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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 7

Isaiah 7: Ahaz, the two kings and the sign of Immanuel

General context

In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, march on Jerusalem but cannot prevail. When the house of David hears that Syria is confederate with Ephraim, the king's heart and the people's shake like trees in wind. The Lord sends Isaiah with his son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the conduit of the upper pool, telling him to be quiet and not fear the two tails of smoking firebrands. Syria and Ephraim plan to set up the son of Tabeal as king in Judah, but the Lord God says it shall not stand and that within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. The Lord speaks again, offering Ahaz a sign in the depth or the height, and Ahaz refuses, saying he will not tempt the Lord. The house of David is then told that the Lord himself will give a sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Immanuel, who will eat butter and honey, and before the child can refuse evil and choose good the land of the two kings will be forsaken. The Lord will bring on Ahaz, his people and his father's house days unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. The Lord will hiss for the fly of Egypt and the bee of Assyria and will shave with a hired razor, the king of Assyria. In that day a man will keep a young cow and two sheep and eat butter and honey, vineyards will become briers and thorns, and hoed hills will be pasture for cattle.

Cited passages: Isaiah 7:1, Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:3, Isaiah 7:4, Isaiah 7:6, Isaiah 7:7, Isaiah 7:8, Isaiah 7:9, Isaiah 7:11, Isaiah 7:12, Isaiah 7:13, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:16, Isaiah 7:17, Isaiah 7:18, Isaiah 7:20, Isaiah 7:21, Isaiah 7:22, Isaiah 7:23, Isaiah 7:24, Isaiah 7:25

Isaiah 7 (KJV)

1And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

2And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

3Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;

4And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

6Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

7Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

8For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

10Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

11Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

18And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

19And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

20In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor 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.

21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

22And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

23And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

24With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

25And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

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Historical context

The setting is stated in the text: the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, with Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel allied against Jerusalem. Israel is also called Ephraim and the house of David stands for Ahaz's line, so three names describe two kingdoms and one royal house. The narration is in the third person, unlike chapters six and eight, and the Lord's words are marked Thus saith the Lord God. The place of the meeting, the conduit of the upper pool by the fuller's field, is named but not located further. Isaiah's son Shear-jashub is present and his name is not translated in this text. The son of Tabeal is named only as the intended puppet king. The sign of verse fourteen is given to the house of David after Ahaz refuses to ask; the text says a virgin shall conceive and the name Immanuel, ties the sign's timing to the child's early years and the emptying of the two kings' land, and does not say who the mother or child is. Matthew later cites the verse: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. That citation is a later reading; this chapter should be read on its own terms. The king of Assyria is named twice as the instrument the Lord will bring, and Egypt is paired with Assyria as fly and bee. The sixty-five years are stated without a starting point.

Cited passages: Isaiah 7:1, Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:7, Isaiah 7:3, Isaiah 7:6, Isaiah 7:12, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 7:16, Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:17, Isaiah 7:18, Isaiah 7:8

Literary context

The chapter is narrative wrapped around two oracles and a closing set of in that day sayings. Fear is the opening note, hearts shaking like trees in the wind, and the first oracle answers it with diminishing images: the two kings are two tails of smoking firebrands, and their plan is dismantled by a chain of heads, Syria to Damascus to Rezin, Ephraim to Samaria to Remaliah's son. The Lord's offer of a sign in the depth or the height is refused with words that sound pious, I will not tempt the Lord, and the reply treats the refusal as wearying God. The sign that follows is not asked for. Butter and honey is said twice, first as the child's food and then as the diet of every one that is left, so the same phrase reads as plenty and as the fare of a stripped land. The chapter's animals shrink from firebrands to fly and bee to a young cow and two sheep, and the closing verses repeat briers and thorns three times over ground that once held a thousand vines. The son named in verse three and the child named in verse fourteen prepare for the third named child in chapter eight, and Immanuel returns there as the one whose land Assyria will fill.

Cited passages: Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:4, Isaiah 7:8, Isaiah 7:11, Isaiah 7:12, Isaiah 7:13, Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:22, Isaiah 7:21, Isaiah 7:23, Isaiah 7:24, Isaiah 7:25, Isaiah 8:8

Key moments

  1. Two kings against Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:1). Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel attack Jerusalem in Ahaz's days but cannot prevail.
  2. Hearts shake like trees (Isaiah 7:2). News of the Syria-Ephraim alliance moves the house of David and the people like wind in a wood.
  3. Isaiah sent with his son (Isaiah 7:3). The Lord sends Isaiah and Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the upper pool.
  4. It shall not stand (Isaiah 7:7). The Lord God declares the plan to install the son of Tabeal will fail.
  5. Ahaz refuses a sign (Isaiah 7:12). Offered a sign in depth or height, Ahaz says he will not tempt the Lord.
  6. The sign of Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). The Lord himself gives a sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Immanuel.
  7. The hired razor (Isaiah 7:20). The Lord will shave head, feet and beard with the king of Assyria.

For reflection

Ahaz refuses a sign with the words I will not tempt the Lord, and is told he has wearied God. What in the chapter marks the line between refusing to test God and refusing to trust him?

People in this chapter

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