Isaiah 20
ืืฉืขืืื ืคืจืง ืืณ
Section: ื ืืืืื ยท ื ืืืืื ืืืจืื ืื | Book: Isaiah | Chapter: 20 of 66 | Day: 167 of 742
Date: July 28, 2026
ืงืืืื ืขื ืื ืดื
Chapter 20 is the shortest chapter in Yeshayahu, yet it opens with something exceedingly rare in this book: a precise historical date. โIn the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, sent by Sargon king of Assyriaโ (ืืฉื ืช ืื ืชืจืชื ืืฉืืืื) anchors the prophecy to a specific military campaign โ the Assyrian conquest of the Philistine city of Ashdod, a coastal stronghold on the road to Egypt. Tartan is not a personal name but an Assyrian title for the commander-in-chief, as we find again at the siege of Yerushalayim (II Melachim 18:17). Radak, citing the tradition of Chazal that Sancheriv had eight names, identifies Sargon with Sancheriv himself, and situates the chapter within the chronology of Chizkiyahuโs reign: the fall of Ashdod preceded Assyriaโs campaign against Egypt and Cush, which in turn preceded the confrontation at Yerushalayim in Chizkiyahuโs fourteenth year. Metzudat David adds the larger frame โ this was the moment Assyria โbegan to perform mighty deeds and conquer the lands of the nations.โ The dated superscription thus signals that this prophecy is not a timeless oracle but a word spoken into a rapidly closing window of history.
What follows belongs to the genre of the prophetic sign-act, in which the navi does not merely speak the message but embodies it. Hashem commands Yeshayahu to loosen the sackcloth from his loins โ which, Metzudat David and Radak explain, he had been wearing in mourning for the exile of the ten tribes โ and to remove his sandals, going โnaked and barefootโ (ืขืจืื ืืืืฃ). Rashi, following Targum Yonatan, softens the literal force: ืขืจืื means clad in torn and worn garments, not actual nakedness. Radak goes further and articulates a principle with wide application in Neviโim: the entire command was experienced ืืืจืื ืื ืืืื, in prophetic vision, not enacted in the street โ for it is unthinkable, he says, that God would command His prophet to walk about naked. He groups this with Hosheaโs marriage to a wife of harlotry and Yechezkelโs shaving of his head and beard: extended sign-actions that unfold over what seems like years within the vision, yet are seen in a single prophetic experience. The three years of verse 3 thus become, on Radakโs reading, the duration within the vision that corresponds to the interval between Ashdodโs fall and the Assyrian deportation of Egypt and Cush.
The interpretation of the sign is given explicitly in verses 3-4. Yeshayahuโs degradation is an โืืืช ืืืืคืชโ โ a sign and portent โ against Egypt and Cush: just as the prophet went naked and barefoot, โso shall the king of Assyria drive the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks baredโ (ืืืฉืืคื ืฉืช). The imagery is deliberately shaming; Rashi even sees in it a measure-for-measure retribution reaching back to Cham, the ancestor of Mitzrayim and Cush, who saw his fatherโs nakedness and did not cover it. Radak and Metzudat David note that the shame of Egypt is singled out โbecause of their great disgrace,โ invoking Yechezkelโs coarse characterization of Egypt. The prophetโs body becomes a preview of the prisonersโ march: the great southern powers, paraded in humiliation by the very empire in which Yehudahโs politicians were tempted to see Egypt as the counterweight.
That political temptation is the chapterโs real target, and it surfaces in the closing verses. โThey shall be dismayed and ashamed of Cush their hope and of Egypt their gloryโ (ืืืชื ืืืฉื) โ and Radak and Metzudat David are explicit that โtheyโ means Yisrael, the remnant of Yehudah and Binyamin who looked to Tirhakah of Cush and to Egypt to fight Assyria on their behalf. Verse 6 gives them a voice: โthe dweller of this coastlandโ (ืืืฉื ืืื ืืื) โ identified by Rashi, Radak, and Metzudat David alike as Eretz Yisrael, which sits on the border of the sea โ will say in that day, โBehold, such is our expectation, to which we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?โ If the rescuer could not save himself, what hope for those who trusted him? The rhetorical question is left hanging, unanswered, as the chapter ends.
Within the architecture of the oracles against the nations (chapters 13-23), chapter 20 functions as the historical seal on the Egypt material of chapters 18-19: the poetic burdens against Cush and Mitzrayim are here converted into a dated, enacted, and interpreted sign. And it opens a polemic that Yeshayahu will press relentlessly in chapters 30-31 โ โWoe to those who go down to Egypt for helpโ โ against the pro-Egyptian party in Yerushalayim. The theological point is the same throughout: reliance on Egypt is not merely bad strategy but misplaced trust, a substitution of a doomed human power for the Holy One of Israel. The unanswered โhow shall we escape?โ of verse 6 finds its answer only in the Chizkiyahu narratives of chapters 36-37, where deliverance comes not from Egyptian chariots but from the word of Hashem alone.
