Isaiah 20:2

Bible in Basic English (1941)

At that time the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and take off your robe, and your shoes from your feet; and he did so, walking unclothed and without shoes on his feet.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִ֗יא דִּבֶּ֣ר יְהוָה֮ בְּיַ֣ד יְשַׁעְיָ֣הוּ בֶן־אָמוֹץ֮ לֵאמֹר֒ לֵ֗ךְ וּפִתַּחְתָּ֤ הַשַּׂק֙ מֵעַ֣ל מָתְנֶ֔יךָ וְנַעַלְךָ֥ תַחֲלֹ֖ץ מֵעַ֣ל רַגְלֶ֑יךָ וַיַּ֣עַשׂ כֵּ֔ן הָלֹ֖ךְ עָר֥וֹם וְיָחֵֽף׃

Transliteration

In ʿēth hahīʾ dibber YHWH by yad yəshaʿyāhū ben-ʾāmōṣ lēʾmōr lēk ūpittaḥtā the saq from upon mothnēka and naʿalka taḥalōṣ from upon raglēka wayyaʿas thus hālōk ʿārōm wəyāḥēp

Grammar Details

• *ʿēth*: noun construct - time of
• *hahīʾ*: definite article + demonstrative adjective - that
• *dibber*: 3rd masculine singular Piel perfect - spoke
• *YHWH*: proper noun - divine name
• *yad*: construct noun - hand of/by means of
• *yəshaʿyāhū*: proper noun - Isaiah
• *ben*: construct noun - son of
• *ʾāmōṣ*: proper noun - Amoz
• *lēʾmōr*: preposition + Qal infinitive construct - saying
• *lēk*: 2nd masculine singular Qal imperative - go
• *ūpittaḥtā*: waw conjunctive + 2nd masculine singular Piel perfect - and you shall loosen/remove
• *saq*: definite noun - the sackcloth
• *mothnēka*: noun + 2nd masculine singular suffix - your loins
• *naʿalka*: noun + 2nd masculine singular suffix - your sandal
• *taḥalōṣ*: 2nd masculine singular Qal imperfect - you shall remove
• *raglēka*: noun + 2nd masculine singular suffix - your feet
• *wayyaʿas*: waw consecutive + 3rd masculine singular Qal imperfect - and he did
• *hālōk*: Qal infinitive absolute - going
• *ʿārōm*: adjective - naked/lightly clothed
• *wəyāḥēp*: waw conjunctive + adjective - and barefoot

Word Meanings

• *saq*: sackcloth/mourning garment/rough cloth
• *ʿārōm*: naked/minimally clothed/without outer garment
• *yad*: hand/agency/prophetic mediation

