Isaiah 8:9

9 Peoples, be ye gathered together, and be ye overcome; and all lands afar, hear ye. Be ye comforted, and be ye overcome; gird ye you, and be ye overcome (Ye peoples, be ye gathered together, and then be ye overcome; and all the lands afar off, hear ye. Be ye strengthened, and then be ye overcome; gird ye yourselves, and then be ye overcome;)

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Isaiah 8:9 In-Context

7 for this thing lo! the Lord shall bring [up]on them the strong and many waters of the flood, the king of Assyrians, and all his glory (that is, the king of Assyria, and all his glory); and he shall ascend on all the streams thereof, and he shall (over)flow on all the rivers thereof.
8 And he shall go flowing by Judah, and he shall pass till to the neck, and shall come; and the spreading forth of his wings shall be, and shall fill the breadth of thy land, thou Immanuel. (And he shall come, and he shall flow through Judah, and he shall rise up unto their necks; and the spreading forth of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.)
9 Peoples, be ye gathered together, and be ye overcome; and all lands afar, hear ye. Be ye comforted, and be ye overcome; gird ye you, and be ye overcome (Ye peoples, be ye gathered together, and then be ye overcome; and all the lands afar off, hear ye. Be ye strengthened, and then be ye overcome; gird ye yourselves, and then be ye overcome;)
10 take ye counsel, and it shall be destroyed; speak ye a word, and it shall not be done, for God is with us. (make ye plans, but they shall be destroyed; speak ye a word, but it shall not be done, for God is with us.)
11 For why the Lord saith these things to me, as he taught me in a strong hand, that I should not go into the way of this people, and said, (For the Lord saith these things to me, as he taught me with a strong hand, that I should not go in the way of this people, and said,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.