Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 20:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 20:2. Walking naked and barefoot. — It is not probable that the prophet walked uncovered and barefoot for three years; his appearing in that manner was a sign that within three years the Egyptians and Cushites should be in the same condition, being conquered and made captives by the king of Assyria. The time was denoted as well as the event; but his appearing in that manner for three whole years could give no premonition of the time at all. It is probable, therefore, that the prophet was ordered to walk so for three days to denote the accomplishment of the event in three years; a day for a year, according to the prophetical rule, Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. The words שלש ימים shalosh yamim, three days, may possibly have been lost out of the text, at the end of the second verse, after יחף yacheph, barefoot; or after the same word in the third verse, where, in the Alexandrine and Vatican copies of the Septuagint, and in MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II. the words τρια ετη, three years, are twice expressed. Perhaps, instead of שלש ימים shalosh yamim, three days, the Greek translator might read שלש שנים shalosh shanim, three years, by his own mistake, or by that of his copy, after יחף yacheph in the third verse, for which stands the first τρια ετη, three years, in the Alexandrine and Vatican Septuagint, and in the two MSS. above mentioned. It is most likely that Isaiah's walking naked and barefoot was done in a vision; as was probably that of the Prophet Hosea taking a wife of whoredoms. None of these things can well be taken literally.

From thy foot — רגליך ragleycha, thy feet, is the reading of thirty-four of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., four ancient editions, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Further warning against alliances (20:1-6)

Previous messages have shown Hezekiah the uselessness of forming alliances with Philistia, Ethiopia or Egypt for the purpose of fighting against Assyria (see 14:28-32; 18:1-6; 19:1-15). To emphasize the point afresh, Isaiah acts a message for everybody to see. He dresses himself as a prisoner of war, to show the people of Judah what will happen to them if they enter foreign alliances instead of trusting God for victory over Assyria. After three years the people have proof of the wisdom of Isaiah’s advice. The Assyrians capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, after which they invade Egypt and Ethiopia and carry away many captives (20:1-4).
Philistia’s hope of military help from Egypt and Ethiopia is sadly disappointed. This causes Judah to realize how disastrous it would have been to trust in any of those countries for its security (5-6).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“At that time Jehovah spake by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put thy shoe from off thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.”

“Sackcloth was regarded as the appropriate dress for prophets; it was made of the coarse hair of the goat.”Albert Barnes’ Commentary p. 344. As for the instruction here to walk naked and barefoot, it is a mistake to think that Isaiah was totally nude. Hailey’s quotation from Delitzsch has this: “What Isaiah was directed to do was simply opposed to common custom, not to moral decency.”Homer Hailey, p. 172. No doubt, he actually wore a loin cloth or some other very abbreviated garment. This instead of the prophet’s customary dress was sensational enough. It is amazing that very respected commentators will flatly contradict the Word of God on a matter of this kind. Barnes pointed out that men consider it beneath the dignity of the royal prophet to have gone so long without his clothes. Lowth suggested that he walked naked and barefoot only for three days, which stood for three years!Robert Lowth’s Commentary, p. 244. “Rosemuller supposed this to mean `only at intervals’ for three years.”B. p. 345. To all such objections and suggestions, there remains the solid answer of the text: “And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.”

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

By Isaiah - Margin, ‘By the hand of Isaiah.’ So the Hebrew. That is, by the instrumentality of Isaiah. He sent him to make known the fate of the Egyptians, and the folly of trusting in them on this occasion.

Go, and loose the sackcloth - For the meaning of the word “sackcloth,” see the note at Isaiah 3:24. It was commonly worn as an emblem of mourning. But there is reason to believe that it was worn also by the prophets, and was regarded, in some degree, as their appropriate dress. It was made usually of the coarse hair of the goat, and was worn as a zone or girdle around the loins. That this was the dress of Elijah is apparent from 2 Kings 1:8 : ‘He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather;’ that is, he was clothed in a garment made of hair. The same was true of John the Baptist Matthew 3:4. That the prophets wore ‘a rough garment’ is apparent also from Zechariah 13:4 : ‘Neither shall they (the false prophets) wear a rough garment (Hebrew, A garment of hair) to deceive;’ that is, the false prophets shall not assume the dress of the true prophets for the purpose of deluding the people, or to make them think that they are true prophets. It is evident, therefore, that this hairy garment was regarded as a dress that pertained particularly to the prophets. It is well known, also, that the ancient Greek philosophers had a special dress to distinguish them from the common people. Probably the custom of wearing “hair cloth” among the monks of later ages took its rise from this example of the prophets. His removing this garment was designed to be a sign or an emblem to show that the Egyptians should be stripped of all their possessions, and carried captive to Assyria.

