Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 8:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 8:6. Forasmuch as this people refuseth - "Because this people have rejected"] The gentle waters of Shiloah, a small fountain and brook just without Jerusalem, which supplied a pool within the city for the use of the inhabitants, is an apt emblem of the state of the kingdom and house of David, much reduced in its apparent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God; and is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, great, rapid, and impetuous; the image of the Babylonian empire, which God threatens to bring down like a mighty flood upon all these apostates of both kingdoms, as punishment for their manifold iniquities, and their contemptuous disregard of his promises. The brook and the river are put for the kingdoms to which they belong, and the different states of which respectively they most aptly represent. Juvenal, inveighing against the corruption of Rome by the importation of Asiatic manners, says, with great elegance, that "the Orontes has been long discharging itself into the Tiber:" -

Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes.

And Virgil, to express the submission of some of the Eastern countries to the Roman arms, says: -

Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis.

AEn. viii. 726.

"The waters of the Euphrates now flowed more humbly and gently."

But the happy contrast between the brook and the river gives a peculiar beauty to this passage of the prophet, with which the simple figure in the Roman poets, however beautiful, yet uncontrasted, cannot contend.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Isaiah’s son a sign for the people (8:1-10)

God then gives a second sign to guarantee the defeat of Israel and Syria. The sign of Immanuel had been given to the royal household, but this sign is given to the people. Another child is to be born, this one to Isaiah and his wife. The name of the child, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (meaning ‘the spoil hastens, the plunder comes quickly’; cf. GNB: Quick Loot, Fast Plunder), is announced publicly in advance so that the birth of the child will give added assurance to the people that God’s promises come true. The significance of the sign is that within a year or so of the child’s birth, Judah’s enemies (Israel and Syria) will be defeated and their goods seized by the conqueror (8:1-4).
The people of Judah, however, are unmoved; they still refuse to believe. They reject the help of God (likened to the waters of the gently flowing canal of Shiloah in Jerusalem), and prefer instead the help of Assyria (likened to the waters of the mighty river Euphrates). This river will not only destroy Israel and Syria, but will overflow into Judah, the land of Immanuel, almost drowning the people (5-8).
Then, turning to address Israel and Syria, Isaiah tells them that their plans for the conquest of Judah will not succeed. They have no chance of victory, because Judah is the land of Immanuel - ‘God with us’ (9-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“And Jehovah spake unto me yet again, saying, Forasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son; now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the River, strong and mighty, even the king of Assyria and all his glory: and it shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks; and it shall sweep onward into Judah; it shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.”

“This people” This usually refers to the Ten Tribes; but in Isaiah’s era it also included rebellious and unbelieving Judah, whom God did not call “my people” during their apostasy, but “this people.”

The outstanding thing in this paragraph is the contrast between the “waters that go softly” and the rampaging flood waters of the Euphrates River, these metaphors standing here for the benign and quiet government of the Lord and for the violent, cruel and ruthless domination of the king of Assyria.

“The waters that go softly” These were the waters that fed the pool of Siloam at which pool Jesus gave eyesight to the man born blind (John 9). (See our discussion of this in Vol. 4 of the New Testament Series of Commentaries, p. 252.) A careful study of Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 8:6, and John 9:7 reveals that Shiloh, Shiloah, and Siloam are actually the same word gradually changed through the ages. Shiloh in Genesis is a poetic name for Messiah, but the Septuagint (LXX) in Isaiah 8:6 rendered the word Siloam, and Christ revealed through John that the word means “one sent,” an obvious reference to Messiah. Thus, Shiloh and Siloam are the same. Such a metamorphosis in words is not uncommon. For example, within the brief history of our country, the Indian name “Powtowmack” was give to the river in Washington D.C., but this spelling, in time, became Potomac. This is proved by a glance at early maps of that area.

It was once believed the waters mentioned here (that went softly) were so-called because they fed through an underground conduit leading into the pool of Siloam from the bottom, enabling the waters to rise silently; but current scholarship denies that this was the case when Isaiah wrote, because Hezekiah built that underground conduit at a later date. We might question the accuracy of that finding, for it leaves unanswered the question of what Ahaz was doing in the fuller’s field where the conduit crossed it when Isaiah went to meet him. Did he plan and initiate the underground waterway? and did Hezekiah who finished it merely, claim that he built it? Like many other disputed things with reference to Biblical texts, it does not make the slightest bit of difference. The waters ofthat little stream which initiated under the temple area were the waters “that flowed softly,” whether because of the underground conduit or because, “The aqueduct that carried it fell only one-quarter of an inch in 300 yards!”D. J. Wiseman, The New Bible Dictionary, p. 1186. Right here is most probably the correct answer.

