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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 8:20

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To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

20. To the law and to the testimony ] See on Isa 8:16. Apparently an exclamation of the distracted people (see on next clause).

The remainder of the verse, where the construction is very difficult, ought probably to be rendered: surely they shall speak according to this word when there is no dawn (i.e. no hope) for them (lit. him). The meaning is that the people will seek direction from the “sure word of prophecy,” but only when it is too late. But the original is so obscure that no great confidence can be placed in any translation.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

To the law … – To the revelation which God has given. This is a solemn call of the prophet to try everything by the revealed will of God; see Isa 8:16.

If they speak not – If the necromancers – those that pretended to have contact with the dead.

According to this word – According to what God has revealed. By this standard all their pretended revelations were to be tried. By this standard all doctrines are still to be tried.

It is because – There has been a great variety of criticism upon this verse, but our translation expresses, probably, the true idea. The word rendered here because, ‘asher, commonly denotes which; but it seems here to be used in the sense of the Syriac? Dolath, or the Greek hoti.

No light – Margin, Morning. Hebrew shachar. The word usually means the morning light; the mingled light and darkness of the aurora; daybreak. It is an emblem of advancing knowledge, and perhaps, also, of prosperity or happiness after calamity, as the break of day succeeds the dark night. The meaning here may be, If their teachings do not accord with the law and the testimony, it is proof that they are totally ignorant, without even the twilight of true knowledge; that it is total darkness with them. Or it may mean, If they do not speak according to this word, then no dawn will arise, that is, no prosperity will smile upon this people. – Gesenius. Lowth understands it of obscurity, darkness:

If they speak not according to this word,

In which there is no obscurity.

But there is no evidence that the word is ever used in this sense. Others suppose that the Arabic sense of the word is to be retained here, deception, or magic. If they speak not according to this oracle, in which there is no deception. But the word is not used in this sense in the Hebrew. The meaning is, probably, this: The law of God is the standard by which all professed communications from the invisible world are to be tested. If the necromancers deliver a doctrine which is not sustained by that, and not in accordance with the prophetic communications, it shows that they are in utter ignorance. There is not even the glimmering of the morning twilight; all is total night, and error, and obscurity with them, and they are not to be followed.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Isa 8:20

To the law and to the testimony

The written Word of God the only standard of truth

CONSIDER THE PRINCIPLE LAID DOWN IN THE TEXT, namely, that we are to take the Scriptures, the inspired Word of the true and living God, as the only standard of truth.

II. SEE HOW SADLY THE CHURCH OF ROME, BOTH IN DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE, HAS DEPARTED FROM THIS PRINCIPLE. At the Council of Trent, where the Pope, bishops, and other ecclesiastics were assembled, in the middle of the sixteenth century, to put into definite form the articles of their Church, it was unanimously decreed, that traditions should be received as of equal authority with the Scriptures: and at the same Council it was also agreed to make all the books, apocryphal as well as others, of equal authority. The reason of their adding traditions to the Scriptures is given by Pope Plus IV, in these words: all saving truth is not contained in the Holy Scriptures, but partly in the Scripture and partly in unwritten traditions; which whosoever doth not receive with like piety and reverence as he doth the Scriptures, is accursed. We have a reasonable instance of their readiness to set aside the Bible, in order to establish their own opinions at the Council of Augsburg. It was there that the Protestant confession of faith, drown: Up by Melanchthon, was presented to the Emperor. After the reading of it, the Duke of Bavaria, who was on the Popish side, asked Eckius, one of his party, whether he could overthrow the doctrines contained in it, by the Holy Scripture. No (replied Eckius), we cannot by the Holy Scriptures, but we may by the fathers.

III. SEE HOW THE ACTING ON THIS PRINCIPLE, IN OPPOSITION TO THE CHURCH OF ROME, LED TO THE REFORMATION, and produced those blessed consequences which we are now reaping the advantage of. It is not a little remarkable that the art of printing, about the year 1450, very greatly contributed to the work which followed. It revived the study of classical literature; and thus the Bible, which even clergymen and others acquainted with learning, had been very little used to read before, was now studied by them; and it was that that led in the first instance to a discovery that the religion in which their fathers had been brought up could not be proved by the New Testament.

IV. TEST THE REFORMED RELIGION BY THIS SCRIPTURAL RULE, AND PROVE THEREBY THE SOUNDNESS OF ITS PRINCIPLES. The Reformation has not founded a new Church, it has corrected an old one; and the religion which we now profess is the religion of primitive Christianity. See, in our sixth article, how the Church of England places herself on the ground of the Scriptures. She says, against the Church of Rome, that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation, so that whatever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. (W. Curling, M. A.)

Holy Scripture, without tradition, mans sufficient guide to salvation

This passage embodies the truth that in the difficulties and questions that arise in the Christian Church, and which are frequently presented to the mind of Christian persons, the Holy Scriptures are the last appeal to which the Christian shall have recourse. This subject branches out into a vast variety of inquiries; but we shall consider it in connection with the sixth article of our Church of England.

