Isaiah 7:20

In the same day shall the Lord shave with a rasor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. IN THE SAME DAY SHALL THE LORD SHAVE WITH A RAZOR. The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it (; ). HIRED - alluding to Ahaz' hiring (2 Kings 16:7) Tiglath, pileser against Syria and Israel. Compare . etc.; 29:19,20. (NAMELY), BY THEM BEYOND THE RIVER - namely, the Euphrates, the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical know...

20._The _Lord_will shave with a hired razor. _He now employs a different metaphor, and compares those enemies by whom the Lord had determined to afflict Judea at the appointed time, to _a razor_, by which the _beard _and _hair _are shaved, and other excrescences of the same kind are removed. ב (_beth_) is here superfluous, and is only employed in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, to denote an instrument, and, therefore, I have merely rendered it _he will shave with a razor_. What he means he immediately explains; namely, that _the Assyrians _will serve for _a razor _in the hand of God, and that they will come from a distant country. _Who are beyond the river. _This means that Euphrates will not hinder them from passing over to execute the commands of God. He likewise adds, that it will not be some portion of that nation rushing forward of its own accord into

17-25 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....

Verse Isaiah 7:20. _THE RIVER_] That is, the Euphrates: הנהר _hanahar_. So read the _Septuagint_ and two MSS. _SHALL THE LORD SHAVE WITH A RAZOR THAT IS HIRED_ - "JEHOVAH shall shave by the hired razor"] To shave with the hired razor the head, the feet, and the beard, is an expression highly parabolical, to denote the utter devastation of the country from one end to the other; and the plundering of the people, from the highest to the lowest, by the Assyrians, whom God employed as his instrument to punish the Jews. Ahaz himself, in the first place, hired the king of Assyria to come to help him against the Syrians, by a present made to him of all the treasures of the temple, as well as his own. And God himself considered the great nations, whom he thus employed as his mercenaries; and paid them their wages. Thus he paid Nebuchadnezzar for his services

IN THE SAME DAY ... - The idea in this verse is the same as in the preceding, though presented in a different form. The meaning is, that “God” would bring upon them this punishment, but that he would make use of the Assyrian as an “instrument” by which to do it. SHAVE - The act of shaving off the hair denotes punishment or disgrace; compare 2 Samuel 10:4 : ‘Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off one half of their beards;’ 1 Chronicles 19:4. WITH A RAZOR - Using them as an instrument. God here claims the power of directing them, and regards them as employed by him; see Isaiah 10:5....

SECTION IV. PROPHECIES CONNECTED WITH THE SYRO-ISRAELITE WAR (Isaiah 7-10:4). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 7:1 THE PROPHECY GIVEN TO AHAZ AT THE TIME OF THE SYRO-ISRAELITISH WAR. The Syro-Israelitish war is touched on both in Kings and Chronicles. In Kings the alliance between Rezin and Pekah is distinctly declared, as also the fact that they conjointly besieged Jerusalem (2 Kings 16:5). From Chronicles we lear

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 should be the means of; and called a "hired" one, either in reference to the present Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria, by which he prevailed upon him to come and help him against the kings of Syria and Israel, 2 Kings 16:7 or to a reward given by the Lord to Nebuchadnezzar for the service in which he employed him, see Ezekiel 29:18: [NAMELY], BY THEM BEYOND THE RIVER; not Nile, but Euphrates; even the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Babylonians, who lived on the other side that river; which, with what

CHAPTER 7 The Prophet before King Ahaz 1. _The king in trouble (Isaiah 7:1)_ 2. _Isaiah sent and his message (Isaiah 7:3)_ 3. _A sign offered and refused (Isaiah 7:10)_ 4. _The sign: The virgin birth (Isaiah 7:13)_ 5. _The advent of the Assyrian (Isaiah 7:17)_ Study carefully the historic setting of this chapter and2 Chronicles 28:1-27 7. See lecture on “Messianic Predictions.” In verse 14 the virgin birth of Christ is announced. Much of the controversy is around the word “virgin” (almah), which the critics declare does not m

THE DEVASTATION OF JUDAH. Probably an independent prophecy rather than a continuation of Isaiah 7:2; it strikes a very different note. It may belong to the same date, but may quite well be later. Disaster unparalleled since the revolt of the ten tribes (note the Southern point of view) is coming on Judah, an Assyrian invasion. Yahweh will whistle for the enemy, who will penetrate the most inaccessible retreats of the land, and humiliate and spoil the people. The population that will remain will be so scanty that very few cattle will yield an abundance of milk. The land will not be cultivated; the vineyards, where the most valuable vines grew, those worth a shekel apiece, will be overrun with briers. The thorn thickets will be the lurking-place of wild beasts, and cannot therefore be safely approached without weapons....

HIRED. By Ahaz himself....