Isaiah 20

1 In the year wherein Tartan entered into Ashdod, when Sargon, the king of Assyrians (the king of Assyria), had sent him, and he had fought against Ashdod, and had taken it;

2 in that time the Lord spake in the hand of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, and said (at that time the Lord spoke to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, and said), Go thou, and unbind the sackcloth from thy loins, and take away thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, going naked and unshod.

3 And the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah went naked and unshod, a sign and great wonder of three years shall be on Egypt, and on Ethiopia; (And the Lord said, My servant Isaiah went naked and without shoes for three years, as a sign and a great wonder to Egypt, and to Ethiopia;)

4 so the king of Assyrians shall drive the captivity of Egypt, and the passing over of Ethiopia, a young man and an eld man, naked and unshod, with the buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. (so now the king of Assyria shall lead away the captives of Egypt, and the prisoners of Ethiopia, a young man and an old man, naked and without shoes, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.)

5 And they shall dread (And they all shall fear), and shall be ashamed of Ethiopia, their hope, and of Egypt, their glory.

6 And a dweller of this isle shall say on that day, This was our hope, to which we fled for help, that they should deliver us from the face of the king of Assyrians; and (now) how may we escape? (And an inhabitant of this island shall say on that day, They were our hope, to whom we fled for help, so that they could save us from the king of Assyria; but now how can we escape?)

Isaiah 20 Commentary

Chapter 20

The invasion and conquest of Egypt and Ethiopia.

- Isaiah was a sign to the people by his unusual dress, when he walked abroad. He commonly wore sackcloth as a prophet, to show himself mortified to the world. He was to loose this from his loins; to wear no upper garments, and to go barefooted. This sign was to signify, that the Egyptians and Ethiopians should be led away captives by the king of Assyria, thus stripped. The world will often deem believers foolish, when singular in obedience to God. But the Lord will support his servants under the most trying effects of their obedience; and what they are called upon to suffer for his sake, commonly is light, compared with what numbers groan under from year to year from sin. Those who make any creature their expectation and glory, and so put it in the place of God, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of it. But disappointment in creature-confidences, instead of driving us to despair, should drive us to God, and our expectation shall not be in vain. The same lesson is in force now; and where shall we look for aid in the hour of necessity, but to the Lord our Righteousness?

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 20

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of the Egyptians and Ethiopians by the Assyrians, which had been prophesied of separately in the two preceding chapters Isa 18:1-19:25, and now conjunctly in this: the time of it is given, Isa 20:1 the sign of it, the prophet's walking naked, and barefoot, Isa 20:2 the explanation and accommodation of the sign to the captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia, Isa 20:3,4 the use of this to the Jews, and the effect it had upon them; shame for their trust and dependence on the above nations, and despair of deliverance from the Assyrians by their means, Isa 20:5,6.