American Standard Version
Isaiah 8:20
20To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
Isaiah 8:20 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
- English Standard Version (ESV)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
- New King James Version (NKJV)To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Context of Isaiah 8:20
18Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion. 19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead? To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them. 21And they shall pass through it, sore distressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward: 22and they shall look unto the earth, and, behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall be driven away.
Read all of Isaiah 8Isaiah 8:20 word by word
לְתוֹרָ֖ה וְלִתְעוּדָ֑ה אִם־לֹ֤א יֹֽאמְרוּ֙ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽין־ל֖וֹ שָֽׁחַר׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Isaiah 8:20
- Isaiah 8:16Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
- Luke 10:26And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
- Luke 16:29But Abraham saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
- John 5:39Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;
- Acts 17:11Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
- Galatians 3:8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.
- Galatians 4:21Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
- 2 Timothy 3:15and that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
- 2 Peter 1:19And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:
- Isaiah 30:8Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.
- Psalms 19:7The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul: The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple.
- Psalms 119:130The opening of thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.
- Jeremiah 8:9The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them?
- Micah 3:6Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
- Matthew 6:23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!
- Matthew 22:29But Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Commentaries on Isaiah 8:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20To the law and to the testimony "Unto the command, and unto the testimony" - "Is not תעודה teudah here the attested prophecy, Isaiah 8:1-4;? and perhaps תורה torah the command, Isaiah 8:11-15;? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Proverbs 6:20, and Proverbs 7:1, Proverbs 7:2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept." - Abp. Secker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it: "Tenons…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20To the law - To the revelation which God has given. This is a solemn call of the prophet to try everything by the revealed will of God; see Isaiah 8:16. If they speak not - If the necromancers - those that pretended to have contact with the dead. According to this word - According to what God has revealed. By this standard all their pretended revelations were to be tried. By this standard all doctrines are still to be tried. It is because - There has…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-22Verses 17-22 The prophet foresaw that the Lord would hide his face; but he would look for his return in favour to them again. Though not miraculous signs, the children's names were memorials from God, suited to excite attention. The unbelieving Jews were prone to seek counsel in difficulties, from diviners of different descriptions, whose foolish and sinful ceremonies are alluded to. Would we know how we may seek to our God, and come to the knowledge of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20God gave instructions and teachings through the law and through his prophets, such as Isaiah (see Isaiah 8:16).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. To the law, &c.--the revelation of God by His prophet (Is 8:16), to which he directs them to refer those who would advise necromancy. if they speak not ... it is because--English Version understands "they" as the necromancers. But the Hebrew rendered "because" is not this but "who"; and "if not," ought rather to be "shall they not"; or, truly they shall speak according to this word, who have no morning light (so the Hebrew, that is, prosperity after…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 8:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries