Isaiah 7:1

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 their worthiness that the enemies of Ahaz could not prevail against him; but because it was under these kings the prophet had prophesied: what is contained in the first five Chapter s were delivered in the times of Uzziah; and the vision in the sixth was in the times of Jotham, in the beginning of his reign; and what is said here, and in some following Chapter s, was in the time of Ahaz; so that this is mentioned to fix and carry on the date of the prophecy:

[that] Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah king of Israel, went up towards Jerusalem to war against it; at the latter end of Jotham's reign, and the beginning of Ahaz's; these two separately came up against Judah, and greatly distressed and afflicted the kingdom, slew many, and carried others captive, 2 Kings 15:37 but afterwards, in the third w or fourth x year of Ahaz, as it is said, they joined together to besiege Jerusalem, which this refers to, 2 Kings 16:5:

but could not prevail against it; or "he could not"; that is, according to Aben Ezra, the king of Israel, Pekah, the son of Remaliah; but, according to Kimchi, it was Rezin king of Syria, who, he says, was the principal in the war, and brought Pekah along with him; but it may very well be understood of them both, since in 2 Kings 16:5, the plural number is used; "and they could not"; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Oriental versions here.

u Jarchi Kimchi in loc. Yalkut Simeoni, ex Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 54. 4. w Yalkut Simeoni in loc. x Seder Olam Rabba, c. 23. p. 85. Jarchi in ver. 14.