his people, that without delay they might relinquish unlawful aid, and that, though the Egyptians and Ethiopians appeared to be secure, they might know that they were not far from ruin. The Lord intended also to expose the rebellion of wicked men; for undoubtedly many persons made an open display of their impiety when they despised the nakedness of the prophet, and the godly, on the other hand, moved by the sight of his nakedness, though the prosperity of the Ethiopians was delightfully attractive, still did not hesitate to fix their attention on the word. What they were bound to consider was not the nakedness itself, but the mark which the Lord had put upon it; in t...

LIKE AS - That is, as Isaiah has gone stripped of his special garment as a prophet, so shall the Egyptians and Ethiopians be stripped of all that they value, and be carried captive into Assyria.’ HATH WALKED ... THREE YEARS - A great deal of difficulty has been felt in the interpretation of this place, from the strong improbability that Isaiah should have gone in this manner for a space of time so long as our translation expresses. The Septuagint renders this, ‘As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years, three years shall be for signs and wonders to the Egyptians and Ethiopians.’ The phrase in the Hebrew, ‘three years,’ “may” either be taken in connection with the preceding part of the sentence, as in our translation, meaning that he actually walked so long; or it may be taken with that which follows, and then it will denote that he was a sign and wonder with referen...

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,

AND THE LORD SAID,.... Here follows the explanation of the sign, and the accommodation of it to the thing signified by it: LIKE AS MY SERVANT ISAIAH HATH WALKED NAKED AND BAREFOOT; not wholly naked, for that would have been very indecent and dangerous indeed; but without his upper garment, as Saul, 1 Samuel 19:24 and David, 2 Samuel 6:14 or with rent and ragged clothes, and old shoes, as Jarchi k interprets it, and which might be only when he appeared abroad; and how long he thus walked is not certain, whether only one day, as some, or three days, as others, or three years, which is not said, though our version inclines to it; but the three years next mentioned are not to be joined to Isaiah's walking, but to the thing signified by it; for the accent "athnach" is at the word which is

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...

SIGN AND WONDER. Reference to Pentateuch, (see note on Isaiah 7:11 with Isaiah 8:18), and App-92....

THREE YEARS FOR A SIGN.— _A three years' sign._ The meaning seems to be, not that Isaiah walked three years _naked and barefooted,_ but that he walked naked and barefoot for a sign of what should happen three years afterwards....

CHAPTER TWENTY 4. EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA TEXT: Isaiah 20:1-6 1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it; 2 at that time Jehovah spake by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put thy shoe from off thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 And Jehovah said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia; 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 And they shall be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6...