Walking naked - That is, walking “without this special prophetic garment. It does not mean that he was in a state of entire nudity, for all that he was directed to do was to lay this garment - this emblem of his office - aside. The word “naked,” moreover, is used in the Scriptures, not to denote an absolute destitution of clothing, but that the “outer” garment was laid aside (see the note at John 21:7). Thus it is said of Saul 1 Samuel 19:24 that he ‘stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day;’ that is, he stripped off his royal robes, and was “naked or unclothed” in that respect. He removed his “special” dress as a king, or military chieftain, and appeared in the ordinary dress. It cannot be supposed that the king of Israel would be seen literally without raiment. So David is said to have danced “naked” before the ark, that is, with his royal robes laid aside. How “long” Isaiah walked in this manner has been a matter of doubt (see the note at Isaiah 20:3). The prophets were accustomed to use symbolic actions to denote the events which they foretold (see the note at Isaiah 8:18). Thus the children of Isaiah, and the names given to them, were significant of important events (Isaiah 8:1-3; compare Jeremiah 18:1-6; Jeremiah 43:8-9); in both of which places he used emblematic actions to exhibit the events concerning which he prophesied in a striking manner. Thus also the prophets are expressly called ‘signs and wonders’ Zechariah 3:8; Ezekiel 12:6.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2.Go and loose the sackcloth from thy loins. In order to confirm this prophecy by the use of a symbol, the Lord commanded Isaiah to walk naked. If Isaiah had done this of his own accord, he would have been justly ridiculed; but when he does it by the command of the Lord, we perceive nothing but what is fitted to excite admiration and to strike awe. In this nakedness, and in the signs of a similar kind, something weighty is implied. Besides, the Lord does nothing either by himself or by his servants without likewise explaining the reason; and therefore the Prophet does not merely walk naked, but points out the design which the Lord had in view in ordering him to do so. In other respects false prophets imitate the true servants of God, and put on varied and imposing shapes, to dazzle the eyes of the multitude, and gain credit to themselves; but those symbols are worthless, because God is not the author of them.

This ought to be carefully observed in opposition to the Papists, who bring forward empty ceremonies instead of true sacraments. This is the rule with which we ought to meet them. If they proceed from God, we ought to embrace them, but if not, we may boldly reject them; and, indeed, they cannot be adopted without offering an insult to God, because in such cases men usurp his authority. Besides, God does not bring forward signs without the word, for what would a sacrament be if we beheld nothing but the sign? It is the doctrine alone that makes the sacrament, and therefore let us know that it is mere hypocrisy where no doctrine is taught, and that Papists act wickedly when they lay aside doctrine, and give the name of sacrament to empty ceremonies; for the Lord has connected them in such a manner that no man can separate them without infringing that order which he has enjoined.

When the Lord commands him to loose the sackcloth; almost all the commentators infer from it that Isaiah at that time wore a garment of mourning, because he bewailed the distressed condition of Israel; for sackcloth was a mourning dress, as is evident from Joel (Joel 1:13.) Their interpretation is, that this was done in order that, in the dress of culprits, he might supplicate pardon from God, or that it was impossible for his countenance or his dress to be cheerful when his heart was sad, and he could not but be affected with the deepest grief when he beheld so great a calamity. Some think that it was his ordinary dress, because the Prophets, as Zechariah informs us, commonly wore a mantle. (Zechariah 13:4.) But that conjecture rests on exceedingly slight grounds, and has no great probability. It is more probable that he wore sackcloth as expressive of mourning. Judea was at that time sunk into such a state of indifference, that when men saw their brethren wretchedly distressed and wasted, still they were not affected by it, and did not think that the affliction of their brethren was a matter which at all concerned them. They still thought that they were beyond the reach of danger, and mocked at the Prophets when they threatened and foretold destruction. Hence Micah also complains that no man bewails the distresses of Israel. (Micah 1:11.)

A question arises, Was this actually done, or was it merely and simply a vision which he told to the people? The general opinion is, that the Prophet never went naked, but that this was exhibited to him in a vision, and only once. They allege as a reason, that on account of heat and cold, and other inconveniences of the weather, he could not have walked naked during the whole period of three years. What if we should say that the Prophet wore clothes at home, and also in public, unless when he wished to come forth to teach, and that on such occasions he was accustomed to present to the people a spectacle of nakedness? I pay little attention to the argument, that he was unable to endure heat and cold; for God, who commanded him to do this, could easily strengthen and protect him. But they assign another reason, that nakedness would have been unbecoming in a Prophet. I answer, this nakedness was not more unbecoming than circumcision, which irreligious men might consider to be the most absurd of all sights, because it made an exposure of the uncomely parts. Yet it must not be thought that the Prophet went entirely naked, or without covering those parts which would present a revolting aspect. It was enough that the people understood what the Lord was doing, and were affected by it as something extraordinary.