I. THE AFFIRMATIVE PROPOSITION which asserts the sufficiency of Holy Scripture in all things requisite or necessary to salvation To men who have read the Holy Scriptures, it will seem strange that there ever should have arisen a question, as to their sufficiency in things requisite to salvation. They see that the Holy Scriptures are large and full, that they develop innumerable truths of mighty magnitude–that they unfold mysteries beyond the grasp of the human intellect–that they propound a series of the most pure and hallowing precepts–that they narrate the history of Gods dealings with His people, so far as they are known to human knowledge–and that they enter upon an ample detail of all those things which God hath revealed of His future purposes for mankind. They see that the Scriptures unfold the fall of man, Gods purpose to save a people to Himself, Gods love in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ in order to save them, the incarnation of the Word, the atonement of the Cross, the resurrection and triumph over death, the ascension into heaven, the descent of the Holy Ghost, the judgment of the last day, and the everlasting glories that shall follow. They see that the Holy Scriptures contain all this; and still further, that they contain all those rules and principles that should govern man in his duty to God and in his duty to his fellow man, and entering rote such detail of relative duties, of husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, princes and subjects, that every honest man, from the monarch to the peasant, shall find in the Holy Scriptures a sufficient guide and enlightener in the duties of a Christian life. But in the spirit of the words of our text, let us to the law and to the testimony. Let us take counsel of our God, and ask of Him in the record of His own Word, whether the Holy Scriptures be sufficient unto salvation (Deu 11:16-21; Deu 31:11; Deu 13:12; Psa 119:9-11; Isa 8:20; Luk 1:1-4; Joh 5:39; Joh 20:30-31 Act 17:10-12; 2Ti 3:14-17). The Romanists reply to these Scriptures in a body by stating that they prove too much, inasmuch as they prove either that the Old Testament Scriptures are sufficient, or that one or more Gospels are sufficient for our salvation. We reply, that, if this be true, then, a fortiori, if a part of the Scriptures contain sufficient unto salvation, the whole of the Scriptures as a matter of course must be admitted to contain all things necessary to salvation.

II. THE NEGATIVE PROPOSITION in the article, namely, that whatsoever is not read in Holy Scripture, nor may he proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or thought requisite or necessary to salvation. The position upon which the Romanists have erected their whole system has been, that besides the written Word them is also an unwritten word–that besides the Holy Scriptures them is another vehicle for conveying religious truth, and that other vehicle they have named tradition. The nature of tradition is this. They state that our Lord Jesus Christ taught many things to His apostles and disciples, which they did not commit to writing in the sacred Scriptures, but, instead of committing them to writing, they committed them by oral communication to those men whom they appointed as bishops throughout the Church universal; they add that those bishops have in a similar manner communicated these doctrines and practices to the bishops and priests that wore to come after them, and that thus there is a mass of floating doctrine and practice pervading the Church universal, partly written in the books of Romish priests and partly deposited in the breasts of Romish bishops. There are certain difficulties and objections to this system.

1. A historical objection derived from the history of Gods dealings with His people. The original revelation made to our first parents, being dependent upon tradition, soon became corrupted and lost. And this inefficacy of tradition is the more remarkable, when we consider that the life of man in the ante-diluvian world was extended far beyond the life of man in the post-diluvian world. Nor is this the whole of the historical argument or objection against tradition, because after the waters of the deluge had rolled away, the first fact that is narrated is that man had so lost the knowledge of the true God again, that he built the tower of Babel; and the next fact we read is that the world was so sunk in ignorance that it was necessary that God should choose Abraham and elect one family to Himself, in order that in that family He might take certain steps, by which to secure forever the remembrance of His name in the earth.

2. A Scriptural objection. This is founded upon a conversation narrated in the Gospel history (Mar 7:1-9). Our Lord states that His disciples were justified in rejecting the traditions of the elders because they made the law of God of none effect.

3. An objection arising out of the nature of tradition. With the most anxious desire only to speak the truth, the best men will sometimes vary in their narrative of facts–there is a defect in human memory; there is in the colouring of the minds of men, and there is in the degree of knowledge or ignorance of various men, that which leads to their varying more or less in their statements of fact. Now, if this be the ease in reference to fact, how much more is it the case in reference to abstract doctrines! In order to show that this difficulty still more exists in reference to doctrine, we have but to reflect how few there are in the world, who agree in all things precisely in the same views of doctrine. We regard, therefore, everything that is purely traditionary as necessarily unsound. (M. H. Seymour, M. A.)

The rule of faith

There is a strong tendency in man to flee from the voice of his Maker. Whey should any of us be afraid to hear the voice of God, or to have either our principles or actions judged by His Word Conscience makes us afraid; it tells us that neither the one nor the other will square with the Divine law. Therefore, man forsakes the Word of his God and has recourse to those who will speak to him peace, peace, when there is no peace (Isa 8:19).

I. OUR POSITION is, that Holy Scripture is the only standard whereby to judge of controversies in matters of faith.

II. We now proceed to ESTABLISH THIS POSITION. It is proved by a two-fold line of argument,–negative, by denying the claims put forward on behalf of the addition to this rule; positive, by bringing evidence in favour of the rule itself.

1. The negative evidence.

(1) Gods design in furnishing His Word in writing was to guard us against the uncertainty of tradition, and lead us, through the truth revealed in that Word, to eternal happiness.

(2) Tradition is an incompetent channel for the conveyance of truth.

(3) In all our Lords discourses, whether to the people or to His apostles, or in His disputation with His adversaries, He never made a single appeal to tradition.

(4) Our Lord not only never appealed to tradition, but He expressly condemned it, and that in the most unqualified manner.

2. The positive evidence.

(1) The Scriptures contain the superstructure that is reared upon faith. They contain exhortations to every possible good word and work. Faith is the means, the foundation, the source of every good word and work.

(2) The Scriptures assert their own sufficiency as a rule.

