Isaiah 8:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore, he states, "he neglects the waters of Siloam," not referring to the water itself, but likening the peaceful and gentle nature of the king of that era to the tranquil flow of the spring, calling him Siloam in recognition of his kindness and meekness. This serves as a profound indictment against the populace, as they, being subjected to a light burden, sought change and wished to yield to foreign sovereigns.

God also revealed to the prophet the Jews' madness against Him during the Incarnation. The only-begotten Word of God came into this world in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3), devoid of the evident and visible glory of majesty, not residing in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16)—a state often attributed to Him—nor visibly accompanied by angelic entities, but rather coming in deep humility and quietness, lacking even the splendor of an earthly sovereign. This was further underscored by God, the Father, speaking through the prophets: Behold, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; he shall proclaim justice with his words: he will not shout or cry out, nor raise his voice in the streets; he will not break the bruised reed, nor extinguish the smoldering wick (Is. 52:13; Is. 42:1-3; Mt. 12:18-20). This illustrates the foundation of the Incarnation of the Only Begotten. Yet, the wretched Jews, either entirely misunderstanding or wickedly denying the mystery of His person, fiercely rebelled and sought to take His life, proclaiming, ‘We do not intend to stone you for a good deed, but for blasphemy, because you, being a mere man, proclaim yourself as God’ (John 10:33). Those who were utterly hardened and enraged even escalated their malice further; they brought Him before Pilate, demanding, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him!’ When Pilate, mockingly asking, ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ answered, they shouted, ‘We have no king but Caesar’ (John 19:15). See how they outright rejected His reign over them, choosing rather to subjugate themselves to men as their rulers. God vividly presents this truth to the prophet to draw parallels with the current times; He likens the waters of Siloam to divine governance, which the Jews scorned as they submitted to another king and surrendered to their adversaries. Thus, He states: Since these men do not desire the waters of Siloam flowing past the yew tree, but instead seek Rasson and the son of Romulus as their king, behold, the Lord shall send upon you mighty waters from a great river, the king of Assyria. The waters of Siloam are said to flow so gently that they make no sound. The term Siloam means “sent” (cf. Jn. 9:7), serving as a metaphor for the coming of our Savior, which was unobtrusive, as previously mentioned. Christ, indeed, embodies the "sent one." Paul, wise in his writings, refers to Him as the apostle and high priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Furthermore, Siloam symbolizes God's governance. Therefore, since this unyielding and rebellious people have spurned the waters of Siloam, rejecting the yoke of God, preferring to be ruled by man and submit to those who wish to dominate them, namely Rasson and Phraates, thus He declares, I will send upon them the waters of the river, that is, the Euphrates.

48:16), and He will not rest nor raise His voice, and His teachings will echo through the streets (cf. Mt. 12:19)? Those who reject the One sent from heaven overlook His humility and are drawn to the son of Romelius, which represents a false doctrine that claims to be grounded in Divine Scriptures, alongside Rasson, a term that indicates lofty speech, leading hearers away from the foundational faith aligned with the Scriptures, and mocks them by diverting them from genuine faith. The meaning of Aram is expressed through language. Thus, anyone who scornfully disregards sound doctrine and disdains what is firm, peaceful, and reverent, while merging unclear passages of Scripture with ideas sourced outside true Faith, is warned by the prophetic word of fierce and numerous waters, represented by the king of Assyria, that is, the ruler of this world. It is clear that the Scriptures refer to an adversary by calling upon the Assyrian, as seen in the next verse from the same Prophet. He writes: When the Lord has accomplished all His work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, He will bring a great challenge against the prince of Assyria and to the lofty ones in his sight. He declared: ‘By the might of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am wise; I will remove the boundaries of peoples and plunder their treasures, like a mighty man I will bring down the inhabitants’ (Isaiah 10:12-14). It seems that the Prophet refers again to the prince of Assyria, who truly embodies turbulent waters, swiftly and forcefully sweeping away those he encounters. Those who successfully navigate this perilous stream proclaim: Our souls traverse the flood, the uncertain waters (cf. Ps. 123:4, 5). The Gospel similarly cites these treacherous waters in a parable, comparing the one who hears the word but does not act to a man who constructed his house without a foundation; when the flood came, that house could not withstand the storm and collapsed, resulting in a great calamity (cf. Lk. 6:48, 49). The prophet notes that this water is indeed overwhelming; it will rise over all your desolate places. The wilderness symbolizes the barren areas of the earth. Why does it state that the water will rise rather than fall? Because every humiliation stemming from sin is exponentially greater than the initial streams and the very beginnings of deceit. Once they are surrendered to opposing forces, they will obliterate every barrier of the apostates, dismantling all doctrines they hold as truths or strongholds. Due to their rejection of Siloam and their inclination toward destructive rulers, the prophet warns that Judah will lose every leader capable of rising above, every individual who excels in wisdom or virtuous action, and who can effectively accomplish what is deemed good. Furthermore, it threatens to deploy military forces across the lands of those who have disregarded Siloam. Because they have aligned themselves with a path of expansiveness and emptiness, they deserve to be the battleground for these opposing forces, not as the condemned, but as those who have chosen this unfortunate path themselves. Since they have not contemplated having God in their thoughts, God has given them over to a depraved mind to engage in unworthy practices (Rom. 1:28). God is with us - see v. 9.

