1Ahaz being troubled with fear of Rezin and Pekah is comforted by Isaiah. 10Ahaz having liberty to choose a sign, and refusing it, Christ is promised for a sign. 17God's judgments prophesied to come upon Judah by the hand of the Assyrians.
1AND it came to pass in the days of Ahaz 1the son of Jotham, 2the son of Uzziah, 3king of Judah, thata Rezin the king of 4Syria, and 5Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but 6could not prevail against it.
1 That is, Jotham was the son of Uzziah.
2 That is, Jotham was the son of Uzziah.
3 This points to Ahaz.
a 2 Kings 16:5; 2 Chron. 28:5.
4 Hebr. Aram, who was one of the sons of Shem, Gen. 10:22. From him sprang the Syrians.
5 He was a wicked idolater, who murdered his own king Pekahiah, 2 Kings 15:25, 28.
6 Namely, the king of Syria, who waged the war, and was come to aid the king of Israel, and, according to the opinion of some, was the principal author of this war, although it had the name that he came to aid and assist the king of Israel.
2And it was told 7the house of David, saying, 8Syria is confederate 9with Ephraim. And 10his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
7 That is, king Ahaz, and the most important lords of the realm; or his kinsmen.
8 That is, the Syrians rely upon the aid and assistance of the Ephraimites; they are joined together, and are agreed to set upon thee with one accord. Hebr. Aram, that is, Syria, rest upon, etc.
9 That is, upon the ten tribes of the Israelites, as Psalm 78:9; 80:2, and below verse 17. Among these tribes the tribe of Ephraim was the most important one, and in which the kings of Israel also kept their court, namely, in Samaria.
10 Namely, the heart of king Ahaz. This fear sprang from a bad conscience, unbelief and mistrust.
3Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet 11Ahaz, thou, and 12Shear-jashub thy son, at 13the end of the conduitb of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
11 The prophet is therefore properly sent to Ahaz, because he was especially afraid, and because this matter concerned the welfare and prosperity of the realm.
12 This is to say: The remnant shall return, namely, out of the common ruin or captivity. Or, shall convert themselves. From this appears that this son, by God’s command, was given this name in a prophetical way, to put in the mind of the people the promises of God concerning the return of some of the people. See Isa. 10:21, and compare Isa. 8:3; Hosea 1:4, 6, 9.
13 See concerning the remainder of this verse the annotations 2 Kings 18 on verse 17.
b pipe or channel for carrying fluid
4And say unto him, 14Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted 15for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of 16the son of Remaliah.
14 Namely, of being afraid.
15 Thus the prophet calls the king of Syria and the king of Israel in a disdainful and a contemptible manner, and he intimates that their anger, which seemed to be like a burning fire and as if they would have set the entire world on fire, was to be regarded little, and would soon pass away, or have no more strength or virtue, comparing them to a stick that was almost burnt away, and had very little or no fire at all anymore, but only had yet some smoke. The king of Syria was almost quite burnt out, or subdued by Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, 2 Kings 13:25. The king of Israel was almost utterly wasted and brought to nothing by domestic mutiny and war, 2 Kings 15:10, 14, 16, and both of them by Pul, king of Assyria, 2 Kings 15:19:1 Chron. 5:26.
16 The prophet thinks him not worthy to call him by his name, or to give him the title of king, whereas he meant notwithstanding Pekah, king of Israel, the son of Remaliah.
5Because 17Syria, 18Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
17 Or, the Syrian; thus the prophet calls Rezin, the king of Syria, in a disdainful and contemptible manner.
18 That is, with the ten tribes of Israel.
6Let us go up 19against Judah, and 20vex it, and let us make a 21breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of 22Tabeal:
19 Namely, down into the land of Judah.
20 Namely, by besieging the city of Jerusalem a long while, so that they be constrained at length to yield up themselves into our hands. Other, grieve it, or, weary it.