(3) Whenever the written Word has been laid aside, everything has gone astray; and whenever a reformation has taken place, all has been restored in accordance with the written Word (2Ki 22:8; 2Ki 23:2; 2Ki 23:21). Take yet another instance–the re-establishment of the worship of God after the rebuilding of the temple. By perusing the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah you will find that everything was done in accordance, not with any tradition preserved among them, but with the written Word.

(4) The greatest question which can concern the human race has ever been decided by an appeal, not to tradition, nor to the priesthood, but to the written Word. The greatest question that can concern us is, whether Jesus is the true Messiah (Mat 11:2-6). It was as if our Lord had said, Let John bring these, My actions and My preaching to the written Word, and he cannot be mistaken. He will there find whether I am the Messiah or Act 17:2; Act 17:11; Act 18:27-28).

(5) The denial of this truth, that the Scripture is the only rule whereby to judge of controversies in matters of faith, has been the cause of grievous errors and many heresies.

(6) The end for which this new rule is pretended is, to say the very least, more than presumptive evidence against it, and consequently in favour of our rule.

III. I proceed now to notice A FEW OBJECTIONS that are brought against our position.

1. If the Scripture be your rule of faith, there could be no rule of faith, consequently no faith and therefore no salvation, until the canon of Scripture was complete. But for sixty years after the death of Christ the canon was not complete; therefore for sixty years after the death of Christ there could have been no salvation in the Church of God. This plausible; but the reply is simple. We will try the soundness of the argument upon their own principles. If Scripture and tradition be, as they say, their rule of faith, there could not have been a rule of faith until this one was complete. The argument is as good one way as the other. The sophism lies in this,–that, because God may give more light at any particular period, therefore there was no adequate light before!

2. It is objected that controversies cannot be determined by our rule of faith. But, if the Word of God be not competent or sufficient to decide controversies, we ask one simple question–How, then, shall the controversies concerning the Church be determined?

3. The Scriptures are (say they) difficult and liable to be misunderstood and perverted. We may say the same respecting Scripture and tradition. But, says Dr. Milner, we have an unerring judge of controversy (i.e., they bring in the infallibility of their Church)

to decide in the matter, and he must be understood. But how can he be understood! We must, as Chillingworth remarks, have an infallible interpreter to expound his interpretation, and so on ad infinitum. But this infallible interpreter has never yet spoken. Then, further, if Scripture be so difficult, the interpretation of the judge is not less so; for the decrees of councils and popes cannot possibly be more intelligible than those writings which were read in the hearing of men, women, and children; than the sermons which were addressed by our blessed Lord to the simple and ignorant; than that Word of which we read that it is so plain that a wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein. (J. R. Page, M. A.)

The Word of God the only rule of faith and practice

When men are in some measure impressed with the nature and importance of the end for which they have been made, and when they see that this end respects matters which do not come under the cognisance of their senses and observation, that it has reference mainly to God and to eternity, they will naturally inquire whether any certain rule of standard exists which, when rightly used, and faithfully followed, may guide them to the attainment of this end. Writings possessed of such a character, proceeding from such a source, and resting on such an authority, it must, of course, be most important for us to know, that we may be enabled rightly to apply them for our direction. There are many who profess to regard the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as containing a revelation of Gods will, and of course us being so far a rule to guide us in matters connected with our highest interests, who yet deny that they constitute the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God. There are other rules which they would exalt to a co-ordinate place with the Word of God.

(1) The adherents of the Church of Rome add to the Old Testament the apocryphal books, as if they too were inspired. They also believe that oral tradition has conveyed to us truths taught, and observances enjoined, by Christ and His apostles, which are not mentioned in the sacred Scriptures.

(2) Those who call themselves rational Christians, practically take their own reason as the chief, if not the only, rule to guide them in matters connected with God and eternity; because, while they may profess to admit that the Scriptures are the Word of God, they practically set up their own reason not only as the instrument of interpreting Scripture, but as entitled to judge of the truth of its doctrines, and to determine what statements of Scripture may be received as true, and what as being irrational and incomprehensible, must be explained away, or virtually denied. There are two general observations deserving of attention, as affording strong presumption against the pretensions which have been put forth.

1. If the Bible be the Word of God, we have no need of any other rule. The Bible is able to make men wise unto salvation.

2. The attempts which have been made to set up other rules as co-ordinate with the Word of God, have generally had the effect of superceding practically the sacred Scriptures; and this constitutes a fair and legitimate presumption against them.

I. THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS are certain writings composed in the interval between the time of Malachi and our Saviours appearance in the flesh. They were not written in the Hebrew language, like the books of the Old Testament Scriptures, and exist only in Greek. The Jewish Church never acknowledged them as inspired; and when the apostle says (Rom 3:2), that unto the Jews were committed the oracles of God, he seems to intimate, not merely that the possession of the sacred oracles was conferred on them as a privilege, but that the custody and preservation of them was imposed upon them as a duty, so that they being, as it were, the authorised depositories of the oracles of God, their testimony as to their authenticity is to be regarded as essentially important, if not of itself absolutely conclusive. The authority of these books was not in any instance acknowledged, directly or by implication, by our Saviour or His apostles, while they plainly acknowledged the authority of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets, the three classes into which the Jews usually distributed the canonical Scriptures. There is not a vestige of evidence that these books were composed by men who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or that their authors were regarded in that light by any of their contemporaries. There are not a few statements in these books which, by no skill and learning, can be reconciled with each other, and which, therefore, cannot have proceeded from one and the same Spirit of truth.

