--- title: "Isaiah 8 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary" description: "Read Isaiah 8 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I took unto me faithful" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8" --- [ Read](/kjv/isaiah/8)[ Commentary](/study/isaiah/8)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/isaiah/8) Audio 1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.* 2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.* 4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.* 5 ¶ The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, 6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, *even* the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach *even* to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.* 9 ¶ Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.* 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God *is* with us. 11 ¶ For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,* 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all *them to* whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and *let* him *be* your fear, and *let* him *be* your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me *are* for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19 ¶ And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, *it is* because *there is* no light in them.* 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and *they shall be* driven to darkness. [Isaiah 7](/study/isaiah/7) [Isaiah 9](/study/isaiah/9) ## Commentary To verse 1 And here it may be observed that it is almost the constant practice of the prophet to connect in like manner deliverances temporal with spiritual. Thus the *eleventh* chapter, setting forth the kingdom of Messiah, is closely connected with the *tenth*, which foretells the destruction of Sennacherib. So likewise the destruction of nations, enemies to God, in the *thirty-fourth* chapter, introduces the flourishing state of the kingdom of Christ in the *thirty-fifth*. And thus the chapters from xl. to xlix. inclusive, plainly relating to the deliverance from the captivity of Babylon, do in some parts plainly relate to the greater deliverance by Christ. NOTES ON CHAP. VIII Verse [Isaiah 8:1](/kjv/isaiah/8/1). ***Take thee a great roll -***"Take unto thee a large mirror"] The word גליון *gillayon* is not regularly formed from גלל *galal,* *to roll*, but from גלה *galah*, as פדיון *pidyon* from פדה *padah*, כליון killayon from כלה, *calah*, נקיון nikkayon from נקה *nakah*, עליון elyon from עלה *alah,* c., the י *yod* supplying the place of the radical ה *he*. גלה galah signifies to *show, to reveal* properly, as *Schroederus* says, (De Vestitu Mulier. Hebr. p. 294,) *to render clear and* *bright by rubbing; to polish*. גליון gillayon, therefore, according to this derivation, is not a roll or volume: but may very well signify a *polished tablet of metal*, such as was anciently used for a mirror. The *Chaldee* paraphrast renders it by לוח *luach, a tablet*, and the same word, though somewhat differently pointed, the Chaldee paraphrast and the rabbins render a *mirror*, [Isaiah 3:23](/kjv/isaiah/3/23). The mirrors of the Israelitish women were made of brass finely polished, [Exodus 38:8](/kjv/exodus/38/8), from which place it likewise appears that what they used were little hand mirrors which they carried with them even when they assembled at the door of the tabernacle. I have a metalline mirror found in Herculaneum, which is not above three inches square. The prophet is commanded to take a mirror, or brazen polished tablet, not like these little hand mirrors, but a large one; large enough for him to engrave upon it in deep and lasting characters, בחרט אנוש *becheret enosh*, with a workman's graving tool, the prophecy which he was to deliver. חרט *cheret* in this place certainly signifies an *instrument to write* or *engrave* with: but חריט *charit*, the same word, only differing a little in the form, means something belonging to a lady's dress, [Isaiah 3:22](/kjv/isaiah/3/22), (where however *five* MSS. leave out the י *yod*, whereby only it differs from the word in this place,) either a crisping-pin, which might be not unlike a graving tool, as some will have it, or a purse, as others infer from [2 Kings 5:23](/kjv/2-kings/5/23). It may therefore be called here חרט אנוש *cheret enosh, a workman's instrument*, to distinguish it from חרט אשה *cheret ishshah, an instrument* of the same name, *used by the women*. In this manner he was to record the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus and Samaria by the Assyrians; the subject and sum of which prophecy is here expressed with great brevity in four words, מהר שלל הש בז *maher shalal hash baz*; i.e., *to hasten the spoil, to take quickly the prey*; which are afterwards applied as the name of the prophet's son, who was made a sign of the speedy completion of it; Maher-shalal-hash-baz; *Haste-to-the-spoil, Quick-to-the-prey*. And that it might be done with the greater solemnity, and to preclude all doubt of the real delivery of the prophecy before the event, he calls witnesses to attest the recording of it. The prophet is commanded to take a great roll, and yet *four* *words* only are to be written in it, מהר שלל הש בז *maher shalal* *hash baz, Make haste to the spoil; fall upon the prey*. The great volume points out the land of Judea; and the few words the small number of inhabitants, after the *ten* tribes were carried into captivity. The words were to be written with a *man's pen*; i.e., though the prophecy be given in the *visions* of God, yet the writing must be real; the words must be transcribed on the great roll, that they may be read and publicly consulted. Or, חרט אנוש *cherot enosh, the* *pen* or *graver* of the weak miserable man, may refer to the already condemned Assyrians, who though they should be the instruments of chastening Damascus and Samaria, should themselves shortly be overthrown. The four words may be considered as the commission given to the Assyrians to destroy and spoil the cities. *Make haste* *to the spoil; Fall upon the prey, &c*. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8","name":"Isaiah 8 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Isaiah 8 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I took unto me faithful","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","name":"clarkes commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah","name":"Isaiah"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/8","name":"8"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```