The waters from this stream were still further connected with Jesus Christ; because in the midst of the Feast of Tabernacles, “According to the Talmud, waters were drawn from Siloam’s pool and carried in a golden vessel to be carried to the Temple on the Feast of Tabernacles.”Ibid., p. 1187. It was on that very day, “Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” (John 7:37). How appropriate, therefore, it was for the prophet to have made the waters of Siloam a metaphor of God’s government and teaching.

“(They) rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son” This does not mean that the people of Judah were at that time in harmony with Rezin and Remaliah’s son; “For they were terrified of them;”Arthur S. Peake, p. 442. and the rejoicing would appear to have been in the approaching destruction of Damascus and the Northern Israel.

The great flood of the River, a metaphorical reference to the invasion and destruction of Damascus and Northern Israel (Ephraim), is further revealed here as being an invasion of Judah also. There would be this difference. Although the invasion would be very destructive, it would not reach to the destruction of Jerusalem. “We can hardly miss the application of this to the invasion that culminated in the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 B.C.”Jim McGuiggan, p. 100.

“O Immanuel” These are the two most important words in the paragraph, the emphasis being that Assyria has actually dared to attack and devastate the land that belongs to Immanuel, God with us! “This identifies Palestine as the land to which the divine pledge has been given, and embodied in the Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14.”J. R. Dummelow, J. R. Dummelow’s Commentary, p. 419. From the assurance derived from this profound truth, Isaiah proceeded to denounce all of God’s enemies immediately in the next verses. These words are applicable only to Messiah there being no connection whatever between Immanuel and the son of Isaiah. The flood would indeed come up to the neck, but the head would escape. Neither the land (Immanuel’s land), nor Jerusalem, nor the people (of whom a remnant would remain) could be destroyed; for, “God had promised Immanuel (the Messiah) would be born (Isaiah 7:14); and Assyria could never thwart God’s promise.”Homer Hailey, p 94.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Forasmuch as this people - There has been a considerable difference of opinion among interpreters respecting the ‘people’ to whom the prophet here refers. Some have supposed that it refers to the kingdom of Judah alone; others to a party in that kingdom; and others to the kingdom of Judah in connection with the ten tribes, or the kingdom of Israel also. The latter is probably the correct interpretation. The prophet reproves the whole nation of the Jews for despising the mild and gentle reign of the family of David, and for seeking the aid of foreign nations; the ten tribes as seeking an alliance with Rezin and Pekah; and the kingdom of Judah as seeking an alliance with the king of Assyria. It was characteristic of the nation - both of the ten tribes, and of the tribe of Judah - that they forsook the defense which they had in themselves. and sought foreign alliances. Hence, God says, that he will bring upon them the judgments which they deserve. That there is a joint reference to both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, is apparent from Isaiah 8:14. It cannot refer to the kingdom of Judah alone, for it could not be brought as an accusation against them, that they took pleasure in Rezin. In the opinion that it refers to the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah - to the whole Jewish people, Vitringa, Lowth, and Hengstenberg concur.

The waters of Shiloah that go softly - That flow gently. The name Siloah, or Siloam, is found only three times in the Scriptures as applied to waters; once in this place, where it is spoken of a running water; once as a pool in Nehemiah - השׁלח ברכה b^erêkah hash^elach - Isaiah 3:15, and again as a pool, in the account of the miracle of healing the man who was born blind; John 9:7, John 9:11. Siloam is on the east side of the city of Jerusalem, to the southeast of the site of the temple, and its waters flow into the valley of Jehoshaphat. The name means sent, or sending, from שׁלח shâlach to send, and was probably given to it because the waters were sent or made to pass through a subterranean passage or aqueduct.