Referenced Verses

• 1 Sam 19:24 : 24 And he took off his clothing, acting like a prophet before Samuel, and falling down he was stretched out, without his clothing, all that day and all that night. This is the reason for the saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?
• Mic 1:8 : 8 For this I will be full of sorrow and give cries of grief; I will go uncovered and unclothed: I will give cries of grief like the jackals and will be in sorrow like the ostriches.
• Ezek 24:17 : 17 Let there be no sound of sorrow; make no weeping for your dead, put on your head-dress and your shoes on your feet, let not your lips be covered, and do not take the food of those in grief.
• Ezek 24:23 : 23 And your head-dresses will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet: there will be no sorrow or weeping; but you will be wasting away in the punishment of your evil-doing, and you will be looking at one another in wonder.
• Zech 13:4 : 4 And it will come about in that day that the prophets will be shamed, every man on account of his vision, when he is talking as a prophet; and they will not put on a robe of hair for purposes of deceit:
• Matt 3:4 : 4 Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey.
• Isa 13:1 : 1 The word of the Lord about Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.
• Mic 1:11 : 11 Be uncovered and go away, you who are living in Shaphir: the one living in Zaanan has not come out of her town; Beth-ezel is taken away from its base, even from its resting-place.
• Jer 13:1-9 : 1 This is what the Lord said to me: Go and get yourself a linen band and put it round you and do not put it in water. 2 So, as the Lord said, I got a band for a price and put it round my body. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, 4 Take the band which you got for a price, which is round your body, and go to Parah and put it in a secret place there in a hole of the rock. 5 So I went and put it in a secret place by Parah, as the Lord had said to me. 6 Then after a long time, the Lord said to me, Up! go to Parah and get the band which I gave you orders to put there. 7 So I went to Parah and, uncovering the hole, took the band from the place where I had put it away: and the band was damaged and of no use for anything. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 The Lord has said, In this way I will do damage to the pride of Judah and to the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 These evil people who say they will not give ear to my words, who go on in the pride of their hearts and have become servants and worshippers of other gods, will become like this band which is of no use for anything. 11 For as a band goes tightly round a man's body, so I made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah tightly united to me; so that they might be a people for me and a name and a praise and a glory: but they would not give ear.
• Jer 19:1-9 : 1 This is what the Lord has said: Go and get for money a potter's bottle made of earth, and take with you some of the responsible men of the people and of the priests; 2 And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, by the way into the door of broken pots, and there say in a loud voice the words which I will give you; 3 Say, Give ear to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem; the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, See, I will send evil on this place which will be bitter to the ears of anyone hearing of it. 4 Because they have given me up, and made this place a strange place, burning perfumes in it to other gods, of whom they and their fathers and the kings of Judah had no knowledge; and they have made this place full of the blood of those who have done no wrong; 5 And they have put up the high places of the Baal, burning their sons in the fire; a thing which was not ordered by me, and it was never in my mind: 6 For this cause, see, a time is coming, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be named Topheth, or, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of Death. 7 I will make the purpose of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place; I will have them put to the sword by their haters, and by the hands of those who have designs on their life; and their dead bodies I will give to be food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this town a thing of wonder and a cause of surprise; everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder and make sounds of surprise, because of all its troubles. 9 I will make them take the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters for food, they will be making a meal of one another, because of their bitter need and the cruel grip of their haters and those who have made designs against their life. 10 Then let the potter's bottle be broken before the eyes of the men who have gone with you, 11 And say to them, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Even so will this people and this town be broken by me, as a potter's bottle is broken and may not be put together again: and the bodies of the dead will be put in the earth in Topheth, till there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place, says the Lord, and to its people, making this town like Topheth: 13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which they have made unclean, will be like the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs perfumes have been burned to all the army of heaven, and drink offerings drained out to other gods. 14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to give the prophet's word; and he took his place in the open square of the Lord's house, and said to all the people, 15 The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send on this town and on all her towns all the evil which I have said; because they made their necks stiff, so that they might not give ear to my words.
• Ezek 4:5 : 5 For I have had the years of their sin measured for you by a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: and you will take on yourself the sin of the children of Israel.
• 2 Sam 6:20 : 20 Then David came back to give a blessing to his family. And Michal, Saul's daughter, came out to him and said, How full of glory was the king of Israel today, who let himself be seen uncovered by his servant-girls like a foolish person uncovering himself without shame!
• 2 Kgs 1:8 : 8 And they said in answer, He was a man clothed in a coat of hair, with a leather band about his body. Then he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
• Job 1:20-21 : 20 Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said, 21 With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.
• Matt 16:24 : 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross, and come after me.
• John 21:7 : 7 So the disciple who was dear to Jesus said to Peter, It is the Lord! Hearing that it was the Lord, Peter put his coat round him (because he was not clothed) and went into the sea.
• Acts 19:16 : 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was, jumping on them, was stronger than the two of them, and overcame them, so that they went running from that house, wounded and without their clothing.
• Rev 11:3 : 3 And I will give orders to my two witnesses, and they will be prophets for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed with haircloth.
• Exod 3:5 : 5 And he said, Do not come near: take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy.
• Josh 5:15 : 15 And the captain of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy. And Joshua did so.