Isaiah 8:20 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 8:20

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

KJV

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

⋯

Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah (420)

(Verse 19 and following) And when they say to you, seek from the Pythons and the diviners, who make their enchantments, whether not the people seeks from their God for the living from the dead? To the law more and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it will not be morning light for them. And they will pass through it: they will fall down and be hungry: and when they are hungry, they will become angry and curse their king and their God.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

To the law - Let this dispute between you and them be determined by God's word, which is here and in many other places called the law, to signify their obligation to believe and obey it; and the testimony, because it is a witness between God and man, of God's will, and of man's duty. No light - This proceeds from the darkness of their minds, they are blind, and cannot see.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

To the law and to the testimony “Unto the command, and unto the testimony” - “Is not תעודה teudah here the attested prophecy, Isa 8:1-4? and perhaps תורה torah the command, Isa 8:11-15? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Pro 6:20, and Pro 7:1, Pro 7:2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept.” - Abp. Secker.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
לְתוֹרָ֖ה	le.to.Rah	to [the] instruction	H8451 →
וְלִתְעוּדָ֑ה	ve.lit.'u.Dah	and to [the] testimony	H8584 →
אִם־	'im-	if	H518 →
לֹ֤א	lo'	not	H3808 →
יֹֽאמְרוּ֙	yo.me.Ru	they will speak	H559 →
כַּדָּבָ֣ר	ka.da.Var	according to the manner	H1697 →
הַזֶּ֔ה	ha.Zeh	<the> this	H2088 →
אֲשֶׁ֥ר	'a.Sher	that	H834 →
אֵֽין־	'ein-	not	H369 →
ל֖וֹ	lo	[belongs] to it
שָֽׁחַר׃	Sha.char	dawn	H7837 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 119:130
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.
leads to
- Psalms 119:105
  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Proverbs 6:23
  For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of…
- Acts 26:18
  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
Through
Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
leads to
- John 5:39
  You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Isaiah 34:16
  Search and read the scroll of the LORD: Not one of these will go missing, not one will lack her mate, because He has ordered it by His mouth, and He will gather them…
Through
John 5:39
You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
leads to
- Luke 24:27
  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
- Luke 24:44
  Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets,…