Bible Strands
Isaiah 20:2
the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text states Yahweh commanded Isaiah son of Amoz to remove his sackcloth and sandals, and Isaiah immediately obeyed by walking naked and barefoot. This occurs during Sargon’s military campaign against Ashdod, positioning the act as a timed prophetic demonstration.
The words — The Hebrew דִּבֶּר (dibber, "he spoke") and בְּיַד (be-yad, "by the hand of") explicitly mark Yahweh as the source of the command delivered through Isaiah. These terms ground the physical action in direct divine commission rather than personal initiative.
The thread — Isaiah’s forced exposure aligns with Micah’s barefoot mourning in Micah 1:8 and Saul’s voluntary stripping in 1 Samuel 19:24, both using physical vulnerability to signal divine presence or judgment. The act also anticipates the three-year sign against Egypt and Cush described in Isaiah 20:3.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to recognize that prophetic obedience can demand public, counter-cultural action to convey impending judgment. The text plainly presents Isaiah’s nakedness as a commanded sign, not a spontaneous emotional response or personal ascetic practice.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
At 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.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 19:24 Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
- Micah 1:8 Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
- Matthew 3:4 John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- Ezekiel 24:17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”
- Ezekiel 24:23 Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.
- Zechariah 13:4 And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.
- Isaiah 13:1 This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:
- Micah 1:11 Depart in shameful nakedness, O dwellers of Shaphir. The dwellers of Zaanan will not come out. Beth-ezel is in mourning; its support is taken from you.
- Exodus 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
- Joshua 5:15 The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.