Isaiah 8:13

Isa 8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.

Ver. 13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself.] Even your sweetest Immanuel; non sanctificatur autem nisi in eam credatar; sanctify him, I say, by believing in your hearts and confessing with your mouths, {Rom 10:9} and walking "as becometh the gospel, … in nothing terrified by your adversaries." {Php 1:27-28}

And let him be your fear.] That is, the object of your fear, {as Gen 31:53 Psa 76:11} where God is called "Fear" by an appellative proper. So the Chaldee paraphrase frequently calleth God Dechilah. The Greeks call him Yεος, of Dεος, fear. Bernard saith well, God is to be feared as a Lord, honoured as a Father, loved as a spouse. This fear of God is a sovereign remedy against the fear of the creature, and is therefore here and elsewhere opposed to it. Surely, as one fire driveth out another, and as Moses’ serpent swallowed up the sorcerers’ serpents, so here.

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.

Isa 8:13-15. Sanctify the Lord of hosts — Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting in his promises for deliverance; and let him be your fear — Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel, be the chief object of your fear. And he shall be for a sanctuary — A sure refuge to all that truly fear him, and rely upon him; but for a stone of stumbling — An occasion of sin and ruin, at whom they will take offence, and stumble, so as to fall and be broken, as it is expressed Isa 8:15; to both the houses of Israel — To the two kingdoms, that of the ten tribes, and that of the two tribes. And for a gin, &c., to the inhabitants of Jerusalem — This is distinctly mentioned as a wonderful thing, because Jerusalem was the seat of the temple, and of God’s solemn worship; where all the means of knowledge and grace were in the greatest plenty; where the thrones of civil and ecclesiastical judicature were established; where the most wise and learned doctors had their constant abode. And that such a place and people should reject Immanuel, when he should appear, was so strange an occurrence, that the prediction of it was highly necessary, lest otherwise, when it came to pass, it should shake the faith of all who did believe on him; whereas, now the accomplishment hereof was a notable confirmation of their faith. And many among them — Not all; for there shall be a remnant, as was foretold, Isa 4:2; Isa 6:13; shall stumble — At that stone or rock, mentioned Isa 8:14. The writers of the New Testament, who have so frequently quoted this passage, prove, beyond all controversy, that the subject of it is, God manifest in the flesh; the Messiah, who performed for his people all those benefits of grace which this promise implies, being a sanctuary, or place of refuge to them; and who, at the same time, became to the hypocrites and unbelievers in Judea, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to the destruction of the far greater part of that people. See the margin.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“HALLOWED BE THY NAME!”

Isa_8:13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, &c.

I. What is it to “sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself”? It is,

1. To fill our minds with right thoughts concerning Him [854]

2. To fill our hearts with right feelings towards Him (P. D. 1492–1526).

[854] See note (α) to preceding outline: BIBLICAL POLITICIANS.

II. How is this to be done? By frequent, devout, prayerful, intense meditation on the revelations of Himself which He has been pleased to give (H. E. I. 3507–3514).

III. What will be the effect of doing it?

1. All other fear and dread will vanish from our minds (1Sa_14:6; 1Sa_17:37; Jer_32:17; 1Pe_3:14-15).

2. Thus we shall unconsciously and inevitably attain to that heroism of which some of us dream (Psa_16:8; Dan_3:16-18; Act_4:19-20).

3. Thus we shall be qualified for the noblest service of God and man (Heb_11:24-27; 1Co_4:3-4).

4. Thus a divine peace and joy will fill our whole being, as a mighty tide fills every nook and cranny of a wide-stretching bay (Psa_104:34). We shall rejoice in God as a soldier rejoices in a mighty fortress in which he feels secure from all assaults (2Sa_22:2-3).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

The object of their fear was a very different one. "Jehovah of hosts, sanctify Him; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your terror. So will He become a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (vexation) to both the houses of Israel, a snare and trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and shall fall; and be dashed to pieces, and be snared and taken." The logical apodosis to Isa 8:13 commences with v'hâhâh (so shall He be). If ye actually acknowledge Jehovah the Holy One as the Holy One (hikdı̄sh, as in Isa 29:23), and if it is He whom ye fear, and who fills you with dread (ma‛arı̄tz, used for the object of dread, as mōrah is for the object of fear; hence "that which terrifies" in a causative sense), He will become a mikdâsh. The word mikdâsh may indeed denote the object sanctified, and so Knobel understands it here according to Num 18:29; but if we adhere to the strict notion of the word, this gives an unmeaning apodosis. Mikdâsh generally means the sanctified place or sanctuary, with which the idea of an asylum would easily associate itself, since even among the Israelites the temple was regarded and respected as an asylum (Kg1 1:50; Kg1 2:28). This is the explanation which most of the commentators have adopted here; and the punctuators also took it in the same sense, when they divided the two halves of Isa 8:14 by athnach as antithetical. And mikdâsh is really to be taken in this sense, although it cannot be exactly rendered "asylum," since this would improperly limit the meaning of the word. The temple was not only a place of shelter, but also of grace, blessing, and peace. All who sanctified the Lord of lords He surrounded like temple walls; hid them in Himself, whilst death and tribulation reigned without, and comforted, fed, and blessed them in His own gracious fellowship. This is the true explanation of v'hâyâh l'mikdâs, according to such passages as Isa 4:5-6; Psa 27:5; Psa 31:21. To the two houses of Israel, on the contrary, i.e., to the great mass of the people of both kingdoms who neither sanctified nor feared Jehovah, He would be a rock and snare. The synonyms are intentionally heaped together (cf., Isa 28:13), to produce the fearful impression of death occurring in many forms, but all inevitable. The first three verbs of Isa 8:15 refer to the "stone" ('eben) and "rock" (tzūr); the last two to the "snare" (pach), and "trap" or springe (mōkēsh).

