Isaiah — Chapter 8

GOD said to me, “Get yourself a large sheet and write on it in common scriptain common script Meaning of Heb. uncertain. ‘For Maher-shalal-hash-baz’;bMaher-shalal-hash-baz I.e., “Pillage hastens, looting speeds,” indicating that two cities are to be pillaged at an early date; see v. 4.

and call reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to witness for Me.”

I was intimate with the prophetess,cthe prophetess I.e., Isaiah’s wife. and she conceived and bore a son; and GOD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.dMaher-shalal-hash-baz See note at v. 1.

For before the boy learns to call ‘Father’ and ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, and the delights of Rezin and of the son of Remaliah,eand the delights of Rezin and of the son of Remaliah Moved up from v. 6 for clarity. shall be carried off before the king of Assyria.”

Again GOD spoke to me, thus:

“Because that people has spurnedThe gently flowing waters of Siloam”fflowing waters of Siloam The conduit—and later the tunnel—of Siloam conveyed into Jerusalem the waters of Gihon, which symbolize “GOD of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion” (v. 18). For the nature of the rejection see note at 7.13.—

Assuredly,The Sovereign will bring up against themThe mighty, massive waters of the Euphrates,The king of Assyria and all his multitude.It shall rise above all its channels,And flow over all its beds,

And swirl through Judah like a flash floodReaching up to the neck.gup to the neck I.e., Judah shall be imperiled, but, in contrast to Aram and Ephraim (v. 4), not destroyed. hSee note at 7.9. But with us is God,Whose wings are spreadAs wide as your land is broad!

Band together, O peoples—you shall be broken!Listen to this, you remotest parts of the earth:Gird yourselves—you shall be broken;Gird yourselves—you shall be broken!

Hatch a plot—it shall be foiled;Agree on action—it shall not succeed.For with us is God!

For this is what GOD said to me, upon taking me by the handitaking me by the hand I.e., singling me out; cf. 41.9, 13; 42.6; 45.1; Jer. 31.32 (v. 31 in some editions). and charging me not to walk in the path of that people:

jThe Heb. forms here and in vv. 13 and 19 are plural to include the disciples (v. 16) and the children (v. 18). “You must not call conspiracykconspiracy Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “holy”; cf. v. 13. All that that people calls conspiracy,lconspiracy See preceding note. Nor revere what it reveres,Nor hold it in awe.

None but GOD of HostsShall you account holy;Give reverence to [God] alone,Hold [God] alone in awe.

[God] shall become a sanctuary,A stonembecome a sanctuary, / A stone Emendation yields “be for God’s holy domain [cf. Ps. 114.2] / A stone…” people strike against:A rock people stumble overFor the two Houses of Israel,And a trap and a snare for thoseWho dwell in Jerusalem.

The masses shall trip over theseAnd shall fall and be injured,Shall be snared and be caught.

Bind up the message,Seal the instruction with My disciples.”

So I will wait for GOD, whose face is hidden from the House of Jacob, and in whom I will trust.

Here stand I and the children GOD has given me as signs and portents in Israel from GOD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Now, should people say to you, “Inquire of the ghosts and familiar spirits that chirp and moan; for a people may inquire of its divine beingsndivine beings I.e., the shades of the dead; cf. 1 Sam. 28.13.—of the dead on behalf of the living—

for instruction and message,” surely, for those who speak thus there shall be no dawn.

oThis sentence would read well after v. 22. And they shall go about in it wretched and hungry; and when they are hungry, they shall rage and revolt against their king and their divine beings. They may turn their face upward

or they may look below, but beholdDistress and darkness, with no daybreak;pwith no daybreak Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Straitness and gloom, with no dawn.qwith no dawn Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

For if there were to berif there were to be So 1QIsᵃ; the others have “there is not.” any break of day for that [land] that is in straits, only the former [king] would have brought abasement to the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali—while the later one would have brought honor to the Way of the Sea, the other side of the Jordan, and Galilee of the Nations.sMeaning of verse uncertain. The rendering here assumes that “the former [king]” refers to Pekah and “the later” to Hoshea (cf. 2 Kings 15.29–30). For the construction lu…ka-ʻeth, see Judg. 13.23.