Isaiah 8:20

Myles Coverdale Bible

Yf eny man want light, let him loke vpon the lawe and the testimony, whether they speake not after this meanynge.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.

Hebrew Names Version
To the law and to the testimony! if they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

King James Version
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

English Standard Version
To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

New American Standard Bible
To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn.

New Century Version
You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the Lord . The mediums and fortune-tellers do not speak the word of the Lord , so their words are worth nothing.

Amplified Bible
[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.

World English Bible
To the law and to the testimony! if they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
To the Law, and to the testimonie, if they speake not according to this worde: it is because there is no light in them.

Legacy Standard Bible
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Berean Standard Bible
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

Contemporary English Version
what it should do." None of those who talk like that will live to see the light of day!

Complete Jewish Bible
for teaching and instruction?" For they will indeed give you this unenlightened suggestion.

Darby Translation
To the law and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, for them there is no daybreak.

Easy-to-Read Version
You should follow the teachings and the agreement. I swear, if you follow those other things, there is no future for you.

George Lamsa Translation
As for the law and the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because they do not receive a bribe for it.

Good News Translation
You are to answer them, "Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums—what they tell you cannot keep trouble away."

Lexham English Bible
for teaching and for testimony?" surely they who speak like this have no dawn.

Literal Translation
To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no dawn to them!

American Standard Version
To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

Bible in Basic English
Then say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness. Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English. If they do not say such things. Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English. For him there is no dawn. Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
for instruction and for testimony?'--Surely they will speak according to this word, wherein there is no light.--

King James Version (1611)
To the Law and to the Testimonie: if they speake not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Get thee to the lawe, and the testimonie: and if they speake not after this worde, there is no light in them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.

English Revised Version
To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
It is to go to the lawe more and to the witnessyng, that if thei seien not after this word, morewtide liyt schal not be to hem.

Update Bible Version
To the law and to the testimony! if they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

Webster's Bible Translation
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

New English Translation
Then you must recall the Lord 's instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.

New King James Version
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

New Living Translation
Look to God's instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.

New Life Bible
Tell them to put their faith in the teaching and the Law. If they do not speak what this word says, it is because they have no light in them.

New Revised Standard
for teaching and for instruction?" surely, those who speak like this will have no dawn!

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, It is , because they have no dawning day.

Douay-Rheims Bible
To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light.

Revised Standard Version
To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn.

Young's Literal Translation
To the law and to the testimony! If not, let them say after this manner, `That there is no dawn to it.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ Now laye the witnesses together (sayde the LORDE) and seale the lawe with my disciples. ¹⁷ Thus I waite vpon the LORDE, that hath turned his face from the house of Iacob, and I loke vnto him. ¹⁸ But lo, as for me, and the children which the LORDE hath geuen me: we are a token and a wondre in Israel, for the LORDE of hoostes sake, which dwelleth vpon the hill of Syon. ¹⁹ And therfore yf they saye vnto you: aske councel at the soythsayers, witches, charmers and coniurers, then make them this answere: Is there a people enywhere, that axeth not councel at his God: whether it be concernynge the dead, or the lyuynge? ²⁰ Yf eny man want light, let him loke vpon the lawe and the testimony, whether they speake not after this meanynge. ²¹ Yf he do not this, he stombleth and suffreth huger. And yf he suffre honger, he is out of pacience, and blasphemeth his kynge and his God. Then loketh he vpwarde, and downewarde to the earth, ²² and beholde, there is trouble and darcknesse, vexacion is rounde aboute him, and the cloude of erroure And out of soch aduersite, shall he not escape.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the law: Isaiah 8:16, Luke 10:26, Luke 16:29-31, John 5:39, John 5:46, John 5:47, Acts 17:11, Galatians 3:8-29, Galatians 4:21, Galatians 4:22, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19

it is: Isaiah 30:8-11, Psalms 19:7, Psalms 19:8, Psalms 119:130, Jeremiah 8:9, Micah 3:6, Matthew 6:23, Matthew 22:29, Mark 7:7-9, Romans 1:22, 2 Peter 1:9

