Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;
Parallel translations
- KJV Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
- BSB Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
- ESV Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to 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 quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.
- Hab 2:2–3Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.
- Job 19:23–24“Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
- Isa 8:3I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’
- Rev 13:18Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.
- Jer 36:2“Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
- Rev 21:17Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
- Jer 36:28“Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.
- Jer 36:32Then took Jeremiah another scroll, 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 many similar words were added to them.
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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.