1Es geschah in den Tagen des Achas Sohns Jotams Sohns Usijahus, Königs von Jehuda, daß heranstieg Rzin König von Aram mit Pakach Sohn Remaljahus König von Jissrael wider Jerusalem, zu seiner Erkämpfung, aber er vermochte es nicht zu erkämpfen. 2Gemeldet war dem Hause Dawids worden, man sprach: Aram überlagert Efrajim. Da bebte sein Herz und das Herz seines Volks, wie die Bäume des Waldes vor dem Windbraus beben. 3ER aber sprach zu Jeschajahu: Zieh doch hinaus, Achas entgegen, du und Rest-kehrt-um dein Sohn, ans Ende der Rinne des oberen Teichs, an der Straße zum Wäscherfeld, 4und sprich zu ihm: Hüte dich, halte dich still, fürchte dich nimmer, nimmer weich werde dein Herz vor diesen zwei qualmenden Fackelstummeln, bei der Zornglut Rzins und Arams und des Remaljahusohns! 5Dieweil Böses wider dich beschloß Aram samt Efrajim und dem Remaljahusohn, sprechend: 6Hinübersteigen wollen wir wider Jehuda, es aufschrecken, es uns aufbrechen und als König in seiner Mitte den Sohn Tabels königen - 7hat mein Herr, ER, so gesprochen: Nicht soll das bestehn, nicht soll das geschehen! 8denn mag auch noch Damaskus Haupt Arams sein, Rzin Haupt Damaskens, jenes gilt: »........................ ......................... und über fünfundsechzig Jahre stürzt Efrajim aus dem Volksein« - 9mag auch noch Samaria Haupt Efrajims sein, der Remaljahusohn Haupt Samarias! Vertraut ihr nicht, bleibt ihr nicht betreut. 10Und weiter ließ ER zu Achas reden, im Spruch: 11Heische dir ein Zeichen von IHM deinem Gotte her, seis tief in der Gruft oder hoch in der Luft! 12Achas sprach: Ich will nicht heischen, ich will IHN nicht prüfen. 13Da sprach er: Hört doch, ihr Haus Dawids: ists euch zu wenig, Männer zu ermüden, 14daß ihr auch meinen Gott ermüden wollt?! Darum gibt von selber mein Herr euch ein Zeichen. Da, die Junge wird schwanger und gebiert einen Sohn. Seinen Namen soll sie rufen: Immanuel, Bei uns ist Gott! 15Doch wird Rahm und Honig er essen müssen, wann er erst weiß, das Böse zu verwerfen, das Gute zu erwählen, 16denn ehe der Knabe weiß, das Böse zu verwerfen, das Gute zu erwählen, wird zwar der Boden verlassen sein, vor dessen zwei Königen du zusammenschrickst, 17aber kommen lassen wird ER auch über dich, über dein Volk, über dein Vaterhaus Tage, wie sie nicht gekommen sind seit dem Tag, da Efrajim wich von Jehuda, - durch den König von Assyrien. 18Geschehn wirds an jenem Tag, pfeifen wird ER der Fliege, der am Ende der Flußarme Ägyptens, und der Biene, der im Lande Assyrien, 19und die kommen und ruhen alle in den Dellen der Sturzhalden, in den Klüften der Schroffen, in allem Stechgesträuch, auf allen Weidewiesen. 20An jenem Tag wird scheren mein Herr mit dem Messer, gedungen von jenseits des Stroms, mit dem König von Assyrien, das Haupt und das Haar der Beine, auch den Bart rafft es hinweg. 21Geschehn wirds an jenem Tag: jemand hält sich ein Kühlein oder zwei Schafe am Leben, 22und geschehn wirds, ob der Menge des Milchgewinns ißt er Rahm, ja, Rahm und Honig essen muß alles im Innern des Landes Übriggebliebne. 23Geschehn wirds an jenem Tag, es wird aller Ort, wo tausend Reben waren um tausend Silberstücke, des Dorns und der Distel wird er, 24mit Pfeilen und mit Bogen kommt man dahin, denn Dorn und Distel wird all das Land sein; 25und alle Bergäcker, die man mit der Jäthacke behackt, du kommst nicht dorthin aus Furcht vor Dorn und Distel, zum Schickplatz für Ochsen wirds und zum Trottplatz für Schmalvieh.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 PREDICTION OF THE ILL SUCCESS OF THE SYRO-ISRAELITISH INVASION OF JUDAH--AHAZ'S ALLIANCE WITH ASSYRIA, AND ITS FATAL RESULTS TO JUDEA--YET THE CERTAINTY OF FINAL PRESERVATION AND OF THE COMING OF MESSIAH. (Isa. 7:1-9:7)
Ahaz--In the first years of his reign the design of the two kings against Judah was carried out, which was formed in Jotham's reign (
2R 15:37).
