Isaiah 8:12

12 "People are saying that others make plans against them, but you should not believe them. Don't be afraid of what they fear; do not dread those things.

Isaiah 8:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 8:12

Say ye not, a confederacy
With the king of Assyria, or any other; do not cry it up as a right thing, and express pleasure and satisfaction in it, and encourage others to come into it, and vote for it, and declare an approbation of it; or a "rebellion", as the Targum, that is, against Ahaz; and so deliver up the kingdom of the house of David into the hands of its enemies: to all [them] to whom this people shall say, a confederacy:
who either were for entering into an alliance with the Assyrian monarch, and sending for him to help; or were for joining with their enemies, to the subversion of the present government. Jarchi interprets this of Shebna the Scribe, and his company; who, as he suggests, conspired against Hezekiah, and secretly made an agreement with Sennacherib king of Assyria; but the former sense is best: neither fear their fear, nor be afraid:
let not the same fear possess you as does them, on account of Syria and Israel combining together against Judah; nor be afraid of their two kings, as they were; since there was nothing to fear from them; it being impossible that the kingdom of Judah should fail until Shiloh came, or Immanuel was born of a virgin in it; nor does it become the people of God, and especially his prophets and ministers, to be afraid of men; since the fear of men brings a snare. See ( 1 Peter 3:14 ) .

Isaiah 8:12 In-Context

10 Make your plans for the fight, but they will be defeated. Give orders to your armies, but they will be useless, because God is with us.

11 The Lord spoke to me with his great power and warned me not to follow the lead of the rest of the people. He said,

12 "People are saying that others make plans against them, but you should not believe them. Don't be afraid of what they fear; do not dread those things.

13 But remember that the Lord All-Powerful is holy. He is the one you should fear; he is the one you should dread.

14 Then he will be a place of safety for you. But for the two families of Israel, he will be like a stone that causes people to stumble, like a rock that makes them fall. He will be like a trap for the people of Jerusalem, and he will catch them in his trap.