they: i.e. they who live not in the light of God's Word. it: i.e. Immanuel's land. The singular number and same verb, referring back to Isaiah 8:8 . hardly bestead = in hard case. fret themselves. Compare. Revelation 16:11 , Revelation 16:21 . look upward: [in vain]. read more
Isaiah 8:21-22. And they shall pass through it— The attentive reader must observe, that the 21st verse is connected with the last clause of the preceding one; no light, no morning to them. The prophet had here denounced to those who should despise the institution of God and the Messiah, a great evil, that they should have no part in the true light and consolation which the Messiah should bring to his people, according to the ancient prophesies, nor even in the resurrection of the just to life.... read more
21, 22. More detailed description of the despair, which they shall fall into, who sought necromancy instead of God; Isaiah 8:20 implies that too late they shall see how much better it would have been for them to have sought "to the law," c. (Isaiah 8:20- :). But now they are given over to despair. Therefore, while seeing the truth of God, they only "curse their King and God" foreshadowing the future, like conduct of those belonging to the "kingdom of the beast," when they shall be visited with... read more
The end of such occult advisers is difficulty, hunger, frustration, distress, darkness, gloom, and anguish. They will look up to their leaders and curse both their king and their God because things did not turn out as they foretold (cf. Isaiah 8:17; Revelation 16:11; Revelation 16:21). They will look down to their fellows and find no help. Frustration meets them wherever they turn. read more
1. Take, etc.] read ’Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with the pen of a man, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ A man’s pen] i.e. such as a common man would use for writing in large characters that all might, undertsand the words. Maher-shalal-hash-baz] i.e. ’The spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth.’ The inscription intimated the speedy spoliation of Syria and Israel (Isaiah 8:4).2. And I took] RV ’And I will take,’ the speaker being Jehovah as in Isaiah 8:1. Witnesses] who would be able when the... read more
(21) And they shall pass through it . . .—i.e., through the land over which hangs the sunless gloom. The abruptness with which the verse opens, the absence of any noun to which the pronoun “it” may refer, has led some critics (Cheyne) to transpose the two verses. So arranged, the thought of the people for whom there is no dawning passes naturally into the picture of their groping in that thick darkness. and then the misery of that midnight wandering is aggravated by the horrors of starvation.... read more
CHAPTER VIKING AND MESSIAH; PEOPLE AND CHURCH735-732 B.C.Isaiah 7, 8, 9:1-8THIS section of the book of Isaiah (chapters 7-9:7) consists of a number of separate prophecies uttered during a period of at least three years: 735-732 B.C. By 735 Ahaz had ascended the throne; Tiglath-pileser had been occupied in the far east for two years. Taking advantage of the weakness of the former and the distance of the later, Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Samaria, planned an invasion of Judah. It... read more
CHAPTER 8 Jehovah’s Word Through Isaiah and the Assyrian Announced 1. The divine instruction and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:1-4 ) 2. The Assyrian to come (Isaiah 8:5-8 ) 3. The answer of faith (Isaiah 8:9-10 ) 4. A word to the faithful remnant (Isaiah 8:11-20 ) 5. The coming great distress (Isaiah 8:21-22 ) The names are significant. Isaiah heard the word “Maher-shalal-hash-baz,” and then is told to call his newborn son by this name. The name means “swift for spoil, hasty for... read more
8:21 And they shall pass through it, distressed and hungry: and it shall come to {a} pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, {b} and curse their king and their God, and look upward.(a) That is, in Judah, where they would have had rest, if they had not thus grievously offended God.(b) In whom before they put their trust. read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 8:11-22
Judah rejects Isaiah’s preaching (8:11-22)Once again God reminds Isaiah to trust in him alone. Isaiah is not to follow Ahaz and the people, whether in fearing the Israelite-Syrian alliance or in trusting in Judah’s alliance with Assyria (11-12). God should be the means of Judah’s safety; but if the people do not trust in him they will find that he is the means of their destruction (13-15).When neither the king nor the people heed the messages he brings them from God, Isaiah ceases his public... read more