Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;
- BSB Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
- NKJV Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and write on it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
- NASB Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
- NLT Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands Isaiah to write a large public sign-name, "Maher Shalal Hash Baz," announcing swift plunder coming on Judah's enemies.
Overview
The name means "swift is the plunder, speedy is the prey." Writing it on a large tablet in plain script made it a public, datable prophecy that all could read. It served as advance testimony that the Syria-Israel coalition Judah feared would soon be despoiled by Assyria.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 30:8Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
- Hab 2:2–3And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
- Job 19:23–24Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
- Isa 8:3And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
- Rev 13:18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
- Jer 36:2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
- Rev 21:17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
- Jer 36:28Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
- Jer 36:32Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 8:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.