Isaiah 7:20
in Isaiah 7On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In that day will the Lord shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
KJV
In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
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This verse in Isaiah 7
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe river - That is, the Euphrates: הנהר hanahar. So read the Septuagint and two MSS. Shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired “Jehovah shall shave by the hired razor” - To shave with the hired razor the head, the feet, and the beard, is an expression highly parabolical, to denote the utter devastation of the country from one end to the other; and the plundering of the people, from the highest to the lowest, by the Assyrians, whom God employed as his instrument to punish the Jews.
This site's exposition
shave with a razor that is hired
The Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired, namely the king of Assyria, a single image of national humiliation: head, feet, and beard together, the beard's loss being the deepest shame a man of that culture could suffer in public. Gill and Clarke both note that Assyria, hired in the sense that Ahaz's own tribute paid for the army God turns against him, becomes an instrument the text names outright rather than leaving unidentified. The razor completes what the fly and the bee began, total and humiliating subjection rather than mere military defeat.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20) On that day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, with those beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard, too. Some people think that this is a prophecy about the Assyrians, who, thirteen hundred years before they destroyed Jerusalem, ruled over the kingdom of Asia, Egypt, and Libya, and that they will be defeated by the Medes and Persians, and their empire will be destroyed.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, their captivity: in that day the Lord shall shave with a sharp razor, that is, through the king, by them, that is, through them, namely, the Assyrians; concerning a sharp razor, see Ezekiel 5:1: take you a sharp knife that shaves the hair: and …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And so the prophet notes the just judgment of God, in scourging them with a rod of their own making. By - By the successive kings of the Assyrian empire, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and especially by Nebuchadnezzar. The head - By these metaphorical expressions he signifies the total destruction of their state, from head to foot, from the highest to the lowest.
18, 19 ), or which Ahaz has hired for his assistance. God will make that to be an instrument of his destruction which he hired into his service. Note, Many are beaten with that arm of flesh which they trusted to rather than to the arm of the Lord, and which they were at a great expense upon, when by faith and prayer they might have found cheap and easy succour in God.
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In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The prophet Isaiah had his commission renewed in the year that king Uzziah died, ch. vi. Jotham his son reigned, and reigned well, sixteen years. All that time, no doubt, Isaiah prophesied as he was commanded, and yet we have not in this book any of his prophecies dated in the reign of Jotham; but this, which is put first, was in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Eze 29:19, 20). hired--alluding to Ahaz' hiring (2Ki 16:7, 8) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely, by them beyond the river--namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge (Ps 72:8); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included (Isa 7:18) [G.
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A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In the same day ... - The idea in this verse is the same as in the preceding, though presented in a different form. The meaning is, that “God” would bring upon them this punishment, but that he would make use of the Assyrian as an “instrument” by which to do it. Shave - The act of shaving off the hair denotes punishment or disgrace; compare 2Sa 10:4: ‘Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off one half of their beards;’ 1Ch 19:4. With a razor - Using them as an instrument. God here claims the power of directing them, and regards them as employed by him; see Isa 10:5-7. That is hired - This is an allusion to the custom of hiring soldiers, or employing mercenary armies. Thus Great Britain employed mercenary troops, or hired of the Germans bodies of Hessians to carry on the war in America. The meaning here is, that God would employ the Assyrians as his instruments, to effect his purposes, as though they were hired and paid by the plunder and spoil of the nation. By them beyond the river - The river Euphrates. The Euphrates is usually meant in the Scriptures where ‘the river’ is mentioned without specifying the name; Psa 72:8; Psa 80:2. This was the river which Abraham had passed; and this, perhaps, was, for a long time, the eastern boundary of their geographical knowledge; see the note at Isa 11:15. The head - The hair of the head. The hair of the feet - Or the other parts of the body; of the lower parts of the body. Shall consume the beard - Shall cut off the beard. This was esteemed particularly disgraceful among the Jews. It is, at this day, among all Eastern nations. The beard is regarded as a distinguished ornament; among the Mahometans, it is sworn by, and no higher insult can be offered than to treat the beard with indignity; compare the note at Isa 50:6. The meaning is here, that God would employ the Assyrian as his instrument to lay waste the land.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | in the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֡וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יְגַלַּ֣ח | yegalach | he will shave | H1548 → | |
| אֲדֹנָי֩ | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| בְּתַ֨עַר | betaar | with a razor | H8593 → | |
| הַשְּׂכִירָ֜ה | hasekhirah | <the> hired | H7917 → | |
| בְּעֶבְרֵ֤י | beevrei | on [the] other sides | H5676 → | 90 times |
| נָהָר֙ | nahar | <of> [the] River | H5104 → | 119 times |
| בְּמֶ֣לֶךְ | bemelekh | with [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁ֔וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרֹ֖אשׁ | harosh | the head | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וְשַׂ֣עַר | vesaar | and [the] hair of | H8181 → | |
| הָרַגְלָ֑יִם | haraglayim | the feet | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וְגַ֥ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַזָּקָ֖ן | hazakan | the beard | H2206 → | |
| תִּסְפֶּֽה׃ ס | tispeh | it will sweep away | H5595 → | 19 times |
בַּיּ֣וֹםin the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֡וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
יְגַלַּ֣חhe will shave
yegalachH1548 →
אֲדֹנָי֩[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
בְּתַ֨עַרwith a razor
betaarH8593 →
הַשְּׂכִירָ֜ה<the> hired
hasekhirahH7917 →
בְּעֶבְרֵ֤יon [the] other sides
beevreiH5676 →90 times
נָהָר֙<of> [the] River
naharH5104 →119 times
בְּמֶ֣לֶךְwith [the] king of
bemelekhH4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָרֹ֖אשׁthe head
haroshH7218 →599 times
וְשַׂ֣עַרand [the] hair of
vesaarH8181 →
הָרַגְלָ֑יִםthe feet
haraglayimH7272 →247 times
וְגַ֥םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַזָּקָ֖ןthe beard
hazakanH2206 →
תִּסְפֶּֽה׃ סit will sweep away
tispehH5595 →19 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 10:15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or…
it leads to
- Romans 9:20–21
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Isaiah 45:9
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isaiah 10:5
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Isaiah 29:16
You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of…
- Jeremiah 51:20–23
“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Romans 9:20–21
Through
Isaiah 8:7the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
it leads to
- Isaiah 17:12–13
Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
- Isaiah 17:12–13
Through
Ezekiel 29:18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 27:6
So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.
- Ezekiel 26:7–12
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company…
- Jeremiah 27:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.