Глава 8

1–4. A double sign of judgment threatening Syria and the kingdom of Israel. 5–10. Judgment of unbelief: a) Assyrian invasion of the land of Immanuel, 11-15. b) real, true danger, 16–22. c) without the revelation of God there is no hope for the Jews Isa.8:1–4. Some time after the meeting of the prophet Isaiah with Ahaz, depicted in the 7th chapter. (cf. Is. 8:8–10 and Is. 7:14), new signs and revelations were communicated to the prophet, explaining the meaning of what was previously communicated to the house of David through the prophet. A double sign - (the prophet had to write on the board the expression: Mager-shelal-hash-baz and name his son with such a strange name) - indicated the imminent ruin of Damascus and Samaria. Isa.8:1. And the Lord said to me: take yourself a large scroll and write on it in human writing: Mager-shelal-hash-baz. “Big scroll” - in Hebrew. gilaion, that is, a fairly large white tablet on which four words could be written clearly and large. For example, the famous Siloam inscription was written in “human writing,” i.e., in a commonly used script. This letter is contrasted with a conventional letter, which can only be understood by persons privy to the conventional meaning of different letters. Isa.8:2. And I took for myself faithful witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Barachias, - “Uriah,” as can be seen from 2 Kings 16:10 et seq., was a famous person at that time. He is chosen by God as a witness that the prophet actually wrote the above words, because he did not agree in concepts with the prophet Isaiah and for the king, as well as for the people, he had to seem completely impartial, even hostile to the prophet, as a witness with whom the prophet could not enter into any secret agreement. "Zechariah" may have been Ahaz's father-in-law (2 Kings 18:2). Isa.8:3. and I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me: call his name Mager-shelal-hash-baz, Isa.8:4. for before the child can say, “My father, my mother,” the riches of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be brought before the king of Assyria. It also indicates (the second symbolic action) the devastation of Syria and the kingdom of Israel. There was only a year and a half left before this devastation, because at the age of one and a half a child learns to babble the names of his father and mother (abi, immi). "Prophetess" - the wife of the prophet Isaiah. Isa.8:5–10. Reproaching some Jews who did not appreciate the Davidic family placed on the Jewish throne by God Himself and who had lost hope in the Almighty, the prophet announced to them that the one in whom they hoped more, that is, the Assyrian king, would be the devastater of their country. If it were not for Emmanuel, to whom the country of Judah belongs and who will therefore protect it, then the kingdom of Judah would have been completely destroyed. Isa.8:5. And the Lord continued to speak to me and said again: Isa.8:6. because this people despises the waters of Siloam, which flow gently, and admires Rezin and the son of Remali, Isa.8:7. The Lord will bring stormy and great river waters upon him - the king of Assyria with all his glory; and it will rise in all its channels and come out from all its banks; Isa.8:8. and it will go through Judea, flood it and rise high - it will reach the neck; and the spread of her wings will be throughout the entire breadth of Your land, Emmanuel! These verses reveal more clearly the prophecy of chapter 7 (vv. 17–15). “The Water of Siloam” is the quietly flowing stream of Siloam that flowed from under the royal palace on Mount Zion. It is a symbol of the royal service of the Davidic dynasty. There are Jews who despise this seemingly inconspicuous trickle and long for a stronger government. For this they will be punished: a large river will rush over them - the king of Assyria with his glory or a huge army. “The spreading of its wings,” that is, the flooding of this river. Instead of wings, you can put a hand expression here. "Thy land Immanuel". The prophet says that the land of Judea belongs to Emmanuel - in order to encourage the Jews who were frightened by his prediction. If Judah belongs to Immanuel as king, then He will not let it perish. Isa.8:9. Enmity, peoples, but tremble and listen, all distant lands! Arm yourself, but tremble; arm yourself, but tremble! Isa.8:10. Make plans, but they fail; speak the word, but it will not come true: for God is with us! In general, pagan peoples are not terrible for the Jews, because God is with the Jews! Or from Euro. “for - Immanuel!” Isa.8:11–15. So, salvation and destruction, as Isaiah learned from God, are not determined by the political art of rulers and do not depend on external circumstances. Everything in the life of the state, as in the life of an individual, depends on faith in the Word of God and on obedience to it. He who fears God will be intimidated by nothing, no danger; divine promises give such a person the desired peace. And those who do not pay attention to the Word of God proclaimed by the prophets will certainly stumble on their way and fall into trouble. Isa.8:11. For this is what the Lord spoke to me, holding a strong hand on me and warning me not to walk in the way of this people, and said: The prophet describes a new revelation here. At this time he was in a special, ecstatic state (under the hand of the Lord). “Walk in the way”, i.e. imitate. Isa.8:12. “Do not call everything that this people calls a conspiracy a conspiracy; and do not fear what he fears, and do not be afraid. The Lord teaches the prophet and the Jews, who were still able to listen to the prophet’s instructions, not to consider the conspiracy of the kings of Syria and Israel against the dynasty of David as any serious (2 Chronicles 23:13). Isa.8:13. The Lord of hosts - honor Him holy, and He is your fear, and He is your trembling! The Jews should not fear these insignificant kings, but their great King - the Lord! They must respect His will, because He is their Almighty Master. Isa.8:14. And He will be a sanctification and a stumbling block and a rock of offense to both houses of Israel, a snare and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Isa.8:15. And many of them will stumble and fall and be broken and