Isaiah 8:9

Associate yourselves. Heb. ro‘u, from ra‘a‘, which may mean either “to be bad,” “to be displeased,” or “to break.” Accordingly, ro‘u would mean either “be displeased” or “be broken.” The translators of the Latin Vulgate probably took the vowelless Hebrew text (see Vol. I, pp. 27, 34, 35) of the word ro‘u to be from the root ra‘ah, “to have dealings with [one another],” and accordingly translated ro‘u as congregamini, “assemble [yourselves],” or “associate [yourselves].” The KJV translation follows this possible reading of the Latin Vulgate. The translators of the LXX seem to have had before them a Hebrew text that read de‘u instead of ro‘u, and rendered de‘u into Greek as gnote, “know.” In Hebrew the letters r and d are almost identical in appearance, and the one may easily be mistaken for the other (see p. 14; for examples, see on Gen. 10:4; 25:15; Joshua 9:4; 1 Sam. 12:11; 2 Sam. 8:12; 23:30). De‘u is from the root yada‘, “to know,” and the form de‘u would be translated “know ye.” De‘u provides a reading more in harmony with the context, and might be rendered into English as “take knowledge,” or “know ye.” In the Hebrew, Isa. 8:9 appears in poetic form, and the translation “know ye” would then stand parallel to the words “give ear” (see Vol. III, pp. 24-27).

Ye people. Literally, “ye peoples,” meaning “ye nations.” Isaiah here speaks to the heathen nations that would think to “take counsel together” (v. 10) against God, and warns them that “God is with us.” In the poetic form of v. 9, “ye people” stands parallel to “ye of far countries.”