Isa 7:1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
Isa 7:2 Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
Isa 7:3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
Isa 7:4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
Isa 7:5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying,
Isa 7:6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”
Isa 7:7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘It will not take place, it will not happen,
Isa 7:8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
Isa 7:9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'”
The Sign of Immanuel
Isa 7:10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
Isa 7:11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”
Isa 7:13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isa 7:15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,
Isa 7:16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
Isa 7:17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”
Isa 7:18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
Isa 7:19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes.
Isa 7:20 In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard also.
Isa 7:21 In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.
Isa 7:22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
Isa 7:23 In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns.
Isa 7:24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
1 Ahaz, being troubled with fear of Rezin and Pekah, is comforted by Isaiah. 10 Ahaz, having liberty to choose a sign, and refusing it, has for a sign, Christ promised. 17 His judgment is prophesied to come by Assyria.
Isa 7:1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
This message was apparently delivered about the year 734 b.c., near the beginning of Ahaz’ reign (see on v. 16).
Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah.
Assyrian sources indicate that Uzziah had taken a strong stand against Assyria, and probably also his son Jotham, but that Ahaz was friendly. The latter sent gold and silver he took from the Temple and from his own palace to Tiglath-pileser to purchase Assyrian aid (see on 2 Kings 16:5–10).
We know from 2 Kings 15:29 that Pekah of Israel was anti-Assyrian, because Tiglath-pileser came against him; and from Assyrian sources we likewise know that this was also true of Rezin of Syria. Probably most of the nations of Western Asia were at this time united in an alliance against Assyria, and the attack of Pekah and Rezin on Ahaz was intended to depose him and set up a new king, and perhaps to force Judah into the coalition against Assyria.
Could not overpower it.
According to 2 Chron. 28:5–15 Judah had suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Pekah and Rezin, and Elath, on the Gulf of Aqabah, had fallen into the hands of Syria (2 Kings 16:6). But, although besieged, the city of Jerusalem itself was not taken (2 Kings 16:5).
Isa 7:2 Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
Was told.
That is, it was reported to Ahaz, the living representative of the house of David. The attack was directed particularly against the dynasty of David, since it was the purpose to depose Ahaz and set up a new king, of the house of Tabeal, on the throne of Judah (v. 6).
Ahaz was terror stricken at the prospect of being driven from the throne (v. 6). An apostate, he did not trust in God, and it appeared to him that his kingdom was soon to fall.
Isa 7:3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
Although Ahaz himself was a wicked king, the Lord had no intention of allowing the dynasty of David to become extinct (see Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:12, 13). Therefore Isaiah was sent to the king to inform him of the Lord’s purpose to preserve Judah and to defeat its invaders.
Shear-jashub. Literally, “[a] remnant [shall] return.” Isaiah and his sons were ordained of God as signs to the people (ch. 8:18). The same was true of Isaiah’s contemporary, Hosea, whose children also bore significant names (Hosea 1:4–9). Isaiah constantly kept this message of the return of the remnant before the people (chs. 4:2, 3; 10:21; etc.).
The upper pool.
The water supply of the city was always a matter of importance at a time of siege. The “upper pool” has been identified with the upper pool of Gihon, known as St. Mary’s Well or the Virgin’s Fount (see Jerusalem in Israelite Times). It was situated in the Kidron Valley on the east side of Ophel and south of the Temple area.
It was from Gihon that Hezekiah later made his famous aqueduct, the Siloam tunnel (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:30), which brought the water to the Siloam pool within the city. At the time of Ahaz this source of water would be outside the city at a time of siege, and undoubtedly some steps were then contemplated as to how the water might be brought into the city and denied to an enemy without.
Isa 7:4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
Keep calm and don’t be afraid Be quiet; fear not.
With the help of the Lord of heaven there was no need to fear. But the king refused to trust in God, and consequently gave way to despair when confronted by circumstances with which he knew not how to cope.
Smoldering stubs. An expression of contempt.
The outwardly but nevertheless burnt-out kingdoms of Israel and Syria, and their kings, were but the smoldering, smoking remnants of firebrands. They had almost burned themselves out. One more flicker and they would be gone. The God of heaven now foretold their doom in order that Ahaz might be able to pursue an intelligent policy with respect to them.
It was the ascendant power of Assyria, not the waning kingdoms of Syria or Israel, that Ahaz needed to take into consideration. During the next 40 or 50 years Judah would be all but swallowed up by Assyria, yet Ahaz was pursuing a policy that would inevitably play into Assyrian hands.
