Isaiah 8:21-22 NKJV,NLT

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 8:21

And they shall pass - The people who have been consulting necromancers. This represents the condition of these who have sought for counsel and direction, and who have not found it. They shall be conscious of disappointment, and shall wander perplexed and alarmed through the land.Through it - Through the land. They shall wander in it from one place to another, seeking direction and relief.Hardly bestead - Oppressed, borne down, agitated. The meaning is, that the people would wander about,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 8:22

And they shall look unto the earth - They would look upward and find no relief, and then in despair cast their eyes to the earth to obtain help there. Yet equally in vain. The whole image is one of intense anguish brought on the nation for leaving the counselor the true God.And behold ... - see the note at Isaiah 5:30.Trouble - Anguish, oppression, צרה tsârâh, from צור tsûr, to oppress, to straiten, to afflict. This is a remarkable instance of the prophet Isaiah’s manner - of a rapid,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 8:21-22

Isaiah 8:21-22 . And they The idolatrous and apostate Israelites; shall pass through it Namely, their own land, into captivity; or, as עבר בה may be rendered, shall pass to and fro, or wander hither and thither, in it, like distracted men, not knowing whither to go, or what to do; whereas, if they had not forsaken God, they might have had a quiet and settled abode in it. Hardly bestead and hung r y Hebrew, נקשׁה ורעב , distressed and famished, as Bishop Lowth translates the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Isaiah 8:11-22

Judah rejects Isaiah’s preaching (8:11-22)Once again God reminds Isaiah to trust in him alone. Isaiah is not to follow Ahaz and the people, whether in fearing the Israelite-Syrian alliance or in trusting in Judah’s alliance with Assyria (11-12). God should be the means of Judah’s safety; but if the people do not trust in him they will find that he is the means of their destruction (13-15).When neither the king nor the people heed the messages he brings them from God, Isaiah ceases his public... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Isaiah 8:21

they: i.e. they who live not in the light of God's Word. it: i.e. Immanuel's land. The singular number and same verb, referring back to Isaiah 8:8 . hardly bestead = in hard case. fret themselves. Compare. Revelation 16:11 , Revelation 16:21 . look upward: [in vain]. read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Isaiah 8:22

the earth = the land. dimness of anguish = the gloom of anguish. driven to = thrust out into. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 8:21-22

Isaiah 8:21-22. And they shall pass through it— The attentive reader must observe, that the 21st verse is connected with the last clause of the preceding one; no light, no morning to them. The prophet had here denounced to those who should despise the institution of God and the Messiah, a great evil, that they should have no part in the true light and consolation which the Messiah should bring to his people, according to the ancient prophesies, nor even in the resurrection of the just to life.... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 8:21

21, 22. More detailed description of the despair, which they shall fall into, who sought necromancy instead of God; Isaiah 8:20 implies that too late they shall see how much better it would have been for them to have sought "to the law," c. (Isaiah 8:20- :). But now they are given over to despair. Therefore, while seeing the truth of God, they only "curse their King and God" foreshadowing the future, like conduct of those belonging to the "kingdom of the beast," when they shall be visited with... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 8:21-22

The end of such occult advisers is difficulty, hunger, frustration, distress, darkness, gloom, and anguish. They will look up to their leaders and curse both their king and their God because things did not turn out as they foretold (cf. Isaiah 8:17; Revelation 16:11; Revelation 16:21). They will look down to their fellows and find no help. Frustration meets them wherever they turn. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 8:1-22

1. Take, etc.] read ’Take thee a great tablet, and write upon it with the pen of a man, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ A man’s pen] i.e. such as a common man would use for writing in large characters that all might, undertsand the words. Maher-shalal-hash-baz] i.e. ’The spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth.’ The inscription intimated the speedy spoliation of Syria and Israel (Isaiah 8:4).2. And I took] RV ’And I will take,’ the speaker being Jehovah as in Isaiah 8:1. Witnesses] who would be able when the... read more