ISAIAH 7

Isaiah 7

Overall: Third person account in this chapter is bracketed by two first person accounts in chapters 6 and 8. Refers to the Syro-Ephraimite war of 734 BC.

vv. 1-2 Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel of Israel attempted to form an anti-Assyrian alliance. Ahaz of Judah refused to join them so they attempt to put a puppet ruler, Tabeel, on the throne. Against Isaiah's advice, Ahaz sought help from Assyria and so became a vassal. Ephraim stands for the northern kingdom of Israel.

v. 3 Name means “a remnant will return,” intended to serve as a good sign to Ahaz.  Ahaz may have been there to inspect the city's water supply in anticipation of a siege. See 36:2 where this location becomes important again and reminds people that Isaiah was right in warning against alliance with Assyria. The son's name is both a reassurance and a threat. A fuller was one who shrinks and thickens wool fiber by moistening, heating and pressing. 

v. 4 King is warned not to panic into an unwise action.

vv. 8-9 The gist of poem is that enemies can only trace their leaders to mere human beings.

v. 8b refers to further deportations from Israel under Ashurbanipal (Ezra 4:9-10)

v. 9 A key text for St. Augustine. In the Latin “Unless you believe, you will not understand.”

v. 9b in NRSV and NIV renders the pun in Hebrew. Stand firm or you will not stand at all. Like Ben Franklin's quote as he signed the Declaration of independence: “We must hang together or we will surely hang separately.”

v. 12 Ahaz sounds pious, but he had really already made up his mind to trust to man rather than to God. Jacques Ellul: He does not want to accept anything from God or be in His debt.

vv. 13-14 “You” is plural. This indicates that the sign was to the whole of the Davidic rulers, not just Ahaz. Note use of “my God.”

v. 14 Original reference may have been to Isaiah's second child (who appears in next chapter) or to birth of King Hezekiah. If first option, then child may have two names (one given by mother and one by father). Should stress that the NT idea of the virgin birth is not dependent upon the proper interpretation of the word alma. Copies of the RSV were burned by some fundamentalist churches because of their translation “young woman.”

In its immediate context, a sign is only a sign if Ahaz can see it. Immanuel indicates that since God is with his people, the king need not fear. The praise hymn “Immanuel” came from this verse.

v. 15 Rich food not available during a siege. It indicates that by that time, Judah's enemies will be gone. However, see verses 21-22 where same terms are probably negative indicating that the land will be so deserted that there will be plenty of food for the few who remain. Another interpretation is that curds and honey are nomadic foods not dependent upon agricultural activities, all of which will have ceased. v. 16 The age of the child according to various sources would be either 4-5, 13-14, or 20 (this last option according to rabbinical reasoning).

v. 18 This is the first of four “on that day” sayings. They refer either to invasion of Israel by Assyrians in 722, or to invasion of Judah in 701.

v. 20 feet = genitals. Shaving was a common practice to shame conquered people.