Possibly the longest name in the Bible was given to a baby. The LORD told Isaiah to write the name on a great scroll before reliable witnesses, and then to give it to the son born to the prophetess. It means roughly that spoil is quick and plunder is swift. Before the child could even say “My father, and my mother,” the riches of Damascus and Samaria would be carried off by the king of Assyria. The boy was a living sign. The story is found in Isaiah 8:1-4.
4 verses
Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
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.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
Plunder speedeth; spoil hasteth, (Isa. 8:1-3; comp. Zeph. 1:14), a name Isaiah was commanded first to write in large characters on a tablet, and afterwards to give as a symbolical name to a son that was to be born to him (Isa. 8:1, 3), as denoting the sudden attack on Damascus and Syria by the Assyrian army.
William Smith, 1884
(i.e. hasten-booty speedspoil), whose name was given by divine direction to indicate that Damascus and Samaria were soon to be plundered by the king of Assyria. (Jeremiah 8:14)