The big picture
Sargon, king of Assyria, sends Tartan, an army commander, against Ashdod, a coastal city. Its capture dates a striking sign from Isaiah, God's prophet and son of Amoz. God tells him to remove his rough outer clothing and shoes. He walks with bare feet and his body exposed. This warns Egypt and Ethiopia, kingdoms to the south, of coming capture. Nearby people have looked to those powers for help against Assyria. The sign shows what will happen to those hoped-for rescuers. They will face shame themselves.
In this chapter
- Isaiah Makes the Warning Visible Isaiah 20:1-3
The Assyrian commander attacks and captures the coastal city on his king's orders.
- The Expected Rescuers Become Captives Isaiah 20:4-6
God says Assyria's king will lead away Egyptians and Ethiopians, young and old, as exposed and barefoot prisoners.
Central truth
The prophet lacks clothes and shoes as a sign that foreign powers trusted for help will themselves be led away in shame.
Scripture beside the summary
Isaiah · King James Version · 6Isaiah 20:1-3
Isaiah Makes the Warning Visible
The Assyrian commander attacks and captures the coastal city on his king's orders. At that time God tells Isaiah to remove the rough cloth from his body and his shoes from his feet. Isaiah obeys and walks naked and barefoot. How much cloth remains is not stated. The sign speaks of shame. God says his servant has carried this sign for three years concerning the southern kingdoms. The warning is not only heard in words. People see the warning in the prophet's own body.
In everyday life
A coastguard instructor removes his protective outer gear during a shore briefing and stands exposed to the cold wind. The trainees see what losing basic protection means before he explains the rescue equipment. His discomfort gives the warning a visible form. Isaiah's three-year sign depicts shameful captivity at God's command, not a brief demonstration.
Notice
Isaiah 20:3 The sign lasts three years rather than one dramatic moment. People see it again and again. Yet they still place hope in the lands now under threat.
Isaiah 20:1-3
King James Version1In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;
2At 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.
3And 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 20:4-6
The Expected Rescuers Become Captives
God says Assyria's king will lead away Egyptians and Ethiopians, young and old, as exposed and barefoot prisoners. Their buttocks are bare. They are made a sight of shame. Those who hoped these lands would save them will feel fear and shame. Their hope has failed. Residents of the coastland will ask what escape remains if the powers they trusted have fallen. The sign challenges false hope. It does not make the shame of those seized a small thing. The forces once praised cannot save their own people from defeat.
In everyday life
A coastal emergency planner watches the support station she relied on close after the same crisis reaches it. She sets its promised supplies aside on the planning sheet and faces residents still waiting for help. Their expected refuge now needs rescue too. Isaiah also warns of captives stripped and shamed, which this scene does not act out.
Notice
Isaiah 20:6 The final question comes from those who relied on the fallen powers. Their fear shows what the sign means. Hope placed in a failing source falls with it.
Isaiah 20:4-6
King James Version4So 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.
5And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
6And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Isaiah 20:1 begins with “In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;”
Where the chapter turns
Isaiah 20:6 forms a natural hinge: “And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria…”
The final note
Isaiah 20:6 leaves the reader with “And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Assyria, barefoot, Egypt, king, naked, Ashdod help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- sackcloth
- Rough cloth worn for mourning or distress.
- isle
- A coastland or coastal region in this older usage, not necessarily an island.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