21 They intimate that their purpose was to rent the land of Judah in twain, and to divide it amongst them both, and in the name of them both to make the son of Tabeal deputy governor in it.
22 Who this Tabeal or his son was, is very uncertain. It is probable that he was a Syrian of some great house or family, and an excellent and famous warrior.
7Thus saith the Lord GOD, 23It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
23 Namely, the evil or mischief, which those two kings intend. It shall not be put in execution. See the like phrase Job 22:28.
8For the head of Syria is 24Damascus, and the head of Damascus is 25Rezin; and within threescore and five years 26shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.
24 That is, Damascus shall be the capital city of the kingdom of Syria.
25 The sense is: Rezin shall be and continue head or governor only at Damascus, and not at Jerusalem, as he and his confederates do fancy or imagine. Their design shall not prosper; everyone shall remain or continue within the bounds of his own land.
26 That is, they shall have no more a kingdom, nor state, nor dominion in their own hand. It is so far from it that they would enlarge their own kingdom by the addition of the land of Judah or of any part thereof. This desolation happened in part by Shalmaneser, 2 Kings 17:3, but in full by Esar-haddon, 2 Kings 17:24, the son of Sennacherib, 2 Kings 19:37.
9And the head of Ephraim 27is Samaria, and 28the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. 29If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
27 That is, Samaria shall be the capital city of Ephraim, that is, of the kingdom of the ten tribes, and he, who has the supreme authority and command in it, is Pekah, the son of Remaliah.
28 That is, king or regent.
29 The sense is: If ye will not believe that promise of God, which I have preached unto you, namely, that these two kings shall not prevail against you, then ye shall not be established, or, ye can have no comfortable assurance against the great fear which ye have by reason of your enemies, but ye shall be always disquiet in heart. Other, If ye believe not this, that cometh therefore to pass, because ye are not stable, namely, in faith. Other, Do ye not believe this, because ye are not assured, nor confirmed in your faith? Namely, by a sign or miracle?
10 ¶ 30Moreover the LORD 31spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
30 Other, therefore.
31 Namely, by me His prophet, because He saw that Ahaz gave no credit to these promises, neither also his people, which sufficiently appeared by their quaking and trembling.
11Ask 32thee 33a sign of the LORD thy God; 34ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
32 That is, for thy good, namely, for confirmation of thy faith, in that which was even now promised thee.
33 Whereby thou mayest perceive that God hath sent a prophet unto thee, that speaketh truth.
34 That is, pray that God would show thee a miracle, either on earth or in heaven. Hebr. make the request deep, or make it high upwards.
12But Ahaz said, 35I will not ask, 36neither will I tempt the LORD.
35 Namely, a sign from the Lord.
36 Ahaz speaks this in a dissembling way, as an hypocrite or dissembler, as if so be he would say: I will not transgress against the commandment of God, Deut. 6:16, lest I would provoke the Lord to anger. The Lord forbids to ask a sign out of incredulity, unbelief or with an evil intent and purpose. But He does not forbid to desire a sign by way of obedience, and according to His special command, for confirmation and strengthening of our faith. See the annotation at Deut. 6 on verse 16.
13And 37he said, Hear ye now, 38O house of David; 39Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
37 Namely, the prophet Isaiah.
38 Namely, ye who are degenerated, not following the godly footsteps of David. Hence it may be gathered that those who were next to king Ahaz were incredulous, and refused to ask a sign, as well as Ahaz himself.
39 The sense is: Hitherto ye have slighted me and the other prophets, yea, despised us, not believing nor accepting our counsel and admonitions; but now ye vex and trouble the Lord Himself, forasmuch as ye despise and reject the grace, which He offers unto you.
1440Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; 41Behold,c42a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call 43his name 44Immanuel.
40 Namely, seeing ye have despised the sign which was presented unto you and yet, notwithstanding, the godly have need of confirmation and strengthening in faith, therefore God will give a miraculous sign.