ืคืจืง ืืณ ยท Chapter 20
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 1
Hebrew:
ืึผึดืฉืึฐื ึทึจืช ืึผึนึคื ืชึทืจึฐืชึผึธืึ ืึทืฉืึฐืึผึืึนืึธื ืึผึดืฉืึฐืึนึฃืึท ืึนืชึืึน ืกึทึฝืจึฐืึืึนื ืึถึฃืึถืึฐ ืึทืฉืึผึืึผืจ ืึทืึผึดืึผึธึฅืึถื ืึผึฐืึทืฉืึฐืึผึืึนื ืึทึฝืึผึดืึฐืึผึฐืึธึฝืึผื
English:
It was the year that the TartanaTartan An Assyrian title meaning โGeneralโ; cf. 2 Kings 18.17 and note. came to Ashdodโbeing sent by King Sargon of Assyriaโand attacked Ashdod and took it.
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 2
Hebrew:
ืึผึธืขึตึฃืช ืึทืึดึืื ืึผึดืึผึถึฃืจ ืึฐืึนืึธืึฎ ืึผึฐืึทึฃื ืึฐืฉืึทึฝืขึฐืึธึฃืืึผ ืึถืึพืึธืืึนืฅึฎ ืึตืืึนืจึ ืึตึืึฐ ืึผืคึดืชึผึทืึฐืชึผึธึค ืึทืฉืึผึทืงึ ืึตืขึทึฃื ืืืชึฐื ึถึืืึธ ืึฐื ึทืขึทืึฐืึธึฅ ืชึทืึฒืึนึืฅ ืึตืขึทึฃื ืจึทืึฐืึถึืึธ ืึทืึผึทึฃืขึทืฉื ืึผึตึื ืึธืึนึืึฐ ืขึธืจึฅืึนื ืึฐืึธืึตึฝืฃืย {ืก}ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
English:
Previously,bPreviously Lit. โAt that time.โ GOD had spoken to Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, โGo, untie the sackcloth from your loins and take your sandals off your feet,โ which he had done, going naked and barefoot.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 3
Hebrew:
ืึทืึผึนึฃืืึถืจ ืึฐืึนืึธึื ืึผึทืึฒืฉืึถึฅืจ ืึธืึทึืึฐ ืขึทืึฐืึผึดึฅื ืึฐืฉืึทึฝืขึฐืึธึืืึผ ืขึธืจึฃืึนื ืึฐืึธืึตึืฃ ืฉืึธืึนึคืฉื ืฉืึธื ึดืืึ ืึฃืึนืช ืึผืืึนืคึตึืช ืขึทืึพืึดืฆึฐืจึทึืึดื ืึฐืขึทืึพืึผึฝืึผืฉืื
English:
And now GOD said, โIt is a sign and a portent for Egypt and Cush. Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years,
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 4
Hebrew:
ืึผึตึฃื ืึดื ึฐืึทึฃื ืึถึฝืึถืึฐึพืึทึ ืฉืึผึ ืึผืจ ืึถืชึพืฉืึฐืึดึจื ืึดืฆึฐืจึทึืึดื ืึฐืึถืชึพืึผึธืึฅืึผืช ืึผึืึผืฉื ื ึฐืขึธืจึดึฅืื ืึผืึฐืงึตื ึดึืื ืขึธืจึฃืึนื ืึฐืึธืึตึืฃ ืึทืึฒืฉืืึผืคึทึฅื ืฉืึตึืช ืขึถืจึฐืึทึฅืช ืึดืฆึฐืจึธึฝืึดืื
English:
so shall the king of Assyria drive off the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot and with bared buttocksโto the shame of Egypt!
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 5
Hebrew:
ืึฐืึทืชึผึืึผ ืึธืึนึืฉืืึผ ืึดืึผืึผืฉืึ ืึทืึผึธืึธึื ืึผืึดืึพืึดืฆึฐืจึทึืึดื ืชึผึดืคึฐืึทืจึฐืชึผึธึฝืื
English:
And they shall be dismayed and chagrined because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 6
Hebrew:
ืึฐึ ืึธืึทึ ืจ ืึนืฉืึตึจื ืึธืึดึฃื ืึทืึผึถืึฎ ืึผึทืึผึฃืึนื ืึทืืึผืึ ืึดื ึผึตืึพืึนึฃื ืึทืึผึธืึตึื ืึผ ืึฒืฉืึถืจึพื ึทึคืกึฐื ืึผ ืฉืึธืึ ืึฐืขึถืึฐืจึธึื ืึฐืึดึจื ึผึธืฆึตึื ืึดืคึผึฐื ึตึื ืึถึฃืึถืึฐ ืึทืฉืึผึืึผืจ ืึฐืึตึืืึฐ ื ึดืึผึธืึตึฅื ืึฒื ึธึฝืึฐื ืึผืย {ืค}
English:
In that day, the dwellers of this coastland shall say, โIf this could happen to those we looked to, to whom we fled for help and rescue from the king of Assyria, how can we ourselves escape?โโ