Isaiah 8:14

To those who obey this admonition, Jehovah shall be for a sanctuary; to all others a stumbling-stone. This contrast would certainly be clearer if (with the Targ. and Vulg.) we might insert "to you" after "shall be." But the want of these words hardly justifies us in changing the text, or even in translating "He will shew Himself a holy object," in the sense explained by the remainder of the verse. Although it is doubtful if the word is ever used for "asylum," yet the sanctuary was in fact an asylum (Exodus 21:14; 1Ki 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28; 1 Kings 2:30), and there is no great improbability in supposing that that idea is expressed here.

Two figures are used to set forth the threatening side of Jehovah's relation to both the houses of Israel: the stoneagainst which one heedlessly stumbles to one's own destruction; and the snarein which a wild animal is caught unawares. Jehovah is a secret and sudden danger to those who walk in blind unbelief. Cf. Psalms 18:26.