At 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.
Ver. 2. At the same time spake the Lord.] Against Egypt and Ethiopia, whom he had comforted, Isaiah 19:18,19, and yet now again threateneth; showing by an ocular demonstration a what miseries should befall them. This was done in Jewry; but the report thereof might easily come to these confederate countries, and the Jews, howsoever, were given hereby to see how vain a thing it was to trust to such confederates.
By Isaiah the son of Amoz.] Heb., By the hand of Isaiah, whom God used as a dispenser of this precious treasure.
Go, loose the sackcloth from off thy loins,] i.e., Thy thick rough garment, b such as prophets usually wore. 2 Kings 1:8 Zec 13:4 Mat 3:4 Or else thy sackcloth put on as a mourning weed, either for ten tribes lately carried captive, or else for the miseries ready to fall shortly upon thine own people.
And put off thy shoe from thy foot.] The Nudipedales in Moravia might as well avouch Isaiah for their founder as the Carmelites do Elias.
And he did so.] God is to be obeyed without hesitation: his commands, how unreasonable soever they may seem, are not to be disputed, but despatched.
Walking naked.] Not stark naked, but stripped as a prisoner, his mantle or upper garment cast off. See 1 Samuel 19:24 Act 19:16 Micah 1:8 .
a οφθαλμοειδως, i.e., Per Isaiam tanquam organum et dispensatorem suorum myster. - Oecolamp.
b Vestimentum vilosum.