8 And it hath passed on into Judah, It hath overflown and passed over, Unto the neck it cometh, And the stretching out of its wings Hath been the fulness of the breadth of thy land, O Emmanu-El!
Therefore the Lord Himself giveth to you a sign, Lo, the Virgin is conceiving, And is bringing forth a son, And hath called his name Immanuel,
And His breath `is' as an overflowing stream, Unto the neck it divideth, To sift nations with a sieve of vanity, And a bridle causing to err, `Is' on the jaws of the peoples.
He hath come in against Aiath, He hath passed over into Migron, At Michmash he looketh after his vessels. They have gone over the passage, Geba they have made a lodging place, Trembled hath Rama, Gibeah of Saul fled. Cry aloud `with' thy voice, daughter of Gallim, Give attention, Laish! answer her, Anathoth. Fled away hath Madmenah, The inhabitants of the high places have hardened themselves. Yet to-day in Nob to remain, Wave its hand doth the mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem.
The burden of the Valley of Vision. What -- to thee, now, that thou hast gone up, All of thee -- to the roofs? Full of stirs -- a noisy city -- an exulting city, Thy pierced are not pierced of the sword, Nor dead in battle. All thy rulers fled together from the bow, Bound have been all found of thee, They have been kept bound together, Afar off they have fled. Therefore I said, `Look ye from me, I am bitter in my weeping, Haste not to comfort me, For the destruction of the daughter of my people.' For a day of noise, and of treading down, And of perplexity, `is' to the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, In the valley of vision, digging down a wall, And crying unto the mountain. And Elam hath borne a quiver, In a chariot of men -- horsemen, And Kir hath exposed a shield. And it cometh to pass, The choice of thy valleys have been full of chariots, And the horsemen place themselves diligently at the gate.
Therefore, hear a word of Jehovah, ye men of scorning, Ruling this people that `is' in Jerusalem. Because ye have said: `We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a provision, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Doth not meet us, Though we have made a lie our refuge, And in falsehood have been hidden.' Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: `Lo, I am laying a foundation in Zion, A stone -- a tried stone, a corner stone precious, a settled foundation, He who is believing doth not make haste. And I have put judgment for a line, And righteousness for a plummet, And sweep away doth hail the refuge of lies, And the secret hiding-place do waters overflow. And disannulled hath been your covenant with death, And your provision with Sheol doth not stand, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Then ye have been to it for a treading-place. From the fulness of its passing over it taketh you, For morning by morning it passeth over, By day and by night, And it hath been only a trembling to consider the report. For shorter hath been the bed Than to stretch one's self out in, And the covering hath been narrower Than to wrap one's self up in. For as `at' mount Perazim rise doth Jehovah, As `at' the valley in Gibeon He is troubled, To do His work -- strange `is' His work, And to do His deed -- strange `is' His deed.' And now, show not yourselves scorners, Lest strong be your bands, For a consumption, that is determined, I have heard, by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, `Is' for all the land.
Wo `to' Ariel, Ariel, The city of the encampment of David! Add year to year, let festivals go round. And I have sent distress to Ariel, And it hath been lamentation and mourning, And it hath been to me as Ariel. And I encamped, O babbler, against thee, And I laid siege against thee -- a camp. And I raised up against thee bulwarks. And thou hast been low, From the earth thou speakest, And from the dust makest thy saying low, And thy voice hath been from the earth, As one having a familiar spirit, And from the dust thy saying whisperest, And as small dust hath been The multitude of those scattering thee, And as chaff passing on the multitude of the terrible, And it hath been at an instant -- suddenly. By Jehovah of Hosts thou art inspected, With thunder, and with an earthquake, And great noise, hurricane, and whirlwind, And flame of devouring fire. And as a dream, a vision of night, hath been The multitude of all the nations Who are warring against Ariel, And all its warriors, and its bulwark, Even of those distressing her. And it hath been, as when the hungry dreameth, And lo, he is eating, And he hath waked, and empty `is' his soul, And as when the thirsty dreameth, And lo, he is drinking, and he hath waked, And lo, he is weary, and his soul is longing, So is the multitude of all the nations Who are warring against mount Zion. Tarry and wonder, look ye, yea, look, Be drunk, and not with wine, Stagger, and not with strong drink.
And it cometh to pass, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, come up hath Sennacherib king of Asshur against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them. And the king of Asshur sendeth Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, unto the king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, and he standeth by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field, and go forth unto him doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who `is' over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer. And Rabshakeh saith unto them, `Say ye, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, `Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What `is' this confidence in which thou hast confided? I have said: Only, a word of the lips! counsel and might `are' for battle: now, on whom hast thou trusted, that thou hast rebelled against me? `Lo, thou hast trusted on the staff of this broken reed -- on Egypt -- which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it -- so `is' Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him. `And dost thou say unto me, Unto Jehovah our God we have trusted? is it not He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath turned aside, and saith to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar ye do bow yourselves? `And now, negotiate, I pray thee, with my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to put for thee riders on them. And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and dost trust for thee on Egypt, for chariot and for horsemen? And now, without Jehovah have I come up against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up unto this land, and thou hast destroyed it.' And Eliakim saith -- and Shebna and Joah -- unto Rabshakeh, `Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants `in' Aramaean, for we are understanding; and do not speak unto us `in' Jewish, in the ears of the people who `are' on the wall.' And Rabshakeh saith, `Unto thy lord, and unto thee, hath my lord sent me to speak these words? is it not for the men -- those sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water with you?' And Rabshakeh standeth and calleth with a great voice `in' Jewish, and saith, `Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Asshur: Thus said the king, Let not Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you; and let not Hezekiah make you trust unto Jehovah, saying, Jehovah doth certainly deliver us, this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur. `Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur, Make ye with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye each of his vine, and each of his fig-tree, and drink ye each the waters of his own well, till my coming in, and I have taken you unto a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards; lest Hezekiah doth persuade you, saying, Jehovah doth deliver us. `Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur? Where `are' the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where the gods of Sepharvaim, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands `are' they who have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah doth deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?' And they keep silent, and have not answered him a word, for a command of the king is, saying, `Do not answer him.' And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who `is' over the house, cometh in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer, unto Hezekiah with rent garments, and they declare to him the words of Rabshakeh.
and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The great eagle, great-winged, long-pinioned, Full of feathers, that hath diverse colours, Hath come in unto Lebanon, And it taketh the foliage of the cedar,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 8
Commentary on Isaiah 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
This chapter, and the four next that follow it (to chap. 13) are all one continued discourse or sermon, the scope of which is to show the great destruction that should now shortly be brought upon the kingdom of Israel, and the great disturbance that should be given to the kingdom of Judah by the king of Assyria, and that both were for their sins; but rich provision is made of comfort for those that feared God in those dark times, referring especially to the days of the Messiah. In this chapter we have,
Isa 8:1-8
In these verses we have a prophecy of the successes of the king of Assyria against Damascus, Samaria, and Judah, that the two former should be laid waste by him, and the last greatly frightened. Here we have,
Isa 8:9-15
The prophet here returns to speak of the present distress that Ahaz and his court and kingdom were in upon account of the threatening confederacy of the ten tribes and the Syrians against them. And in these verses,
Isa 8:16-22
In these verses we have,