Isaiah 8 · a question people ask
"Don’t call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy" (8:12). What was the conspiracy?
The chapter doesn't say. It gives no names and no plot, only the people's word for it, twice in one line (tap conspiracy). The chapter before told of a plan against Judah: "Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you" (Isaiah 7:5), and "David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.”" (Isaiah 7:2). But 8:12 doesn't say that is what the people were calling a conspiracy, and in Hebrew 7:5's plotted and 7:2's allied are other words. What the chapter does say is what to do instead: "Don’t fear their threats or be terrorized. The LORD of Armies is who you must respect as holy" (8:12-13). The verses don't tell the hearers to find out who is plotting; they tell them whom to fear. These notes don't say what the people meant, and apply the verse to nothing anyone calls a conspiracy today.
The verses
““Don’t call a conspiracy all that this people call a conspiracy. Don’t fear their threats or be terrorized. The LORD of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.”
“David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.”
“Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,”