Isa 7:5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying,
Isa 7:6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”
The plan was to conquer Judah and take it over for themselves. Ahaz was to be dethroned, the dynasty of David ended, and a new king, “the son of Tabeal,” placed upon the throne. The identity of this new king is not known, but he is thought to have been a Syrian since the name “Tabeal” is Aramaic, and means “good [is] god.” Israel and Syria had agreed between themselves upon a new puppet monarch to sit upon David’s throne.
Isa 7:7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘It will not take place, it will not happen,
The plan proposed by Israel and Syria was directed against God, and could not succeed. God had other plans for the house of David (see Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:12). He would not permit men to interfere with His purpose for Judah, or to terminate the dynasty through which the Messiah was to come.
Isa 7:8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
Isa 7:9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'”
It was apparent that Ahaz did not believe the assurance of God that Pekah and Rezin would not succeed in their plans. He was still afraid. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), much less to submit to His wise and gracious leadership.
Isa 7:10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
Isa 7:11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
God made this offer to strengthen Ahaz’ faith. Signs such as these are often given to establish the faith of weak or prejudiced minds.
Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”
Ahaz refused to be persuaded. He did not want to believe, and he wanted nothing that might help him believe. He had fixed his policy, he was determined to carry it out, and he feared anything that might influence him to change it. The help he sought was that of Assyria, not of God.
Ahaz herewith revealed his stubbornness and rebellion against God. God offered to help and guide him, but he chose to rely on Assyria for help instead. Ahaz was determined to have nothing to do with God and was making that fact altogether clear.
Isa 7:13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
One such sign the nation already had in Shear-jashub, the first son of Isaiah (see on v. 3; cf. ch. 8:18), whose name meant “[a] remnant [shall] return,” and whose presence was a constant reminder that in the coming Assyrian invasions a remnant would be saved.
The names Isaiah, Shear-jashub, and Maher-shalal-hash-baz—which mean, respectively, “The Lord will save,” “A remnant shall return,” and “Speed the spoil, hasten the plunder”—all spoke eloquently of coming events related to the imminent and repeated Assyrian invasions of Judah.
Isaiah and his sons were “signs” designed of God to secure, if possible, the cooperation of Ahaz and Judah during the years of crisis that accompanied the collapse and captivity of the northern kingdom, Israel.
The context of Isa. 7:14, together with the foregoing facts relative to the words translated “sign” and “virgin,” makes it certain that the prediction here made had an immediate application within the framework of the historical circumstances set forth in the chapter. Matthew’s reference to the prediction makes it equally certain that this prediction also points forward to the Messiah.
Mat 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Many OT prophecies have a twofold application such as this, first to the more immediate future and then to the more remote future (see on Deut. 18:15).
Could Isaiah refers to his own wife, “the prophetess” of ch. 8:3, who may have accompanied him on his mission to meet King Ahaz (see on ch. 8:3). The fact that Isaiah’s prophetic ministry continued for half a century or more after this incident, which occurred early in his ministry (PK 382; cf. chs. 1:1; 6:1), makes it certain that he himself was then a young man, and that his wife might properly be referred to at that time as “the young woman.”
The Immanuel sign would testify to God’s presence with His people to guide, to protect, and to bless. While other nations went down in defeat, Judah would be sustained; while Israel was to perish, Judah would live. When Sennacherib came against the land of Judah to destroy it, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, no doubt found in Isaiah’s words regarding Immanuel a source of confidence and strength. In his message of encouragement to the people of Jerusalem Hezekiah assures them, “with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles” (2 Chron. 32:7, 8).
Isa 7:15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,
Curds and honey. The “butter” of Bible times was curded milk, considered a delicacy in many parts of the Orient even today (see Ex. 3:17; Judges 5:25). A land of “milk and honey” was a land of plenty. Thus the mention here of eating curded milk and honey implies an abundance of food. The land was to be desolate, but there would be adequate food for the few who remained in the land following the Assyrian invasion (Isa. 7:22).
When the child that was to be called Immanuel became old enough “to refuse the evil, and choose the good,” he would have “curded milk and honey” to eat. Two or three years hence would be about 732 b.c., and 12 years, about 722 (see on Isa. 7:1). Damascus fell in 732, and Samaria ten years later. The few who were not then carried captive would find plenty to eat (see on vs. 21, 22) in the desolate land (see on vs. 17–20, 23–25). See on ch. 8:4.
Isa 7:16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
The word ‘’For’’ in Heb. ki. requires that the “boy” of v. 16 be identified with the “son” of vs. 14, 15, (Immanual) and not the “son” Shear-jashub, of v. 3. The word ki renders v. 16 inseparable from that which immediately precedes it. Furthermore, the definite article “the” preceding the word “boy” of v. 16 requires that the last preceding child, in this case Immanuel, be here understood.
By the time the sign child Immanuel should be two years or so of age, the reigns of Pekah and Rezin would be at an end. That would be in 732, the second of the two years in which Tiglath-pileser waged war against Damascus. Compare Isa. 8:3, 4, where the time of the fulfillment of this prophecy is again foretold.
Isa 8:3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
Isa 8:4 For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” See 2 Kings 15:30; 16:9.
Isa 7:17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”
Ahaz has already made it plain that he will not turn to the Lord for help. Instead, he plans to rely on Assyria (Kings 16:5–7). But Isaiah warns him that Assyria will not prove a help to Judah, but rather a source of distress (Isa. 7:17–20; 8:7, 8; 10:6). Later, when Assyria invades Judah, the latter would seek help from Egypt, but that would likewise prove in vain (chs. 30:1–3; 31:1–3, 8). All these things the prophet now endeavours to make clear to the king.
King of Assyria.
Days of darkness and peril were ahead for Judah, days of distress such as had not been experienced since the revolt of Jeroboam two centuries earlier. The king of Assyria would invade not only Israel but Judah as well. Had Judah turned to the Lord He would have extended His blessings, and not permitted the Assyrians to come against the land. Isaiah earnestly sought to lead the king and his people back to God, but they refused. For this reason Assyria would be allowed to invade the land.
Isa 7:18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
The whistle to the fly is to come from the distant parts of Egypt, that is, summon the armies of Egypt. The period of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty in Egypt was about 750–715. But contemporary with this dynasty was another founded by Piankhi, a powerful chieftain of Nubia, who ultimately extended his sway to southern Egypt.
This Ethiopian Dynasty, the Twenty-fifth, ruled Egypt form about 715 to 663. When Sennacherib came against Judah, evidently on his second invasion of Judah, Taharka the fourth king of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, threatened the Assyrian advance (Isa. 37:9). Many of the people of Judah probably relied upon Egypt for deliverance from Assyria (2 Kings 18:21).
The “Ethiopian” king of Egypt is here called a “fly,” because the fly is a pest, and the Egyptians would prove to be a nuisance rather than a help to Judah. Isaiah points out the folly of God’s people in turning to Egypt for help (Isa. 30:1–7; 31:1–3). It was the Lord, not Egypt, who would save Judah from Assyria (chs. 31:4–9; 37:33–36).
The bee.
Assyria is compared to a bee. Bees here symbolize a persistent and formidable enemy (Deut. 1:44; Ps. 118:12). The sting of a bee, however painful, is seldom fatal. Assyria would come against Judah as the rod of God’s anger (Isa. 10:5–7), but the nation would not perish.
Isa 7:19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes.
The figure of invading insects is continued. The Egyptians and Assyrians would come into the land like flies and bees, and would penetrate all parts of the country.
Isa 7:20 In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard also.
That is, at the same time. The prophet gives further details concerning the course of events in Judah.
Hired razor. The figure changes. Isaiah had previously likened Judah to a sick man with no sound spot left on his body (ch. 1:5, 6). Now the nation is compared to a man subjected to the supreme indignity of being shaved from head to foot, including even his beard, the loss of which was regarded by Orientals as a great disgrace.
Beyond the river.
The Euphrates (see on Joshua 24:2). Assyria would be employed as an instrument in the hands of the Lord to devastate and humble unrepentant Judah.
Isa 7:21 In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.
A young cow.
By the Assyrian invasion the land would be largely despoiled. Sennacherib claims to have taken “big and small cattle beyond counting.” By “big cattle” the Assyrians meant cows and oxen, and by “little cattle,” sheep and goats. Although most of the cattle were gone, here and there an individual among the remnant who remained would have managed to save a small cow and perhaps a couple of sheep.
Isa 7:22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
The remnant left in the land would not, however, be forsaken by the Lord. Heaven’s blessing would rest upon them, and they would have “butter and honey” to eat. Although man might bring a curse, God would bless the faithful remnant. See on v. 15.
Isa 7:23 In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns.
A thousand shekels. That is, “pieces of silver,” or shekels (see on Gen. 20:16; cf. S. of Sol. 8:11). A piece of silver for a vine was probably a high price, and these vines must therefore have been of the choicest stock. The meaning here is that the best vineyards would revert to wilderness for lack of care. When the “vineyard” of Israel was cursed it brought forth briers and thorns (Isa. 5:6).
Isa 7:24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
These would be carried for protection against wild animals lurking in the once cultivated but now desolate regions of the country. Or, perhaps, men would hunt for game in these regions.
Isa 7:25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
Once peaceful and productive farmlands would revert to wilderness, because their former owners and caretakers had gone into captivity, never to return to their homeland.