Isaiah — Chapter 20

Loading ESV text...

1Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,

2the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.

3Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,

4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.

5Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.

6And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, ‘See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”

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

2At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

3And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

4So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

5And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

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

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

2at 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.

3And 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;

4so 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.

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

6And 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?

1The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it.

2At that time the Lord announced through Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments and barefoot.

3Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,

4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated.

5Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed.

6At that time those who live on this coast will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”

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

2at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loosen the sackcloth from off your waist, and take your shoes from off your feet.” He did so, walking naked and barefoot.

3Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,

4so the king of Assyria will 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.

5They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

6The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?’”

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

Isaiah is told to strip off his sackcloth and sandals and go bare and barefoot for three years, becoming a walking object lesson for Judah (vv. 1-3). The sign points to what is coming: Assyria's king will lead the Egyptians and Cushites into exile stripped and barefoot in the same humiliating way (vv. 4-5). Watching this, the people of the coastland realize the nations they were counting on for protection cannot even protect themselves, leaving them to ask how they will now escape (vv. 5-6). The episode drives home Isaiah's larger point across these chapters: political alliances are no substitute for trusting God.

Authorship & Background

Author: Isaiah son of Amoz (see Chapter 1 notes for full details).
Classification: Prophetic Sign-Act — The Naked Prophet
Key Themes: Embodied prophecy, the humiliation of Egypt and Cush, the folly of trusting in human alliances, Assyria as God's instrument, a dated prophecy (year of Assyrian conquest of Ashdod)
Historical Context: The chapter is precisely dated: "the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him" (v.1) — 711 BC. Sargon II sent his commander (Tartan) to besiege Ashdod, a Philistine city that had rebelled with Egyptian backing. This event proved that Egypt's promises of military support were empty — Egypt couldn't even protect its own allies. God told Isaiah to walk stripped (likely to a loin cloth, the garb of a war captive/slave) for three years as a visual object lesson: this is what Assyria will do to Egypt and Cush. The audience is Judah — stop trusting Egypt!
Ashdod Falls (v.1): In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and fought against Ashdod, and took it. This is one of the most precisely datable verses in the prophets. Sargon II is named, which is the only occurrence of his name in the Bible, and the campaign against Ashdod is recorded in his own annals, placing it at 711 BC. Ashdod had led a Philistine revolt counting on Egyptian support, and the support did not arrive.
Walk Naked and Barefoot (v.2): At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And the verse ends with the flattest report of obedience in the prophets, and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. The word probably means stripped to an undergarment rather than wholly unclothed, which is how prisoners were marched. It is the longest sign-act in scripture and the next verse gives its duration.
Three Years as a Sign (vv.3-4): Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia. Three years. The interpretation is given in the same terms as the act, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered. He was not illustrating a defeat, he was wearing the deportation for three years in public before it happened.
Their Expectation Ashamed (vv.5-6): And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. The audience for the sign was never Egypt. It was the party in Jerusalem arguing for an Egyptian alliance, and the last verse puts their conclusion in their own mouths, behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help, and how shall we escape. Three years of a prophet walking about half-dressed to make one point about foreign policy.

Map & Geography

  • Assyria (v.1, v.4, v.6): Empire to the northeast that conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (722 BC).
  • Egypt (v.3, v.4, v.5): Land to the southwest; place of Israel's bondage and exodus.

Places on this map

  • Assyrianorthern IraqThe upper Tigris heartland around Nineveh, Calah and Asshur. Its armies reached Israel by following the Fertile Crescent north-west and then south down the coast, so the threat always arrived from the north even though Assyria lay to the east. Wikipedia
  • EgyptEgyptA ribbon of irrigated land along the Nile, ending in the Delta where Israel settled in Goshen. Rain-fed Canaan depended on weather; Egypt depended on a river that flooded on schedule, which made it the place everyone went when the harvest failed. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Isaiah 20 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
2BeLikeChrist

Isaiah 19-20 | A Global Community | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Articles

  • BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: the promised king who runs through Isaiah from beginning to end.
  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Isaiah -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • A Costly Obedience (v.2) — God asks Isaiah to walk stripped and barefoot as a living sign, a public humiliation carried out for the sake of the message. Are you willing to accept discomfort or embarrassment if that's what faithfulness to God actually requires of you?
  • A Sermon Sustained for Years (v.3) — Isaiah's sign wasn't a single dramatic act but three years of daily obedience. Where in your life does faithfulness look less like one bold moment and more like showing up the same way day after day?
  • What We Lean On Gets Exposed (vv.5-6) — Judah's confidence in Egypt collapses the moment Egypt itself is stripped bare by Assyria. What are you currently trusting instead of God that would leave you exposed if it failed tomorrow?
  • An Unanswered Question (v.6) — The chapter closes with the people asking how they will now escape, the question left hanging. When your usual sources of security fail, where do you actually turn first?