I am led to form this opinion by what is here said, “By the hand of Isaiah;” for although this mode of expression frequently occurs elsewhere, still we never find it where it does not imply something emphatic, to describe the effect produced. He places himself in the midst between God and his countrymen, so as to be the herald of a future calamity, not only in words, but likewise by a visible symbol. Nor is it superfluous that it is immediately added, He did so. I am therefore of opinion that Isaiah walked naked whenever he discharged the office of a prophet, and that he uncovered those parts which could be beheld without shame.

So far as relates to sackcloth, although it was customary for men in private stations of life to express their guilt in this manner in adversity, yet it is probable that it was with a view to his office that Isaiah made use of this symbol to confirm his doctrine, that he might the better arouse the people from their sluggishness. If at any time the Lord chastise ourselves or our brethren, he does not enjoin us to change our raiment, but we are cruel and (ἄστοργοι) without natural affection, if we are not moved by the afflictions of brethren and the ruin of the Church. If we have any feeling towards God, we ought to be in sadness and tears; and if it be our duty to mourn, we ought also to exhort others and stimulate them by our example to feel the calamities of the Church, and to be touched with some (συμπαθείᾳ) compassion.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 20

Now in chapter 20, Isaiah predicts that Assyria is going to waste both Egypt and Ethiopia.

In the year that Tartan ( Isaiah 20:1 )

Which is the title which means the commander in chief. Tartan, the commander in chief.

came unto Ashdod ( Isaiah 20:1 ),

One of the major cities of the Philistines. It is now a seaport city of Israel.

(when the commander in chief of the forces of Assyria under Sargon) came to Ashdod, and took it; At the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off your loins, and put your shoes off your feet. And so he did, walking naked and barefoot. And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot for three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, where can we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape? ( Isaiah 20:1-6 )

So, it was a sort of a method by which the conquering armies would seek to disgrace the conquered people is by making them march naked. Now it is interesting that God would tell his prophet Isaiah to walk around naked for three years. So that it would be the sign to the people. So Assyria is going to embarrass both Ethiopia and Egypt by conquering them and leading away their captives naked. And their confederacy together is not going to stand. And that is why Isaiah's saying, "Don't make a league with Egypt or don't look to them for help against Assyria. Look to the Lord. If you look to man, if you look to the arm of flesh, you're going to fall anyhow."

Now the counsel of God is pretty much perennial in that God is encouraging us to look to Him for our help and for our strength and for our defense. Don't look to the arm of flesh. Don't look to the arm of man to help you, because man can fail. The Lord will not fail. And so this was the message of Isaiah unto Judah and to king Hezekiah to trust in the Lord. Don't trust in an alliance and an agreement, because these nations are going to fall to Assyria. You trust in the Lord, the Lord will take care of you. And as we trust in the Lord, we can be sure the Lord will take care of us.

Shall we pray.

Father, we thank You again for Thy sure Word, that even as You have spoken, surely it shall come to pass. And Father, we can see as we look at history and as we read of the prophets, who before the events so clearly described them, we thank You, Lord, for this proof of Your divine capacities and divine nature. Dwelling, Lord, as You do in the eternal, outside of our time continuum. And thus, speaking of things before they come to pass as though they had already come to pass because You know they are going to come to pass. Oh, how thankful we are for Your sure Word and for the promises that yet await us as Your children, of those things that are going to come, of Thy glorious kingdom upon this earth. And our privilege of being with You and reigning with You. Now hide Thy Word away in our hearts and let us grow in our confidence and trust in Thee. In Jesus' name.

Shall we stand.

May the Lord be with you and watch over you through the week as special emphasis is being made, the emphasis and attention upon the death of Jesus Christ and His subsequent resurrection. May the power to raise Jesus from the dead dwell in you, quicken you to every good work. God bless you and anoint you with His Spirit and use your life as His instrument to shine forth His light to a dark world. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The year in view was 711 B.C. Like Isaiah 7:1, Isaiah 20:1 introduces the historical setting for the events that follow. For four years, Egypt had encouraged the city-states of western Palestine to resist Assyrian aggression-with the promise of assistance. In 713 B.C., Ashdod, the northernmost Philistine town that stood about 35 miles west of Jerusalem, had rebelled, and Assyria replaced her king, Ahimiti (Azuri), with another, a man named Yamani (Jaman). Rebellion continued, however, and pleas for help went out from Ashdod to Judah, Moab, and Edom. Sargon II (722-705 B.C.) responded to Ashdod’s rebellion by sending his second in command, who reduced Ashdod to an Assyrian province. Egypt’s promised help never materialized. In fact, the Egyptians handed Yamani over to the Assyrians in chains to avoid an Assyrian attack.

