Isaiah 8:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 8:4
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
(concretely) a boy (as active) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
knowledge
יֵדַ֣עye.Da'
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cry
קְרֹ֖אke.Ro'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal infinitive construct
father
אָבִ֣י'a.Vi
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
mother
וְאִמִּ֑יve.'i.Mi
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
riches
חֵ֣ילcheil
H2428
probably a force · noun, common masculine singular construct
Damascus
דַּמֶּ֗שֶׂקda.Me.sek
H1834
Damascus · proper noun, a place name
spoil
שְׁלַ֣לshe.Lal
H7998
booty · noun, common masculine singular construct
Samaria
שֹׁמְר֔וֹןsho.me.Ron
H8111
Shomeron · proper noun, a place name
away
יִשָּׂ֣אyi.Sa'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֖יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
king
מֶ֥לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Assyria
אַשּֽׁוּר'a.Shur
H804
Ashshur · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not o…
Deuteronomy 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they…
2 Kings 16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it capt…
2 Kings 17:3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
2 Kings 17:5-6 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
Isaiah 7:8-9 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it…
Isaiah 7:15-16 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Isaiah 10:6-14 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 8:1-8
In these verses we have a prophecy of the successes of the king of Assyria against Damascus, Samaria, and Judah, that the two former should be laid waste by him, and the last greatly frightened. Here we have,
I. Orders given to the prophet to write this prophecy, and publish it to be seen and read of all men, and to leave it upon record, that when the thing came to pass they might know that God had sent him; for that was one end of prophecy, Joh 14:29. He must take a great roll, which would contain those five chapters fairly written in words at length; and he must write in it all that he had foretold concerning the king of Assyria's invading the country; he must write it with a man's pen, in…
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, my father, and my mother,.... Which are commonly the first words children learn to say; and so it signifies that what follows should happen in a year or two; as it did:
the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, shall be taken away before the king of Assyria; or, "he shall take away the riches" (q), &c.; not the child, unless he is considered as the sign of taking them away; but the soldier, put for the whole Assyrian army, which carried off the riches and spoil of these places, in the presence, and by the order, of the king of Assyria; the first of these, namely, Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, with its riches, wealth, and army, w…
Truly before the child have knowledge to cry. This is an interpretation both of the dark saying and of the vision which was added to it; for although God did not intend to speak in direct language, still it was proper that obscurity should be removed. I interpret hnr, (hannagnar,) the child, to mean not the Prophet's son, but rather all who should be born soon afterwards. He declares that, before they are grown up, the two kings of Israel and Samaria [123] will be destroyed.
Before the face of the king of Assyria. That is, at the disposal, or at the will, of the king of Assyria; alluding perhaps to an ancient custom of carrying the spoils of the enemies before the chariot of those who recei…
The Church Fathers
For, before the child knew how to call his father and mother, as Isaiah had prophesied of him, he took the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria. That is, before he uttered human speech through his humanity, he took the strength of Damascus or that which gave confidence to Damascus. For, in the estimation of the world, that city had flourished for some time on account of her riches. But preeminence in riches is gained by gold, and the magi as suppliants offered gold to Christ.
For that expression of Isaiah 'He shall take the power of Damascus and spoils of Samaria,' foretold that the power of the evil demon that dwelt in Damascus should be overcome by Christ as soon as He was born; and this is proved to have happened. For the Magi, who were held in bondage for the commission of all evil deeds through the power of that demon, by coming to worship Christ, shows that they have revolted from that dominion which held them captive; and this [dominion] the Scripture has showed us to reside in Damascus. Moreover, that sinful and unjust power is termed well in parable, Samaria. And none of you can deny that Damascus was, and is, in the region of Arabia, although now it belongs to what is called Syrophoenicia. Hence it would be becoming for you, sirs, to learn what you have not perceived, from those who have received grace from God, namely, from us Christians; and not to strive in every way to maintain your own doctrines, dishonouring those of God.
I, on my part, now wish to engage with you in a discussion on the allegorical expressions of the apostle. What figures of speech could the novel god have found in the prophets (fit for himself)? "He led captivity captive," [Ephesians 4:8] says the apostle. With what arms? In what conflicts? From the devastation of what country? From the overthrow of what city? What women, what children, what princes did the Conqueror throw into chains? For when by David Christ is sung as "girded with His sword upon His thigh," [Psalm 45:3] or by Isaiah as "taking away the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus," [Isaiah 8:4] you make Him out to be really and truly a warrior confest to the eye. Learn then now, that His is a spiritual armour and warfare, since you have already discovered that the captivity is spiritual, in order that you may further learn that this also belongs to Him, even because the apostle derived the mention of the captivity from the same prophets as suggested to him his precepts likewise: ...
Dictionary and topics
Pekah — Open-eyed, the son of Remaliah a captain in the army of Pekahiah, king of Israel, whom he slew, with the aid of a band of Gileadites, and succeeded (B.C. 758) on the throne (2 Kings 15:25). Seventeen…
Samaria, Ancient · Predictions respecting its destruction — Predictions respecting its destruction
Syria · Prophecies respecting: Plundering of Damascus — Prophecies respecting: Plundering of Damascus
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
But something occurred in the meantime whereby the place of the lifeless table was taken by a more eloquent and living one. "And I drew near to the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son: and Jehovah said to me, Call his name In-speed-spoil-booty-hastens (Maher-shalal-hash-baz): for before the boy shall know how to cry, My father, and my mother, they will carry away the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur." To his son Shear-yashub, in whose name the law of the history of Israel, as revealed to the prophet on the occasion of his call (Isa 6:1-13), viz., the restoration of only a remnant of the whole nation, had been formulated, there was now added a…
before this child is old enough: See also 7:16. • Damascus and Samaria were ruined and destroyed in 732 BC, fulfilling this verse along with 7:8, 19-20.
Rashi on Isaiah 8:4
the wealth of Damascus...shall be carried off And [the] king of Assyria went up to Damascus and seized it (II Kings 16:9).
and the plunder of Samaria After Pekah was assassinated, and Hoshea reigned, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, went up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal, and gave him tribute and a bribe (ibid. 17:3). That is the plunder of Samaria. All this took place in the fourth year of Ahaz.
