Isaiah 20 (ASV)

Chapter Text

20:1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;

20:2 at that time Jehovah spake by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put thy shoe from off thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

20:3 And Jehovah said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia;

20:4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

20:5 And they shall be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

20:6 And the inhabitant of this coast-land shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and we, how shall we escape?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "year", "tartan", "came", "ashdod", "sargon", "king", "assyria", and "sent". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "year" and "tartan", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "year" and "tartan" carries the first interpretive weight. In The Suffering Servant Bears Iniquity, the local focus is the servant of the LORD, atonement, and judgment and restoration.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "year" and "tartan" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.