The Assyrians will be taken into captivity; now God addresses the prophet as is customary in the Scriptures: He draws a comparison between the stream of Siloam in Jerusalem and the mighty river of Assyria, declaring that it will overflow throughout the land of Israel with its waves, departing from its banks with such intensity that it will encompass the territory of the ten tribes and extend into Judah, nearly to the neck. This indicates imminent captivity; for although Judea was not conquered at that time, the cities of the two tribes had fallen, and only Jerusalem was spared through the remarkable mercy of God. Additionally, the might of the king of Assyria and his countless army, represented as a flood, is further illustrated by the notion that his leaders and vast multitudes will cover the land of Immanuel—the God who protects it—but they will not overtake it (though the term Immanuel in the LXX pertains to the subsequent verse and is not rendered with its proper name as in the Hebrew, but rather translated as, God is with us). As for the stream of Siloam, it is at the foot of Mount Zion, not consistently filled with water but bubbling up at certain times, rushing forth noisily over the irregular terrain and hollows of the solid mountain; this is clear to those of us who reside in this area. The interpretation is straightforward: the people of the ten tribes preferred to submit to Racine and the son of Romelia, meaning the kings of Damascus and Samaria, rather than the Davidic line that received the kingdom according to My decree. Consequently, I will bring them into bondage, not to those who they have chosen, but to the king of Assyria, whose strength in taking over Samaria is likened to the flooding of a river. A plea is made to Immanuel—that he has risen so mightily that he seeks to claim Judah, his own land. In a sacramental sense, any heretic who relies on secular wisdom to seize Jerusalem, the Church, while abandoning the waters of Siloam (John 9), which symbolize being sent and lead to eternal life, will be delivered to the leader of Assyria; the profound implications of which will be revealed later. The betrayer of his power shall plunge into the depths of his sin, for he is so proud as to tempt the Savior by displaying all the kingdoms of the world and proclaiming, 'all these have been given to me' (Luke 4). He will also attempt to infiltrate Judas, the house of confession, often reaching the neck of the negligent within the Church, striving to choke the faithful in Christ, spreading his wings to cover the entire region of Immanuel, but he will not be able to claim it, because Judas possesses God within him. In the Gospel of John (9), it is recounted how the Lord healed a man who was blind from birth, anointing his eyes with mud made from His saliva, and sent him to the waters of Siloam, where, after washing, the blind man regained his sight. This miracle illustrates that the blindness of the Jews, and of every unbeliever, can only be healed if the darkness of past error is dispelled by the teachings of the waters of Christ, which flow quietly without the clamor and noise of words. The LXX states, and shall overtake every wall of your wall, and take away from Judah the man who could lift up his head, or do anything, which is absent in the Hebrew, with the Greek codices bearing a striking mark.