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And 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.
And 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.
Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
And 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.
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
Let 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:
Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
For 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.
And 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.
Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt ° the LORD.
And 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?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
For 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.
The 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.
And 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.
And 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.
In 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.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
And 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.
And 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.
With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
And 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.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

7:1 to war against it. This invasion is described in II Kings 16:1-6.


7:3 fuller’s field. See note on II Kings 18:17.


7:8 Ephraim be broken. Isaiah here prophesied the coming Assyrian destruction and captivity of Ephraim and the whole northern kingdom.


7:8 be not a people. Ephraim and the northern tribes would never again be a viable national entity, thus refuting the modern notion of some that these “lost tribes” eventually became the British nation. Many members of the ten tribes, however, did eventually migrate back to become a part of Judah after its return from Babylonian exile.


7:11 a sign. The Lord was willing to give King Ahaz a sign involving any great miracle, but Ahaz was unwilling even to consider God’s Word.


7:14 Lord himself. Since Ahaz refused the proffered sign, God would in due time give the whole “house of David” (Isaiah 7:13) a sign, a miracle unique in all history.


7:14 a virgin. This should read “the virgin,” indicating a very specific virgin, long awaited by the entire human race. This could be nothing less than the primeval promise of the coming “Seed of the Woman” (Genesis 3:15), who would someday defeat Satan and redeem not only the House of David but all mankind.


7:14 virgin. Many critics have argued that the Hebrew word means simply “young, unmarried woman,” rather than “virgin,” and some translations have translated it as such. This is nothing but a device to avoid the miracle of Christ’s virgin birth. The word is used some six or more times in the Old Testament and in all instances the context favors (or at least does not preclude) its rendering as “virgin.” Conception by a “young unmarried woman” would hardly be a sign of anything except sin, for such events occur frequently. A virgin conception would require a mighty act of creation by God Himself! The quotation of this verse in the New Testament (Matthew 1:23) should remove any lingering doubt, for the Greek word used there (parthenos) can only mean “virgin.” See also Jeremiah 31:22.


7:14 Immanuel. “Immanuel” means “God with us”—that is, God incarnate in human flesh, the unique miracle implied by the Edenic promise of the conquering “Seed of the Woman” in Genesis 3:15. Men produce genetic seed naturally, but a woman could only generate a “seed” supernaturally. A true virgin conception has only occurred once in human history, leading to the birth of Christ, who as the God/man is the only one who could ever destroy the “old serpent, called the Devil” (Revelation 12:9; see also Micah 5:2 and John 1:14).


7:20 the king of Assyria. In addition to conquering the Northern Kingdom, the Assyrians would invade Judah and inflict great hardships on her people before finally being forced by God to retreat in the days of Hezekiah, son of Ahaz (Isaiah 37:33-38).


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