Isaiah 8:4

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Then the LORD said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ²And I will appoint for myself trustworthy witnesses-Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah." ³And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ⁴For before the boy knows how to cry 'Father' or 'Mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria."⁵And the LORD spoke to me further: ⁶"Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates-the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and run over all its banks. ⁸It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

before: Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:16, Deuteronomy 1:39, Jonah 4:11, Romans 9:11

the riches of Damascus: etc. or, he that is before the king of Assyria shall take away the riches, etc. Isaiah 10:6-14, Isaiah 17:3, 2 Kings 15:29, 2 Kings 16:9, 2 Kings 17:3, 2 Kings 17:5, 2 Kings 17:6

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 18:11 - the king Isaiah 7:4 - the two tails Isaiah 7:8 - within Isaiah 9:8 - sent a word Isaiah 9:11 - set up Isaiah 10:5 - the rod Isaiah 17:1 - Damascus is Isaiah 28:1 - whose Hosea 13:16 - Samaria Amos 1:3 - Damascus Amos 3:12 - so shall Amos 6:14 - I will

Cross-References

Genesis 8:17
Bring out all the living creatures that are with you-birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground-so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it."

Genesis 8:19
Every living creature, every creeping thing, and every bird-everything that moves upon the earth-came out of the ark, kind by kind.

2 Kings 19:37
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon became king in his place.

Isaiah 37:38
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon became king in his place.

Jeremiah 51:27
"Raise a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her-Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, my father, and my mother,.... Which are commonly the first words children learn to say; and so it signifies that what follows should happen in a year or two; as it did:

the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, shall be taken away before the king of Assyria; or, "he shall take away the riches" q, c. not the child, unless he is considered as the sign of taking them away; but the soldier, put for the whole Assyrian army, which carried off the riches and spoil of these places, in the presence, and by the order, of the king of Assyria; the first of these, namely, Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, with its riches, wealth, and army, were taken and carried away by Tilgathpilneser, king of Assyria, within the time here mentioned, 2 Kings 16:9 but the latter, Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, was not taken and spoiled until the sixth year of Hezekiah, and ninth of Hoshea, 2 Kings 17:6 but because the prophecy began to be fulfilled, and was fulfilled in part, within the time mentioned, the whole is attributed to it; though it should be observed, that before this, after Pekah the son of Remaliah was slain, and Hoshea reigned in his stead, the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents; which may be called the spoil of Samaria, 2 Kings 17:3.

q ישא את חיל "asportabit, opulentiam----servus regis Assyriae", Junius & Tremellius "auferet opes----is [qui stet] coram facie regis Assyriae", Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For before ... - This must have occurred in a short time - probably before the expiration of three years. A child would usually learn to address his parents in that time. In fact, the event here predicted occurred in less than three years from the time when the prophecy was spoken; see the notes at Isaiah 7:16.

Before the king of Assyria - By the king, or by his conquests. By the spoil of Samaria here, is to be understood, not the plunder which should be carried away from the city, but from the kingdom of Samaria. In other places, the land is called by the name of the capital; compare 2 Kings 17:26; 2 Kings 23:19; Jeremiah 31:5. The city of Samaria was not plundered until eighteen years after the time mentioned here by the prophet; Isaiah 8:5-6. These verses introduce again what was predicted in Isaiah 7:17, following, respecting the invasion of the land by the king of Assyria. The cause of the invasion is specified, and the consequences are foretold.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 8:4. For before the child — For my father and my mother, one MS. and the Vulgate have his father and his mother. The prophecy was accordingly accomplished within three years; when Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, went up against Damascus and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin, and also took the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and carried them captive to Assyria, 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 16:9; 1 Chronicles 5:26.