Isaiah 8 · Verse 6

Isaiah 8:6

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
Isaiah 8:6, King James Version

Isaiah 8:6 in other translations

BSB“Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced in Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
WEB“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
ASVForasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
YLT‘Because that this people hath refused The waters of Shiloah that go softly, And is rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
DARBYForasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, and rejoiceth in Rezin and in the son of Remaliah,
BBEBecause this people will have nothing to do with the softly-flowing waters of Shiloah, and have fear of Rezin and Remaliah's son;
WebsterForasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

What does Isaiah 8:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. waters of Shiloah ... softly--Their source is on the southeast of Zion and east of Jerusalem. It means "sent," the water being sent through an aqueduct (Joh 9:7). Figurative for the mild, though now weak, sway of the house of David; in the highest sense Shiloah expresses the benignant sway of Jehovah in the theocracy, administered through David. Contrast to the violent Euphrates, "the river" that typifies Assyria (Is 8:7; Re 17:15). "This people" refers both to Israel, which preferred an alliance with Rezin of Syria to one with the kings of Judah, and to Judah, a party in which seems to have favored the pretentions of the son of Tabeal against David's line (Is 7:6); also to Judah's desire to seek an Assyrian alliance is included in the censure (compare Is 7:17). Is 8:14 shows that both nations are meant; both alike rejected the divine Shiloah. Not "My people," as elsewhere, when God expresses favor, but "this people" (Is 6:9).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth "Because this people have rejected" - The gentle waters of Shiloah, a small fountain and brook just without Jerusalem, which supplied a pool within the city for the use of the inhabitants, is an apt emblem of the state of the kingdom and house of David, much reduced in its apparent strength, yet supported by the blessing of God; and is finely contrasted with the waters of the Euphrates, great, rapid, and impetuous; the image of the Babylonian empire, which God threatens to bring down like a mighty flood upon all these apostates of both kingdoms, as punishment for their manifold iniquities, and their contemptuous disregard of his promises. The brook and the river are put for the kingdoms to which they belong, and the different states of which respectively they most aptly represent. Juvenal, inveighing against the corruption of Rome by the importation of Asiatic manners, says, with great elegance, that "the Orontes has been long discharging itself into the Tiber:" - Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes. And Virgil, to express the submission of some of the Eastern countries to the Roman arms, says: - Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis. Aen. 8:726. "The waters of the Euphrates now flowed more humbly and gently." But the happy contrast between the brook and the river gives a peculiar beauty to this passage of the prophet, with which the simple figure in the Roman poets, however beautiful, yet uncontrasted, cannot contend.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 8:1-8

Exhortations and warnings. (Is. 8:1-8) Comfort for those who fear God. (Is. 8:9-16) Afflictions to idolaters. (Is. 8:17-22) Verses 1-8 The prophet is to write on a large roll, or on a metal tablet, words which meant, "Make speed to spoil, hasten to the prey:" pointing out that the Assyrian army should come with speed, and make great spoil. Very soon the riches of Damascus and of Samaria, cities then secure and…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 8:1-8 →

Isaiah 8:6 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.

יַ֗עַןYa.'anbecauseH3282
כִּ֤יkiforH3588
מָאַס֙ma.'Asit has rejectedH3988
הָעָ֣םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
הַזֶּ֔הha.Zeh<the> thisH2088
אֵ֚ת'et<obj.>H853
מֵ֣יmei[the] waters ofH4325
הַשִּׁלֹ֔חַha.shi.Lo.ach<the> ShiloahH7975
הַהֹלְכִ֖יםha.ho.le.Khimwhich goH1980
לְאַ֑טle.'Atto gentlenessH328
וּמְשׂ֥וֹשׂu.me.Sosand rejoicingH4885
אֶת\־'et-withH853
רְצִ֖יןre.TzinRezinH7526
וּבֶן\־u.ven-and [the] son ofH1121
רְמַלְיָֽהוּ\׃re.mal.Ya.huRemaliahH7425

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

Cross references for Isaiah 8:6

  • John 9:7

    And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

  • Nehemiah 3:15

    But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col–hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

  • Jeremiah 2:13

    For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

  • Jeremiah 2:18

    And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

  • Judges 9:16-20

    Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; (For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: …

  • Isaiah 7:1-2

    And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

  • 2 Chronicles 13:8-18

    And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. …

  • 1 Kings 7:16

    And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

  • Isaiah 5:24

    Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

  • Jeremiah 18:14

    Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

  • Isaiah 7:6

    Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
refuseth.
1Ki 7:16; 2Ch 13:8-18
the waters of Shiloah.
Ne 3:15; Joh 9:7
Siloam.
that go softly.
Jer 2:13,18; 18:14
rejoice.
7:1,2,6; Jud 9:16-20

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

Context

  • Isaiah 8:5

    The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,

  • Isaiah 8:6

    Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;

  • Isaiah 8:7

    Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

Read all of Isaiah 8

Isaiah 8:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Por cuanto desechó este pueblo las aguas de Siloé, que corren mansamente, y holgóse con Rezín y con el hijo de Remalías;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Parce que ce peuple rejette les eaux de Siloé qui vont doucement, et qu’il trouve son plaisir en Retsin et dans le fils de Remalia;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Darum, daß dieses Volk die Wasser von Siloah verachtet, die still fließen, und Freude hat an Rezin und an dem Sohne Remaljas:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Pro eo quod abjecit populus iste aquas Siloë, quæ vadunt cum silentio, et assumpsit magis Rasin, et filium Romeliæ: