Isaiah 8:9

9 Be broken, [you] peoples, and be dismayed. And listen, all distant [parts of the] earth; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed!

Isaiah 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 8:9

Associate yourselves, O ye people
Both of Syria and Israel, whose two kings were confederate against Judah: and ye shall be broken in pieces;
as the kingdom of Syria was by Tilgathpilneser quickly after this, ( 2 Kings 16:9 ) and the kingdom of Ephraim or Israel by Shalmaneser, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) ( Isaiah 8:8 ) : and give ear, all ye of far countries;
the Assyrians, and the nations that belonged to them, who were more remote from Judea: gird yourselves;
for a long and tedious march, and for war; it may signify the putting on of their whole armour; for, as Pausanius ^F19 says, the ancients used to call putting on of armour, girding: and ye shall be broken in pieces:
as the Assyrian army was, which came up against Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time, ( 2 Kings 19:35 ) : gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces;
this is repeated for confirmation sake, to denote the certainty of it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Boeotica sive, l. 9. p. 567.

Isaiah 8:9 In-Context

7 therefore look! The Lord [is] bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And he will rise above all his channels, and he will flow over all his banks.

8 And he will sweep into Judah; he will overflow and he will flood up to [the] neck. He will reach, and {he will spread his wings out over your entire land}, God with us."

9 Be broken, [you] peoples, and be dismayed. And listen, all distant [parts of the] earth; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed!

10 {Make a plan}, but it will be frustrated! Speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us!

11 For Yahweh said this to me {while his hand weighed heavily on me}, and he {warned me not to walk} in the way of this people, saying,