II. The Church of Rome further professes to receive and venerate APOSTOLICAL TRADITIONS with equal piety and reverence as the written Word. In support of the authority of tradition, Papists commonly refer to the injunction of the apostle (2Th 2:15), to hold fast the traditions which they had been taught, whether by word, or by his epistle. Of course, it was the duty of the Thessalonians to hold fast all that they had been taught by the apostle, whether orally or by writing. And our answer to Papists, when they urge from this passage the authority of tradition, is just this, that if the Church of Rome will put us in the same situation with regard to her pretended traditions as the Thessalonians were in regard to the traditions to which the apostle refers; i.e., if she will give us as good evidence as the Thessalonians had that these traditions really came from an apostle, and were delivered by him as public instruction to the Churches, we will implicitly submit to them, but not otherwise.

III. Let us now advert to the claims which some who call them selves rational Christians put forth in behalf of HUMAN REASON, to be received along with the Word of God as a rule of faith and practice. Men are certainly bound to exercise their reason most fully upon a matter so momentous as the end for which they were made. It is by their reason alone that they come into contact with truth, so as to discover, to apprehend, and to establish it. When the Bible is pressed upon their attention, as containing a revelation from God, they are bound to bring their whole faculties to bear upon the examination of the evidence on which its claim to that character rests, and to come to a clear and decided determination upon that point. If they come to the conclusion that the Bible does contain a revelation from God, then they are further bound to use their reason in discovering the meaning and import of its statements, and in ascertaining from them what is the standard of belief and practice which they ought to follow. And here in right reason the province of reason ends. There can be no more satisfactory reason for believing any doctrine, no more conclusive evidence that it is true, than the fact that God has revealed it. This is a position to which the reason of every rational man assents, and it plainly supersedes the mere unaided efforts of our own reason upon any point on which God has made known to us His will. Men have no right to regard their own reason as the measure or standard of truth, or to suppose that they are capable of discovering much, by its unaided efforts, in regard to an infinite God and an invisible world. (W. Cunningham.)

Is conscience the supreme rule of life?

There is, indeed, another notion very prevailing in the present day, which seems to hold up conscience as the supreme rule by which men ought to be guided in regard to religion, although it has scarcely been propounded as a distinct and definite doctrine. This is evidently a mere fallacy, although we fear it produces extensively very injurious affects. When men talk of their own conscience as being the rule which they are bound to follow, they can mean by their conscience only the opinion which they sincerely entertain, and seem to forget that while, in a certain sense, they may be bound to follow their own conscientious convictions, and while it is undoubtedly true that God alone is Lord of the conscience, that is, is alone entitled to exercise jurisdiction over their opinions, or to require them to believe and act in a certain way merely because they are so required, it may still be a question, whether their conscience is well or ill informed, whether the opinions they conscientiously entertain are well or ill founded. Now this very obvious consideration shows that there must be a higher standard than conscience by which men should try all their opinions, however conscientiously they are held, and that therefore conscience cannot be regarded as a standard of opinion and practice in any such sense as to interfere with the supreme and exclusive authority of the Word of God, or to release men from the obligation to regulate their whole opinions and practice by its statements. (W. Cunningham.)

Search the Scriptures

I. Permit me to urge upon you THE BRINGING CERTAIN THINGS TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY.

1. The ideas engendered in you by your early training.

2. The preachers of the Gospel.

3. There is another class of men. These men are their own preachers; they believe no one but themselves.

4. Just do the same with all books that you read.

II. THE GOOD EFFECTS that you will derive from a careful study of the law and testimony of God.

1. Unless you study the Word of God you will not be competent to detect error.

2. When you are in a matter of dispute you will be able to speak very confidently.

3. Search the Scriptures, because in so doing you win get a rich harvest of blessing to your own soul.

III. OTHER REASONS. Many false prophets are gone forth into the world. There is a solemn danger of being absolutely misled. Read your Bibles to know what the Bible says about you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The evils resulting from false principle of morality

There are three erroneous principles of morality prevalent among ourselves, expediency, honour, and custom.

1. Expediency, borrowed from the storehouse of sceptical philosophy, and placed, by its wisest defenders, as nearly as might be done, on a Christian foundation, pronounces that an action is right or wrong according as it tends to promote or to diminish general happiness. Whatever is expedient is right. Every moral precept is subject to exceptions. And of the expediency of regarding or disregarding the precept every man is in every case to judge for himself.

2. Honour, as a principle of action, refers to the estimation of the class of society in which the individual moves, and especially to the sentiments of the higher ranks, whose opinions will ever be of the most preponderating influence. Its concern respecting moral actions is limited to such as are useful in fashionable intercourse: and is particularly bestowed on those which have somewhat of splendour, commonly of false splendour, in their exterior appearance.

3. Custom is the general guide of those persons who give little thought to the investigation of principles, and take their moral opinions upon trust from others. No one of these is the Scriptural standard of conduct. They all depart from the law and the testimony. They speak not according to this word: therefore there is no tight in them. Let us now advert to their effects.

I. One effect will be this: THE MORALITY PRODUCED WILL BE UNCERTAIN AND VARIABLE. From a survey of the variable morality produced by these false principles of morals, turn to the morality of the Scriptures. Behold it firm, consistent, immutable: not committing its precepts to the jurisdiction of man, and investing him with a dispensing power to suspend or to abrogate them at his discretion; but commanding him universally to be faithful in obeying them, and to leave consequences with God.