During that period, God instructed His prophet to dramatize a message. Jeremiah and Ezekiel often dramatized prophecies, but this is the only time Isaiah did as far as the text records. Isaiah was to take his clothes off, including his shoes. The word "naked" (Heb. ’arom) can mean: clothed only with a loin cloth, or totally naked (cf. Isaiah 58:7; Genesis 2:25; 1 Samuel 19:24; 2 Samuel 6:20; Micah 1:8; John 21:7). If God wanted Isaiah to go totally naked He probably would not have mentioned his shoes. Isaiah may have been wearing sackcloth because he was mourning (cf. Isaiah 15:3), but this may have been his normal garment (cf. 2 Kings 1:8).

"With the great importance attached to the clothing in the East, where the feelings upon this point are peculiarly sensitive and modest, a person was looked upon as stripped and naked if he had only taken off his upper garment. What Isaiah was directed to do, therefore, was simply opposed to common custom, and not to moral decency. He was to lay aside the dress of a mourner and preacher of repentance, and to have nothing on but his tunic (cetoneth); and in this, as well as barefooted, he was to show himself in public. This was the costume of a man who had been robbed and disgraced, or else of a beggar or prisoner of war." [Note: Delitzsch, 1:372.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz,.... Or, "by the hand of Isaiah", by his means; and it was to him likewise, as the following words show; and so the Septuagint version renders it; he spoke by him, by the sign he used, according to his order, and he spoke to him to use the sign:

saying; so the Arabic version, "with him"; and with these versions Noldius agrees:

go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins; a token of mourning, and which the prophet wore, as Kimchi thinks, because of the captivity of the ten tribes; and it may be also on account of the miseries that were coming upon the people of the Jews; though some think this was his common garb, and the same with the royal garment the prophets used to wear, Zechariah 13:4 but that he had put off, and had put on sackcloth in its room, which he is now bid to take off:

and put off thy shoe from thy foot; as a sign of distress and mourning also, 2 Samuel 15:30:

and he did so, walking naked and barefoot; Kimchi thinks this was only visionally, or in the vision of prophecy, as he calls it, and not in reality; but the latter seems most probable, and best to agree with what follows; for he was obedient to the divine command, not regarding the disgrace which might attend it, nor the danger of catching cold, to which he was exposed; and hence he has the character of a servant of the Lord, in the next words, and a faithful obedient one he was.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;   2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.   3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;   4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.   5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.   6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

      God here, as King of nations, brings a sore calamity upon Egypt and Ethiopia, but, as King of saints, brings good to his people out of it. Observe,

      I. The date of this prophecy. It was in the year that Ashdod, a strong city of the Philistines (but which some think was lately recovered from them by Hezekiah, when he smote the Philistines even unto Gaza, 2 Kings 18:8), was besieged and taken by an army of the Assyrians. It is uncertain what year of Hezekiah that was, but the event was so remarkable that those who lived then could by that token fix the time to a year. He that was now king of Assyria is called Sargon, which some take to be the same with Sennacherib; others think he was his immediate predecessor, and succeeded Shalmaneser. Tartan, who was general, or commander-in-chief, in this expedition, was one of Sennacherib's officers, sent by him to bid defiance to Hezekiah, in concurrence with Rabshakeh, 2 Kings 18:17.

      II. The making of Isaiah a sign, by his unusual dress when he walked abroad. He had been a sign to his own people of the melancholy times that had come and were coming upon them, by the sackcloth which for some time he had worn, of which he had a gown made, which he girt about him. Some think he put himself into that habit of a mourner upon occasion of the captivity of the ten tribes. Others think sackcloth was what he commonly wore as a prophet, to show himself mortified to the world, and that he might learn to endure hardness; soft clothing better becomes those that attend in king's palaces (Matthew 11:8) than those that go on God's errands. Elijah wore hair-cloth (2 Kings 1:8), and John Baptist (Matthew 3:4) and those that pretended to be prophets supported their pretension by wearing rough garments (Zechariah 13:4); but Isaiah has orders given him to loose his sackcloth from his loins, not to exchange it for better clothing, but for none at all--no upper garment, no mantle, cloak, or coat, but only that which was next to him, we may suppose his shirt, waistcoat, and drawers; and he must put off his shoes, and go barefoot; so that compared with the dress of others, and what he himself usually wore, he might be said to go naked. This was a great hardship upon the prophet; it was a blemish to his reputation, and would expose him to contempt and ridicule; the boys in the streets would hoot at him, and those who sought occasion against him would say, The prophet is indeed a fool, and the spiritual man is mad,Hosea 9:7. It might likewise be a prejudice to his health; he was in danger of catching a cold, which might throw him into a fever, and cost him his life; but God bade him do it, that he might give a proof of his obedience to God in a most difficult command, and so shame the disobedience of his people to the most easy and reasonable precepts. When we are in the way of our duty we may trust God both with our credit and with our safety. The hearts of that people were strangely stupid, and would not be affected with what they only heard, but must be taught by signs, and therefore Isaiah must do this for their edification. If the dress was scandalous, yet the design was glorious, and what a prophet of the Lord needed not to be ashamed of.

