20:1 In the year that {a} Tartan came to {b} Ashdod, (when {c} Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;(a) Who was captain of Sennacherib, 2 Kings 18:17 .(b) A city of the Philistines.(c) The Hebrews write that Sennacherib was so called. read more
20:2 At the same time spoke the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the {d} sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.(d) Which signifies that the prophet lamented the misery that he saw prepared before the three years that he went naked and barefooted. read more
JUDGMENT ON GENTILE NATIONS This is a long lesson to read, but the study put upon it need not be proportioned to its length. There is a sameness in the chapters, and their contents are not unlike what we reviewed in the preceding lesson. Note the names of the nations and their contiguity to God’s chosen people. They have come in contact with their history again and again, which is why they are singled out for special mention. It will be well here to review what was said about these Gentile... read more
CONTENTS In this chapter, the prophet becomes a type, as well as a preacher. The Lord, is pleased to make his servant Isaiah by this means, instruct the church, concerning Egypt and Ethiopia. read more
It is probable that this event of Tartar's taking Ashdod, formed an epoch in history, so remarkable, that the year needed not to be recorded. And no doubt that the prophet's going about bare-foot, and without his garment of sackcloth, which he usually wore, made the time also memorable. Isaiah it should seem, while he wore sackcloth, thus preached, by the poverty and mournfulness of his apparel, as well as by his words. But the Lord, his master, will have him now proclaim his truths by type, as... read more
Year. Eighteen after the preceding predictions. (Calmet) --- Sargon. Sennacherib, (St. Jerome) Salmanasar, (Sanctius) or Assaradon, who intended to revenge Sennacherib, and sent his "collector of taxes" to take Azotus from Ezechias, and then to proceed farther. (Calmet) --- Psammitichus having obtained the sole dominion of Egypt, besieged Azotus for 29 years. (Herodotus ii. 157.) (Amos i. 8.) read more
Sackcloth. The prophets lived in poverty, Zacharias xiii. 4. Their persons were prophetic. It is not agreed whether Isaias went quite naked, or only without his upper garment. The former supposition would represent better the condition of slaves, (ver. 4.) and is adopted by St. Jerome, &c. (Calmet) --- People are said to be naked when they are almost so, 2 Kings vi., and John xxi. (Haydock) --- Yet "nothing is more honest than to obey God." (St. Jerome) (Worthington) read more
The Symbol of Egypt's and Ethiopia's Fall. v. 1. In the year that Tartan, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian armies, 2 Kings 18:17, came unto Ashdod, one of the cities of Philistia which had revolted against the Assyrian supremacy (when Sargon, the king of Assyria, who succeeded Shalmaneser at just about the time when Samaria was taken by the Assyrians, sent him), and fought against Ashdod, and took it, in the second last decade of the eighth century before Christ (in 711 B. C.... read more
β) THE ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY OF EGYPTIsaiah 20:0This chapter, whose date is exactly determined by the historical notices of Isaiah 20:1 in connection with Isaiah 20:3 (comp. the introduction to chapters 17–20), is related to chap. 19, with which it is manifestly contemporaneous, as a completion. Thus chap. 19 speaks chiefly of the visitations that shall overtake Egypt, by means of catastrophes of its inward political and natural life. But to that conversion of Egypt spoken of Isaiah 19:18 sqq.,... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Isaiah 20:1-6
CHAPTER 20 The Near-Punishment of Egypt by Assyria 1. Isaiah walks naked and barefooted (Isaiah 20:1-2 ) 2. The meaning of his action (Isaiah 20:3 ) 3. Egypt punished by Assyria (Isaiah 20:4-6 ) 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. read more