light: Heb. morning, Proverbs 4:18, Hosea 6:3, Malachi 4:2, 2 Peter 1:19

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:37 - give Exodus 35:29 - the Lord Exodus 40:16 - according Leviticus 24:2 - the lamps Numbers 8:2 - General Deuteronomy 13:3 - hearken Deuteronomy 18:10 - that useth divination Deuteronomy 29:29 - revealed Judges 8:27 - an ephod Judges 18:14 - now therefore 1 Samuel 28:7 - Seek me 2 Kings 11:12 - the testimony 2 Kings 23:24 - that he might 2 Chronicles 17:9 - the book 2 Chronicles 23:11 - the testimony Ezra 7:14 - according Ezra 10:3 - let it Nehemiah 8:1 - bring Psalms 26:3 - and Psalms 78:5 - For he Psalms 93:5 - Thy Psalms 119:24 - my counsellors Proverbs 2:6 - out Proverbs 6:23 - the commandment Proverbs 14:6 - scorner Jeremiah 6:16 - Stand Ezekiel 40:3 - with Micah 5:12 - General Malachi 4:4 - the law Matthew 4:7 - It Matthew 14:4 - General Matthew 15:4 - God Mark 7:13 - the word Mark 10:3 - What Mark 10:19 - knowest Mark 12:24 - Do Luke 4:4 - It Luke 8:11 - The seed Luke 11:36 - the whole Luke 18:20 - knowest John 1:9 - every John 3:21 - he that Acts 13:6 - certain Romans 3:2 - because Romans 3:10 - As it is Romans 4:3 - what 1 Corinthians 2:1 - the testimony 1 Corinthians 3:13 - and the fire 1 Corinthians 9:8 - or 1 Thessalonians 5:21 - Prove 2 Timothy 1:8 - the testimony James 1:25 - looketh 1 Peter 4:11 - any 1 John 4:6 - Hereby

Cross-References

Genesis 4:4
And Abell brought also of the firstlinges of his shepe, and of ye fat of them. And the LORDE had respecte vnto Abell and to his offerynge:

Genesis 7:2
Of all cleane beastes take vnto the seuen and seuen, the male and his female. And of vncleane beastes a payre, the male and his female.

Genesis 8:1
Then God remembred Noe and all the beastes, and all the catell that were with him in the Arcke, and caused a wynde to come vpon the earth: and ye waters ceassed,

Genesis 8:4
Vpon the seuentene daye of the seuenth moneth rested the Arcke vpon the mountaynes of Ararat.

Genesis 8:7
& sent forth a rauen, which flew out, and came agayne, vntyll the waters were dryed vp vpo the earth.

Genesis 8:8
Then sent he forth a doue from him, to wete, whether the waters were falle vpon the earth.

Genesis 8:15
Then spake God vnto Noe, and sayde:

Genesis 8:16
Go out of the Arke, thou and thy wyfe, and thy sonnes, and thy sonnes wyues with the.

Genesis 8:17
As for all the beastes that are with the, what so euer flesh it be (both foule & catell and all maner of wormes that crepe vpon the earth) let them go out with the, and be ye occupied vpon the earth, growe and multiplye vpon the earth.

Genesis 13:4
euen vnto ye place where he had made the altare before, & where he called vpon the name of the LORDE

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To the law, and to the testimony,.... Kimchi takes this to be an oath, "by the law, and by the testimony", it is so and so; but Aben Ezra observes there is no instance of this kind in Scripture; it is a direction of Christ's to his disciples, to attend to the writings of Moses and the prophets, to search the Scriptures, as in John 5:39 and particularly what is before said in this prophecy concerning himself, the same is meant as on Isaiah 8:16.

if they speak not according to this word; this sure word of prophecy, to which men do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place, it being the rule of faith and practice, a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path:

[it is] because [there is] no light in them; that is, in them that speak not according to it, meaning the Scribes and Pharisees; who, rejecting the written word, set up the traditions of the elders above it, and taught the people to walk according to them; and so were, as our Lord says, "blind leaders of the blind", Matthew 15:14 or the words may be read, "if not"; if they will not regard the Scriptures, and the evangelical doctrine in them, and the testimony they give concerning Christ; "let them speak according to this word"; or instruction, and counsel, they have from the Scribes and Pharisees: "in which there is no light" b; but the darkness of ignorance, infidelity, superstition, and will worship; or "no morning"; but a night of Jewish darkness, even though the sun of righteousness was risen, and the dayspring from on high had visited the earth; yet they had received no light and knowledge from him, which was their condemnation, John 1:4 John 3:19 or thus, "to the law, and to the testimony, though they may say after this manner, there is no light in it" c; in the law and testimony, preferring the traditions, decisions, and determinations of their doctors above it. Noldhius d renders the words thus, "seeing they speak not according to this word, certainly they shall have no morning"; that is, seeing the seducers and false teachers, in the preceding verse Isaiah 8:19, speak not according to the word of God, and testimony of Jesus, they shall have no morning of light and joy, of grace and comfort, or any spiritual felicity; Christ will be no morning to them, but they will continue in their dark, benighted, and miserable condition, described in the following verse.

b אם לא יאמרו "sin minus, dicant secundum verbum istud, cui mon est aurora", Piscator. So Sanctius. c "Licet ipsi dicent, in verbis legis, nihil lucis esse", Oleaster in Bootius. d Ebr. Part. Concord. p. 374. No. 1302.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To the law ... - To the revelation which God has given. This is a solemn call of the prophet to try everything by the revealed will of God; see Isaiah 8:16.

