Chapter Twenty

1–6. A prophecy concerning the fate of Egypt and Ethiopia.

Isa 20:1-6. In the year that the Assyrians took the Philistine city of Ashdod – probably some time before the fall of this city – Isaiah received from the Lord a commandment to remove his upper garment and sandals, which the prophet and carried out.

Isaiah 20:1. In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, sent by Sargon, the king of Assyria, and besieged and took Ashdod, “Tartan” – an Assyrian word (tartanu), meaning the commander-in-chief of the army and holding the first place after the king. “From Sargon.” In 1847 inscriptions of the Assyrian king Sargon (in Assyrian Sarrukin), the predecessor of Sennacherib, were discovered. He took Samaria (722 BC), which his predecessor Shalmaneser IV had been besieging, and in 711 BC the military commander of Sargon took the Philistine city of Ashdod, whose king Azuri refused to pay tribute to the Assyrian king and besides entered into friendship with the pharaoh. Sargon, as is clear from his inscriptions, suspected that Judea too was party to the designs of the Philistines.

Isaiah 20:2. At that very time the Lord said to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your loins and remove the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. Now it was necessary to warn King Hezekiah of Judah, perhaps, about the danger which such a planned alliance with Egypt presented to Judea at that time. Isaiah, by revelation, knew that the Assyrian king would not be satisfied with taking Ashdod, but would try to subdue Egypt as well, which, as the Assyrian king knew, was disturbing the Palestinian states that paid tribute to the Assyrian king. Therefore, the prophet, by the command of God, performs a symbolic action, by which he shows that the Egyptians will be conquered by the Assyrians, and that relying on an alliance with Egypt is therefore pointless.

Isaiah 3:23. “Sackcloth” – see Isaiah 3:23. Here this word seems to denote the usual prophetic garment – a coarse hair cloak, such as the prophet Elijah wore (2 Sam 1:8). “Naked,” that is, without an outer garment, in only a tunic (cf. 2 Sam 6:14 and John 21:7; Mark 14:52).

Isaiah 20:3. And the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent concerning Egypt and Ethiopia, Isaiah 20:4. so shall the king of Assyria lead away captives from Egypt and exiles from Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. After three years had passed since Isaiah received this commandment, he was commanded to explain to the people of Judah the meaning of this symbolic action. It meant that the Assyrians would likewise lead away naked and barefoot the captives from Egypt and Ethiopia – from that state on which the people of Judah then placed particular hope. This defeat of Egypt would make a strong impression on all the Palestinian peoples. “Three years” – a symbolic number, meaning the fullness of time. The prophet continued his symbolic action for so long in order to attract the attention of his countrymen more strongly, to arouse in them interest in the sign itself. The prophet did not reveal the meaning of this walking for three whole years, and then explained it. “Thus the king of Assyria will lead.” This was fulfilled under the Assyrian king Esar-Haddon (681–668 BC), who called himself “king of kings of Egypt” and who defeated Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia and Egypt, taking many of his subjects into captivity. Egypt was also struck by his son, Ashurbanipal (668–626 BC), who took the city of No, or Thebes, where the successor of Tirhakah, Rudamun, had shut himself up, and again took many Egyptian captives to Assyria.

Isaiah 20:5. Then shall the people be ashamed and disappointed because of Ethiopia, their hope, and because of Egypt, their glory. Isaiah 20:6. And the inhabitant of this coastland will say on that day, “Behold, this is what has come to those on whom we relied and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape? Evidently, the victories of Pharaoh Tirhakah persuaded many of the kings of Palestine to dream of an alliance with Egypt, but the defeats which the pharaohs suffered from the Assyrians will make all these states change their opinion about Egypt.