At present, it properly consists of two receptacles or reservoirs, the waters from one of which flow into the other. The first, or upper one, is now called the ‘Fountain of the Virgin,’ from a tradition that it was here that the Virgin Mary resorted before her purification, in order to wash her child’s linen. This fountain is on the west side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and is about 1550 feet from the southeast corner of the city wall. The cavity of this fountain is wholly excavated in the solid rock. To enter it there is at first a descent of sixteen steps, to a level place or platform of twelve feet in diameter, and then another descent of ten steps to the water, making the whole depth twenty-five feet. The basin here is about fifteen feet long by five or six wide, and the height six or eight feet. There is some reason to suppose that this is supplied by a fountain lying under the mosque of Omar, on the site of the temple of Solomon. From this fountain the water is conducted by a subterranean passage, in a direction a little to the west of south to what is properly called the fountain of Siloam. This passage runs under the extremity of mount Ophel; is cut entirely from the solid rock, and is found by measurement to be 1750 feet in length.

At the lower part it is from ten to fifteen feet in height by two in breadth; but in the middle so low, that it can be passed only by creeping on the hands and knees. The passage is partly fiilled up with sand. From this aqueduct the water is conveyed into the pool of Siloam, situated near where the Tyropeon, or ‘valley of cheesemongers,’ opens into the valley of Jehoshaphat. This reservoir is fifty-three feet long, eighteen feet broad, and nineteen feet deep, though now there is usually no water remaining within it. From this reservoir the water flows off into the vale below, furnishing water for the gardens which are constructed in terraces on the side of the valley. The water in both these fountains is the same. It is sweet, and slightly brackish, but not disagreeable. It is the common water now used by the inhabitants of the neighboring village of Kefr Selwane - or the straggling village of Siloam. For a full description of this fountain, see Robinson’s Bib. Researches, vol. i. pp. 493-514. This fountain was probably formerly included within the walls, and furnished a part of the supply of water to the city.

The meaning of this passage is this. The waters of Siloam denote the reign of Yahweh, as manifesting itself in the administration of the family of David - a mild, gentle, and munificent reign, beautifully represented by the unfailing and gently flowing waters on which the happiness of Jerusalem so much depended. That reign a large part of the nation - the ten tribes - had rejected, and had set up a separate kingdom, and had sought the aid of the king of Damascus. The remainder - the kingdom of Judah - were in like manner now disposed to reject the aid of Yahweh, and sought an alliance with the king of Assyria - beautifully represented here by the river Euphrates. The waters of Siloam - a gentle, small sweetly-flowing stream, represented the government of Yahweh. The waters of the Euphrates - violent, rapid, impetuous, and overflowing, represented the government of Assyria. The one they despised; the other they sought and admired. The power of the kingdom of David was then feeble and decayed. That of the Assyrian monarch was vigorous, mighty, vast. They despised the one, and sought the alliance of the other.

And rejoice - That is, they confide in, and feel that in their protection riley are safe.

In Rezin - King of Syria.

And Remaliah’s son - Pekah, king of Samaria; Isaiah 7:1. The crime here mentioned was unique to the kingdom of Israel; showing that the prophet, in part at least, had reference to them.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

6.Because this people hath despised (or, disdained ⁽¹²⁴⁾) the waters of Shiloah That Ahaz may not slumber in unfounded expectation, the Prophet all at once breaks off his discourse about the general safety of the godly, and next threatens punishment on unbelievers. Some think that he speaks against those who wished for revolutions; as it frequently happens that the multitude are not satisfied with their present condition, and desire to have a new king. Those who are diseased often expect that, by a change of place, they will be in better health. So perverse is the will of men, that when matters do not go to their wish, they look for a change of their condition, snatch at it eagerly, and hope to obtain from it some relief.

But I think that the Prophet’s meaning is more extensive, and does not apply to those only who desired a change; but that the discourse is general, and includes all ranks; for impiety and contempt of God almost universally prevailed, and he does not speak of a few persons, or of a particular party, but of the great body of the nation. I confess, indeed, that he excepts a few persons, servants of God, who will afterwards be mentioned; but that does not prevent the remonstrances of Isaiah from being directed against the whole nation; for since almost all were corrupted, he justly reproves them all. The offense is, that the people, distrusting their own weakness, sought increased wealth and increased forces. He says, therefore, that they despised the waters of Shiloah, because the Jews despised and disdained their condition.

And their joy was to Rezin and Remaliah’s son. ⁽¹²⁵⁾ Some render it with Rezin, but the preposition to expresses more fully the perverse desire. He means that the Jews, perceiving that they had not strong fortresses, looked in another direction, and longed for the wealth of the kingdom of Israel. Beholding their small number and their poverty, they trembled, and placed no confidence in God, but only in outward assistance, and thought that they would be perfectly safe, if they had as powerful a king as the Israelites had. Thus they rejoiced in the riches of others, and in longing for them.