II. Another effect of the erroneous principles under examination is, that THE MORALITY PRODUCED IS LOW IN DEGREE. From the view of the debased morality originating in false principles direct your eyes again to the Word of God. Behold the morality which it teaches, worthy of Him, suited to man I Behold it manifesting itself by its holiness to be a transcript of the holiness of God! Behold it as a branch of that godliness, which has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come: behold it conducing to the happiness of men, present no less than future. Behold it not partially confining its benefits to select classes of society; but with outspread arms showering them down upon all. Behold it displaying from age to age its hallowed truths, uncorrupt, unsullied, as the source from which it flows. Behold it exemplified in the fulness of perfection, by, Him who is the cornerstone of Christian morality; by the incarnate Son of God, even by Him who was God manifest in the flesh.

III. THE MISCHIEF PRODUCED BY FALSE PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY WILL BE BEYOND MEASURE EXTENSIVE. it is on moral dispositions and moral conduct that these principles operate. And it is in the government of moral dispositions, and in the exercise of them in moral actions, that much of the employment of life consists. If religion be weakened in one point, it is weakened in all points, it is endangered in all. Ii then you are anxious, in discharging the duties of morality, faithfully to follow the. Divine commandments, and to tread in the steps of your Lord, search the Scriptures. By them shall every moral deed be tried at last: by them let it be directed now. (T. Gisborne.)

The best guide book

When Sir David Wilkie was setting out for an artistic tour in the Holy Land, he was asked what guide book he was taking with him. He held out the Bible, saying, This is the best guide book. We are pilgrims to the heavenly Canaan. What guide book will be so helpful to us as the Bible? It will shed light on our way. (Gates of Imagery.)

The Bible and superstition

After Henry the Eighths rupture with the Pope the following order was issued, to counteract if possible the advance of sacerdotal superstition: Every parson or proprietary of every parish church within this realm, shall provide a book of the whole Bible, both in Latin and in English, and lay the same in the choir, for every man that will to read and look therein; and shall discourage no man from reading any part of the Bible, but rather comfort, exhort, and admonish every man to read the same, as the very Word of God and the spiritual food of mans soul. (H. O. Mackey.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 20. To the law and to the testimony – “Unto the command, and unto the testimony.”] “Is not teudah here the attested prophecy, Isa 8:1-4? and perhaps torah the command, Isa 8:11-15? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Pr 6:20, and Pr 7:1-2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept.” – Abp. Secker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it: “Tenons nous a l’instrument authentique mis en depot par ordre du Seigneur,” “Let us stick to the authentic instrument, laid up by the command of the Lord.” If this be right, the sixteenth verse must be understood in the same manner.

Because there is no light in them – “In which there is no obscurity.”] shachor, as an adjective, frequently signifies dark, obscure; and the noun shachar signifies darkness, gloominess, Joe 2:2, if we may judge by the context: –

“A day of darkness and obscurity;

Of cloud, and of thick vapour;

As the gloom spread upon the mountains:

A people mighty and numerous.”

Where the gloom, shachar, seems to be the same with the cloud and thick vapour mentioned in the line preceding. See La 4:8, and Job 30:30. See this meaning of the word shachar well supported in Christ. Muller. Sat. Observat. Phil. p. 53, Lugd. Bat. 1752. The morning seems to have been an idea wholly incongruous in the passage of Joel; and in this of Isaiah the words in which there is no morning (for so it ought to be rendered if shachar in this place signifies, according to its usual sense, morning) seem to give no meaning at all. “It is because there is no light in them,” says our translation. If there be any sense in these words, it is not the sense of the original; which cannot justly be so translated. Qui n’a rien d’obscur, “which has no obscurity.” – Deschamps. The reading of the Septuagint and Syriac, shochad, gift, affords no assistance towards the clearing up of any of this difficult place. R. D. Kimchi says this was the form of an oath: “By the law and by the testimony such and such things are so.” Now if they had sworn this falsely, it is because there is no light, no illumination, shachar, no scruple of conscience, in them.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

To the law and to the testimony; let this dispute between you and them be determined by Gods word, which is here and in many other places called

the law, to signify their obligation to believe and obey it; and the testimony, because it is a witness between God and man of Gods mind and will, and of mans duty; and so these two titles contain two arguments against these idolatrous practices.

If they; your antagonists, that seek to pervert you, Isa 8:19.

It is because there is no light in them; this proceeds from the darkness of their minds, because they are blind, and will not see, and God hath shut their eyes that they cannot see. But these words are by divers learned interpreters understood not as a declaration of their ignorance, but a commination and prediction of their misery, light being most commonly used in Scripture for comfort and happiness, and darkness for sorrows and calamities. And this sense seems to be much favoured by the following passages. And then the words may be thus rendered, assuredly (for the Hebrew particle asher is frequently used as a note of asseveration, as 1Sa 15:20; Psa 10:6; 95:11, &c., as hath been more than once observed before) no light or morning light shall be (for that may as well be understood as is) to them; a night of misery shall come upon them, and they shall never have a morning of deliverance from it; they shall be swallowed up in endless calamities.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

20. To the law, c.therevelation of God by His prophet (Isa8:16), to which he directs them to refer those who would advisenecromancy.

if they speak not . . . it isbecauseEnglish Version understands “they” asthe necromancers. But the Hebrew rendered “because”is not this but “who” and “if not,” ought ratherto be “shall they not”; or, truly they shall speakaccording to this word, who have no morning light (sothe Hebrew, that is, prosperity after the night of sorrows)dawning on them [MAURERand G. V. SMITH]. They whoare in the dark night of trial, without a dawn of hope, shall surelysay 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].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

