Isaiah 8:16

Bind up the testimony,.... These are not the words of the prophet, as Kimchi thinks, but of the Lord to the prophet, and are part of that instruction given him, Isaiah 8:11.

Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. The words of Yahweh. Verse 12. Say ye not, A confederacy - rather.

These are, by the consent of all, God’ s words to the prophet. By the testimony and the law or doctrine (for so this word is frequently taken) he understands one and the same thing, as he doth also to wit, the word of God, and especially that which is the main scope and substance thereof, the doctrine of the Messias, which, though now professed by all the Israelites, shall be disowned by the generality of them, when the Messiah shall come. Bind up and seal are to be understood prophetically, Declare and prophesy that it shall be bound up and sealed; as Isaiah is said to make fat, and to blind, &c. , and Jeremiah to root out and pull down, &c., , when they foretell these events. Moreover, bind up and seal design the same thing, and that is, either, 1. Security and certainty, as things are bound up or sealed that they may not be lost. So he signifies, that although this doctrine would be lost among the body of the Israelites, yet it should be preserved among his disciples. Or, 2. Secrecy, as many things are bound up or sealed that they may be hid from the eyes of others. And so he informeth them that this doctrine now was and should be hid in a great measure among all God’ s people, even till the accomplishment of it; and that even when it was accomplished, it should still continue to be as a secret and mystery, known indeed to his true disciples, but hid from the body of the nation, who would not see it, and therefore should be blinded by God’ s just judgment, that they should not see it, as was prophesied, ,10. Or, 3. Both security and secrecy, signifying that it should certainly be fulfilled, yet withal kept secret from the unbelieving Jews. For why may not these two be joined in the exposition of this text, as they were in the event? By God’ s disciples he means those who were taught of God, as it is expressed, , where this very word is used; or, every one that hath heard and learned of the Father, and therefore cometh unto Christ, as it is explained, .

Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.Ver. 16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law, &c.] Et lateat, et lucent. let it both be hidden and be conspicuous. Let thy doctrine, saith God here to the prophet, contained in that great roll, or otherwise published (concerning Immanuel especially), be concealed from these profane scoffers, but imparted to my disciples that "sit down at my feet to receive my word." Those Jews in Christ’ s time had the testimony, that is, the gospel preached to them; but they were woefully blinded; so that when the Messiah, to whom all their odd signs so well agreed, was among them, they could by no means own him and receive him. That Italian translation of the New Testament which the Jews lately had, is, for their abuse of it, called in and taken from them. Pope Gregory IX caused their Talmud, wherein Christian religion is so much blasted, to be burned; and the like did Julius III about the year 1553. Seal the law among my disciples.] Such as have been θεοδιδακτοι, "taught of God," taught "as the truth is in Jesus." Seal the law, that "perfect law of liberty," the gospel, for such, for their behoof and support in these calamitous times.

(16) Bind up the testimony . . .—The intensity of feeling in which the prophetic utterance of Isa 8:11-15 had its birth, is followed by a corresponding solemnity at its close. The words which had been so full of meaning for the prophet himself are to be impressed on the disciples of Jehovah (for it is He who speaks), i.e., on those who looked to Isaiah as their guide and counsellor. They are to be written on a parchment roll, as men wrote the sacred Book of the Law; the roll is to be sealed up, partly as a security against its being tampered with, till the time came for its disclosure (Daniel 12:4), partly as an attestation, like the seal of a king’s letter (1 Kings 21:8; Esther 3:12), that it was authentic. The two terms “testimony” (Deuteronomy 8:19; Psalms 50:7; Psalms 119:2) and “law” are here taken in their wider sense as applicable to any revelation of the mind of God. The “law of the Lord” of Psalms 19:7; Psalms 119:1 was wider and higher than the Pentateuchal code.

Verse 16. Among my disciples.] בלמדי belimmudai. The Septuagint render it τουμημαθειν. Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 308, thinks they read מלמד, that it be not understood, and approves of this reading. - Abp. Secker.

16–18. The prophet, recognising the failure of his work as regards the nation, prepares a written record of his teaching, and deposits this as a sealed document in the custody of his disciples. By this solemn act he forms an inner circle of religious fellowship, which is the nucleus of the new people of God. See General Introd. p. xxxi.

Bind up - This expression is one that is applicable to a volume, or roll of writing. Thus far the prophet seems to have had the roll opened, which is mentioned in Isaiah 8:1.

16. Bind (thou) up — The Septuagint and the Targum, and the greater majority of commentators, regard this verse as God’s command to the prophet, and Isaiah 8:17 as the prophet’s answer.