Isaías 8

ARC · Chapter 8/66

1Disse-me tambem o Senhor: Toma um grande volume, e escreve n'elle em estylo de homem: Apressando-se ao despojo, apressurou-se á preza.

2Então tomei comigo fieis testemunhas, a Urias sacerdote, e a Zacharias, filho de Jeberechias,

3E cheguei-me á prophetiza, a qual concebeu, e pariu um filho; e o Senhor me disse: Chama o seu nome Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4Porque antes que o menino saiba chamar pae meu, ou mãe minha, se levarão as riquezas de Damasco, e os despojos de Samaria, diante do rei da Assyria.

5E continuou o Senhor a fallar ainda comigo, dizendo:

6Porquanto este povo desprezou as aguas de Siloé que correm brandamente, e com Resin e com o filho de Remalias se alegrou:

7Portanto eis que o Senhor fará subir sobre elles as aguas do rio, fortes e impetuosas, ao rei da Assyria, com toda a sua gloria, e subirá acima sobre todos os seus leitos, e trasbordará por todas as suas ribanceiras.

8E passará a Judah, inundando-a, e irá passando por elle e chegará até ao pescoço: e a extensão de suas azas encherá a largura da tua terra, ó Emmanuel.

9Ajuntae-vos em companhia, ó povos, e quebrantae-vos; e dae ouvidos, todos os que sois de longes terras, cingi-vos e sêde feitos em pedaços, cingi-vos e sêde feitos em pedaços.

10Tomae juntamente conselho, e será dissipado: dizei a palavra, porém não subsistirá, porque Deus é comnosco.

11Porque assim me disse o Senhor com mão forte, e me ensinou que não andasse pelo caminho d'este povo, dizendo:

12Não chameis conjuração, a tudo quanto este povo chama conjuração: e não temaes o seu temor, nem tão pouco vos assombreis.

13Ao Senhor dos Exercitos, a elle sanctificae: e seja elle o vosso temor e seja elle o vosso assombro.

14Então elle vos será por sanctuario, mas por pedra d'escandalo, e por penha de tropeço, ás duas casas d'Israel, por laço e rede aos moradores de Jerusalem.

15E muitos tropeçarão entre elles, e cairão, e serão quebrantados, e enlaçados, e presos.

16Liga o testemunho, sella a lei entre os meus discipulos.

17E esperarei ao Senhor, que esconde o seu rosto da casa de Jacob, e a elle aguardarei.

18Eis-me aqui e os filhos que me deu o Senhor, por signaes e por maravilhas em Israel, da parte do Senhor dos Exercitos, que habita no monte de Sião.

19Quando pois vos disserem: Consultae os adivinhos e os encantadores, e que, chilrando entre dentes, murmuram: Porventura não perguntará o povo a seu Deus? ou perguntar-se-ha pelos vivos aos mortos?

20Á Lei e ao Testemunho, que se elles não fallarem segundo esta palavra, nunca verão a alva.

21E passarão pela terra duramente opprimidos e famintos: e será que, tendo fome, e enfurecendo-se, então amaldiçoarão ao seu rei e ao seu Deus, olhando para cima

22E, olhando para a terra, eis-que haverá angustia e escuridão, e serão entenebrecidos com ancia, e empuxados com escuridão.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Isaiah has another symbolic son, named Maher-shalal-hash-baz ('quick to the plunder'), a sign that Damascus and Samaria will fall rapidly before Assyria. The chapter closes with a call to trust in God rather than fortune-tellers, and the promise that darkness will not have the final word.

Explanation

The name of Isaiah's second son was, literally, a walking prophecy: before the child could say 'daddy' or 'mommy,' the wealth of Damascus and Samaria would already have been plundered by Assyria — which indeed happened around 732-722 BC. Isaiah also warns against seeking counsel from mediums and fortune-tellers, a common practice at the time but forbidden by the Law of Moses, insisting that the people should turn instead 'to the law and to the testimony.' The application today is to seek guidance from trustworthy sources and God's Word, rather than superstitions or quick fixes when fear closes in.