(Note: Malbim observes quite correctly, that "the pach catches, but does not hurt; the mokesh catches and hurts (e.g., by seizing the legs or nose, Job 40:24): the former is a simple snare (or net), the latter a springe, or snare which catches by means of a spring" (Amo 3:5).)

All who did not give glory to Jehovah would be dashed to pieces upon His work as upon a stone, and caught therein as in a trap. This was the burden of the divine warning, which the prophet heard for himself and for those that believed.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

8:13 To make the Lord . . . holy meant giving him first place in life and acknowledging that nothing is greater than he is. • Fear of God means reverencing him as God (Prov 1:7). The people of Judah were not to fear Israel and Syria or the Assyrians (Isa 7:9; 10:24).

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

In putting your trust only in him, in calling upon him in adversity, patiently looking for his help, and fearing to do anything contrary to his will.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Sanctify--Honor His holy name by regarding Him as your only hope of safety (Isa 29:23; Num 20:12).

him . . . fear--"fear" lest you provoke His wrath by your fear of man and distrust of Him.

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

(13) Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself . . .—The words contain an implicit appeal to the revelation of the Divine Name in Isa_6:3. Had the prophet’s disciples entered into the meaning of that “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts?” Had they learnt to sanctify Jehovah Sabaoth, to recognise the power of that infinite holiness?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. Render: Jehovah of Hosts, Him shall ye count holy, and let Him be (the object of) your fear and (of) your terror. “Count holy” (Isa_29:23); recognise as the Holy One, especially by absolute trust in His providential disposition of events; fearing only what would offend Him.

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.

Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself,.... Christ, Immanuel, God with us, the Lord of the armies above and below, of angels and of men, God over all, the true Jehovah, who is sanctified by his people, when they declare him to be so; as the Targum paraphrases it,

"the Lord of hosts, him shall ye say is holy;''

for they cannot make him so, nor can he receive any holiness from them, nor does he need any; but they celebrate the perfection of his holiness, and ascribe it to him; yea, they sanctify him, by ascribing their holiness to him; by looking to him as their sanctification, and by deriving and expecting every degree and measure of holiness from him, to complete theirs; by exercising faith upon him, and showing a regard to his commands and ordinances:

and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread; that is, the object of fear and dread; not of a servile fear and dread, but of a holy reverence and godly fear; such a fear as is the grace of the covenant, which flows from the goodness of God, and has that for its object, and is influenced by it; see Hos 3:5 where the same Lord, Messiah, David the king, is meant, as here. See Pe1 3:15.

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

Sanctify ... - Regard Yahweh as holy; that is, worship and honor him with pious fear and reverence. Regard him as the source of safety, and the true defense. Ahaz and his people sought for aid from Assyria against the armies of Syria and Samaria. The direction here is rather to seek aid from God.

Let him be your fear - Do not be alarmed at what man can do Isa 8:12, but fear and honor God. Be afraid to provoke his wrath by looking to other sources of help when his aid only should be sought.

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

Sanctify the Lord of hosts; give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting to his promises for your deliverance.

Let him be your fear; let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel, be the chief object of your fear.

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

13. Sanctify, etc. — Regard Jehovah as immutably true.

Let him be your fear — Literally, He is your fear and your dread; one whom alone you have true occasion to fear as your sovereign, and love as your protector.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sanctify the Lord of hosts. God was sanctified by being believed in. (Num_20:12) They who feared Rezin and Pekah, despite of God"s assurances that their design should fail, did not believe in him, and so did not "sanctify" him.

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

Sanctify - Give him the glory of his power, and goodness, and faithfulness, by trusting to his promises. Let him - Let God, and not the kings of Syria and Israel be the object of your fear.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“Jehovah of Hosts, Him shall ye sanctify (i.e., regard and treat as a Holy God, and as the Holy One of Israel), and He shall be your fear, and He your dread,” (i.e., the object of these feelings). If they felt as they ought towards God, as supreme and almighty, and as their own peculiar God, with whom they were united in a national covenant; they could not so distrust Him as to be alarmed at the approach of any earthly danger. The collocation of the words makes the sentence more emphatic. ‘Him shall ye fear’ is substantially equivalent to ‘Him alone shall ye fear’. Thus explained, the passage is at once a condemnation of the terror inspired by the approach of the two kings, and of the application, which it had occasioned, to Assyria for aid against them.

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

He gives you strength Heb. (מַעֲרִיצְכֶם).

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.

אתו Him is added, although את is before the noun, as in many instances; or it means Him alone. You shall sanctify. That which is holy is usually revered by men; comp. for he is a man of God, he is holy (2 Kings 4:9).

מעריצכם is either an adjective, Your dreadful one, or participle, who in truth makes you fear.

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.