41 This word exhorts to diligent attention unto that which shall be spoken; and this is the sense: God will surely make good that promise of the sending of His Son, Who in the fullness of time shall come of the tribe of Judah and be born of a virgin. Therefore He shall also much more be able and willing to perform that promise which He makes concerning the redemption or deliverance out of the hands and power of the enemies; that concerns the spiritual and eternal redemption, this only the bodily and temporal deliverance.
c Mat. 1:21; Luke 1:31.
42 Or, that virgin.
43 Other, and thou, O virgin, shall call his name Immanuel; signifying hereby that Christ would have no father according to the flesh who would give him the Name, as fathers are wont to do unto their children, Luke 1:63.
44 That is, God with us, true God and true Man, Who shall reconcile, yea, as reunite men unto God.
15Butter and honey shall 45he eat, 46that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
45 That is, the virgin’s Son. The sense is: He shall be nourished and brought up in the years of His childhood as other children, in order that it may appear that He is of the same nature of which other children are.
46 That is, till He comes to years of understanding and discretion, that He knows how to distinguish good from evil.
16For 47before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, 48the land 49that 50thou abhorrest 51shall be forsaken 52of both her kings.
47 These words are not, according to the opinion of many, a continuation of the immediate foregoing words, speaking of the incarnation of the Son of God, but the prophet speaks here again of the deliverance which he promised unto Ahaz, concerning the defense and protection of the Israelites against their enemies. And by the young lad or child may here be understood the prophet’s little son, Shear-jashub, whom by God’s appointment he had taken along with him, verse 3; or some other child that was already born, or would shortly be born; for, these words cannot so well suit with Christ; the prophet speaking here of a short time, in which both those kings would perish, whereas Christ was not born and come into the world till many years after that. Yet some do apply this verse unto the Lord Christ, in such a sense that this prophecy would be accomplished in so short a time as there would be between the birth of Christ and His age or years of discretion.
48 Namely, the land of Israel and of Syria, from where all misery and destruction was to come upon king Ahaz.
49 Or, of which thou art weary. For the cause immediately related.
50 O king Ahaz.
51 The sense is: These two kings shall not only not take the land of Judah, but that also they themselves shall die within a short while.
52 Hebr. of the face of her two kings, namely, Pekah and Rezin. These two kings, shortly after this prophecy (as some do account), died both of them a violent death, as appears 2 Kings 15:30; 16:9, before Ahaz had reigned four complete years.
17¶The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days 53that have not come, from the day 54that Ephraim departed from Judah; 55even the king of Assyria.
53 Namely, heavy, sad, lamentable days.
54 That is, from that time that the ten tribes were rent from the tribe of Judah, in the time of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, of which see 1 Kings 12. And here Ephraim is only mentioned, but the ten tribes of Israel are meant, not only because Ephraim was the most important of the ten tribes, but also because that rent first began at the tribe of Ephraim, and because Jeroboam came from that tribe, who was the first king over Ephraim, and the other nine tribes, 1 Kings 12.
55 Namely, the Lord shall do such. The Jews did rely exceedingly upon the kings of Assyria, and especially Ahaz, as appears 2 Kings 16:7. But here the Lord threatens that He will cause them to be most plagued and oppressed by the king of Assyria, namely, as some perceive, by Nebuchadnezzar, who at that time had brought also Assyria under his power and dominion. See verse 20. Yet some understand here Tiglath-pileser, of whom we may read 2 Chron. 28:20; others, Sennacherib, of whom is spoken 2 Kings 18:13, etc.
18And it shall come to pass 56in that day, that the LORD shall 57hiss for the 58fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the 59bee that is in the land of Assyria.