entangled in a snare and be caught. And He will be sanctification - translated from Hebrew. sanctuary (leti keddasch). Some interpret this in the sense that the Almighty will be a refuge for the Jews, where enemies will not dare to penetrate behind the hidden Jews (cf. Is. 5:16; Ezek. 28:22). Others see here an indication of the Lord’s sanctifying activity for believers. Isa.8:16–22. The saving revelation, which the Jews do not want to accept, must be preserved, at least in a close circle of believers. The prophet must initiate them into understanding this revelation, and then let them wait patiently for its fulfillment. He himself, with his sons - Shear-Yasuv and Mager-Shelal-hash-baz, will remain a living testimony for everyone who wants to see and hear - evidence that salvation is only in the Lord, that the enemies of Judah will soon be punished and that only a remnant of the most rebellious Jewish people will be saved. Yes, the Jews should seek instruction from the prophets of God, but they turn to various fortunetellers for advice. This will lead the Jewish state to its final fall - both political and religious-moral. Isa.8:16. Bind the testimony, and seal the testimony among my disciples.” The Prophet declares that he wants to preserve this testimony of God, sealing it, for his disciples. (According to a more correct translation, the first word of the verse is read as an indefinite mood - ihotom: “I intend to tie...” This is the word of the prophet himself). The “disciples” of Isaiah are people who believe in the Most High, forming a close circle around the prophet. Isa.8:17. Therefore I trust in the Lord, who hid His face from the house of Jacob, and I trust in Him. If the Jewish society has lost hope in the Lord, the prophet firmly trusts in Him, despite his appearances, from which one could conclude that the Almighty has completely terminated His covenant with Israel. Isa.8:18. Here I am and the children whom the Lord gave me as indications and signs in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. Isaiah and his two sons - all three of them by their names (God saves - the remnant will be saved - hastens the robbery, hastens the spoils) serve as clear indications of what Jehovah intends to do for His people: the Lord will save His people. The Apostle Paul, both the previous verse and the words of verse 18: here I am and the children... puts into the mouth of the Messiah to prove that in the Old Testament there was also the thought of the Messiah, the Son of God, actually accepting true human flesh (Heb. 2:13). Isa.8:19. And when they say to you: turn to the summoners of the dead and to the sorcerers, to the whisperers and ventriloquists, then answer: should not the people turn to their God? Do the dead ask about the living? These signs are sufficient for the believer. Therefore, there is no need to turn to various kinds of fortune-tellers for information about the future! “Callers of the dead” - in Hebrew. haovot, i.e. people who claim to be mediums through whom one can receive an answer from one of the dead. Such was, for example, the sorceress from Endor (1 Samuel 28:7). “Sorcerers” - in Hebrew. hajidenim (from the verb jada - to know), in our opinion, healers or wise men (cf. Lev. 20:27; Deut. 18:11). As definitions for both of these terms, the following words have been added: squeaking and muttering. The first word indicates the squeak of a mouse in silence or the chirping of a bird and denotes the barely audible, thin, bird-like voice of a speaker speaking on behalf of the deceased, a medium. The second is the deafness of the voice that the same callers of the dead tried to give to their speech. “Answer” is not a word in Hebrew. text. Isa.8:20. Turn to law and revelation. If they do not speak like this word, then there is no light in them. The first words of this verse constitute an addition to the verb of the previous verse, and both verses, in accordance with the context of the speech, can be translated as follows: Meanwhile, they will say to you: “Consult with the callers of the dead and with the prophets who squeak and mutter. Should not the people consult with their gods (cf. John 1:5) and with the dead on a matter of interest to the living, in order to receive teaching and testimony? Of course, this is exactly what they will say, but there are no clear concepts (light) in them. Isa.8:21. And they will wander the earth, cruelly oppressed and hungry; and in times of famine they will be angry and blaspheme their king and their God. Isa.8:22. And they will look up and look at the earth; and behold, grief and darkness, thick darkness, and they will be cast into darkness. But there will not always be darkness where it has now thickened. Famine will force the Jews to curse their king and god - not the Lord, but the one whom they revered so much, on whom they placed their hopes. Everywhere darkness will cover the land of Judea. The Jews will raise their eyes to heaven, expecting to see the sun, but the sun will not appear to them. Darkness is here, as in other places, a symbolic designation of the most difficult, bleak situation (cf. Deut. 28:29). Chapter 8 contains new predictions about the Assyrian invasion. Verses 1–4, 5–10, 11–15, 16–20 form separate prophecies, separated by certain periods of time. The sign described in v. 1–4. was probably given in 734, for the kingdoms of Syria and Israel were predicted here to be devastated by the Assyrians in 1.5 years. The following passages refer to the kingdom of Judah, which in turn would suffer from the Assyrian ruler. The last passage is vv. 16–20. has, so to speak, personal interest, since it reports an important episode of the prophetic ministry of Isaiah. Tired, apparently, of the struggle with the distrust that the Jewish people showed in his advice, the prophet writes down his instructions and, having sealed them, entrusts this document to his disciples. What this document contained is impossible to speculate about. Chapter 7 Art. 10–16 and 8th, art. 1–4 and 8–10 are read as a proverb on the eve of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, since Emmanuel and His Kingdom are a prototype of Christ and His Church, which, with such a Defender, is not afraid of any enemies. You might be interested in: