For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

For thus hath Jehovah spoken unto me with strength of hand, and instructeth me against walking in the way of this people, saying,

For the Lord, controlling me with a strong hand, gave me orders not to go in the way of this people, saying,

For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, admonishing me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

For the Lord said this to me, and he has instructed this to me with a strong hand, lest I go forth in the way of this people, saying:

Nam sic dixit mihi Iehova, tanquam apprehensione (vel, roboratione) manus; et erudivit me, ne irem per viam populi hujus, dicens:

For thus Jehovah spake to me. Here the Prophet contends against another kind of temptations, that is, against the unbelief of the people; and in order to make that more manifest, it ought to be observed that there were two remarkable temptations, the one external, and the other internal. The external temptation came from professed enemies, such as from the Assyrian; and when the people saw his plundering and cruelty, they thought that all was over with them, because he had brought them almost to utter ruin. The other temptation was internal; for that sacred people, which boasted of having been chosen by God, relied on the assistance of man rather than of God. Now, this was a most dangerous temptation; for it appeared as if that nation, by its unbelief, refused admission to the promises of God, which were daily offered, and which were continually sounded in their ears. And what could the Prophet think, amidst so great perplexity, but that the destruction of this wicked people, which did not cease wickedly to reject the grace of God, was close at hand? The Lord, therefore, determined that both the Prophet and his disciples should be armed against a temptation of this kind. As if by taking hold of my hand. [1] This is a beautiful metaphor, which the commentators, I think, have not understood. He alludes to fathers or teachers, who, when their words have not sufficient effect, seize the hand of their children or scholars, and hold them so as to compel them to obey. Thus the servants of the Lord are sometimes disposed to throw everything away, because they think that they are laboring to no purpose; but the Lord lays as it were, his hand on them, and holds them fast, that they may go forward in the discharge of their duty. This is well understood to be very necessary, and is actually experienced by all who faithfully serve the Lord; for no temptation is more severe than when they in whom faith ought to dwell revolt; and, in a word, when faith appears to be banished from the world. This taking hold of the hand is, therefore, highly necessary, because not only are we fickle and liable to unsteadiness, but we are also by nature too much inclined to what is evil, though no one entice us. But if the force of custom be added, we are scarcely master of ourselves. Undoubtedly, we would every moment be driven up and down, were it not that we are held by the powerful government of God, and fix the anchor of constancy in firm ground. Every one of us ought to meditate earnestly on this thought; for though we may be convinced, yet when it comes to the trial we fail, and look at men rather than God. We should, therefore, attend more carefully to this doctrine, and pray to God to hold us, not only by his word but by laying his hand on us. Besides, it ought to be observed that we are exceedingly disposed to wicked imitation. When we see bad examples, we are drawn to them with great force, and take the example for a law; for when others go before us, we think that we have a right to act in the same manner, and especially when it is not only one or a few persons who have led the way, but the custom has become universal. What is in itself manifestly wrong is concealed by the plausible cloak of public opinion; and not only so, but all are carried, as it were, by the violence of a whirlwind, to adopt an established custom, as if the will of the people had the force of a law to authorize their corruptions. This has not been the fault of a single age, but at the present day it abounds as much or even more than before; for it is an evil deeply seated in all by the corruption of nature, to reckon a prevailing error as a law. Hence arise the superstitions of all ages, and those which at the present day exist in Popery, the origin of which, if it be investigated, will be found to be nothing else than that some persons have drawn others into the same error; and thus almost all have been foolishly caught by the snares of Satan, and the general agreement of men is still the chief foundation of those superstitions. All defend themselves by this weapon. "We are not alone," say they; "we follow an immense multitude."

Footnotes

1 - With a strong hand. -- Eng. Ver. The marginal reading is, "Heb. in strength of hand." -- Ed.

For the Lord spake thus - Spake that which immediately follows in the next verse. Warned him not to Unite in the alliance with foreign kingdoms which the nation was about forming.
With a strong hand - Margin, 'With strength of hand.' That is, when the hand of God urged me. A strong prophetic impulse is often represented as being produced by God's laying his hand on the prophet; or by his being thus, as it were, urged or impelled to it; Ezekiel 3:14 : 'The hand of Jehovah was strong upon me;' 2-Kings 3:15 : 'And it came to pass, that when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him;' Jeremiah 20:7 : 'O Lord, thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed;' see also Ecclesiastes 2:24; 1-Kings 18:46; 2-Kings 3:15; Ezekiel 33:22; Ezekiel 40:1; compare the Introduction, section 7. 11. (3.) The meaning is, that the prophet was strongly, and almost irresistibly, urged by the divine influence, to say what he was about to say.
That I should not walk - That I should not approve, and fall in with the design of Ahaz, and of the nation, in calling in the aid of the Assyrian armies.

With a strong hand "As taking me by the hand" - Eleven MSS., (two ancient), of Kennicott's, thirty-four of De Rossi's, and seven editions, read כחזקת kechezkath; and so Symmachus, the Syriac, and Vulgate. Or rather with a strong hand, that is, with a strong and powerful influence of the prophetic Spirit.

For the LORD spoke thus to me (m) with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
(m) To encourage me that I should not shrink for the infidelity of this people, and so neglect my office.

For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand,.... In the strength of prophecy, as the Targum explains it; and so all the Jews' interpreters understand it of prophecy, as in Ezekiel 1:3, or, "the Lord spake thus to me, when he took (me) by the hand" (t); as parents or masters take hold of the hands of children, while they are advising and instructing them, as expressive of their great affection for them; and when they would retain them with them, or restrain them from doing amiss:
and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people: or join with them in desiring and seeking for the help of the king of Assyria, against Rezin and Remaliah's son; or in being willing to surrender up into their hands:
saying; as follows:
(t) "apprehensione manus", Piscator; "cum manu me apprehenderit", Tigurine version.

with a strong hand--or else, "when He grasped me with His hand" [HORSLEY]. MAURER, as English Version, "with the impetus of His hand," that is, the felt impulse of His inspiration in my mind (Jeremiah 15:17; Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 3:14, Ezekiel 3:22; Ezekiel 37:1).
way of . . . people--their distrust of Jehovah, and the panic which led them and Ahab to seek Assyrian aid.

There then follows in Isaiah 8:11 an explanatory clause, which seems at first sight to pass on to a totally different theme, but it really stands in the closest connection with the triumphant words of Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10. It is Immanuel whom believers receive, constitute, and hold fast as their refuge in the approaching times of the Assyrian judgment. He is their refuge and God in Him, and not any human support whatever. This is the link of connection with Isaiah 8:11, Isaiah 8:12 : "For Jehovah hath spoken thus to me, overpowering me with God's hand, and instructing me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, Call ye not conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy; and what is feared by it, fear ye not, neither think ye dreadful." היד, "the hand," is the absolute hand, which is no sooner laid upon a man than it overpowers all perception, sensation, and though: Chezkath hayyâd (viz., âlai, upon me, Ezekiel 3:14) therefore describes a condition in which the hand of God was put forth upon the prophet with peculiar force, as distinguished from the more usual prophetic state, the effect of a peculiarly impressive and energetic act of God. Luther is wrong in following the Syriac, and adopting the rendering, "taking me by the hand;" as Chezkath points back to the kal (invalescere), and not to the hiphil (apprehendere). It is this circumstantial statement, which is continued in v'yissereni ("and instructing me"), and not the leading verb âmar ("he said"); for the former is not the third pers. pret. piel, which would be v'yisserani, but the third pers. fut. kal, from the future form yissōr (Hosea 10:10, whereas the fut. piel is v'yassēr); and it is closely connected with Chezkath hayyâd, according to the analogy of the change from the participial and infinitive construction to the finite verb (Ges. 132, Anm. 2). With this overpowering influence, and an instructive warning against going in the way of "this people," Jehovah spake to the prophet as follows. With regard to the substance of the following warning, the explanation that has been commonly adopted since the time of Jerome, viz., noli duorum regum timere conjurationem (fear not the conspiracy of the two kings), is contrary to the reading of the words. The warning runs thus: The prophet, and such as were on his side, were not to call that kesher which the great mass of the people called kesher (cf., 2-Chronicles 23:13, "She said, Treason, Treason!" kesher, kesher); yet the alliance of Rezin and Pekah was really a conspiracy - a league against the house and people of David. Nor can the warning mean that believers, when they saw how the unbelieving Ahaz brought the nation into distress, were not to join in a conspiracy against the person of the king (Hofmann, Drechsler); they are not warned at all against making a conspiracy, but against joining in the popular cry when the people called out kesher. The true explanation has been given by Roorda, viz., that the reference is to the conspiracy, as it was called, of the prophet and his disciples ("sermo hic est de conjuratione, quae dicebatur prophetae et discipulorum ejus"). The same thing happened to Isaiah as to Amos (Amos 7:10) and to Jeremiah. Whenever the prophets were at all zealous in their opposition to the appeal for foreign aid, they were accused and branded as standing in the service of the enemy, and conspiring for the overthrow of the kingdom. In such perversion of language as this, the honourable among them were not to join. The way of God was now a very different one from the way of that people. If the prophet and his followers opposed the alliance with Asshur, this was not a common human conspiracy against the will of the king and nation, but the inspiration of God, the true policy of Jehovah. Whoever trusted in Him had no need to be afraid of such attempts as those of Rezin and Pekah, or to look upon them as dreadful.

Spake - With a vehement and more than ordinary inspiration. In the way - Of the generality of the people of Judah; whose eminent danger and calamity he foretells.