To the law, and to the testimony,…. Kimchi takes this to be an oath, “by the law, and by the testimony”, it is so and so; but Aben Ezra observes there is no instance of this kind in Scripture; it is a direction of Christ’s to his disciples, to attend to the writings of Moses and the prophets, to search the Scriptures, as in Joh 5:39 and particularly what is before said in this prophecy concerning himself, the same is meant as on Isa 8:16.

if they speak not according to this word; this sure word of prophecy, to which men do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place, it being the rule of faith and practice, a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path:

[it is] because [there is] no light in them; that is, in them that speak not according to it, meaning the Scribes and Pharisees; who, rejecting the written word, set up the traditions of the elders above it, and taught the people to walk according to them; and so were, as our Lord says, “blind leaders of the blind”, Mt 15:14 or the words may be read, “if not”; if they will not regard the Scriptures, and the evangelical doctrine in them, and the testimony they give concerning Christ; “let them speak according to this word”; or instruction, and counsel, they have from the Scribes and Pharisees: “in which there is no light” b; but the darkness of ignorance, infidelity, superstition, and will worship; or “no morning”; but a night of Jewish darkness, even though the sun of righteousness was risen, and the dayspring from on high had visited the earth; yet they had received no light and knowledge from him, which was their condemnation, Joh 1:4 Joh 3:19 or thus, “to the law, and to the testimony, though they may say after this manner, there is no light in it” c; in the law and testimony, preferring the traditions, decisions, and determinations of their doctors above it. Noldhius d renders the words thus, “seeing they speak not according to this word, certainly they shall have no morning”; that is, seeing the seducers and false teachers, in the preceding verse Isa 8:19, speak not according to the word of God, and testimony of Jesus, they shall have no morning of light and joy, of grace and comfort, or any spiritual felicity; Christ will be no morning to them, but they will continue in their dark, benighted, and miserable condition, described in the following verse.

b “sin minus, dicant secundum verbum istud, cui mon est aurora”, Piscator. So Sanctius. c “Licet ipsi dicent, in verbis legis, nihil lucis esse”, Oleaster in Bootius. d Ebr. Part. Concord. p. 374. No. 1302.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

In opposition to such a falling away to wretched superstition, the watchword of the prophet and his supporters is this. “To the teaching of God ( thorah, Gotteslehre), and to the testimony! If they do not accord with this word, they are a people for whom no morning dawns.” The summons, “to the teaching and to the testimony” (namely, to those which Jehovah gave through His prophet, Isa 8:17), takes the form of a watchword in time of battle (Jdg 7:18). With this construction the following (which Knobel understands interrogatively, “Should not they speak so, who, etc.?” and Luzzatto as an oath, as in Psa 131:2, “Surely they say such words as have no dawn in them”) has, at any rate, all the presumption of a conditional signification. Whoever had not this watchword would be regarded as the enemy of Jehovah, and suffer the fate of such a man. This is, to all appearance, the meaning of the apodosis . Luther has given the meaning correctly, “If they do not say this, they will not have the morning dawn;” or, according to his earlier and equally good rendering, “They shall never overtake the morning light,” literally, “They are those to whom no dawn arises.” The use of the plural in the hypothetical protasis, and the singular in the apodosis, is an intentional and significant change. All the several individuals who did not adhere to the revelation made by Jehovah through His prophet, formed one corrupt mass, which would remain in hopeless darkness. is used in the same sense as in Isa 5:28 and 2Sa 2:4, and possibly also as in 1Sa 15:20, instead of the more usual , when used in the affirmative sense which springs in both particles out of the confirmative ( namque and quoniam ): Truly they have no morning dawn to expect.

(Note: Strangely enough, Isa 8:19 and Isa 8:20 are described in Lev. Rabba, ch. xv, as words of the prophet Hosea incorporated in the book of Isaiah.)

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

20. To the law and testimony. There are indeed various ways of explaining this passage. Some think that it is the form of an oath, as if the Prophet were swearing by the law that they were apostates, and would entice others to a similar apostasy. But I take a different view of it, which is, that he directs our attention to the law and the testimony; for the preposition ל, ( lamed,) to, plainly shows that this is the meaning. Now, the testimony is joined with the law, not as if it were different, but for the sake of explanation, “ to the law, ” which contains the testimony or declaration of the will of God toward us. In short, we ought to take the word testimony as describing a quality, in order to inform us what advantage we derive from the law; namely, that God reveals himself to us in the law, and declares what is that relation to us which he chooses to hold, and lays down what he demands from us, and in short everything necessary to be known.

It is therefore a very high commendation of the law that it contains the doctrine of salvation, and the rule of a good and happy life. For this reason also he justly forbids us to turn aside from it in the smallest degree; as if he should say, “Forsake all the superstitions on which they are so madly bent; for they are not satisfied with having God alone, and call to their aid innumerable inventions.” In this manner also Christ speaks,

They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them, (Luk 16:29😉

for though Abraham is there brought forward as the speaker, still it is a permanent oracle which is uttered by the mouth of God. We are therefore enjoined to hear the law and the prophets, that we may not be under the influence of eager curiosity, or seek to learn anything from the dead. If the law and the prophets had not been sufficient, the Lord would not have refused to allow us other assistance.

