Isaiah 20:4

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it, ²the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, "Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet." And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot. ³Then the LORD said, "Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, ⁴so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks-to Egypt's shame.⁵Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. ⁶And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, 'See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

shall: Isaiah 19:4, Jeremiah 46:26, Ezekiel 30:18

Egyptians: Heb. captivity of Egypt

with their: Isaiah 3:17, 2 Samuel 10:4, Jeremiah 13:22, Jeremiah 13:26, Micah 1:11

shame: Heb. nakedness, Revelation 3:18

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 15:30 - barefoot 1 Chronicles 19:4 - and cut Isaiah 19:20 - they shall Isaiah 31:2 - against the help Isaiah 32:11 - strip Isaiah 47:2 - make bare Jeremiah 46:19 - furnish thyself to go into captivity Jeremiah 48:39 - a derision Jeremiah 51:22 - General Ezekiel 30:5 - Ethiopia Nahum 3:10 - she carried Habakkuk 2:16 - and let Zephaniah 2:12 - Ethiopians

Cross-References

Genesis 19:24
Then the LORD rained down brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah-from the LORD out of the heavens.

Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

Genesis 20:17
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children-

Genesis 20:18
for on account of Abraham's wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech's household.

2 Samuel 4:11
How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and wipe you off the earth!"

1 Chronicles 21:17
And David said to God, "Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I, the shepherd, am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father's house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives,.... As beasts are led or driven, being taken prisoners, and carried captive by the king of Assyria, namely Sargon, whoever is intended by him:

young and old; without any regard to age, sparing none for their tender years or gray hairs:

naked and barefoot; as prisoners of war commonly are, being stripped by their conquerors of their clothes, and having only a few rags given them to cover their nakedness with, and obliged to travel without shoes on their feet:

even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt; having no clothes on them to cover those parts; or the skirts of their garments cut off, as David's servants were by the Ammonites,

2 Samuel 10:4 and this to humble and mortify the pride of the Egyptians.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

So shall the king of Assyria - The emphasis here is on the word “so.” As Isaiah has walked naked, that is, stripped off his usual clothing, “so” shall the Egyptians and Ethiopians be led away “stripped” of all their possessions.

The Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives - The Egyptians and Ethiopians, or Cushites, were often united in an alliance, and appear to have been when this prophecy was delivered. Thus Nahum 3:8 :

Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;

Put and Lubim were thy helpers.

To the shame of Egypt - It shall be a disgrace to them to be subdued, and to be carried captive in so humiliating a manner. It is remarked by Belzoni (‘Operations and Recent Discoveries in Egypt and Nubia’), that in the figures on the remains of their temples, prisoners are often represented as naked, or only in aprons, with disheveled hair, and with their hands chained. He also remarks, that on a “bas-relief,” on the recently-discovered graves of the kings of Thebes, a multitude of “Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners” are represented - showing that Egypt and Ethiopia were sometimes “allied,” alike in mutual defense and in bondage (compare Isaiah 47:2, and Nahum 3:5).