(124) The former word occurs in the version, and the latter at the exposition. — Ed.

(125) And rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 8

So in chapter 8 he continues in this prediction of the Assyrian invasion.

Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz ( Isaiah 8:1 ).

And that is interpreted, it's a Hebrew name that means, or word that means, "Haste ye, haste ye to the spoil." Quite a name.

And I took me a faithful witness to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah. And I went unto the prophetess [that is his wife]; and she conceived, and she bore a son. Then said the LORD unto me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. 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 ( Isaiah 8:2-4 ).

So he went out unto his wife and she conceived, bore a son. God said, "Call him Mahershalalhashbaz because before this kid is three years old, can say Mama and Daddy, Syria is going to get wiped out by Assyria. Damascus will be overrun by the Assyrians."

The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and they rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah's son [who is Pekah]: Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all of his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks ( Isaiah 8:5-8 ):

So it's speaking figuratively. It's going to be like a flood. Assyrians are going to come and they're going to take both Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which indeed did happen.

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. Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken to 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. Take counsel together, it shall come to nothing; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us ( Isaiah 8:8-10 ).

So he is challenging now this confederacy. You think that you're going to join together and wipe out God's people? Not going to make it. God isn't going to let it stand, for God is with us.

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, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all of those to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye, nor be afraid ( Isaiah 8:11-12 ).

The idea of two nations getting together to fight against one was an awesome thing indeed. And so that word, "Oh, there's a confederacy," just really struck terror into the hearts of the people. Really was wiping them out. And so the Lord said, "Hey, just forget that stuff, because it's not going to stand."

Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; let him be your fear, let him be your dread ( Isaiah 8:13 ).

Don't be afraid of what man can do or what a confederacy might do. You better be afraid of what God is going to do. Jesus said, "Don't be fearful of those who can kill your body, and after that have no power. But rather fear Him who after the body is dead is able to cast both soul and spirit into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear ye Him" ( Luke 12:4-5 ). For God shall be for a sanctuary.

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, a gin [or a trap] and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem ( Isaiah 8:14 ).

Now, here again is one of those prophecies that suddenly just flashes the flash of the Messiah again. Even as Jesus became a stumbling stone to the Jew, a rock of offense. And Paul the apostle refers how that Jesus, "We preach unto you Christ crucified. To the Jew a stumbling stone, to the Greek foolishness. But unto us who are saved, the power of God unto salvation" ( 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 ). So Christ became a stumbling stone to the Jew. And even as it is prophesied here.

And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs ( Isaiah 8:15-18 )

Now this is Isaiah. He and his children, their names especially were to be for signs.

and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards those that peep, and mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them ( Isaiah 8:18-20 ).

Now people were looking to the spiritists to guide them. They were looking to a communication with the dead for guidance, for instruction, for wisdom. And God speaks out against this. Should you not actually seek a living God rather than the spirit of a departed dead person? And yet, it's amazing how many people today are involved in spiritism, who are seeking to communicate with spirits, the spirits of the dead. And how many feel that they have actually come into contact with the spirits of dead people. So many people into this who are writers and all who have guides who direct them in their writings. Some famous author of the past, and they feel that they are guiding them and so forth, spirit guides. And people are looking to the dead for advice and for counsel. But should you not be seeking the living God for counsel? And to the law of God and to His testimony? "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Yahweh spoke to Isaiah again (cf. Isaiah 8:1). King Ahaz was not the only person in Judah who had failed to trust in the Lord but had put his confidence in man. The people of Judah had been guilty of the same folly. They had rejected God’s faithful provisions for them, symbolized by the gently flowing Shiloah stream that carried water from the Gihon spring just outside Jerusalem into the city. This water source was unimpressive, but it provided for the people of Jerusalem faithfully. Instead they had rejoiced in the anticipated destruction of the kings of Syria and Ephraim due to Ahaz’s alliance with Assyria.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The danger of Assyria 8:5-10

This section corresponds to Isaiah 7:18-25. Both of them explain that the name to be given a child would have both a positive and a negative significance.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, that go softly,.... The same with Siloam, John 9:7 and so it is called in the Septuagint version here; and the word here used signifies "sent", as it is there interpreted. Jarchi says it is a fountain, whose name was Gihon and Shiloah; see 1 Kings 1:33 concerning which Jerom yet writes,

"Siloam is a fountain at the foot of Mount Sion, which does not send forth water continually, but on certain times and days; and comes through the hollow places of the earth, and caves of a hard rock, with a great noise; of which we especially cannot doubt, who dwell in this province.''

