Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 8:8
And he shall pass through Judah; 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 land, O Immanuel.
8. And he shall pass through Judah ] Better as R.V., And he shall sweep onward into Judah. overflow and go over are rightly taken as synonyms (not as R.V.).
shall reach even to the neck ] (cf. Isa 30:28). Judah is in the utmost extremity of danger, yet is not wholly submerged.
shall fill land ] lit. “shall be the filling (as in ch. Isa 6:3) of the breadth of thy land.” “Wings” cannot mean “masses of water branching off from the main current”; nor is there any evidence that the Hebrews spoke of the “wings” of an army, as we do. The figure of the deluge seems abruptly changed to that of a huge bird of prey, overshadowing the whole land with its extended wings.
of thy land, O Immanuel ] Without any change of the original consonantal text we might read, as at the end of Isa 8:10, “ of the land. For with us is God!” The change is perhaps not imperatively required even if Immanuel be an ordinary child; whereas, on the view that he is the Messiah, the apostrophe becomes natural. Still there remains a suspicion that the last part may be a gloss introduced from Isa 8:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He shall … – That is, the Assyrians – though still retaining the idea of an overflowing stream, or a deluge of waters.
Reach even to the neck – Chaldee, They shall come even to Jerusalem. The prophet compares Jerusalem here, says Kimchi, to the head of the human body. As when the waters reach to the neck of a man, he is very near drowning, so here, the prophet intimates that the whole land would be deluged, and that it would be nearly utterly destroyed. The figure thus understood is a very sublime one Jerusalem was situated on hills – elevated above the surrounding country, and, in reference to the whole land, might be aptly compared to the human head. Thus, Josephus (De Bello, lib. iii. ch. ii.), describing Jerusalem, says – , Hierosoluma proanischousa tes perioikou pases, hosper he kephale somatos – Jerusalem, eminent above all the surrounding region, as the head of the body. The country is represented as being laid under water – a vast sea of rolling and tumultuous waves – with Jerusalem alone rising above them, standing in solitary grandeur amidst the heaving ocean, and itself in danger each moment of being ingulphed; see a similar figure, Isa 30:28 :
He is spirit is like a torrent overflowing
It shall reach to the middle of the neck.
And so also, Hab 3:13 :
Thou didst go forth for the salvation of thy people,
For the salvation of thine anointed:
Thou didst smite the head from the house of the wicked,
Destroying the foundation even to the neck.
And the stretching out of his wings – This is a continuation of the same idea under a new figure. The term wings is often applied to an army, as well in modern as in ancient writings. It denotes that the invading army would be so vast as, when expanded or drawn out, to fill the land.
Shall fill the breadth – Shall occupy the entire land, so that there shall be no city or town which he shall not invade.
Thy land, O Immanuel – see the note at Isa 7:14. If this be understood as referring to the son of Isaiah that was to be born, then it means that the child was given as a pledge that the land would be safe from the threatened invasion. It was natural, therefore, to address the child in that manner; as reminding the prophet that this land, which was about to be invaded, belonged to God, and was yet under his protection. Its meaning may be thus paraphrased: O thou who art a pledge of the protection of God – whose birth is an assurance that the land is under his care, and who art given as such a sign to the nation. Notwithstanding this pledge, the land shall be full of foes. They shall spread through every part and endanger all. Yet the name, the circumstances of the birth, the promise at that time, would all remind the prophet and the king, that, notwithstanding this, the land would be still under the protection of God. If the language be understood as referring to the future Messiah, and as an address made to him then, by calling the land his land, it is intimated that it could not be brought to utter desolation, nor could the country where he was to be born remain wasted and ruined. It would be indeed invaded; the armies of the Assyrian would spread over it, but still it was the land of Immanuel; and was to be the place of his birth, and it was to be secure until the time should arrive for him to come. The probability is, I think, that the address is here solely to the Messiah; and that the purpose of God is to fix the mind of the prophet on the fact that the Messiah must come, as an assurance that the land could not be wholly and perpetually desolate; see the notes at Isa 7:14.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. He shall reach even to the neck] He compares Jerusalem, says Kimchi, to the head of the human body. As when the waters come up to a man’s neck, he is very near drowning, (for a little increase of them would go over his head,) so the king of Assyria coming up to Jerusalem was like a flood reaching to the neck-the whole country was overflowed, and the capital was in imminent danger. Accordingly the Chaldee renders reaching to the neck by reaching to Jerusalem.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He; or, it, to wit, the river, Isa 8:7 which yet designs the same person and thing, to wit, the invasion of the king of Assyria.
