EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT (MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ)

Isaiah’s son ended up with the longest name in the Bible-and hopefully an upbeat nickname like “Swifty” (Maher).

As the prophet Hosea did with his children about the same time, Isaiah gave his son a symbolic name to make a point. For Isaiah, the point was that King Ahaz of Judah didn’t need Assyria’s help to fight off coalition forces of Syria and the northern Jewish nation of Israel. The invaders themselves would be plundered and spoiled before Isaiah’s son could talk.

Ahaz called Assyria anyhow. Their forces crushed the coalition but took Judah’s sacred temple treasures as payment.