Isaiah 8:8
And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
The overflowing that reaches even to the neck portrays Assyria, first sought as a helper, becoming a power that would sweep through Judah and bring the land under its control. Ahaz turned to Assyria as a source of help, and that appeal brought only temporary relief. The cost was to awaken Assyrian greed and to expose Judah to danger from the very power it had courted.
The same image of waters stealing upon people and going over their heads, reaching even to the neck, also describes overwhelming financial embarrassment and difficulty coming upon the publishing offices. That distress comes through want of foresight in setting the prices of books and pamphlets too low, robbing the office of vital power to reproduce publications without embarrassment. The verse therefore warns to look over the calculations carefully and critically and to rectify the mistake with due deliberation and prayer before the waters overwhelm.