Maher-shalal-hash-baz

Biblical Account

Maher-shalal-hash-baz was a son of the prophet Isaiah. His name and birth are recorded in Isaiah 8:1–4. God first commanded Isaiah to write "Maher-shalal-hash-baz" on a large tablet. Isaiah took Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah as witnesses (Isaiah 8:2). Afterward Isaiah's wife bore a son, and God told Isaiah to give the child the name that had been written on the tablet. The text calls Isaiah's wife "the prophetess" (Isaiah 8:3).

The name is made up of four Hebrew words: maher ("hasten"), shalal ("spoil"), hash ("be quick"), and baz ("plunder"). Isaiah 8:4 explains its meaning: "For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria." At the time, Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel had formed an alliance and were threatening Judah. The name was a prophecy announcing that these two nations would soon fall to Assyria. Scripture records nothing of his later life.

Significance Within Scripture

Isaiah declares, "I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel" (Isaiah 8:18). The name of Isaiah's other son, Shear-jashub, means "a remnant shall return" (Isaiah 7:3). Both sons bore names that were themselves prophetic signs. The name Maher-shalal-hash-baz points to judgment, while the name Shear-jashub points to the restoration of the remnant.

The New Testament does not mention Maher-shalal-hash-baz by name. However, Hebrews 2:13 quotes Isaiah 8:17–18 to describe the relationship between Christ and those He has saved.

Interpretations and Debates

• Relationship to the Immanuel prophecy: Isaiah 7:16 and 8:4 both set the same kind of time limit, stating that an enemy nation will fall before a child is able to discern certain things. For this reason some scholars connect the Immanuel child of Isaiah 7:14 with Maher-shalal-hash-baz or regard his birth as the initial fulfillment in Isaiah's own day. Christian tradition, by contrast, following Matthew 1:22–23, reads Isaiah 7:14 as a messianic prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ. Some interpreters affirm both a fulfillment in Isaiah's time and an ultimate fulfillment in Christ.
• "The prophetess": Interpreters differ on whether Isaiah's wife herself engaged in prophetic activity or was given this title as the wife of a prophet.
• Extrabiblical stories: Accounts of his upbringing or later deeds have no basis in Scripture.

In the Korean Church

Maher-shalal-hash-baz is commonly cited as one of the longest personal names in the Bible and is reportedly mentioned often in Bible quizzes and similar settings. In preaching, he is usually discussed in connection with Isaiah 7–8 or the Immanuel prophecy. Such sermons often emphasize that God's warnings will surely come to pass and that the prophet's family itself became a message.