Bible Strands
Isaiah 8:11
For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks directly to the prophet Isaiah amid national panic and political conspiracy. The command interrupts a cycle of fear-mongering by establishing divine authority over the nation's direction.
The words — כְּחֶזְקַת הַיָּד (kechezkat hayad) literally means "according to the strength of the hand," denoting forceful divine compulsion. וְיִסְרֵנִי (ve-yisreni) translates as "and he will instruct me," marking a direct pedagogical command.
The thread — The "strong hand" motif appears in Ezekiel 3:14 to describe Spirit-driven compulsion. The warning against conforming to popular paths echoes Proverbs 1:15, while the instruction theme aligns with Psalms 32:8.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to reject cultural panic and follow explicit divine direction instead. The text demands obedience over social conformity, regardless of prevailing public anxiety.
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
For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
- Proverbs 1:15 my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.
- Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.
- Jeremiah 20:7 You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
- Jeremiah 20:9 If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
- Acts 4:20 For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Ezekiel 2:6 But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.