Shall pass through Judah; and when he shall have finished his work against you, he shall invade the land of Judah, as Sennacherib did some few years after his conquest of Samaria, 2Ki 18:9,13.
He shall reach even to the neck; so as they shall be in great danger of being drowned or destroyed. He persists in the metaphor of a river swelling so high as to reach to a mans neck, and be ready to overwhelm him. Such was the danger of Judahs land,
when Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, 2Ki 18:13, and sent his army against Jerusalem.
Of his wings; of his forces, or of the wings of his army, as they anciently were and still are called.
Of thy land, O Immanuel; of the land of Judah, so called because the Messiah, who is called by God himself Immanuel, Isa 7:14, should certainly be born, and live, and die there. And this is added emphatically for the consolation of Gods people, to assure them, that notwithstanding this dreadful scourge, yet God would make a difference between Israel and Judah; and whereas Israel should be so broken by the Assyrian, that they should not be a people, as was threatened, Isa 7:8, Judah should be restored and preserved, for the sake of the Messiah, to be the place of his birth and ministry, according to that famous prophecy, Gen 49:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. pass throughThe floodshall not stop at Syria and Samaria, but shall penetrate intoJudea.
the neckWhen thewaters reach to the neck, a man is near drowning; still the headis not said to be overflowed. Jerusalem, elevated on hills, is thehead. The danger shall be so imminent as to reach near it atSennacherib’s invasion in Hezekiah’s reign; but it shall be spared(Isa 30:28).
wingsthe extreme bandsof the Assyrian armies, fulfilled (Isa 36:1;Isa 37:25).
thy land, O ImmanuelThoughtemporarily applied to Isaiah’s son, in the full sense this isapplicable only to Messiah, that Judea is His, was, and stillis, a pledge that, however sorely overwhelmed, it shall be saved atlast; the “head” is safe even now, waiting for the times ofrestoration (Ac 1:6); at thesame time these words imply that, notwithstanding the temporarydeliverance from Syria and Israel, implied in “Immanuel,”the greatest calamities are to follow to Judah.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he shall pass through Judah,…. That is, the king of Assyria, compared to a river of mighty waters; who should not only run over and possess the land of Israel, or the ten tribes, but should enter into Judea, and pass through it, as a chastisement for not trusting in the Lord, but sending to Assyria for help; who instead of helping, distressed them in the times of Ahaz, even Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, 2Ch 28:20:
he shall overflow, and go over; the whole land of Judea, as Sennacherib king of Assyria did in Hezekiah’s time:
he shall reach [even] to the neck; that is, to Jerusalem: the whole land is compared to a body, of which Jerusalem was the head; the Assyrian army, comparable to the waters of a great river, overflowed the whole land, took all the fenced cities of Judah, and came up even to Jerusalem, so that the whole was in great danger of being drowned and destroyed; as a man is, when the waters are come up to his neck; see 2Ki 18:13:
and the stretching out of his wings, the wings of the Assyrian army,
shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel; Judea, called Immanuel’s land, because he was to be born there, and converse and die there; and this is particularly mentioned, to show that, though this land should be overrun by the Assyrians, yet not destroyed, until Immanuel, the son of the virgin, was born here. The Targum is,
“and he shall pass through the land of the house of Judah as an overflowing torrent, unto Jerusalem shall he come; and the people of his army shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Not till then would this overflowing reach as far as Judah, but then it would do so most certainly and incessantly. ”And presses forward into Judah, overflows and pours onward, till it reaches to the neck, and the spreading out of its wings fill the breadth of thy land, Immanuel.” The fate of Judah would be different from that of Ephraim. Ephraim would be laid completely under water by the river, i.e., would be utterly destroyed. And in Judah the stream, as it rushed forward, would reach the most dangerous height; but if a deliverer could be found, there was still a possibility of its being saved. Such a deliverer was Immanuel, whom the prophet sees in the light of the Spirit living through all the Assyrian calamities. The prophet appeals complainingly to him that the land, which is his land, is almost swallowed up by the world-power: the spreadings out ( muttoth , a hophal noun: for similar substantive forms, see Isa 14:6; Isa 29:3, and more especially Psa 66:11) of the wings of the stream (i.e., of the large bodies of water pouring out on both sides from the main stream, as from the trunk, and covering the land like two broad wings) have filled the whole land. According to Norzi, Immanul is to be written here as one word, as it is in Isa 7:14; but the correct reading is Imman El , with mercha silluk (see note on Isa 7:14), though it does not therefore cease to be a proper name. As Jerome observes, it is nomen proprium , non interpretatum ; and so it is rendered in the Sept., .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
8. And crossing over into Judah The verb חלפ, ( chalaph,) which sometimes signifies to pass through, here means to attack and cut off: that is, it will not only water Judea, but will overflow it, so as utterly to drown it; for it will spread far and wide on every part. He adds —
Even to the neck. The comparison is taken from a man who, entering a river, dips into it gradually, till the water reaches to the neck. In this manner shall Judea be overflowed by that rapid river, that is, by the Assyrian, till he be plunged up to the neck. He means Jerusalem, which was the metropolis of the country; and when the Assyrian came to it, Judea was at no great distance from destruction.
