Isaiah 8 · Verse 20

Isaiah 8:20

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Isaiah 8:20, King James Version

Isaiah 8:20 in other translations

BSBTo the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
WEBTurn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
ASVTo the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
YLTTo the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, ‘That there is no dawn to it.'
DARBYTo the law and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, for them there is no daybreak.
BBEThen say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness.... If they do not say such things.... For him there is no dawn....
WebsterTo the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

What does Isaiah 8:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. To the law, &c.--the revelation of God by His prophet (Is 8:16), to which he directs them to refer those who would advise necromancy. if they speak not ... it is because--English Version understands "they" as the necromancers. But the Hebrew rendered "because" is not this but "who"; and "if not," ought rather to be "shall they not"; or, truly they shall speak according to this word, who have no morning light (so the Hebrew, that is, prosperity after the night of sorrows) dawning on them [Maurer and G. V. Smith]. They who are in the dark night of trial, without a dawn of hope, shall surely say so, Do not seek, as we did, to necromancy, but to the law," &c. The law perhaps includes here the law of Moses, which was the "Magna Charta" on which prophetism commented [Kitto].

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 To the law and to the testimony "Unto the command, and unto the testimony" - "Is not תעודה teudah here the attested prophecy, Isa 8:1-4? and perhaps תורה torah the command, Isa 8:11-15? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Pro 6:20, and Pro 7:1, Pro 7:2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept." - Abp. Secker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it: "Tenons nous a l'instrument authentique mis en depot par ordre du Seigneur," "Let us stick to the authentic instrument, laid up by the command of the Lord." If this be right, the sixteenth verse must be understood in the same manner. Because there is no light in them "In which there is no obscurity" - שחר shachor, as an adjective, frequently signifies dark, obscure; and the noun שחר shachar signifies darkness, gloominess, Joe 2:2, if we may judge by the context: - "A day of darkness and obscurity; Of cloud, and of thick vapor; As the gloom spread upon the mountains: A people mighty and numerous." Where the gloom, שחר shachar, seems to be the same with the cloud and thick vapor mentioned in the line preceding. See Lam 4:8, and Job 30:30. See this meaning of the word שחר shachar well supported in Christ. Muller. Sat. Observat. Philippians p. 53, Lugd. Bat. 1752. The morning seems to have been an idea wholly incongruous in the passage of Joel; and in this of Isaiah the words in which there is no morning (for so it ought to be rendered if שחר shachar in this place signifies, according to its usual sense, morning) seem to give no meaning at all. "It is because there is no light in them," says our translation. If there be any sense in these words, it is not the sense of the original; which cannot justly be so translated. Qui n'a rien d'obscur, "which has no obscurity." - Deschamps. The reading of the Septuagint and Syriac, שחד shochad, gift, affords no assistance towards the clearing up of any of this difficult place. R. D. Kimchi says this was the form of an oath: "By the law and by the testimony such and such things are so." Now if they had sworn this falsely, it is because there is no light, no illumination, שחר shachar, no scruple of conscience, in them.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 8:17-22

The prophet foresaw that the Lord would hide his face; but he would look for his return in favour to them again. Though not miraculous signs, the children's names were memorials from God, suited to excite attention. The unbelieving Jews were prone to seek counsel in difficulties, from diviners of different descriptions, whose foolish and sinful ceremonies are alluded to. Would we know how we may seek to our God, and…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 8:17-22 →

Isaiah 8:20 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.

לְתוֹרָ֖הle.to.Rahto [the] instructionH8451
וְלִתְעוּדָ֑הve.lit.'u.Dahand to [the] testimonyH8584
אִם\־'im-ifH518
לֹ֤אlo'notH3808
יֹֽאמְרוּ֙yo.me.Ruthey will speakH559
כַּדָּבָ֣רka.da.Varaccording to the mannerH1697
הַזֶּ֔הha.Zeh<the> thisH2088
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherthatH834
אֵֽין\־'ein-notH369
ל֖וֹlo[belongs] to it
שָֽׁחַר\׃Sha.chardawnH7837

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

Cross references for Isaiah 8:20

  • 2 Peter 1:19

    We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

  • 2 Timothy 3:15-17

    And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

  • Acts 17:11

    These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

  • Psalms 119:130

    The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

  • John 5:39

    Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

  • Isaiah 30:8-11

    Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

  • John 5:46-47

    For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

  • Hosea 6:3

    Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

  • Jeremiah 8:9

    The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?

  • Romans 1:22

    Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

  • Mark 7:7-9

    Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

  • Galatians 3:8-29

    And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. …

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the law.
16; Lu 10:26; 16:29-31; Joh 5:39,46,47; Ac 17:11; Ga 3:8-29
Ga 4:21,22; 2Ti 3:15-17; 2Pe 1:19
it is.
30:8-11; Ps 19:7,8; 119:130; Jer 8:9; Mic 3:6; Mt 6:23; 22:29
Mr 7:7-9; Ro 1:22; 2Pe 1:9
light. Heb. morning.
Pr 4:18; Ho 6:3; Mal 4:2; 2Pe 1:19

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

Context

  • Isaiah 8:19

    And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

  • Isaiah 8:20

    To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

  • Isaiah 8:21

    And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

Read all of Isaiah 8

Isaiah 8:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡A la ley y al testimonio! Si no dijeren conforme á esto, es porque no les ha amanecido.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		À la loi et au témoignage! S’ils ne parlent pas selon cette parole, il n’y a pas d’aurore pour lui.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Zum Gesetz und zum Zeugnis! Wenn sie nicht nach diesem Worte sprechen, so gibt es für sie keine Morgenröte.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		ad legem magis et ad testimonium. Quod si non dixerint juxta verbum hoc, non erit eis matutina lux.