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Isaiah 20:2

in Isaiah 20

the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

at that time Jehovah spake by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put thy shoe from off thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

KJV

At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

This verse in Isaiah 20

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

Second, he sets out the divine command: go, and loose: and Ezechiel shall be unto you for a sign of things to come (Ezek 24:24). Third, the fulfillment of the command: and he did so, below: and I do not resist (Isa 50:5). …

This site's exposition

Tartan came unto Ashdod

on Isaiah 20:1-3

The chapter opens with a precise anchor date, the year the Assyrian general Tartan captured Ashdod under Sargon's order, a campaign confirmed by Sargon's own annals, which fixes the sign to a real and datable moment rather than a vague future. At that same time the Lord commands Isaiah to loose the sackcloth from his body and walk naked and barefoot, and the prophet obeys, though the walking is not a single act but a state kept up three full years as a sign and wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia. Clarke and Barnes take naked in its ordinary Hebrew range as stripped of the outer garment and reduced to the plainest under-tunic, the dress of a captive, rather than complete nakedness, though the shame the sign pictures is the same either way.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Sackcloth - Which he wore in token of his grief for the calamities that were already come upon Israel, and were coming upon Judah. Naked - Not wholly naked, but without his upper garment, as slaves and prisoners used to do, whose posture he was to represent.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Walking naked and barefoot - It is not probable that the prophet walked uncovered and barefoot for three years; his appearing in that manner was a sign that within three years the Egyptians and Cushites should be in the same condition, being conquered and made captives by the king of Assyria. The time was denoted as well as the event; but his appearing in that manner for three whole years could give no premonition of the time at all.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

three years shall he go in this manner as a sign and a symbol for Egypt and for Cush, that, at the end of three years the king of Assyria shall lead the captivity of Egypt..
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 20:3:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בָּעֵ֣תat the time

    baetH6256296 times

  • הַהִ֗יא<the> that

    hahi'H19311879 times

  • דִּבֶּ֣רhe spoke

    diberH16961141 times

  • יְהוָה֮Yahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • בְּיַ֣דby [the] hand of

    beyadH30271618 times

  • יְשַׁעְיָ֣הוּIsaiah

    yesha'yahuH347039 times

  • בֶן־[the] son of

    ven-H11214930 times

  • אָמוֹץ֮Amoz

    ʾamotzH53113 times

  • לֵאמֹר֒<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • לֵ֗ךְgo

    lekhH19801546 times

  • וּפִתַּחְתָּ֤and you will loosen

    ufitachtaH6605144 times

  • הַשַּׂק֙the sackcloth

    hasakH824249 times

  • מֵעַ֣לfrom on

    mealH59215755 times

  • מָתְנֶ֔יךָhips your

    mateneikhaH497547 times

  • וְנַעַלְךָ֥and sandal[s] your

    venaalkhaH527522 times

  • תַחֲלֹ֖ץyou will take off

    tachalotzH250244 times

  • מֵעַ֣לfrom on

    mealH59215755 times

  • רַגְלֶ֑יךָfeet your

    ragleikhaH7272247 times

  • וַיַּ֣עַשׂand he did

    vaiyaasH62132628 times

  • כֵּ֔ןthus

    kenH3651771 times

  • הָלֹ֖ךְhe went

    halokhH19801546 times

  • עָר֥וֹםnaked

    aromH617416 times

  • וְיָחֵֽף׃ סand barefoot

    veyachefH31825 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 3:4

    John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 1:8

      “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Matthew 11:8

      Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces.

    • Leviticus 11:22

      Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 19:24

    Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 6:20

      As soon as David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself…

    • 1 Samuel 10:10–12

      When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.

    • Micah 1:8

      Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.

  • Through

    Zechariah 13:4

    And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 3:4

      John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

    • Micah 3:6–7

      Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.

About Isaiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.