Hence we learn that everything which is added to the word must be condemned and rejected. It is the will of the Lord that we shall depend wholly on his word, and that our knowledge shall be confined within its limits; and therefore, if we lend our ears to others, we take a liberty which he has forbidden, and offer to him a gross insult. Everything that is introduced by men on their own authority will be nothing else than a corruption of the word; and consequently, if we wish to obey God, we must reject all other instructors. He likewise warns us that, if we abide by the law of the Lord, we shall be protected against superstitions and wicked modes of worship; for, as Paul calls

the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, (Eph 6:17,)

so by the word, Satan and all his contrivances are put to flight. We ought therefore to flee to him whenever we shall be attacked by enemies, that, being armed with it, we may contend valiantly, and at length put them to flight.

If they shall not speak. I do not relate all the expositions of this passage, for that would be too tedious; and I consider the true exposition to be so well supported that it will easily refute all others. It is usually explained to mean that wicked men trifle with their inventions, and expose their impostures to sale, because there is no light in them; that is, because they have not ordinary understanding. For my own part, I consider this to be a reason for encouraging believers to perseverance; that if wicked men depart from the true doctrine, they will evince nothing else than their own blindness and darkness. We ought to despise their folly, that it may not be an obstruction to us; as Christ also teaches us that we should boldly set aside such persons, so as not to be in any degree affected by their blindness or obstinacy. “ They are blind, ” says he, “ and leaders of the blind. Do you wish of your own accord to perish with them?” (Mat 15:14.)

The Prophet therefore enjoins us to ascribe to the word such high authority, that we shall venture boldly to despise the whole world, if the word be opposed by them; for if even angels should do this, we might condemn them also by the authority of the word.

If an angel from heaven, says Paul, preach anything else, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:8.)

How much more boldly, therefore, shall we condemn men who set themselves in opposition to God? The mode of expression is emphatic, If they shall not speak according to this word. He brings an accusation of blindness against every man who does not instantly and without dispute adopt this sentiment, that we ought not to be wise beyond the law of God.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THE LAW AND THE TESTIMONY

Isa. 8:20. To the law and to the testimony, &c.

This was one of the watchwords of the Reformation, and since then it has been a favourite text with Protestants. The noble Sixth Article of the Church of England [872] is but an expansion of it. It assumes that there is one standard of truth, one infallible oracle, to which in all their moral perplexities and spiritual difficulties, it is the wisdom, if not the duty, of all men to appeal. And we are persuaded that we have this standard, this oracle, in the Bible (H. E. I. 543). If men neglect it,if they strive to construct a creed or direct their conduct without it, two things are certain:

1. They lack the knowledge and wisdom essential to success in life. Their neglect of it shows that they have no light in them [875]

2. There await them disappointment, disaster, and despair. This is the teaching of the other beautiful translation which many eminent scholars have adopted: To the teaching of God, and to the testimony! If they do not according to this word, they are a people for whom no morning dawns (H. E. I. 641).

[872] Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.
[875] Just as it would be conclusive proof of ignorance of geology if a prospecting party of miners left unexplored the very spot concerning which the character of the rocks and soil cried loudly, Gold! Or if some professional man, perplexed by a serious and embarrassing case, should leave unconsulted the standard works containing the solution of the problem.

Here also may be quoted the declaration of the Westminster Assembly of divines:
VI. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory, mans salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are so ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.
VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded or offered in some scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.
X. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.The Confession of Faith.

But all who consult the Bible do not obtain from it sure guidance: the proof of this is the differences among those who consult it, both as to belief and practice. In support of the most absurd doctrines and the most pernicious practices, the authority of Scripture is claimed. True, but the error lies not in the law, but in the men who refer to it [878] If the Bible is to be really helpful to us, we must consult it honestly (H. E. I. 573, 574, 4854). Humbly (H. E. I. 387389, 562567, 587, 599). With a constant recognition of our help of the Holy Spirit (H. E. I. 622, 623, 28772882). Prayerfully (H. E. I. 570, 571, 598, 4856). Diligently (H. E. I. 576580; P.D. 315). Intelligently

(1) In regard to the subjects concerning which we seek instruction (H. E. I. 540542, 558560).
(2.) In regard to our interpretation [881] and application of its utterances (H. E. I. 544550, 568, 569). The man who thus uses the Bible [884] will be cheered as he advances in life by a dawn that will brighten and broaden into perfect day. He will be led by it to Christ, The Light of the world, and following Him in loving obedience and unswerving loyalty, he will find the declaration for ever true, He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

[878] Lawyers and doctors, professedly consulting the standard works of their profession, have misled their clients and killed their patients; but the fault has not been in those standard works, but in the men who failed to use them aright. Bradshaws Railway Guide is not a safe guide in the hands of every traveller.
[881] The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.The Confession of Faith.

[884] The Holy Scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent esteem of them; with a firm persuasion that they are the very Word of God, and that He only can enable us to understand them; with desire to know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them; with diligence and atention to the matter and scope of them; with meditation, application, self-denial, and prayer.The Larger Catechism.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

(20) To the law and to the testimony.The words are only remotely and by analogy an exhortation to the study of Scripture in general, or even to that of the Law of Moses in particular. The law and the testimony are obviously here, as in Isa. 8:16, the word of Jehovah, spoken to the prophet himself, the revelation which had come to him with such an intensity of power.