The breadth of thy land. That is, in all directions; for he pursues his metaphor in his prophecy, and shows how violent the Assyrian will be, and enlarges the representation of his strength and violence by the same comparison; that is, by comparing him to an impetuous river, which bursting through its barriers and overflowing its banks, spreads far and wide, and overturns and destroys everything by its violence. He proceeds in his discourse against the Jews, as he had begun to do in the two former verses; for, having foretold the destruction of the Israelites and Syrians, he likewise threatens that the Jews, in their turn, shall be punished for their unbelief.
To understand this better, Isaiah’s highly beautiful and closely connected discourse must be examined. First, he turned aside to address others; for Ahaz was unworthy of being addressed. The Lord will give you a sign; which was declared in the former chapter. Next, he adds the manner of preserving Jerusalem, by the sudden changes which should take place in Syria and Samaria. This was confirmed, in the beginning of this chapter, both by a commandment and by a vision. He now comes to the Jews themselves, that they may not hope to escape without being punished, or be too highly elated by the destruction of their enemies; for he declares that for them also a reward is prepared, and that they, too, will be punished for their wickedness and treachery, because they despised the Lord, and would not rest satisfied with his promises, and signs, and acts of kindness largely and bountifully offered.
O Immanuel. It may be asked, Why does the Prophet direct his discourse to Christ, instead of simply calling the land “God’s holy land?” For there can be no doubt that by the name Immanuel he means Christ. It might be thought that this expression was used in order to express the disgrace more strongly; for, since Judea not only was set apart to God, but in the person of the Mediator had God as the guardian of its safety, it was disgraceful that it should be destroyed by a heathen king. But I rather think that the Prophet added this name, in order to hold out to good men some remnant of hope, and to comfort them in so great a calamity; for, when the country was wasted and cruelly torn, they might have lost courage. He therefore means, that that desolation would not prevent the coming of the Redeemer, of whom he had formerly spoken. As if he had said, “Nevertheless, the land shall be thine, O Immanuel; in it shalt thou have thy residence and abode.” This was, therefore, added instead of a consolation, in order to intimate that the land, though torn and wasted, belongs to God and not to men. The sudden change too a direct address ( ἀποστροφὴ) is emphatic; for in this way the Prophet solemnly declares his belief in redemption, that the Lord may set a limit to the frightful calamities.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) The stretching out of his wings.The metaphor within a metaphor is quite after the manner of Isaiah. The armies of Assyria are like a river in flood; the outspread waters on either side of the main stream are like the expanded wings of a great bird sweeping down on its prey.
Shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.The prophet has not forgotten, however, the nomen et omen of the earthly child, now growing towards the time when he would be able to choose the good and refuse the evil. The land over which the flood sweeps belongs to Him who is, in very deed, God with us. In Psa. 46:1-4 we have the prophecy turned into a hymn, or, less probably, the hymn which was the germ of the prophecy. The parallelism, in any case, is so clear as to make it certain that the two were contemporary, and refer to the same events. The same may be said, perhaps, of all the psalms of the sons of Korah. The hope of the psalmist fastens on the thought, the Lord of hosts is with us (Psa. 46:7; Psa. 46:11).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. He shall pass through Judah This calamity shall come when the Assyrian shall be on his way to conquer Egypt. Israel and Syria fallen, Judah will secretly seek protection from Egypt. In punishment for this, on discovery or even suspicion of treachery, he shall overflow and go over. The mixed metaphor of the river (Isa 8:7) is used, denoting Assyria’s great marching army as sweeping the hills of Judah and moving on Jerusalem.
Even to the neck Perhaps an intimation that though the Israelites would be greatly oppressed the kingdom would not at this time be wholly subverted.
Stretching out of his wings His army wings, right and left.
