Isaiah 8

11. with a strong hand--or else, "when He grasped me with His hand" [HORSLEY]. MAURER, as English Version, "with the impetus of His hand," that is, the felt impulse of His inspiration in my mind ( Jeremiah 15:17 , Ezekiel 1:3 , Ezekiel 3:14 Ezekiel 3:22 , 37:1 ).
way of . . . people--their distrust of Jehovah, and the panic which led them and Ahab to seek Assyrian aid.

12-16. The words of Jehovah.
confederacy--rather, a conspiracy; an appropriate term for the unnatural combination of Israel with Syrian foreigners against Judea and the theocracy, to which the former was bound by ties of blood and hereditary religion [MAURER].
to all . . . say--rather, of all which this people calleth a conspiracy [G. V. SMITH].
their fear--namely, object of fear: the hostile conspiracy.
be afraid--rather [MAURER], "nor make others to be afraid."

13. Sanctify--Honor His holy name by regarding Him as your only hope of safety ( Isaiah 29:23 , Numbers 20:12 ).
him . . . fear--"fear" lest you provoke His wrath by your fear of man and distrust of Him.

14. sanctuary--inviolable asylum, like the altar of the temple ( 1 Kings 1:50 , 2:28 , Ezekiel 11:16 ; compare Proverbs 18:10 ); namely, to those who fear and trust in Him.
but . . . offence--that is a rock over which they should fall to their hurt; namely those who would not believe.
both . . . houses--Israel and Judah. Here again the prophecy expands beyond the temporary application in Ahaz' time. The very stone, Immanuel, which would have been a sanctuary on belief, becomes a fatal stumbling-block through unbelief. Jesus Christ refers to this in Matthew 21:44 . (Compare Deuteronomy 32:4 Deuteronomy 32:15 Deuteronomy 32:18 Deuteronomy 32:30 Deuteronomy 32:31 Deuteronomy 32:37 , Daniel 2:34 , Romans 9:33 , 1 Peter 2:8 ).
gin--trap, in which birds are unexpectedly caught ( Luke 21:35 , 1 Thessalonians 5:2 ). So at the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus.

15. stumble . . . taken--images from the means used in taking wild animals.

16. Bind up . . . seal--What Isaiah had before briefly noted by inscribing Maher-shalal-hash-baz in a tablet, fixed up in some public place, he afterwards wrote out more in detail in a parchment roll ( Isaiah 30:8 ); this he is now to seal up, not merely in order that nothing may be added to, or taken from it, as being complete, but to imply that it relates to distant events, and is therefore to be a sealed and not understood testimony ( Isaiah 6:9 Isaiah 6:10 ), except in part among God's disciples," that is, those who "sanctify the Lord" by obedient trust ( Psalms 25:14 ). Subsequent revelations would afterwards clear up what now was dark. So the Apocalypse explains what in Daniel was left unexplained (compare Daniel 8:26 , 12:9 ). "The words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end"; but Revelation 22:10 , "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy . . . for the time is at hand" (compare Revelation 5:1 Revelation 5:5 Revelation 5:9 ),
testimony--attested by Uriah and Zechariah ( Isaiah 8:2 ).
law--the revelation just given, having the force of a law.
disciples--not as MAURER, Uriah and Zechariah (compare John 7:17 , 15:15 ).

17. I--Whatever the rest of the nation may do, I will look to Jehovah alone.
that hideth . . . face--though He seems now to withdraw His countenance from Judah (the then representative of "the house of Jacob"). Let us wait and trust in, though we cannot see, Him ( Isaiah 50:10 , 54:8 , Habakkuk 2:3 , Luke 2:25 Luke 2:38 ).