If they speak not according to this word . . .The personal pronoun refers to the people of Isa. 8:19 who were hunting after soothsayers. The second clause should be rendered, for them there is no light of morning. The light here is that of hope rather than of knowledge. No morning dawn should shine on those who haunted the caves and darkened rooms of the diviners, the sances of the spiritualists of Jerusalem. The verse admits, however, of a different construction. As the Hebrew idiom, If they shall . . . stands, as in Psa. 95:11; Heb. 4:3; Heb. 4:5, for the strongest form of negative prediction, so if they shall not . . . may stand here for the strongest form of positive. So taken the verse would read, Surely they will speak according to this word. (i.e., will have recourse to the true Revelation) when there is no morning-dawn for them, when they look above and around, and see nothing but darkness.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

20. Instead of resorting to such forbidden and abominable sources, to the law and to the testimony resort ye, continues the prophet.

If they speak not according to this word If they, if any one.

This word The law of Moses, and the testimony of Jehovah’s true prophets. Whatever lines of action deviated from these prescriptions are to be avoided as leading to ways prescribed by counsels of darkness.

Because there is no light in them Or, surely no morning dawn is in them. No dawning hope of salvation for the land against her confederate enemies can spring from sorcery. It must come from Jehovah’s law and testimony alone.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

Ver. 20. To the law and to the testimonies. ] Lo, this is the way, walk in it, for the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Pro 6:23 They have Moses and the prophets; Luk 16:29 these must be the men of our counsel, Psa 119:24 even these lively and life giving oracles, Act 7:38 not dead idols or damned necromancers.

There is no light in them. ] Either of truth or of comfort. Good expressions such kind of creatures may use, it may be; but si magicae, Deus non vult tales; si piae non per tales: their false lights serve but to light them into utter darkness. Happy was Oecolampadius, an excellent commentator upon this prophet, who made good the splendour of his own name, when (beside the light he lent to “the law and testimonies”) he could lay his hand on his breast when he lay dying of the plague, and say, Here’s plenty of light got from the Scripture.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

there is no light in them = there shall be no morning for them. All are in darkness who do not speak by and appeal to the revealed Word of God.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

the law: Isa 8:16, Luk 10:26, Luk 16:29-31, Joh 5:39, Joh 5:46, Joh 5:47, Act 17:11, Gal 3:8-29, Gal 4:21, Gal 4:22, 2Ti 3:15-17, 2Pe 1:19

it is: Isa 30:8-11, Psa 19:7, Psa 19:8, Psa 119:130, Jer 8:9, Mic 3:6, Mat 6:23, Mat 22:29, Mar 7:7-9, Rom 1:22, 2Pe 1:9

light: Heb. morning, Pro 4:18, Hos 6:3, Mal 4:2, 2Pe 1:19

Reciprocal: Exo 25:37 – give Exo 35:29 – the Lord Exo 40:16 – according Lev 24:2 – the lamps Num 8:2 – General Deu 13:3 – hearken Deu 18:10 – that useth divination Deu 29:29 – revealed Jdg 8:27 – an ephod Jdg 18:14 – now therefore 1Sa 28:7 – Seek me 2Ki 11:12 – the testimony 2Ki 23:24 – that he might 2Ch 17:9 – the book 2Ch 23:11 – the testimony Ezr 7:14 – according Ezr 10:3 – let it Neh 8:1 – bring Psa 26:3 – and Psa 78:5 – For he Psa 93:5 – Thy Psa 119:24 – my counsellors Pro 2:6 – out Pro 6:23 – the commandment Pro 14:6 – scorner Jer 6:16 – Stand Eze 40:3 – with Mic 5:12 – General Mal 4:4 – the law Mat 4:7 – It Mat 14:4 – General Mat 15:4 – God Mar 7:13 – the word Mar 10:3 – What Mar 10:19 – knowest Mar 12:24 – Do Luk 4:4 – It Luk 8:11 – The seed Luk 11:36 – the whole Luk 18:20 – knowest Joh 1:9 – every Joh 3:21 – he that Act 13:6 – certain Rom 3:2 – because Rom 3:10 – As it is Rom 4:3 – what 1Co 2:1 – the testimony 1Co 3:13 – and the fire 1Co 9:8 – or 1Th 5:21 – Prove 2Ti 1:8 – the testimony Jam 1:25 – looketh 1Pe 4:11 – any 1Jo 4:6 – Hereby

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Isa 8:20. To the law and to the testimony Let this dispute between you and them be determined by Gods word, which is here, and in many other places, called the law, to signify their obligation to believe and obey it; and the testimony, because it is a witness between God and man, of Gods will, and of mans duty. If they speak not, &c. Your antagonists, who seek to pervert you. No light This proceeds from the darkness of their minds; they are blind, and cannot see. But these words are understood by divers learned interpreters, not as a declaration of their ignorance, but a prediction of their misery, light being most commonly used in Scripture for comfort and happiness, and darkness for sorrows and calamities. And this sense seems to be much favoured by the following passage: and then the words, , mean, no light, or no morning, shall be to them; that is, a night of misery shall come upon them, and they shall never have a morning of deliverance from it; they shall be swallowed up in endless calamities, as is farther declared in the following verses.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

8:20 To the {y} law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no {z} light in them.

(y) Seek remedy in the word of God, where his will is declared.

(z) They have no knowledge but are blind leaders of the blind.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Back to the Bible, Isaiah preached. If the predictions of the false prognosticators did not harmonize with written revelation, their counsel was darkness rather than light. The "law" probably refers to the Torah, and the "testimony" to royal tradition and theory. This "testimony" comprised the oral and written traditions passed down from former generations, which, while not inspired, were nevertheless important reliable sources of information.

"More than anything else today there is need that all our thinking be based upon and in conformity with the Holy Scriptures." [Note: Young, 1:320.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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