Isaiah 8:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 8:9
Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
people
עַמִּים֙'a.Mim
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
pieces
וָחֹ֔תּוּva.Cho.tu
H2865
properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
ear
וְהַֽאֲזִ֔ינוּve.ha.'a.Zi.nu
H238
to broaden out the ear (with the hand) · conjunction + verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
all
כֹּ֖לkol
H3605
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
far
מֶרְחַקֵּיmer.cha.kei-
H4801
remoteness · noun, common masculine plural construct
countries
אָ֑רֶץ'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
gird
הִתְאַזְּר֣וּhit.'a.ze.Ru
H247
to belt · verb, hithpael imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
pieces
וָחֹ֔תּוּva.Cho.tu
H2865
properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
gird
הִֽתְאַזְּר֖וּhit.'a.ze.Ru
H247
to belt · verb, hithpael imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
pieces
וָחֹֽתּוּva.Cho.tu
H2865
properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
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
Isaiah 14:5-6 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
1 Kings 20:11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
Psalms 37:14-15 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversatio…
Proverbs 11:21 Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
Isaiah 7:1-2 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son…
Isaiah 17:12-13 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like…
Joel 3:9-14 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Isaiah 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
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…
Associate yourselves--rather, "Raise tumults," or, Rage, that is, Do your worst [MAURER], referring perhaps to the attack of Rezin and Pekah on Jerusalem.
and . . . be broken in pieces--rather, "yet ye shall be thrown into consternation." Imperative in the Hebrew, according to the idiom whereby the second of two imperatives implies the future, namely, the consequence of the action contained in the first (so Isa 6:9). The name "Immanuel" in Isa 8:8 (compare Isa 8:10) suggests the thought of the ultimate safety of Immanuel's land, both from its present two invaders, and even from the Assyrians, notwithstanding the grievous flood, wherewith the previous verses foretell they shall deluge it. T…
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,
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 (s) 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 agai…
The Church Fathers
And what the same prophet said has been fulfilled. "God is with us. Know this, O nations, and be conquered." For we who are from the nations have been conquered and overcome. And we who bend our necks beneath his grace stand forth as a kind of spoils of his victory.
(Verse 9, 10.) Gather together, O people, and be conquered, and listen, all far away lands: be strengthened and be conquered. Gird yourselves, and be conquered: take counsel, and it shall be dissipated: speak a word, and it shall not be, because God is with us. Regarding the phrase 'gather together, or be weakened, and be broken,' as others have interpreted, the Septuagint translated it as 'know.' For the Hebrew word, Rou (), because of the resemblance of the letter Res () and Daleth (), they understood it as Dou (). Therefore, know that the people of Samaria and Syria are weak and feeble, and in the presence of Emmanuel, they are unable to do anything against the city of God, Jerusalem. And not only you, who are neighbors, but the whole distant land should know this. For even if you gather an army and prepare for battle, and the number of those besieging is greater than the number of those being besieged, I say to you again, you will be defeated. And whatever plan you make against Jerusalem will be destroyed. And although you have said above (Isaiah 7:6): Let us go up to Judah and harass it, and make a breach in it, and set a king over it, the son of Tabeel; you speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us, that is, Emmanuel. We can use this testimony against the nations in the time of persecution, that although they may seem strong and overcome us in those who have fallen, they will be defeated in those who have shed their blood for Christ, and that after the wars, peace will be restored to the Churches, and all their plans against Emmanuel will be scattered, for God is with us. They also listen beneficially to contradict the truth, so that they may ultimately be overcome by reason, and never desire to prevail in falsehood, because whatever they say, wickedness can never overcome what is right.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Arms, Military · Put on at the first alarm — Put on at the first alarm
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).
Associate yourselves. The verb rv, (rognu,) whether it be derived from rv (ruang) or from rh, (ragnah,) signifies to bruise. But as rh (ragnah) signifies to associate, some prefer taking it in this sense, which certainly agrees better with the scope and argument of the Prophet. Some render it, Bruise ye, that is, bruise the kingdom of Judah, or, bruise the Assyrians; but this appears to be unnatural or far-fetched. That it describes the plans and undertakings by which they endeavored to crush the Church of God, is evident from its being immediately added, and a second time repeated, by the Prophet, Gird you, that is, "Form a plan." The word associate, therefore, is the most suitable, unless,…
The prophet's imploring look at Immanuel does not remain unanswered. We may see this from the fact, that what was almost a silent prayer is changed at once into the jubilate of holy defiance. "Exasperate yourselves, O nations, and go to pieces; and see it, all who are far off in the earth! Gird yourselves, and go to pieces; gird yourselves, and go to pieces! Consult counsel, and it comes to nought; speak the word, and it is not realized: for with us is God." The second imperatives in Isa 8:9 are threatening words of authority, having a future signification, which change into futures in Isa 8:19 (Ges. 130, 2): Go on exasperating yourselves רעוּ( with the tone upon the penultimate, and therefo…
God’s plan to rescue his stubborn people would ultimately be fulfilled. God planned to destroy Assyria, just as he does every other proud nation that rejects him or boasts in its own power.
Rashi on Isaiah 8:9
Join together Heb. (רֹעוּ), an expression similar to (Prov. 27:10): “Your friend and your father’s friend (רֵעֲךָ וְרֵעַ אָבִיךָ), as Jonathan renders: Join together. Join together, armies of Sennacherib.
and be broken Heb. וָחֹתּוּ i.e., you shall be broken.
Gird yourselves and be broken You may gird yourselves with all sorts of might, but, eventually, you shall be broken.
