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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 8

Isaiah 8: Maher-shalal-hash-baz and the overflowing river

General context

The Lord tells the prophet to take a great roll and write on it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz, and he takes Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah as faithful witnesses. He goes to the prophetess, she conceives and bears a son, and the Lord names him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, because before the child can say My father and my mother the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried before the king of Assyria. The Lord speaks again: because this people refuses the soft waters of Shiloah and rejoices in Rezin and Remaliah's son, he brings up the strong waters of the river, the king of Assyria and all his glory, which will overflow through Judah up to the neck and fill the land of Immanuel. The peoples are told to associate and gird themselves and be broken in pieces, because their counsel will come to nothing, for God is with us. The Lord instructs the prophet with a strong hand not to walk in this people's way or share their fear of a confederacy, but to fear the Lord of hosts alone; he will be a sanctuary but also a stone of stumbling to both houses of Israel and a snare to Jerusalem. The prophet binds up the testimony among his disciples, says he will wait for the Lord who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and presents himself and his children as signs and wonders in Israel. Those who urge seeking familiar spirits are answered with To the law and to the testimony. The people will pass through the land hungry, curse their king and their God, and be driven into darkness.

Cited passages: Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:2, Isaiah 8:3, Isaiah 8:4, Isaiah 8:6, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10, Isaiah 8:11, Isaiah 8:12, Isaiah 8:13, Isaiah 8:14, Isaiah 8:15, Isaiah 8:16, Isaiah 8:17, Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 8:20, Isaiah 8:21, Isaiah 8:22

Isaiah 8 (KJV)

1Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

2And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

3And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

5The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,

6Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

7Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

8And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

9Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

11For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

21And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

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Historical context

The prophet narrates in the first person, as in chapter six, and the Lord's words are marked the Lord said unto me and the Lord spake also unto me again. Two witnesses are named, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, and the mother is called only the prophetess; the text does not give her name or say why she bears that title. The child's name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, is written before he is born and explained by the timing of Damascus and Samaria falling to the king of Assyria, which continues the situation of chapter seven where Rezin and Remaliah's son are the threat. Immanuel appears again in the address O Immanuel, and the phrase God is with us stands in the tenth verse; the chapter does not say who Immanuel is or whether the address is to the child of chapter seven. Shiloah and the river are contrasted but the river is not named beyond being the king of Assyria. Both the houses of Israel are said to stumble, so the oracle takes in Judah and the northern kingdom together. The New Testament later quotes verses fourteen and eighteen: a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence in First Peter, and Behold I and the children which God hath given me in Hebrews; those are later uses and the chapter itself applies the words to the prophet and his children.

Cited passages: Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:5, Isaiah 8:2, Isaiah 8:3, Isaiah 8:4, Isaiah 7:4, Isaiah 8:8, Isaiah 8:10, Isaiah 8:6, Isaiah 8:14, 1 Peter 2:8, Hebrews 2:13, Isaiah 8:18

Literary context

The chapter moves between the prophet's household and the fate of nations. A name written on a roll, witnessed, then given to a newborn, makes the child a public document, and the prophet later says that he and his children are signs and wonders. Water carries the central contrast: the waters of Shiloah that go softly against the waters of the river, strong and many, which rise through the verse from channels to banks to neck to wings spread over the land. The address O Immanuel at the end of that flood and for God is with us at the end of the next stanza set the name against the threat in adjacent lines. Command and counter-command shape the middle: the people say A confederacy, the prophet is told not to say it; they fear, he is told to fear the Lord instead. The Lord is then given two opposite roles in one verse, sanctuary and stone of stumbling. The closing verses set two ways of seeking, familiar spirits that peep and mutter against the law and the testimony, and end in darkness, look upward, look unto the earth, with nothing found. That darkness is the last word before chapter nine opens with the dimness lifted and a great light seen.

Cited passages: Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah 8:6, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Isaiah 8:12, Isaiah 8:13, Isaiah 8:14, Isaiah 8:19, Isaiah 8:20, Isaiah 8:22, Isaiah 9:1, Isaiah 9:2

Key moments

  1. A name written on a roll (Isaiah 8:1). The Lord tells the prophet to write Maher-shalal-hash-baz on a great roll.
  2. The prophetess bears a son (Isaiah 8:3). The child is born and the Lord names him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
  3. Shiloah refused (Isaiah 8:6). This people rejects the soft waters and rejoices in Rezin and Remaliah's son.
  4. The river up to the neck (Isaiah 8:8). The king of Assyria overflows Judah and fills the land of Immanuel.
  5. Fear the Lord, not their fear (Isaiah 8:13). The prophet is told to sanctify the Lord of hosts and make him his dread.
  6. Sanctuary and stumbling stone (Isaiah 8:14). The Lord is a sanctuary and a rock of offence to both houses of Israel.
  7. To the law and to the testimony (Isaiah 8:20). Seeking wizards is answered with the demand to speak according to this word.

For reflection

The same Lord is called a sanctuary and a stone of stumbling in one verse. What in the surrounding lines decides which he is for a given person?

People in this chapter

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