New American Standard Bible 1995
Isaiah 7:20
20In that day the Lord will 1shave with a 2razor, 3hired from regions beyond 4the 5Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.
Isaiah 7:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
- New International Version (NIV)In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your heads and private parts, and to cut off your beards also.
- English Standard Version (ESV)In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
- New King James Version (NKJV)In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, The head and the hair of the legs, And will also remove the beard.
Context of Isaiah 7:20
18In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places. In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard. 21Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep; 22and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.
Read all of Isaiah 7Isaiah 7:20 word by word
בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֡וּא יְגַלַּ֣ח אֲדֹנָי֩ בְּתַ֨עַר הַשְּׂכִירָ֜ה בְּעֶבְרֵ֤י נָהָר֙ בְּמֶ֣לֶךְ אַשּׁ֔וּר אֶת־הָרֹ֖אשׁ וְשַׂ֣עַר הָרַגְלָ֑יִם וְגַ֥ם אֶת־הַזָּקָ֖ן תִּסְפֶּֽה׃ סRead the interlinear
- In that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- shaveגָּלַחgâlach · to shaveH1548
- razorתַּ֫עַרta‛ar · razorH8593
- from regionsעֵ֫בֶר‛êber · side: besideH5676
- Euphratesנָהָרnâhâr · RiverH5104
- with the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- of Assyriaאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
- the headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
- and the hairשֵׂעָרώê‛âr ώa‛ar · hairH8181
- of the legsרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
- and it will alsoגַּםgam · alsoH1571
- removeסָפָהsâphâh · to snatchH5595
- the beardזָקָןzâqân · beardH2206
Cross-references for Isaiah 7:20
- Isaiah 10:6I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.
- 2 Kings 16:7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”
- 2 Chronicles 28:20So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him.
- Jeremiah 27:6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him.
- Ezekiel 5:1“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.
- Ezekiel 29:18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it.”
- Isaiah 1:5Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint.
- Isaiah 9:14So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.
- Isaiah 24:2And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.
Commentaries on Isaiah 7:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20The river - That is, the Euphrates: הנהר hanahar . So read the Septuagint and two MSS. Shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired "Jehovah shall shave by the hired razor" - To shave with the hired razor the head, the feet, and the beard, is an expression highly parabolical, to denote the utter devastation of the country from one end to the other; and the plundering of the people, from the highest to the lowest, by the Assyrians, whom God employed as…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20In the same day - The idea in this verse is the same as in the preceding, though presented in a different form. The meaning is, that “God” would bring upon them this punishment, but that he would make use of the Assyrian as an “instrument” by which to do it. Shave - The act of shaving off the hair denotes punishment or disgrace; compare 2 Samuel 10:4: Hanun took David‘s servants, and shaved off one half of their beards;‘ 1 Chronicles 19:4. With a razor…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 17-25 Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well: In the ancient Near East, forced shaving was a disgraceful act (see 2 Samuel 10:4–5). Here, it served as a metaphor for the destruction of the country.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. razor--The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it (Is 10:5; Eze 29:19, 20). hired--alluding to Ahaz' hiring (2Ki 16:7, 8) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely, by them beyond the river--namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge (Psa 72:8); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included (Is 7:18) [G. V. Smith]. Gesenius…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 7:20
In the dictionaries
Notes
Commentaries on Isaiah 7
- 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
New American Standard Bible 1995 — © 1960–1995 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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