Syria--Hebrew, Aram (
Gn 10:22-
Gn 10:23), originally the whole region between the Euphrates and Mediterranean, including Assyria, of which Syria is an abbreviation; here the region round Damascus, and along Mount Libanus.
Jerusalem--An actual siege of it took place, but was foiled (
2R 16:5).
2 is confederate with--rather, is encamped upon the territory of Ephraim [MAURER], or better, as Rezin was encamped against Jerusalem, "is supported by" [LOWTH] Ephraim, whose land lay between Syria and Judah. The mention of "David" alludes, in sad contrast with the present, to the time when David made Syria subject to him (
2S 8:6).
Ephraim--the ten tribes.
as . . . trees of . . . wood--a simultaneous agitation.
3 Go forth--out of the city, to the place where Ahaz was superintending the works for defense and the cutting off of the water supply from the enemy, and securing it to the city. So
Is 22:9;
2Cr 32:4.
Shearjashub--that is, A remnant shall return (
Is 6:13). His very name
Is 7:14;
Is 8:3 was a standing memorial to Ahaz and the Jews that the nation should not, notwithstanding the general calamity (
Is 7:17-
Is 7:25;
Is 8:6-
Is 8:8), be utterly destroyed (
Is 10:21-
Is 10:22).
conduit--an aqueduct from the pool or reservoir for the supply of the city. At the foot of Zion was Fount Siloah (
Is 8:6;
Neh 3:15;
Jn 9:7), called also Gihon, on the west of Jerusalem (
2Cr 32:30). Two pools were supplied from it, the Upper, or Old (
Is 22:11), or King's (
Neh 2:14), and the Lower (
Is 22:9), which received the superfluous waters of the upper. The upper pool is still to be seen, about seven hundred yards from the Jaffa gate. The highway leading to the fullers' field, which was in a position near water for the purposes of washing, previous to drying and bleaching, the cloth, was probably alongside the aqueduct.
4 Take heed, &c.--that is, See that thou be quiet (not seeking Assyrian aid in a fit of panic).
tails--mere ends of firebrands, almost consumed themselves (about soon to fall before the Assyrians,
Is 7:8), therefore harmless.
smoking--as about to go out; not blazing.
son of Remaliah--Pekah, a usurper (
2R 15:25). The Easterners express contempt by designating one, not by his own name, but by his father's, especially when the father is but little known (
1S 20:27,
1S 20:31).
6 vex--rather, "throw into consternation" [GESENIUS].
make a breach--rather, "cleave it asunder." Their scheme was to divide a large portion of the territory between themselves, and set up a vassal king of their own over the rest.
son of Tabeal--unknown; a Syrian-sounding name, perhaps favored by a party in Jerusalem (
Is 3:6,
Is 3:9,
Is 3:12).
7 (
Is 8:10;
Pr 21:30).
8 head--that is, in both Syria and Israel the capital shall remain as it is; they shall not conquer Judah, but each shall possess only his own dominions.
threescore and five . . . not a people--As these words break the symmetry of the parallelism in this verse, either they ought to be placed after "Remaliah's son," in
Is 7:9, or else they refer to some older prophecy of Isaiah, or of Amos (as the Jewish writers represent), parenthetically; to which, in
Is 7:8, the words, "If ye will not believe . . . not be established," correspond in parallelism. One deportation of Israel happened within one or two years from this time, under Tiglath-pileser (
2R 15:29). Another in the reign of Hoshea, under Shalmaneser (
2R 17:1-6), was about twenty years after. But the final one which utterly "broke" up Israel so as to be "not a people," accompanied by a colonization of Samaria with foreigners, was under Esar-haddon, who carried away Manasseh, king of Judah, also, in the twenty-second year of his reign, sixty-five years from the utterance of this prophecy (compare
Esd 4:2-
Esd 4:3,
Esd 4:10, with
2R 17:24;
2Cr 33:11) [USHER]. The event, though so far off, was enough to assure the people of Judah that as God, the Head of the theocracy, would ultimately interpose to destroy the enemies of His people, so they might rely on Him now.
9 believe, . . . be established--There is a paronomasia, or play on the words, in the Hebrew: "if ye will not confide, ye shall not abide." Ahaz brought distress on himself by distrust in the Lord, and trust in Assyria.
11 Ask thee--since thou dost not credit the prophet's words.
sign--a miraculous token to assure thee that God will fulfil His promise of saving Jerusalem (
Is 37:30;
Is 38:7-
Is 38:8). "Signs," facts then present or near at hand as pledges for the more distant future, are frequent in Isaiah.
ask . . . in . . . depth--literally, "Make deep . . . ask it," that is, Go to the depth of the earth or of Hades [Vulgate and LOWTH], or, Mount high for it (literally, "Make high"). So in
Mt 16:1. Signs in heaven are contrasted with the signs on earth and below it (raising the dead) which Jesus Christ had wrought (compare
Rm 10:6-
Rm 10:7). He offers Ahaz the widest limits within which to make his choice.