      III. The exposition of this sign, Isaiah 20:3; Isaiah 20:4. It was intended to signify that the Egyptians and the Ethiopians should be led away captive by the king of Assyria, thus stripped, or in rags, and very shabby clothing, as Isaiah was. God calls him his servant Isaiah, because in this matter particularly he had approved himself God's willing, faithful, obedient servant; and for this very thing, which perhaps others laughed at him for, God gloried in him. To obey is better than sacrifice; it pleases God and praises him more, and shall be more praised by him. Isaiah is said to have walked naked and barefoot three years, whenever in that time he appeared as a prophet. But some refer the three years, not to the sign, but to the thing signified: He has walked naked and barefoot; there is a stop in the original; provided he did so once that was enough to give occasion to all about him to enquire what was the meaning of his doing so; or, as some think, he did it three days, a day for a year; and this for a three years' sign and wonder, for a sign of that which should be done three years afterwards or which should be three years in the doing. Three campaigns successively shall the Assyrian army make, in spoiling the Egyptians and Ethiopians, and carrying them away captive in this barbarous manner, not only the soldiers taken in the field of battle, but the inhabitants, young and old; and it being a very piteous sight, and such as must needs move compassion in those that had the least degree of tenderness left them to see those who had gone all their days well dressed now stripped, and scarcely having rags to cover their nakedness, that circumstance of their captivity is particularly taken notice of, and foretold, the more to affect those to whom this prophecy was delivered. It is particularly said to be to the shame of Egypt (Isaiah 20:4; Isaiah 20:4), because the Egyptians were a proud people, and therefore when they did fall into disgrace it was the more shameful to them; and the higher they had lifted up themselves the lower was their fall, both in their own eyes and in the eyes of others.

      IV. The use and application of this, Isaiah 20:5; Isaiah 20:6. 1. All that had any dependence upon, or correspondence with, Egypt and Ethiopia, should now be ashamed of them, and afraid of having any thing to do with them. Those countries that were in danger of being overrun by the Assyrians expected that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, with his numerous forces, would put a stop to the progress of their victorious arms, and be a barrier to his neighbours; and with yet more assurance they gloried that Egypt, a kingdom so famous for policy and prowess, would do their business, would oblige them to raise the siege of Ashdod and retire with precipitation. But, instead of this, by attempting to oppose the king of Assyria they did but expose themselves and make their country a prey to him. Hereupon all about them were ashamed that ever they promised themselves any advantage from two such weak and cowardly nations, and were more afraid now than ever they were of the growing greatness of the king of Assyria, before whom Egypt and Ethiopia proved but as briers and thorns put to stop a consuming fire, which do but make it burn the more strongly. Note, Those who make any creature their expectation and glory, and so put it in the place of God, will sooner or later be ashamed of it, and their disappointment in it will but increase their fear. See Ezekiel 29:6; Ezekiel 29:7. 2. The Jews in particular should be convinced of their folly in resting upon such broken reeds, and should despair of any relief from them (Isaiah 20:6; Isaiah 20:6): The inhabitants of this isle (the land of Judah, situated upon the sea, though not surrounded by it), of this country (so the margin); every one shall now have his eyes opened, and shall say, "Behold, such is our expectation, so vain, so foolish, and this is that which it will come to. We have fled for help to the Egyptians and Ethiopians, and have hoped by them to be delivered from the king of Assyria; but, now that they are broken thus, how shall we escape, that are not able to bring such armies into the field as they did?" Note, (1.) Those that confide in creatures will be disappointed, and will be made ashamed of their confidence; for vain is the help of man, and in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills or the height and multitude of the mountains. (2.) Disappointment in creature confidences, instead of driving us to despair, as here (how shall we escape?), should drive us to God; for, if we flee to him for help, our expectation shall not be frustrated.