Thy land, O Immanuel The land of Judah, quite submerged, quite covered with soldiery, but not destroyed, because it belongs to “Immanuel.” “This passage supplies a point of connexion between Isa 7:14; Isa 9:1. Isaiah recollects the promise of the wonderful child, and seems to feel that this not exhausted by the overthrow of the Syrians and Ephraimites; he already sees dimly the triumph of the Messiah over Assyria. This seems to be involved in Isa 8:8, and the challenge of Isa 8:9-10, both of which are founded upon the word, ‘God with us.’” Cheyne.
Isa 8:8. And he shall pass through Judah The meaning is, that the Assyrian, after he had swallowed up Syria, and then the kingdom of Ephraim, should pass into Judaea, and occupy with his forces the whole of it, except Jerusalem, its metropolis; which refers to the time of Sennacherib. See 2Ki 18:13-14. The reader will observe, that in this and the preceding verses, the ideas are taken from the overflowing of the river Euphrates except that in the latter clause a new metaphor is introduced where the spreading of the wings alludes to the wings of Sennacherib’s army. See Dan 9:27.
Isa 8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; 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 land, O Immanuel.
Ver. 8. And he shall pass through Judah. ] After Israel subdued; but yet with a difference, as Isa 27:7-8 for the Israelites and Syrians were utterly drowned with this proud flood, but the Jews were only drenched. It “reached but to the neck,” their head was ever above water; and that because Immanuel, better than any Christopher, bore them up.
And the stretching out of his wings.
Shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. his wings. Probably referring to the wings of his army.
Irnmanuel = GOD with us. This shows that the prophecy in Isa 7:14 was not to be exhausted with Ahaz and his times.
he shall pass: Isa 10:28-32, Isa 22:1-7, Isa 28:14-22, Isa 29:1-9, Isa 36:1 – Isa 37:38
reach: Isa 30:28
the stretching: etc. Heb. the fulness of the breadth of thy land shall be the stretchings out of his wings, Eze 17:3
O Immanuel: Isa 7:14, Mat 1:23
Immanuel: Isa 28:20
Reciprocal: Lev 25:2 – When ye Lev 25:23 – for ever Jos 4:18 – and flowed 2Ki 16:8 – to the king 2Ki 18:13 – come up 2Ki 19:4 – the remnant 2Ch 12:4 – came Neh 9:32 – since the time Job 30:14 – as a wide Psa 48:4 – General Psa 90:5 – Thou Psa 124:4 – the waters Isa 1:8 – besieged Isa 7:17 – bring upon Isa 8:21 – through Isa 10:22 – the consumption Isa 17:12 – make a noise Isa 22:7 – full Isa 28:15 – when Isa 28:18 – when Isa 37:4 – for the Jer 2:16 – have broken the crown Jer 42:11 – for I Jer 46:7 – as a flood Jer 47:2 – waters Jer 48:40 – spread Jer 50:17 – first Jer 51:42 – General Eze 26:19 – bring Dan 11:10 – overflow Dan 11:16 – glorious land Dan 11:22 – with Hos 12:2 – and will Joe 1:6 – my Amo 3:11 – General Amo 8:8 – rise Amo 9:5 – shall rise Mic 1:9 – it Mic 4:11 – many Nah 1:8 – with Nah 1:12 – pass Hag 1:13 – I am Mat 28:20 – I am Phi 2:6 – in Rev 17:15 – The waters Rev 20:9 – went
8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the {i} neck; and the spread of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O {k} Immanuel.
(i) It will be ready to drown them.
(k) He speaks this to Messiah, or Christ, in whom the faithful were comforted and who would not suffer his Church to be destroyed utterly.
The Assyrian tide would not stop at Syria and Israel, however, but would sweep into Judah as well. This invasion happened in 701 B.C. But its waters would stop short of completely engulfing Judah; they would reach only to her neck. Israel would drown, but Judah would keep her head above water. Seen from above, the deepening waters of Assyria’s army filling every valley and rising higher and higher resembled the wings of a huge, ominous bird of prey that covered the whole land. Isaiah described the whole land as Immanuel’s land. Probably this is a double reference to the child predicted to be born (Isa 7:14) and to Israel as a whole, the people whose God was with them and would not allow Assyria to devour its prey. The reappearance of Immanuel in this passage that predicts the birth of Maher-shalal-hash-baz, and so closely parallels the Immanuel prophecies in chapter 7, suggests again that Maher-shalal-hash-baz was the initial fulfillment of the Immanuel prediction. In view of the later fulfillment of the Immanuel prophecy in Jesus Christ, we have a reminder that Yahweh continued to be with His people and provided salvation for them ultimately in Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)