The word 'Moreover' signals that this prophecy continues from the end of Isaiah 7. This message about the 'man's pen' here means the common writing language of the day. This is how God is telling Isaiah to write down this message.¹ The Words were to be clear, without a bunch of speech 'clutter' that belongs to so much philosophical type writings or technical jargon, etc. In other words, write It and teach It plainly so everyone can understand. This means not the lingo the scribes and priests used.
    So what's this word 'Maher-shalal-hash-baz'?  It's made up of four Hebrew words which translates "haste to the spoil or spoiler; speed to plunder" (Strong's no. 4122, made up of nos. 4118, 7998, 2363, 957). We're going to find out that this child to be named Maher-shalal-hash-baz is a 'sign' given in the same sense of prophecy as the sign of the Child (Immanuel) given in

Isa.7:14.

 But this 'sign' here in Isaiah 8:1 is a warning to the people, not a blessing, for this is referring to a 'spoiler' of 'prey'.

 

'Maher-shalal-hash-baz

   4118, 7998, 2363, 957

 

Isa 8:2   And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

    If you'll remember the subject back at the start of Isaiah 7, the two 'smoking firebrands', that is Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel; this subject is being continued here in Isaiah 8. Even in Isaiah 7:8 God said that He is not going to allow this alliance (Rezin and Pekah) to go up against the 'house of Judah' to try and conquer it, but that Ephraim (the house of Israel representing the northern Kingdom of Israel) would no longer be a people. This meant that God was going to remove Ephraim (the largest of the ten northern tribes of Israel, meaning those others of the ten tribes are included as well) totally from the promise land and scatter them among the nations. This our Heavenly Father did, using the 'Assyrian', which is a prototype for Satan, coming upon this earth, in the near future to cause the captivity and destruction again, physically and spiritually. This future event will be revealed more here in Isaiah as we go along.

 

Isa 8:3   And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, "Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz."

    This 'prophetess' is a female prophet. You'll also find in Judges 4 that Deborah was also a prophetess and a righteous leader of God's people, so this woman giving birth to this child here in Isaiah 8 does not mean she was evil, just because of the meaning of the child's name. Only that this is all done for a 'sign' of warning that the Assyrian was coming to end this unholy alliance against the house of Judah.

Isa 8:4   For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, 'My father, and my mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria."

    This verse is saying that before this child named Maher-shalal-hash-baz is old enough to cry out his mother and father's names; The LORD will have brought the destruction of Damascus and Samaria, using the king of Assyria. If you'll remember back in Isaiah 7:9, God said that 'Ephraim is Samaria'. The stronghold city Samaria was the capital city of the northern ten tribes. Go back to I Kings 11-12 to get up to date on this separation of the twelve tribes into two distinct kingdoms, with a different king over each of the two separate kingdoms of Israel. God had another reason besides this alliance with the king of Syria for removing Ephraim out of the land. King Jeroboam set up 'golden calf' worship to keep the people of the ten tribes from going to Jerusalem to the 'house of Judah' and worshipping God properly. This king of northern Israel, Jeroboam, even set up false