12 neither . . . tempt--hypocritical pretext of keeping the law (
Dt 6:16); "tempt," that is, put God to the proof, as in
Mt 4:7, by seeking His miraculous interposition without warrant. But here there was the warrant of the prophet of God; to have asked a sign, when thus offered, would not have been a tempting of God. Ahaz' true reason for declining was his resolve not to do God's will, but to negotiate with Assyria, and persevere in his idolatry (
2R 16:7-8,
2R 16:3-4,
2R 16:10). Men often excuse their distrust in God, and trust in their own devices, by professed reverence for God. Ahaz may have fancied that though Jehovah was the God of Judea and could work a sign there, that was no proof that the local god of Syria might not be more powerful. Such was the common heathen notion (
Is 10:10-
Is 10:11;
Is 36:18-
Is 36:20).
13 Is it a small thing?--Is it not enough for you (
Nm 16:9)? The allusion to "David" is in order to contrast his trust in God with his degenerate descendant Ahaz' distrust.
weary--try the patience of.
men--prophets. Isaiah as yet had given no outward proof that he was from God; but now God has offered a sign, which Ahaz publicly rejects. The sin is therefore now not merely against "men," but openly against "God." Isaiah's manner therefore changes from mildness to bold reproof.
14 himself--since thou wilt not ask a sign, nay, rejectest the offer of one.
you--for the sake of the house of believing "David" (God remembering His everlasting covenant with David), not for unbelieving Ahaz' sake.
Behold--arresting attention to the extraordinary prophecy.
virgin--from a root, "to lie hid," virgins being closely kept from men's gaze in their parents' custody in the East. The Hebrew, and the Septuagint here, and Greek (
Mt 1:23), have the article, the virgin, some definite one known to the speaker and his hearers; primarily, the woman, then a virgin, about immediately to become the second wife, and bear a child, whose attainment of the age of discrimination (about three years) should be preceded by the deliverance of Judah from its two invaders; its fullest significancy is realized in "the woman" (
Gn 3:15), whose seed should bruise the serpent's head and deliver captive man (
Jer 31:22;
Mi 5:3). Language is selected such as, while partially applicable to the immediate event, receives its fullest, most appropriate, and exhaustive accomplishment in Messianic events. The New Testament application of such prophecies is not a strained "accommodation"; rather the temporary fulfilment of an adaptation of the far-reaching prophecy to the present passing event, which foreshadows typically the great central end of prophecy, Jesus Christ (
Ap 19:10). Evidently the wording is such as to apply more fully to Jesus Christ than to the prophet's son; "virgin" applies, in its simplest sense, to the Virgin Mary, rather than to the prophetess who ceased to be a virgin when she "conceived"; "Immanuel," God with us (
Jn 1:14;
Ap 21:3), cannot in a strict sense apply to Isaiah's son, but only to Him who is presently called expressly (
Is 9:6), "the Child, the Son, Wonderful (compare
Is 8:18), the mighty God." Local and temporary features (as in
Is 7:15-
Is 7:16) are added in every type; otherwise it would be no type, but the thing itself. There are resemblances to the great Antitype sufficient to be recognized by those who seek them; dissimilarities enough to confound those who do not desire to discover them.
call--that is, "she shall," or as Margin, "thou, O Virgin, shalt call;" mothers often named their children (
Gn 4:1,
Gn 4:25;
Gn 19:37;
Gn 29:32). In
Mt 1:23 the expression is strikingly changed into, "They shall call"; when the prophecy received its full accomplishment, no longer is the name Immanuel restricted to the prophetess' view of His character, as in its partial fulfilment in her son; all shall then call (that is, not literally), or regard Him as peculiarly and most fitly characterized by the descriptive name, "Immanuel" (
1Ti 3:16;
Col 2:9).
name--not mere appellation, which neither Isaiah's son nor Jesus Christ bore literally; but what describes His manifested attributes; His character (so
Is 9:6). The name in its proper destination was not arbitrary, but characteristic of the individual; sin destroyed the faculty of perceiving the internal being; hence the severance now between the name and the character; in the case of Jesus Christ and many in Scripture, the Holy Ghost has supplied this want [OLSHAUSEN].
15 Butter--rather, curdled milk, the acid of which is grateful in the heat of the East (
Job 20:17).
honey--abundant in Palestine (
Jue 14:8;
1S 14:25;
Mt 3:4). Physicians directed that the first food given to a child should be honey, the next milk [BARNABAS, Epistle]. HORSLEY takes this as implying the real humanity of the Immanuel Jesus Christ, about to be fed as other infants (
Lc 2:52).
