Isaiah 8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:6

Forasmuch as this people refuseth "Because this people have rejected" - The gentle waters of Shiloah, a small fountain and brook just without Jerusalem, which supplied a pool within the city for the use of the inhabitants, is an apt emblem of the state of the kingdom and house of David, much reduced in its apparent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God; and is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, great, rapid, and impetuous; the image of the Babylonian empire, which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:8

He shall reach even to the neck - He compares Jerusalem, says Kimchi, to the head of the human body. As when the waters come up to a man's neck, he is very near drowning, (for a little increase of them would go over his head), so the king of Assyria coming up to Jerusalem was like a flood reaching to the neck - the whole country was overflowed, and the capital was in imminent danger. Accordingly the Chaldee renders reaching to the neck by reaching to Jerusalem. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:9

Associate yourselves "Know ye this" - God by his prophet plainly declares to the confederate adversaries of Judah, and bids them regard and attend to his declaration, that all their efforts shall be in vain. The present reading, רעו rou , is subject to many difficulties; I follow that of the Septuagint, דעו deu , γνωτε . Archbishop Secker approves this reading. דעו deu know ye this, is parallel and synonymous to האזינו haazinu , give ear to It, in the next line. The... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:11

With a strong hand "As taking me by the hand" - Eleven MSS., (two ancient), of Kennicott's, thirty-four of De Rossi's, and seven editions, read כחזקת kechezkath ; and so Symmachus, the Syriac, and Vulgate. Or rather with a strong hand, that is, with a strong and powerful influence of the prophetic Spirit. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:12

Say ye not, A confederacy "Say ye not, It is holy" - קשר kesher . Both the reading and the sense of this word are doubtful. The Septuagint manifestly read קשה kashah ; for they render it by σκληρον , hard. The Syriac and Chaldee render it מרדא merda , and dn מרוד merod , rebellion. How they came by this sense of the word, or what they read in their copies, is not so clear. But the worst of it is, that neither of these readings or renderings gives any clear sense in this... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:14

And he shall be for a sanctuary "And he shall be unto you a sanctuary" - The word לכם lachem , unto you, absolutely necessary, as I conceive, to the sense, is lost in this place: it is preserved by the Vulgate, " et erit vobis in sanctificationem ." The Septuagint have it in the singular number: εσται σοι εις ἁγιασμον , it shall be to Thee. Or else, instead of מקדש mikdash , a sanctuary, we must read מוקש mokesh , a snare, which would then be repeated without any propriety... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:16

Among my disciples - בלמדי belimmudai . The Septuagint render it του μη μαθειν . Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 308, thinks they read מלמד , that it be not understood, and approves of this reading. - Abp. Secker. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:18

Lord of hosts - One MS. reads צבאות אלהי Elohey tsebaoth , God of hosts. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:19

Should not a people seek "Should they seek" - After ידרש yidrosh , the Septuagint, repeating the word, read הידרש hayidrosh : Ουκ εθνος προς Θεον αυτου εκζητησουσι; τι εκζητησουσι περι των ζωντων τους νεκρους ; Should not a nation seek unto its God? Why should you seek unto the dead concerning the living? and this repetition of the verb seems necessary to the sense; and, as Procopius on the place observes, it strongly expresses the prophet's indignation at their folly. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:20

To the law and to the testimony "Unto the command, and unto the testimony" - "Is not תעודה teudah here the attested prophecy, Isaiah 8:1-4 ;? and perhaps תורה torah the command, Isaiah 8:11-15 ;? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Proverbs 6:20 , and Proverbs 7:1 , Proverbs 7:2 , where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept." - Abp. Secker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it: " Tenons nous a... read more

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