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Isaiah 8:2

in Isaiah 8

And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and I will take unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

KJV

And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

This verse in Isaiah 8

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

Chapter 8 — Verses 1-4. And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself a large book, and write in it with the pen of a man, quickly seize the spoils, swiftly plunder. And I appointed faithful witnesses for myself, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Barachiah, and I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son.

This site's exposition

Take a large scroll

on Isaiah 8:1-2

Isaiah is told to write Maher-shalal-hash-baz, hasten the spoil, hurry to the prey, "with an ordinary stylus," in script any passerby could read. Two "trustworthy witnesses," Uriah the priest and Zechariah, certify the writing before the child is conceived. No one can claim the prophecy was written after the fact.

This site's exposition

Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah

Two trustworthy witnesses meet the law of Deuteronomy 19:15, as Aquinas says. Henry says Uriah the priest is the one who built an altar for King Ahaz in 2 Kings 16:10 and 11. At this time nothing stood against him as a witness.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

266. And I took unto me. Here the sign is confirmed by testimony; faithful witnesses: in the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word stand (Deut 19:15).

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

They were two in number (for out of the mouth of two witnesses shall every word be established ); one was Uriah the priest; he is mentioned in the story of Ahaz, but for none of his good deeds, for he humoured Ahaz with an idolatrous altar ( 2 Kings xvi. 10, 11 ); however, at this time, no exception lay against him, being a faithful witness.
And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Uriah--an accomplice of Ahaz in idolatry, and therefore a witness not likely to assist the prophet of God in getting up a prophecy after the event (2Ki 16:10). The witnesses were in order that when the event should come, they might testify that the tablet containing the prophecy had been inscribed with it at the time that it professed.
And I took unto me faithful witnesses - What was the precise object in calling in these witnesses is not known. Some have supposed that it was to bear testimony to the marriage of the prophet at that time. But it may have been for the purpose of a public record of the prophecy; a record so made, that the precise time when it was delivered could be attested without dispute. The prophecy was an important one; and it was important to know, in the most authentic and undisputed manner, that such a prophecy had been delivered.

The words behind it

11 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.

  • וְאָעִ֣ידָהand I will call as witness

    veaidahH5749 →

  • לִּ֔יfor <the> myself

    li

  • עֵדִ֖יםwitnesses

    ʾedimH5707 →70 times

  • נֶאֱמָנִ֑יםreliable

    neemanimH539 →106 times

  • אֵ֚ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אוּרִיָּ֣הUriah

    ʾuriyahH223 →

  • הַכֹּהֵ֔ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • זְכַרְיָ֖הוּZechariah

    zekharyahuH2148 →

  • בֶּ֥ן[the] son of

    benH1121 →4930 times

  • יְבֶרֶכְיָֽהוּ׃Jeberekiah

    yeverekhyahuH3000 →

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

    2 Corinthians 13:1

    This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

    it leads to

    • Matthew 18:16

      But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

    • Deuteronomy 19:15

      A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or…

    • Deuteronomy 17:6

      On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.

    • John 8:17–18

      Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.

    • Numbers 35:30

      If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a…

  • Through

    Ruth 4:2

    Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 31:23

      Her husband is known at the city gate, where he sits among the elders of the land.

    • 1 Kings 21:8

      Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.

    • Exodus 21:8

      If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who had designated her for himself, he must allow her to be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he…

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.