Is 7:22 shows that besides the fitness of milk and honey for children, a state of distress of the inhabitants is also implied, when, by reason of the invaders, milk and honey, things produced spontaneously, shall be the only abundant articles of food [MAURER].
that he may know--rather, until He shall know.
evil . . . choose . . . good--At about three years of age moral consciousness begins (compare
Is 8:4;
Dt 1:39;
Jon 4:11).
16 For--The deliverance implied in the name "Immanuel," and the cessation of distress as to food (
Is 7:14-
Is 7:15), shall last only till the child grows to know good and evil;
for . . . the land that . . . abhorrest . . . forsaken of . . . kings--rather, desolate shall be the land, before whose two kings thou art alarmed [HENGSTENBERG and GESENIUS].
the land--namely, Syria and Samaria regarded as one (
2R 16:9;
2R 15:30), just two years after this prophecy, as it foretells. HORSLEY takes it, "The land (Judah and Samaria) of (the former of) which thou art the plague (literally, 'thorn') shall be forsaken," &c.; a prediction thus, that Judah and Israel (appropriately regarded as one "land") should cease to be kingdoms (
Lc 2:1;
Gn 49:10) before Immanuel came.
Though temporary deliverance (
Is 7:16;
Is 8:4) was to be given then, and final deliverance through Messiah, sore punishment shall follow the former. After subduing Syria and Israel, the Assyrians shall encounter Egypt (
2R 23:29), and Judah shall be the battlefield of both (
Is 7:18), and be made tributary to that very Assyria (
2Cr 28:20;
2R 16:7-8) now about to be called in as an ally (
Is 39:1-
Is 39:6). Egypt, too, should prove a fatal ally (
Is 36:6;
Is 31:1, &c.).
18 FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF AHAZ' ASSYRIAN POLICY. (
Is 7:17-
Is 7:25)
hiss--whistle, to bring bees to settle (see on
Is 5:26).
fly--found in numbers about the arms of the Nile and the canals from it (
Is 19:5-
Is 19:7;
Is 23:3), here called "rivers." Hence arose the plague of flies (
Ex 8:21). Figurative, for numerous and troublesome foes from the remotest parts of Egypt, for example, Pharaoh-nechoh.
bee-- (
Dt 1:44;
Sal 118:12). As numerous in Assyria as the fly in marshy Egypt. Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled this prediction.
19 rest--image of flies and bees kept up. The enemy shall overspread the land everywhere, even in "desolate valleys."
thorns--wild, contrasted with "bushes," which were valued and objects of care (see Margin).
20 razor--The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it (
Is 10:5;
Ez 29:19-
Ez 29:20).
hired--alluding to Ahaz' hiring (
2R 16:7-8) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely,
by them beyond the river--namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge (
Sal 72:8); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included (
Is 7:18) [G. V. SMITH]. GESENIUS translates, "With a razor hired in the parts beyond the river."
head . . . feet--the whole body, including the most honored parts. To cut the "beard" is the greatest indignity to an Easterner (
Is 50:6;
2S 10:4-5;
Ez 5:1).
21 THE COMING DESOLATE STATE OF THE LAND OWING TO THE ASSYRIANS AND EGYPTIANS. (
Is 7:21-
Is 7:25)
nourish--that is, own.
young cow--a heifer giving milk. Agriculture shall cease, and the land become one great pasturage.
22 abundance--by reason of the wide range of land lying desolate over which the cows and sheep (including goats) may range.
butter--thick milk, or cream.
honey--(See on
Is 7:15). Food of spontaneous growth will be the resource of the few inhabitants left. Honey shall be abundant as the bees will find the wild flowers abounding everywhere.
23 where there were, &c.--where up to that time there was so valuable a vineyard as to have in it a 1000 vines, worth a silverling (shekel, about 2s. 3d.; a large price) each, there shall be only briers (
Cnt 8:11). Vineyards are estimated by the number of the vines, and the goodness of the kind of vine. Judea admits of a high state of cultivation, and requires it, in order to be productive; its present barrenness is due to neglect.
24 It shall become a vast hunting ground, abounding in wild beasts (compare
Jer 49:19).
25 shall be--rather, "were once."
digged--in order to plant and rear vines (
Is 5:6).
there shall not come--that is, none shall come who fear thorns, seeing that thorns shall abound on all sides [MAURER]. Otherwise, "Thou shalt not come for fear of thorns" [GESENIUS]. Only cattle shall be able to penetrate the briery ground.
lesser cattle--sheep and goats.
The first seven verses of the ninth chapter belong to this section. The eighth chapter continues the subject of the seventh chapter, but at a later period (compare
Is 8:4 with
Is 7:16); implying that the interval till the accomplishment is shorter now than then. The tone of
Is 8:17,
Is 8:21-
Is 8:22, expresses calamity more immediate and afflictive than
Is 7:4,
Is 7:15,
Is 7:22.