Matthew Henry on Isaiah 8:9-15
The prophet here returns to speak of the present distress that Ahaz and his court and kingdom were in upon account of the threatening confederacy of the ten tribes and the Syrians against them. And in these verses,
I. He triumphs over the invading enemies, and, in effect, sets them at defiance, and bids them do their worst (Isa 8:9, Isa 8:10): "O you people, you of far countries, give ear to what the prophet says to you in God's name." 1. "We doubt not but you will now make your utmost efforts against Judah and Jerusalem. You associate yourselves in a strict alliance. You gird yourselves, and again you gird yourselves; you prepare for action; you address yourselves to it with resolution; you…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 8:15
stumble . . . taken--images from the means used in taking wild animals.
John Gill on Isaiah 8:15
And many among them,.... Not all, though the greater part; for Christ was set for the falling and rising of many in Israel, Luke 2:34,
shall stumble, and fall, and be broken: stumble at Christ, the stumbling stone; fall by unbelief into other sins and punishment, and be broken in pieces by this stone, Matthew 21:44,
and be snared, and be taken; and so die in their sins, and perish eternally. The allusion is to birds being taken in a snare or trap, or with bird lime, and therein or thereby held and detained.
John Calvin on Isaiah 8:15
And many among them shall stumble. He goes on to threaten the ungodly, as he had formerly begun, and declares that those who refuse to trust in God will not escape without being punished. The threatening runs thus: "when they have stumbled, they will then fall, and afterwards they will be bruised." This agrees with the former metaphor, in which he compared God to a stone. Christ has alluded to that metaphor, including both clauses.
"He who shall fall on this stone will be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will bruise him." (Matthew 21:44.)
And shall be snared and taken. This agrees with the latter metaphor, in which he compared God to a snare and gin. Let not the ungodly, therefo…
