Verse Lens · Context pointer
Isaiah 8:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The narrated sign and its political setting states or reports “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” at Isaiah 8:16 as a specific part of “Isaiah and the Children Wait as Signs in Zion.”
Read It With
- Isaiah 8:11–18
Read Isaiah 8:16 with 8:11–18. By itself, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: The prophet must resist public fear, regard the LORD as holy, accept sanctuary and stumbling imagery, bind testimony, wait through hiddenness, and stand with children whose names are signs.
Why It Needs Context
The narrated sign and its political setting states or reports “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” at Isaiah 8:16 as a specific part of “Isaiah and the Children Wait as Signs in Zion.” Its force depends on the complete movement and outcome of Isaiah 8:11–18; the isolated line is connective rather than a complete teaching claim.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Isaiah 8:11–18 — Isaiah and the Children Wait as Signs in ZionSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 8:11–18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 8:11–18 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