Isaiah7
New American Standard
1Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.
2When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have taken a stand by Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.
3Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the fuller’s field,
4and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.
5Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,
6“Let’s go up against Judah and terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”
7this is what the Lord God says: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.
8For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people),
9and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you certainly shall not last.”’”
10Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11“Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!”
13Then he said, “Listen now, house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.
15He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
16For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.
17The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the king of Assyria.”
18On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.
20On that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.
21Now on that day a person may keep alive only a heifer and a pair of sheep;
22and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat curds and honey.
23And it will come about on that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns.
24People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns.
25As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 7.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Ahaz threatened by Israel and Syria; and is assured their attack would be in vain. (1-9). God gives a sure sign by the promise of the long-expected Messiah. (10-16). The folly and sin of seeking relief from Assyria are reproved. (17-25).
vv1-9
Ungodly men are often punished by others as bad as themselves. Being in great distress and confusion, the Jews gave up all for lost. They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their friend. The prophet must teach them to despise their enemies, in faith and dependence on God. Ahaz, in fear, called them two powerful princes. No, says the prophet, they are but tails of smoking firebrands, burnt out already. The two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were nearly expiring. While God has work for the firebrands of the earth, they consume all before them; but when their work is fulfilled, they will be extinguished in smoke. That which Ahaz thought most formidable, is made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil counsel against thee; which is an offence to God. God scorns the scorners, and gives his word that the attempt should not succeed. Man purposes, but God disposes. It was folly for those to be trying to ruin their neighbours, who were themselves near to ruin. Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely on the assurances given them. Faith is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose the mind in trials.
vv10-16
Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great soever your distress and danger, of you the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you. It shall be brought to pass in a glorious manner; and the strongest consolations in time of trouble are derived from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, our expectations of him and from him. He would grow up like other children, by the use of the diet of those countries; but he would, unlike other children, uniformly refuse the evil and choose the good. And although his birth would be by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he should not be fed with angels' food. Then follows a sign of the speedy destruction of the princes, now a terror to Judah. "Before this child," so it may be read; "this child which I have now in my arms," (Shear-jashub, the prophet's own son, 3,) shall be three or four years older, these enemies' forces shall be forsaken of both their kings. The prophecy is so solemn, the sign is so marked, as given by God himself after Ahaz rejected the offer, that it must have raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion suggested. And, if the prospect of the coming of the Divine Saviour was a never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers, what cause have we to be thankful that the Word was made flesh! May we trust in and love Him, and copy his example.
vv17-25
Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who neglect the great salvation. If we remain unfruitful under the means of grace, the Lord will say, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever.
Key Words
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
אָחָז: Achaz, the name of a Jewish king and of an Israelite
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יוֹתָם: Jotham, the name of three Israelites
עֻזִּיָּה: Uzzijah, the name of five Israelites
מֶלֶךְ: a king
יְהוּדָה: Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory
רְצִין: Retsin, the name of a Syrian and of an Israelite
אֲרָם: Aram or Syria, and its inhabitants; also the name of the son of Shem, a grandson of Nahor, and of an Israelite
פֶּקַח: Pekach, an Israelite king
Cross References
Isaiah 7Directly quotes and identifies the sign of the virgin conceiving Immanuel as fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Provides the direct historical parallel of Rezin and Pekah besieging Jerusalem but failing to prevail.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Records the fulfillment of the prediction that Syria's king would be removed by Assyria.
Supported by JFB
Shows Ahaz hiring the Assyrian king, whom God then uses as a razor to shave Judah.
Supported by JFB
Highlights the same geographic location (the fuller's field conduit) used later during Rabshakeh's threatening encounter.
Supported by JFB
Unpacks the theological meaning of Isaiah's son's name, Shear-jashub ('a remnant shall return').
Supported by JFB
Echoes the warning that if you will not believe, you will not be established.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Details the severe initial slaughter Judah suffered under the confederate kings before this prophecy.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts the house of David's current terror with David subjugating Syria in his prime.
Supported by JFB
Exposes why Pekah is contemptuously called 'the son of Remaliah'—he was a murderous usurper.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Reiterates the failure of enemy counsel because of 'Immanuel'—God is with us.
Supported by JFB
Ahaz hypocritically masks his unbelief by pretending to obey the command not to tempt God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Identifies the exact location where Assyrian messengers later stood to mock Hezekiah.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Illustrates the idiom of young children not yet knowing how to refuse evil and choose good.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Connects the judgment of wild briers and thorns overrunning once-fertile fields with divine abandonment.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Affirms that no human counsel or plan can stand against the decree of Yahveh.
Supported by JFB