This was a small current of water, which moved softly and slowly, and not with a rapid motion, as some rivers do; to which the kingdom of the house of David is compared, because of its easy and gentle government; as the Targum, which paraphrases the words thus,

"because this people loathed the kingdom of the house of David which ruled them quietly, as the waters of Shiloah which flow softly;''

or because of the weakness of it in the days of Ahaz, it had not strength to oppose their enemies, as Kimchi suggests; now the ten tribes despised the house of David, and departed from it, and continued in their revolt, and had that government in contempt, as well as the religion of it. Jerusalem, the temple, and the worship of God in it, may be meant by the waters of Shiloah; it being usual to name places by the rivers that are near them.

And rejoice in Rezin, and in Remaliah's son: in Rezin king of Syria; and in Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel. Perhaps respect may be had to later times, to the times of the Messiah, when the Jews would despise his government, and reject him as King; though he is the Prince of peace, and his government the most quiet and peaceable one, and he the Shiloah, the sent of God, and declare they had no other king but Caesar.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.

      In these verses we have a prophecy of the successes of the king of Assyria against Damascus, Samaria, and Judah, that the two former should be laid waste by him, and the last greatly frightened. Here we have,

      I. Orders given to the prophet to write this prophecy, and publish it to be seen and read of all men, and to leave it upon record, that when the thing came to pass they might know that God had sent him; for that was one end of prophecy, John 14:29. He must take a great roll, which would contain those five chapters fairly written in words at length; and he must write in it all that he had foretold concerning the king of Assyria's invading the country; he must write it with a man's pen, in the usual way and style of writing, so as that it might be legible and intelligible by all. See Habakkuk 2:2, Write the vision, and make it plain. Those that speak and write of the things of God should avoid obscurity, and study to speak and write so as to be understood, 1 Corinthians 14:19. Those that write for men should write with a man's pen, and not covet the pen or tongue of angels. And forasmuch as it is usual to put some short, but significant comprehensive title before books that are published, the prophet is directed to call his book Maher-shalal-hash-baz--Make speed to the spoil, hasten to the prey, intimating that the Assyrian army should come upon them with great speed and make great spoil. By this title the substance and meaning of the book would be enquired after by those that heard of it, and remembered by those that had read it or heard it read. It is sometimes a good help to memory to put much matter in few words, which serve as handles by which we take hold of more.

      II. The care of the prophet to get this record well attested (Isaiah 8:2; Isaiah 8:2): I took unto me faithful witnesses to record; he wrote the prophecy in their sight and presence, and made them subscribe their names to it, that they might be ready, if afterwards there should be occasion, to make oath of it, that the prophet had so long before foretold the descent which the Assyrians made upon that country. He names his witnesses for the greater certainty, that they might be appealed to by any. They were two in number (for out of the mouth of two witnesses shall every word be established); one was Uriah the priest; he is mentioned in the story of Ahaz, but for none of his good deeds, for he humoured Ahaz with an idolatrous altar (2 Kings 16:10; 2 Kings 16:11); however, at this time, no exception lay against him, being a faithful witness. See what full satisfaction the prophets took care to give to all persons concerned of the sincerity of their intentions, that we might know with a full assurance the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed, and that we have not followed cunningly-devised fables.

      III. The making of the title of his book the name of his child, that it might be the more taken notice of and the more effectually perpetuated, Isaiah 8:3; Isaiah 8:3. His wife (because the wife of a prophet) is called the prophetess; she conceived and bore a son, another son, who must carry a sermon in his name, as the former had done (Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 7:3), but with this difference, that spoke mercy, Shear-jashub--The remnant shall return; but, that being slighted, this speaks judgment, Maher-shalal-hash-baz--In making speed to the spoil he shall hasten, or he has hastened, to the prey. The prophecy is doubled, even in this one name, for the thing was certain. I will hasten my word,Jeremiah 1:12. Every time the child was called by his name, or any part of it, it would serve as a memorandum of the judgments approaching. Note, It is good for us often to put ourselves in mind of the changes and troubles we are liable to in this world, and which perhaps are at the door. When we look with pleasure on our children it should be with the allay of this thought, We know not what they are yet reserved for.

