Isaiah 8:1

Moreover the Lord said unto me,.... This is another prophecy, confirming the same thing that was promised in the preceding chapter Isaiah 7:1; namely, safety to the Jews from the two kings of Syria

Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hashbaz. Isaiah 8:1-22 and Isaiah 9:7. The first seven verses of Isa 9:1-21 belong to this section.

ISAIAH CHAPTER 8 Syria and Israel should be subdued by Assyria, . Judah also should be afflicted, , God’ s judgments irresistible, and to be feared, . The Lord is a sanctuary to the godly, a stone of stumbling to the wicked, ,15. The prophecy sure; God to be waited on; necromancers not to be consulted, but the prophecy; their misery, . A great roll; or, a great volume, because the prophecy to be written in it was large, and God would have it written in very large and legible characters. With a man’ s pen; with such a pen as writers use, , that so all may read and understand it. Concerning Maheshalal-hash-baz; concerning that thing which is signified by the name of thy child, which is here mentioned by way of anticipation, as not being given him till , i.e. concerning that which God is making haste to do, the giving p the kingdoms of Syria and Israel for a prey to the Assyrian, as this name is explained, .

Isaiah 8:1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’ s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.Ver. 1. Take thee a great roll.] Or, Volume; so called either because it was rolled up together like the web upon the pin; or, as others, because it revealeth that unto us which otherwise we knew not. Blasphemous was that jeer of the Jews who called the evangel or gospel Aven gillaion, a volume of vanity. And no better was that of Bishop Bonner’ s chaplain, who called the Bible, that blessed book, in scorn, his "little pretty God’ s book." This one small piece of it is here styled grande volumen, a great roll, for the fulness of the matter in fewness of words. And write in it with a man’ s pen.] That is, plainly and clearly, that when it shall be fastened to the gate of the temple, or some way else be exposed to public view, "he that runneth may read it," and he that readeth may understand it. And not be so written as that was, which none could read and unriddle but the prophet himself. Nor be, as Aristotle’ s Acroamatics, published and yet unpublished. Concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.] Make speed to the spoil, hasten the prey; words whereby God calleth the King of Assyria out of his country to take the spoil speedily of Syria and Samaria; both which groaned for his coming, and hanged for his mowing. This was afterwards given for a name to Isaiah’ s newly born babe, viz., at his circumcision; and that before two sufficient witnesses, who might attest both the child’ s name and the reason of it, which the prophet likely told them. Such another compound name was Shear-jashub, Zorobabel, Hagio-Christophorites, &c, and among us Keep-Sabbath, Hope-still, &c. Chald. vertit Scripturam claram Eκδεδομενοςκαιουκεκδεδομενος

VIII. (1) Moreover the Lord said unto me . . .—The prophecy that follows was clearly separated by an interval of some kind, probably about a year, from that in Isaiah 7. In the meantime much that had happened seemed to cast discredit on the prophet’s words. The child that was the type of the greater Immanuel had been born, but there were no signs as yet of the downfall of the northern kingdom. The attack of Rezin and Pekah, though Jerusalem had not been taken, had inflicted an almost irreparable blow on the kingdom of Judah. Multitudes had been carried captive to Damascus (2 Chronicles 28:5). Many thousands, but for the intercession of the prophet Oded, would have eaten the bread of exile and slavery. The Edomites were harassing the south-eastern frontier (2 Chronicles 28:15-17). The commerce of the Red Sea was cut off by Rezin’s capture of Elath (2 Kings 16:6). To the weak and faithless Ahaz and his counsellors, it might well seem that the prospect was darker than ever, that there was no hope but in the protection of Assyria. If such was the state of things when the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, was he to recant and confess that he had erred? Was he to shrink back into silence and obscurity? Far otherwise than that. He was to repeat all that he had said, more definitely, more demonstratively than ever. Take thee a great roll . . .—Better, a large tablet. The noun is the same as that used for “mirrors” or “glasses” in Isaiah 3:23. The writings of the prophet were commonly written on papyrus and placed in the hands of his disciples to be read aloud. For private and less permanent messages men used small wooden tablets smeared with wax, on which they wrote with an iron stylus. (Comp. Job 19:24; Isaiah 30:8.) Here the tablet was to be large, and the writing was not to be with the sharp point of the artist or learned scribe, but with a “man’s pen,” i.e., such as the common workmen used for sign-boards, that might fix the gaze of the careless passer-by (Habakkuk 2:2), and on that tablet, as though it were the heading of a proclamation or dedication, he was to write TO MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ. That mysterious name, which we may render “Speed-plunder, haste-spoil,” was, for at least nine months, to be the enigma of Jerusalem.

CHAPTER VIII Prediction respecting the conquest of Syria and Israel by the Assyrians, 1-4. Israel, for rejecting the gentle stream of Shiloah, near Jerusalem, is threatened to be overflowed by the great river of Assyria, manifestly alluding by this strong figure to the conquests of Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser over that kingdom, 5-7. The invasion of the kingdom of Judah by the Assyrians under Sennacherib foretold, 8. The prophet assures the Israelites and Syrians that their hostile attempts against Judah shall be frustrated, 9, 10. Exhortation not to be afraid of the wrath of man, but to fear the displeasure of God, 11-13. Judgments which shall overtake those who put no confidence in Jehovah, 14, 15. The prophet proceeds to warn his countrymen against idolatry, divination, and the like sinful practices, exhorting them to seek direction from the word of God, professing in a beautiful apostrophe that this was his own pious resolution. And to enforce this counsel, and strengthen their faith, he points to his children, whose symbolic names were signs or pledges of the Divine promises, 16-20. Judgments of God against the finally impenitent, 21, 22. The prophecy of the foregoing chapter relates directly to the kingdom of Judah only: the first part of it promises them deliverance from the united invasion of the Israelites and Syrians; the latter part, from Isaiah 8:17, denounces the desolation to be brought upon the kingdom of Judah by the Assyrians. The sixth, seventh, and eighth verses of this chapter seem to take in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. "This people that refuseth the waters of Shiloah," may be meant of both: the Israelites despised the kingdom of Judah, which they had deserted, and now attempted to destroy; the people of Judah, from a consideration of their own weakness, and a distrust of God's promises, being reduced to despair, applied to the Assyrians for assistance against the two confederate kings. But how could it be said of Judah, that they rejoiced in Rezin, and the son of Remaliah, the enemies confederated against them? If some of the people were inclined to revolt to the enemy, (which however does not clearly appear from any part of the history or the prophecy,) yet there was nothing like a tendency to a general defection. This, therefore, must be understood of Israel. The prophet denounces the Assyrian invasion, which should overwhelm the whole kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser; and the subsequent invasion of Judah by the same power under Sennacherib, which would bring them into the most imminent danger, like a flood reaching to the neck, in which a man can but just keep his head above water.

1–4. The twofold sign of Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

Take thee a great roll - The word which is here translated ‘roll’ more properly signifies tablet. So the Chaldee renders it.

The Roll, Isaiah 8:1-4. 1. Take thee a great roll — This was a wooden or metallic tablet, probably covered with a surface of wax for writing on with a stylus; large, so as to be easily read by the