Isaiah 20 · Verse 3

Isaiah 20:3

And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
Isaiah 20:3, King James Version

Isaiah 20:3 in other translations

BSBThen the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,
WEBThe LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,
ASVAnd Jehovah said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia;
YLTAnd Jehovah saith, ‘As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush,
DARBYAnd Jehovah said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,
BBEAnd the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah has gone unclothed and without shoes for three years as a sign and a wonder to Egypt and Ethiopia,
WebsterAnd the LORD said, As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Cush;

What does Isaiah 20:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. three years--Isaiah's symbolical action did not continue all this time, but at intervals, to keep it before the people's mind during that period [Rosenmuller]. Rather, join "three years" with "sign," a three years' sign, that is, a sign that a three years' calamity would come on Egypt and Ethiopia [Barnes], (Is 8:18). This is the only instance of a strictly symbolical act performed by Isaiah. With later prophets, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, such acts were common. In some cases they were performed, not literally, but only in prophetic vision. wonder--rather, "omen"; conveying a threat as to the future [G. V. Smith]. upon--in reference to, against.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Isaiah 20:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3068
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רka.'a.Sherjust asH834
הָלַ֛ךְha.Lakhhe has goneH1980
עַבְדִּ֥י'av.Diservant myH5650
יְשַׁעְיָ֖הוּye.sha'.Ya.huIsaiahH3470
עָר֣וֹםa.RomnakedH6174
וְיָחֵ֑ףve.ya.Chefand barefootH3182
שָׁלֹ֤שׁsha.LoshthreeH7969
שָׁנִים֙sha.NimyearsH8141
א֣וֹת'ota signH226
וּמוֹפֵ֔תu.mo.Fetand a portentH4159
עַל\־'al-onH5921
מִצְרַ֖יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
וְעַל\־ve.'al-and onH5921
כּֽוּשׁ\׃KushCushH3568

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 20:3

  • Isaiah 8:18

    Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

  • Isaiah 18:1-7

    Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. …

  • Numbers 14:34

    After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

  • Ezekiel 4:5-6

    For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

  • Isaiah 43:3

    For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

  • Isaiah 37:9

    And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

  • Revelation 11:2-3

    But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
three.
Nu 14:34; Eze 4:5,6; Re 11:2,3
a sign.
8:18
upon Egypt.
18:1-7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 20:2

    At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

  • Isaiah 20:3

    And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

  • Isaiah 20:4

    So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

Read all of Isaiah 20

Isaiah 20:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dijo Jehová: De la manera que anduvo mi siervo Isaías desnudo y descalzo tres años, señal y pronóstico sobre Egipto y sobre Etiopía;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et l’ Éternel dit: Comme mon serviteur Ésaïe a marché nu et nu-pieds trois années, pour être un signe et un symbole à l’égard de l’Égypte et de l’Éthiopie,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Jehova sprach: Gleichwie mein Knecht Jesaja nackt und barfuß gegangen ist, drei Jahre lang ein Zeichen und Vorbild betreffs Ägyptens und betreffs Äthiopiens:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et dixit Dominus: Sicut ambulavit servus meus Isaias nudus et discalceatus, trium annorum signum et portentum erit super Ægyptum et super Æthiopiam;