Isaiah 8:17

17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.

Isaiah 8:17 in Other Translations

17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

17 I will wait for the LORD, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.

17 While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding, while I wait and hope for him.

17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will wait for Him.

Isaiah 8:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 8:17

And I will wait upon the Lord
Or "for the Lord" ^F24; for the coming of Christ, the Immanuel, who would be a sanctuary to some, and a stone of stumbling to others, and whose doctrine in the meanwhile would be bound up and sealed; faith in, and expectation of the Messiah's coming, are often signified by waiting for him, ( Isaiah 25:9 ) ( Habakkuk 2:3 ) : that hideth his face from the house of Jacob;
to whom the promise of him was made, from whom he should descend, to whom he should be sent, and whom he would redeem. This is not to be understood of his deserting of his people, and withdrawing his gracious presence from them, to show his displeasure at them, and resentment of their conduct, which is sometimes the sense of this phrase; but as descriptive of Christ before his assumption of human nature, when he was "Deus absconditus", the hidden God, as some render the words in ( Isaiah 45:15 ) until he was manifest in the flesh; and which is therefore called his "appearing", ( 2 Timothy 1:10 ) : and I will look for him;
the prophet here speaks in his own person, and in the person of the church who in that, and in succeeding ages, as well as before, were looking by faith for the coming of Christ, and redemption by him, ( Luke 2:38 ) though some understand this of Christ, expressing his satisfaction in the few disciples he had among the Jews, and determining to wait for the accomplishment of divine promises hereafter, when he should have a larger number; the Lord for the present hiding his face from the Jewish nation, and giving them to a spirit of judicial blindness; which sense well agrees with what goes before, and follows after.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (hwhyl ytykxw) "praestolabor Dominum", Montanus; "expectabo Dominum", V. L.

Isaiah 8:17 In-Context

15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

16 Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.

17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.

18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Cross References

• 1. S Psalms 27:14; Habakkuk 2:3
• 2. S Deuteronomy 31:17; Isaiah 54:8
• 3. S Psalms 22:5; Hebrews 2:13*