Yeshayah 8:9

9 Exasperate yourselves, O ye Amim (Nations), and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries; gird yourselves for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

Yeshayah 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.

Yeshayah 8:9 In-Context

7 Now therefore, hinei, Adonoi bringeth up upon them the waters of the River, strong and many, even Melech Ashur, and all his kavod; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks;

8 And he shall swirl into Yehudah; 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 eretz, O Immanu-El.

9 Exasperate yourselves, O ye Amim (Nations), and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries; gird yourselves for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Consult etzah (counsel, plan), and it shall come to naught; speak the davar, and it shall not stand; for Immanu El (G-d is with us).

11 For Hashem hath spoken thus to me with chezkat haYad, and instructed me that I should not walk in the Derech HaAm HaZeh, saying,