Bible Strands
Isaiah 8:1
Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh issues a direct command to the prophet Isaiah to prepare a physical record. This instruction precedes the immediate appointment of Uriah and Zechariah as official witnesses in Isaiah 8:2.
The words — גִּלָּי֣וֹן (gi.la.Yon) denotes a tablet or scroll, and גָּד֑וֹל (ga.Dol) specifies its large size, defining the medium and scale of the inscription.
The thread — The practice of inscribing a message on a scroll for lasting witness appears in Isaiah 30:8 and Job 19:23. Isaiah 8:2 immediately follows by naming Uriah and Zechariah as the appointed witnesses to verify the document.
Why it lands — The text commands a permanent, public record of a divine warning rather than a private revelation. A reader must treat the instruction as a demand for documented verification and historical accountability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Maher–shalal–hash–baz.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 30:8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
- Job 19:23 I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
- Isaiah 8:3 And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
- Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
- Jeremiah 36:2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.
- Jeremiah 36:28 “Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.
- Jeremiah 36:32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
- Revelation 13:18 Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.
- Revelation 21:17 And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using.