18. I and the children--Isaiah means "salvation of Jehovah"; His children's names, also ( Isaiah 7:3 , 7:14 , 8:3 ), were "signs" suggestive of the coming and final deliverance.
wonders--that is symbols of the future ( Isaiah 20:3 , Zechariah 3:8 ). "Behold I . . . me" is quoted in Hebrews 2:13 to prove the manhood of the Messiah. This is the main and ultimate fulfilment of the prophecy; its temporary meaning is applied to Ahaz' time. Isaiah typically, in Isaiah 8:17 Isaiah 8:18 , personates Messiah, who is at once "Father" and "Son," Isaiah and Immanuel, "Child" and "Mighty God," and is therefore called here a "wonder," as in Isaiah 9:6 , "Wonderful." Hence in Hebrews 2:13 , believers are called His "children"; but in Isaiah 8:11 Isaiah 8:12 , His "brethren." On "the Lord hath given me," see John 6:37 John 6:39 , 10:29 , 17:12 .
which dwelleth in . . . Zion--and will therefore protect Jerusalem.

19. Seek unto--Consult in your national difficulties.
them . . . familiar spirits--necromancers, spirit charmers. So Saul, when he had forsaken God ( 1 Samuel 28:7 , &c.), consulted the witch of En-dor in his difficulties. These follow in the wake of idolatry, which prevailed under Ahaz ( 2 Kings 16:3 2 Kings 16:4 2 Kings 16:10 ). He copied the soothsaying as he did the idolatrous "altar" of Damascus (compare Leviticus 20:6 , which forbids it, Isaiah 19:3 ).
wizards--men claiming supernatural knowledge; from the old English, "to wit," that is, know.
peep--rather "chirp faintly," as young birds do; this sound was generally ascribed to departed spirits; by ventriloquism the soothsayers caused a low sound to proceed as from a grave, or dead person. Hence the Septuagint renders the Hebrew for "necromancers" here "ventriloquists" (compare Isaiah 29:4 ).
mutter--moan.
should not, &c.--The answer which Isaiah recommends to be given to those advising to have recourse to necromancers.
for the living, &c.--"should one, for the safety of the living, seek unto (consult) the dead?" [GESENIUS]. LOWTH renders it, "In place of (consulting) the living, should one consult the dead?"

20. To the law, &c.--the revelation of God by His prophet ( Isaiah 8:16 ), to which he directs them to refer those who would advise necromancy.
if they speak not . . . it is because--English Version understands "they" as the necromancers. But the Hebrew rendered "because" is not this but "who"; and "if not," ought rather to be "shall they not"; or, truly they shall speak according to this word, who have no morning light (so the Hebrew, that is, prosperity after the night of sorrows) dawning on them [MAURER and G. V. SMITH]. They who are in the dark night of trial, without a dawn of hope, shall surely say so, Do not seek, as we did, to necromancy, but to the law," &c. The law perhaps includes here the law of Moses, which was the "Magna Charta" on which prophetism commented [KITTO].

21, 22. More detailed description of the despair, which they shall fall into, who sought necromancy instead of God; Isaiah 8:20 implies that too late they shall see how much better it would have been for them to have sought "to the law," &c. ( Deuteronomy 32:31 ). But now they are given over to despair. Therefore, while seeing the truth of God, they only "curse their King and God"; foreshadowing the future, like conduct of those belonging to the "kingdom of the beast," when they shall be visited with divine plagues ( Revelation 16:11 ; compare Jeremiah 18:12 ).
through it--namely, the land.
hardly bestead--oppressed with anxiety.
hungry--a more grievous famine than the temporary one in Ahaz' time, owing to Assyria; then there was some food, but none now ( Isaiah 7:15 Isaiah 7:22 , Leviticus 26:3-5 Leviticus 26:14-16 Leviticus 26:20 ).
their king . . . God--Jehovah, King of the Jews ( Psalms 5:2 , 68:24 ).
look upward . . . unto the earth--Whether they look up to heaven, or down towards the land of Judea, nothing but despair shall present itself.
dimness of anguish--darkness of distress ( Proverbs 1:27 ).
driven to darkness--rather, "thick darkness" ( Jeremiah 23:12 ). Driven onward, as by a sweeping storm. The Jewish rejection of "their King and God," Messiah, was followed by all these awful calamities.