Isaiah 8:21 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

And they, the idolatrous and apostatical Israelites, shall pass through it, or, in it, to wit, their own land, which is easily understood out of the context, and from the phrase itself; the pronoun relative being put without an antecedent, as it is in other places, which have been formerly noted. They shall either pass through it into captivity, or wander hither and thither in it, like distracted men, not knowing whither to go, nor what to do; whereas if they had not forsaken God, they might have had a quiet and settled abode in it. Hardly bestead; sorely distressed, as this word is used, Genesis 35:16 Job 30:25; and hungry; destitute of food, and of all necessaries, which are oft signified by food. Curse their king; either because he doth not relieve them, or because by his foolish counsels and courses he brought them into these miseries. Their God; either,

1. The true God; or rather,

2. Their idols, to whom they trusted, and whom they now find too late unable to help them. Look upward to heaven for help, as men of all nations and religions in great calamities use to do.

Isaiah 8:21

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.