If they speak not - If the necromancers - those that pretended to have contact with the dead.

According to this word - According to what God has revealed. By this standard all their pretended revelations were to be tried. By this standard all doctrines are still to be tried.

It is because - There has been a great variety of criticism upon this verse, but our translation expresses, probably, the true idea. The word rendered here ‘because,’ אשׁר 'ăsher, commonly denotes ‘which;’ but it seems here to be used in the sense of the Syriac? “Dolath,” or the Greek ὅτι hoti.

No light - Margin, ‘Morning.’ Hebrew שׁחר shāchar. The word usually means the morning light; the mingled light and darkness of the aurora; daybreak. It is an emblem of advancing knowledge, and perhaps, also, of prosperity or happiness after calamity, as the break of day succeeds the dark night. The meaning here may be, ‘If their teachings do not accord with the law and the testimony, it is proof that they are totally ignorant, without even the twilight of true knowledge; that it is total darkness with them.’ Or it may mean, ‘If they do not speak according to this word, then no dawn will arise, that is, no prosperity will smile upon this people.’ - Gesenius. Lowth understands it of obscurity, darkness:

‘If they speak not according to this word,

In which there is no obscurity.’

But there is no evidence that the word is ever used in this sense. Others suppose that the Arabic sense of the word is to be retained here, deception, or magic. ‘If they speak not according to this oracle, in which there is no deception.’ But the word is not used in this sense in the Hebrew. The meaning is, probably, this: ‘The law of God is the standard by which all professed communications from the invisible world are to be tested. If the necromancers deliver a doctrine which is not sustained by that, and not in accordance with the prophetic communications, it shows that they are in utter ignorance. There is not even the glimmering of the morning twilight; all is total night, and error, and obscurity with them, and they are not to be followed.’

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 8:20. To the law and to the testimony - "Unto the command, and unto the testimony."] "Is not תעודה teudah here the attested prophecy, Isaiah 8:1-4? and perhaps תורה torah the command, Isaiah 8:11-15? for it means sometimes a particular, and even a human, command; see Proverbs 6:20, and Proverbs 7:1-2, where it is ordered to be hid, that is, secretly kept." - Abp. Secker. So Deschamps, in his translation, or rather paraphrase, understands it: "Tenons nous a l'instrument authentique mis en depot par ordre du Seigneur," "Let us stick to the authentic instrument, laid up by the command of the Lord." If this be right, the sixteenth verse must be understood in the same manner.

Because there is no light in them - "In which there is no obscurity."] שחר shachor, as an adjective, frequently signifies dark, obscure; and the noun שחר shachar signifies darkness, gloominess, Joel 2:2, if we may judge by the context: -

"A day of darkness and obscurity;

Of cloud, and of thick vapour;

As the gloom spread upon the mountains:

A people mighty and numerous."

Where the gloom, שחר shachar, seems to be the same with the cloud and thick vapour mentioned in the line preceding. See Lamentations 4:8, and Job 30:30. See this meaning of the word שחר shachar well supported in Christ. Muller. Sat. Observat. Phil. p. 53, Lugd. Bat. 1752. The morning seems to have been an idea wholly incongruous in the passage of Joel; and in this of Isaiah the words in which there is no morning (for so it ought to be rendered if שחר shachar in this place signifies, according to its usual sense, morning) seem to give no meaning at all. "It is because there is no light in them," says our translation. If there be any sense in these words, it is not the sense of the original; which cannot justly be so translated. Qui n'a rien d'obscur, "which has no obscurity." - Deschamps. The reading of the Septuagint and Syriac, שחד shochad, gift, affords no assistance towards the clearing up of any of this difficult place. R. D. Kimchi says this was the form of an oath: "By the law and by the testimony such and such things are so." Now if they had sworn this falsely, it is because there is no light, no illumination, שחר shachar, no scruple of conscience, in them.