INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 7 This chapter contains a prophecy of the preservation of the kingdom of Judah, from its enemies; a confirmation of it by a sign; and a prediction of various calamities that should come upon it, antecedent to the accomplishment of that sign. The enemies of Judea are named, an... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE DAYS OF AHAZ THE SON OF JOTHAM, THE SON OF UZZIAH KING OF JUDAH,.... Here begins a new prophecy under the reign of another king; who, though a wicked king, had religious ancestors; and who are mentioned, not, as the Jewish writers u generally say, because it was owing to t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT WAS TOLD THE HOUSE OF DAVID,.... Ahaz, and his family, the princes of the blood, his court and counsellors; who had intelligence of the designs and preparations of the Syrians and Israelites against them: SAYING, SYRIA IS CONFEDERATE WITH EPHRAIM; the ten tribes; or the kingdom and king of I... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID THE LORD UNTO ISAIAH,.... The prophet, the inspired penman of these prophecies, that go by his name; what follows, the Lord said unto him in vision, or by an articulate voice, or by an impulse on his mind: GO FORTH NOW TO MEET AHAZ; the prophet was in the city of Jerusalem, and Ahaz was w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAY UNTO HIM, TAKE HEED, AND BE QUIET,.... Or "keep" thyself, not within the city, and from fighting with his enemies, but from unbelief, fear, and dread; or, as the Septuagint version, "keep" thyself, "that thou mayest be quiet" a; be easy, still, and silent, and see the salvation of God: the J... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE SYRIA, EPHRAIM, AND THE SON OF REMALIAH,.... Not that there were three parties in the counsel and confederacy against Judah, only two, the kingdoms of Syria and Ephraim, or Israel; the king of the former is not mentioned at all, and the latter only as if he was the son of a private person, w... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US GO UP AGAINST JUDAH, AND VEX IT,.... By besieging or distressing it; or "stir it up" to war, as Jarchi interprets it: AND LET US MAKE A BREACH THEREIN FOR US; in the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and enter in at it; the Targum is, "let us join, and put it to us;'' and so Jarchi, let us l... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, IT SHALL NOT STAND,.... That is, the counsel they had taken against Judah to vex it, make a breach in it, and set a king of their own liking over it; so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render the words, "that counsel shall not stand"; the counsel of God shall stand, but n... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE HEAD OF SYRIA [IS] DAMASCUS,.... Damascus was the metropolis of Syria, the chief city in it, where the king had his palace, and kept his court; of which Genesis 15:2 Acts 9:2: AND THE HEAD OF DAMASCUS [IS] REZIN; he was king of it, as of all Syria; the meaning is, that Syria, of which Damas... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE HEAD OF EPHRAIM [IS] SAMARIA,..... Samaria was the metropolis or chief city of Ephraim, or the ten tribes of Israel: AND THE HEAD OF SAMARIA [IS] REMALIAH'S SON; Pekah, son of Remaliah, was king of Samaria, as of all Israel. The sense is, that, until the sixty five years were ended, there s... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER THE LORD SPAKE AGAIN UNTO AHAZ,.... By the prophet Isaiah: SAYING; as follows:... [ Continue Reading ]
ASK THEE A SIGN OF THE LORD THY GOD,.... For though Ahaz was a wicked man, yet the Lord was his God, as he was the God of the people of Israel in general, as a nation; and knowing his unbelief and diffidence of his word unto him, offers to confirm it by a sign or miracle: ASK IT EITHER IN THE DEPTH... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AHAZ SAID, I WILL NOT ASK,.... That is, a sign or miracle to be wrought; being unwilling to take the advice to be still and quiet, and make no preparation for war, or seek out for help from the Assyrians, and to rely upon the promise and power of God, and therefore chose not to have it confirmed... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID,.... That is, the Prophet Isaiah; which shows that it was by him the Lord spoke the foregoing words: HEAR YE NOW, O HOUSE OF DAVID; for not only Ahaz, but his family, courtiers, and counsellors, were all of the same mind with him, not to ask a sign of God, nor to depend upon, his promis... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL GIVE YOU A SIGN,.... Whether they would ask one or not; a sign both in heaven and earth, namely, the promised Messiah; who being the Lord from heaven, would take flesh of a virgin on earth; and who as man, being buried in the heart of the earth, would be raised from... [ Continue Reading ]
BUTTER AND HONEY SHALL HE EAT..... As the Messiah Jesus no doubt did; since he was born in a land flowing with milk and honey, and in a time of plenty, being a time of general peace; so that this phrase points at the place where, and the time when, the Messiah should be born, as well as expresses th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BEFORE THE CHILD SHALL KNOW TO REFUSE THE EVIL, AND CHOOSE THE GOOD,.... This may be understood of Isaiah's child, Shearjashub, he had along with him, he was bid to take with him; and who therefore must be supposed to bear some part, or answer some end or other, in this prophecy; which it is ver... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SHALL BRING UPON THEE,.... These words are directed to Ahaz; and show, that though he and his kingdom would be safe from the two kings that conspired against him, yet evils should come upon him from another quarter, even from the Assyrians he sent to for help, and in whom he trusted; in whi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY,.... the time when those evil days before spoken of should take place: [THAT] THE LORD SHALL HISS FOR THE FLY THAT [IS] IN THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE RIVERS OF EGYPT; or flies, as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it; the Egyptians, so called be... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL COME,.... The Egyptian and Assyrian armies, when the Lord calls for them in his providence, and his time is come to make use of them as a scourge to his people: AND SHALL REST ALL OF THEM IN THE DESOLATE VALLEYS: made so by war; this is said in allusion to flies and bees resting on t... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE SAME DAY SHALL THE LORD SHAVE WITH A RAZOR THAT IS HIRED,.... Meaning the Assyrian monarch, whom he would use as an instrument in his hand to spoil and cut off the people of the Jews; who is compared to a "razor" for sharpness; and for the thorough work, and utter ruin and destruction, he sho... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY,.... Not in the days of Hezekiah, after the destruction of Sennacherib's army, when there followed great fruitfulness and plenty, Isaiah 37:30 as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it; but in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, after the destruction of Jerusalem, when some poo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, FOR THE ABUNDANCE OF MILK [THAT] THEY SHALL GIVE,.... The cow and the two sheep, having large pastures, and few cattle to feed upon them, those few would give such abundance of milk, that the owner of them would make butter of it, and live upon it, having no occasion to ea... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY; [THAT] EVERY PLACE SHALL BE,.... Barren and unfruitful, for want of men to till the ground: WHERE THERE WERE A THOUSAND VINES AT A THOUSAND SILVERLINGS; which were so good, as to be sold or let out for so many silver shekels m; or the fruit of them came to suc... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH ARROWS AND WITH BOWS SHALL [MEN] COME THITHER,.... For fear of wild beasts, serpents, and scorpions, as Jarchi; or in order to hunt them, as others; or because of thieves and robbers, as Aben Ezra: BECAUSE ALL THE LAND SHALL BECOME BRIERS AND THORNS; among which such creatures, and such sort o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND [ON] ALL HILLS THAT SHALL BE DIGGED WITH THE MATTOCK,.... Which could not be ploughed with a plough, but used to be dug with a mattock or spade, and then sowed with corn: THERE SHALL NOT COME THITHER THE FEAR OF BRIERS AND THORNS; where thorns and briers used not to grow, and where there was no... [ Continue Reading ]