Isaiah 8:10

Isa 8:10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God [is] with us.

Ver. 10. Take counsel together.] Do so if you will; but when all is done, the counsel of the Lord shall stand, and you shall consult nothing better than shame to yourselves.

Speak a word.] All these expressions serve to set forth the bitter hatred borne by these wicked ones against God’s poor people, whom they sought by all means to mischieve, but could not.

For God is with us.] Heb., Immanuel. That sweet name was to the godly party mel in ore, melos in aure, iubilum in corde, honey in the mouth, song in the ear, a joyful shout in the heart, and hence so oft recited; these heavenly birds, having got such a note, record it over and over.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:10 God is with us: See 7:14; 8:8.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

the word--of command, for the assault of Jerusalem.

God is with us--"Immanuel" implies this (Num 14:9; Psa 46:7).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10. Take counsel … nought] “If ye resolve on a scheme it shall be frustrated.” speak the word] a word, i.e. “proclaim your resolution.”

For God is with us] See on Isa_8:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take counsel together,.... As Rezin king of Syria, and Remaliah's son, did against Judah, Isa 7:5,

it shall come to nought; for, though they came up against it, they could not overcome it, Kg2 16:5,

speak the word; what they intended, resolved upon, and determined to do; this is the issue of their counsels:

and it shall not stand; See Gill on Isa 7:7,

for God is with us; which is the interpretation of the name "Immanuel": and which shows that the reason why the consultations and resolutions of the enemies of Judah could not take place, so as to destroy it, was because Immanuel, the virgin's son, was to be born in it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Take counsel together - This is an address to the same foreign nations. It refers to the designs which they would form to destroy the Jewish state.

Speak the word - That is, give the command - to overturn the nation of the Jews.

It shall not stand - It shall not be accomplished.

For God is with us - Hebrew ‘For Immanuel.’ It indicates the confidence of the prophet in view of the promise and the pledge. His reliance was there. Though the enemies were strong and mighty; though the confederacy was formidable; yet his simple reliance was in the name Immanuel! In this he had confidence, in spite of all the violent efforts and designs of the foes of Judah; see Num 14:9 :

Only, rebel not ye against the Lord:

Neither fear ye the people of the land;

For they are bread for us;

Their defense is departed from them,

And Jehovah is with us,

Fear thom not.

See also Psa 46:6-7 :

The heathen raged,

The kingdoms were moved.

He uttered his voice, the earth dissolved.

Jehovah of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

God. Hebrew, "Emmanuel." We have a pledge of God’s protection.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Speak the word; declare and fix your purpose, and make your boast of it.

God is with us; the almighty and only true God fighteth for us, and against you. He gives the interpretation of the name Immanuel expressed before, Isa 8:8; for though the word in the Hebrew be the same here and them, yet there it seems to be taken properly, and here appellatively.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Take counsel together; literally, devise a device; i.e. form some plan, even the cleverest possible, against God"s people, and the result will be utter failure. It shall not stand. (comp. Isa_7:7) For God is with us. In the Hebrew, ki immanu-El, "for with us (is) God" words declarative of the true meaning of the name which God had made a sign to his people. (Isa_7:14) It was his being "with them" that could alone save them from their enemies.

Vers. 11-16. THE GROUNDS OF ISAIAH"S CONFIDENCE. Having declared his absolute confidence, not only that the attack of Pekah and Rezin will fail (vers. 1-4), but that Assyria also (ver. 8), nay, that all the nations of the earth (ver. 9) will fail, and bring destruction upon themselves, if they "devise devices" against God"s true people, the prophet explains the ground of his confidence by relating a special "instruction" which he had received from God some time previously, he had been bidden to separate himself from the mass of his countrymen in thought and feeling, and to cling only to Jehovah, who would "be for a Sanctuary" (ver. 14) to his own, but "for a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence" to all others.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not only their strength but their sagacity should be confounded. “Devise a plan, and it shall be defeated (nullified or brought to nought), speak a word (whether a proposition or an order), and it shall not stand (or be carried into execution), for (Immanuel) God (is) with us.” Even as a name Immanuel contains a proposition, and here this proposition is distinctly announced, but with a designed allusion to the person whom the name describes. As if he had said, ‘the assurance of your safety is the great truth expressed by the name of your deliverer, to wit, that God is with us.’ The mere retention of the Hebrew word could not convey its sense in this connection to the English reader.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Take counsel [This is] the imperative form.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Take counsel, etc. Whatever you will counsel against Jerusalem will not be realised. עצו. Take counsel. A biliteral verb (ע״ו). According to R. Moses Hakkohen, י is dropped, and it should be יעוצו like זכורו (Neh. 4:8).

כי עמנואל. For God is with us. Here we have the reason for עמנואל Immanuel being the name of the prophet’s son.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.