      IV. The prophecy itself, which explains this mystical name.

      1. That Syria and Israel, who were now in confederacy against Judah, should in a very little time become an easy prey to the king of Assyria and his victorious army (Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 8:4): "Before the child, now newly born and named, shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and My mother" (which are usually some of the first things that children know and some of the first words that children speak), that is, "in about a year or two, the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, those cities that are now so secure themselves and so formidable to their neighbours, shall be taken away before the king of Assyria, who shall plunder both city and country, and send the best effects of both into his own land, to enrich that, and as trophies of his victory." Note, Those that spoil others must expect to be themselves spoiled (Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 33:1); for the Lord is righteous, and those that are troublesome shall be troubled.

      2. That forasmuch as there were many in Judah that were secretly in the interests of Syria and Israel, and were disaffected to the house of David, God would chastise them also by the king of Assyria, who should create a great deal of vexation to Judah, as was foretold, Isaiah 7:17; Isaiah 7:17. Observe, (1.) What was the sin of the discontented party in Judah (Isaiah 8:6; Isaiah 8:6): This people, whom the prophet here speaks to, refuse the waters of Shiloah that go softly, despise their own country and the government of it, and love to run it down, because it does not make so great a figure, and so great a noise, in the world, as some other kings and kingdoms do. They refuse the comforts which God's prophets offer them from the word of God, speaking to them in a still small voice, and make nothing of them; but they rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son, who were the enemies of their country, and were now actually invading it; they cried them up as brave men, magnified their policies and strength, applauded their conduct, were well pleased with their successes, and were hearty well-wishers to their designs, and resolved to desert and go over to them. Such vipers does many a state foster in its bosom, that eat its bread, and yet adhere to its enemies, and are ready to quit its interests if they but seem to totter. (2.) The judgment which God would bring upon them for this sin. The same king of Assyria that should lay Ephraim and Syria waste should be a scourge and terror to those of their party in Judah, Isaiah 8:7; Isaiah 8:8. Because they refuse the waters of Shiloah, and will not accommodate themselves to the government God has set over them, but are uneasy under it, therefore the Lord brings upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the river Euphrates. They slighted the land of Judah, because it had no river to boast of comparable to that; the river at Jerusalem was a very inconsiderable one. "Well," says God, "if you be such admirers of Euphrates, you shall have enough of it; the king of Assyria, whose country lies upon that river, shall come with his glory, with his great army, which you cry up as his glory, despising your own king because he cannot bring such an army as that into the field; God shall bring that army upon you." If we value men, if we over-value them, for their worldly wealth and power, it is just with God to make them thereby a scourge to us. It is used as an argument against magnifying rich men that rich men oppress us,James 2:3; James 2:5. Let us be best pleased with the waters of Shiloah, that go softly, for rapid streams are dangerous. It is threatened that the Assyrian army should break in upon them like a deluge, or inundation of waters, bearing down all before it, should come up over all his channels, and overflow all his banks. It would be to no purpose to oppose or withstand them. Sennacherib and his army should pass through Judah, and meet with so little resistance that it should look more like a march through the country than a descent upon it. He shall reach even to the neck, that is, he shall advance so far as to lay siege to Jerusalem, the head of the kingdom, and nothing but that shall be kept out of his hands; for that was the holy city. Note, In the greatest deluge of trouble God can and will keep the head of his people above water, and so preserve their comforts and spiritual lives; the waters that come into their souls may reach to the neck (Psalms 69:1), but there shall their proud waves be stayed. And here is another comfortable intimation that though the stretching out of the wings of the Assyrian, that bird of prey, though the right and left wing of his army, should fill the breadth of the land of Judah, yet still it was Immanuel's land. It is thy land, O Immanuel! It was to be Christ's land; for there he was to be born, and live, and preach, and work miracles. He was Zion's King, and therefore had a peculiar interest in and concern for that land. Note, The lands that Immanuel owns for his, as he does all those lands that own him, though they may be deluged, shall not be destroyed; for, when the enemy shall come in like a flood, Immanuel shall secure his own, and shall lift up a standard against him,Isaiah 59:19; Isaiah 59:19.