Fun facts

  • Maher-shalal-hash-baz is the longest proper name in the Bible, combining four Hebrew words into a single name.
  • The verse 'for God is with us' (v.10) echoes the theme of Immanuel from the previous chapter, reinforcing that God's presence is Judah's true shield against foreign threats.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 8:1Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the name of Isaiah's second son, means something like swift to the spoil, and once again a son becomes a prophetic sign. The name announces that before the baby can talk, the kingdoms of Syria and Israel will already have fallen to Assyria.
  2. Isaías 8:2Isaiah calls two trustworthy witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah, to officially confirm the record of the prophetic name from the previous verse—a way of documenting that the prophecy was spoken before it came true.
  3. Isaías 8:3The "prophetess," likely Isaiah's wife, has a son, and God tells him to name the child Maher-shalal-hash-baz—like Shear-jashub in chapter 7, another son of the prophet carrying a message in his own name.
  4. Isaías 8:4It explains the meaning of the name: before the baby knows how to say "My father" or "my mother," the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will already have been carried off by the king of Assyria—a short, concrete timeline for the fall of these kingdoms.
  5. Isaías 8:5A simple transition: God continues speaking to Isaiah, introducing the next oracle about the waters.
  6. Isaías 8:6The waters of Shiloah were a gentle channel that supplied Jerusalem, used here as an image of trusting God without fanfare. The contrast comes right after, with the river that will flood everything—the far greater force of Assyria.
  7. Isaías 8:7It continues the metaphor from the previous verse: since the people rejected the gentle waters of Shiloah, that is, trusting God, they will now face the mighty waters of the river—Assyria, which will overflow everything with all its force.
  8. Isaías 8:8Assyria's river sweeps over Judah until it reaches the neck, an image of near-total invasion. But it stops just short of drowning the land entirely, called here the land of Immanuel, as if it still belonged to the child promised in the previous chapter.
  9. Isaías 8:9A challenge directed at the enemy nations: prepare for war if you like, but you will be broken to pieces—the warning repeated twice for emphasis on how certain their defeat is.
  10. Isaías 8:10The challenge continues: whatever plan they devise will come to nothing, because "God is with us"—the same phrase behind the name Immanuel in chapter 7, used here as a guarantee of protection.
  11. Isaías 8:11Isaiah describes how God, with a strong hand, instructed him not to follow the people's path—a personal warning for the prophet not to give in to collective panic in the face of the threat of war.
  12. Isaías 8:12The specific instruction: do not call "confederacy" everything the people call that, and do not fear what they fear—an invitation not to follow popular panic about the military threat.
  13. Isaías 8:13Instead, the people should fear and sanctify only the LORD of hosts—trading fear of war for fear of God as the right response to the crisis.
  14. Isaías 8:14A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense describe the same God who protects becoming a cause for falling to those who do not trust Him. It is a stone in the road that both the northern kingdom and Judah will trip over.
  15. Isaías 8:15It continues the stumbling-stone image from the previous verse: many will stumble on it, fall, be broken, snared, and captured—describing the effect of rejecting God as one's protection.
  16. Isaías 8:16Isaiah is instructed to "bind up the testimony" and "seal the law" among his disciples—keeping the prophetic message safe, like a sealed document, to be remembered later.
  17. Isaías 8:17Isaiah declares that he will wait for the LORD even if He hides His face from the house of Jacob—an expression of personal trust in a time when God seems silent toward His people.
  18. Isaías 8:18Isaiah presents himself alongside the children God gave him, whose names function as signs and symbols from God to Israel, reinforcing the messages already given in the previous chapters.
  19. Isaías 8:19Consulting mediums and those who whisper as if speaking with the dead describes necromancy, people pretending to communicate with the deceased to seem supernatural. The text rejects this path and tells the people to turn back to the Law instead of seeking answers from the dead.
  20. Isaías 8:20It continues the warning against seeking the dead from the previous verse: the right answer is to return to the Law and the testimony; whoever speaks otherwise has "no light in them," meaning they will find no light or real solution.
  21. Isaías 8:21It describes the coming suffering: people going through hunger and oppression, hunger so desperate it drives them to curse their own king and their own God, looking upward in rebellion.
  22. Isaías 8:22The chapter ends looking down at the earth: only anguish and darkness, a people buried in distress and gloom—the opposite of the light promised right at the start of the next chapter.

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