New International Version
Isaiah 8:20
20Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.
Context of Isaiah 8:20
18Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Read all of Isaiah 8Isaiah 8:20 word by word
לְתוֹרָ֖ה וְלִתְעוּדָ֑ה אִם־לֹ֤א יֹֽאמְרוּ֙ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽין־ל֖וֹ שָֽׁחַר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 8:20
- Isaiah 8:16Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
- Luke 10:26“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
- Luke 16:29“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
- John 5:39You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
- Acts 17:11Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
- Galatians 3:8Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
- Galatians 4:21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?
- 2 Timothy 3:15and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
- 2 Peter 1:19We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
- Isaiah 30:8Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.
- Psalms 19:7The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
- Psalms 119:130The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
- Jeremiah 8:9The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?
- Micah 3:6Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them.
- Matthew 6:23But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
- Matthew 22:29Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or 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
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