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TitleIsaiah 8
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsParry, Donald W.
Book TitleThe Book of Isaiah: A New Translation (Preliminary Edition)
Chapter8
PublisherBook of Mormon Central
CitySpringville, UT

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The Immanuel Prophecy: First Fulfillment (8:1–4)

Isaiah

8 1And [the word of][1] the LORD said to me,

The Lord

“Take for yourself a great tablet and write on it with an ordinary engraving tool: ‘Maher-shalal-hash-baz[2].’”

Isaiah

2And I took faithful witnesses for me—Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3And I drew close to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me,

The Lord

“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4For [behold][3] the child will [not] have knowledge to cry, ‘My father and my mother!’ [before] the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away by the king of Assyria.”

Rejecting the LORD, Who Is the Waters of Shiloah (8:5–10)

Isaiah

5The LORD spoke unto me again, saying,

The Lord

6“Because this people refuse the waters of Shiloah that flow gently,
and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son,”

Isaiah

7now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the waters of the river,
mighty and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory;

and it will come up over all its streambed,
and go over all its banks.

8And it will pass over Judah;
it will overflow and go over

until it will reach the neck;
and it will stretch out its wings, filling the breadth of your land; God is with us! [Immanuel].[4]

9Band together, O peoples, but you will be broken;
and give ear, all distant parts of the earth;

gird yourselves, but you will be broken;
gird yourselves, but you will be broken.[5]

10Counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us! [Immanuel].

The LORD Is a Temple to the Righteous (8:11–15)

Isaiah

11For thus the LORD said to me with the grasping of the hand
and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

The Lord

12“Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’
whenever this people say, ‘Conspiracy’;

do not fear what they fear,
neither stand in awe.”

Isaiah

13You will regard the LORD of Hosts as holy; He is your fear,
and you will regard Him with awe. 14And He will be a Temple,

but He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel,
a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15And many among them will stumble, and they will fall,
and they will be broken, and they will be snared, and they will be captured.

Sealing the Testimony and the Law (8:16–22)

The Lord

16Bind up the testimony;
seal the law among My disciples.

Isaiah

17And I will wait for the LORD, who hides His face from the house of Jacob,
and I will hope for Him.

18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel—from the LORD of Hosts, who resides in Mount Zion. 19And when they will say unto you,

The wicked

“Seek mediums and spiritists,
who whisper and mutter—”

Isaiah

Should not a people seek unto their God?
On behalf of the living to [hear from][6] the dead?

20To the law and to the testimony; [and][7] if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no dawn[8] in them.

21And they will pass through it, distressed and hungry;
and it will come to pass that when they become hungry,

they will become enraged
and curse their king and their gods,

and they will look upward.
22And they will look to the earth

and behold, distress and darkness, uttermost anguish;
and they will be thrust into darkness. 



[1] From JST and 2 Nephi 18.

[2] A prophetic name in Hebrew; it translates into these four words: “speed,” “spoil,” “hasten,” “plunder.”

[3] Bracketed words in verse 4 are from JST and 2 Nephi 18:4.

[4] The name Immanuel (Hebrew “God is with us”), mentioned twice in Isaiah 8 (8:8, 10), is a refrain. It serves to remind the reader of the sign provided to King Ahaz (7:14–16). More impor­tantly, Immanuel is the name of Jesus Christ (see Matthew 1:21–23), who brings spiritual salvation to Israel. In the end, the world’s nations and alliances fail because the power of Immanuel exceeds theirs.

[5] DSS Isaiah lacks the repeated line, but the repeated words encompass the second line of the parallelism, with the repetition signifying a rhetorical way to emphasize the idea being presented.

[6] From JST and 2 Nephi 18:19–20; 19:1.

[7] From JST and 2 Nephi 18:20.

[8] Isaiah puts forth dawn, not light (compare KJV and other translations). Dawn expresses the beginning of light (as in light coming in the morning).

 

Scripture Reference

Isaiah 8:1