56 Namely, wherein He has determined to punish you and your posterity.
57 That is, He shall by hissing, whistling or piping cause them to come to Him. See Isa. 5:26.
58 Thus he called the Philistines, Edomites and Ethiopians, who dwelt on the borders of Egypt. See the fulfillment of this prophecy 2 Kings 19:9; 2 Chron. 28:17. The prophet calls that people flies in respect of their great multitude; bees thus in regard of their stinging and of their great number, as in regard of their experience in war, and skill in setting an army in battle array. Compare Deut. 1:44; Psalm 118:12.
59 As annotation #57.
19And 60they shall come, and shall 61rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all 62bushes.
60 Namely, those flies and those bees.
61 Or, lie down. The sense is: The armies of the enemies shall lie down in all places throughout the entire land of the Jews, both in convenient and in inconvenient places, they are high or low, fruitful or barren.
62 Other, commendable or praiseworthy, that is, fruitful.
20In the same day shall the Lord shave 63with a razor that is hired, namely, by them 64beyond the river, 65by the king of Assyria, 66the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume 67the beard.
63 Namely, hired by king Ahaz to defend him against the Assyrians and Israelites, see 2 Kings 16:7, 8. The sense is: Thou hast sinned in putting thy trust in the king of Assyria, but I will punish thee by him.
64 Understand the river Euphrates.
65 Not just by the very same king of Assyria, whom Ahaz had hired, namely, Tiglath-pileser; for, though indeed he is said to have distressed Ahaz, 2 Chron. 28:20, 21, yet he did not so great harm to the people of the Jews as God threatens them in this place. Therefore this is to be meant of another king of Assyria. Some perceive that here is spoken of divers kings of Assyria, who the one after the other plagues the people of the Jews most grievously; as namely, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and last of all Nebuchadnezzar. See 2 Kings 18; 19; 24; 25; 2 Chronicles 33. Yet this excessive damage and misery, whereof mention is made in this place, seems to suit with none else, at least with none more fully than with Nebuchadnezzar, who effected the same, when he brought a mighty great army with him into the land of the Jews, which the prophet here threatens, see 2 Kings 24; 25. This king Nebuchadnezzar, who was king of Babylon, is called here king of Assyria, because he had subdued Assyria and had brought it under his dominion.
66 Namely, the hair of the head and of the feet; that is, he will deal severely with every man, sparing none.
67 By the beard is meant the ornament, and repute and glory among the congregation of the people of the Jews. See the accomplishment hereof 2 Kings 24; 25.
21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall 68nourish a 69young cow, and 70two sheep;
68 Or, shall have kept alive, namely, in such a way that the enemies shall not have taken them away from him or slain them.
69 Or, a young heifer.
70 Or, two goats; he puts a certain number for an uncertain. The sense is: Few milk cows or animals shall yield enough milk for those few people who shall be left there.
22And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall 71give he shall eat 72butter: 73for butter and honey shall every one eat 74that is left 75in the land.
71 Hebr. make. See Isa. 5 on verse 10.
72 Namely, in fullness, as no one knows to whom he shall sell the milk or butter, seeing the land is bereaved of her inhabitants; or, because he shall not have many eaters at home with him or many mouths to feed; for, they shall either be slain or driven away by the enemies.
73 But of other edible commodities there shall be no great store; the entire land or country being uncultivated.
74 Namely, after so many desolations and murders.
75 Namely, of the land of the Jews.
23And it shall come to pass in that day, that 76every place shall be, where there were a 77thousand vines at a 78thousand silverlings, itd shall even be for briers and thorns.
76 The sense is: The entire land, yea even the most fruitful places and those which were wont to be cultivated in the best manner, shall lie waste and desolate.
77 That is, many. Hebr. a thousand vine.
78A thousand silverlings, that is, worth a thousand silverlings.
d Lev. 26:22.
24With arrows and with bows 79shall men come thither; because 80all the land shall become briers and thorns.
79 Namely, to defend themselves against the wild animals, which shall be found in great numbers among the briars and thorns, after the land shall lie desolate, and empty, uncultivated and not inhabited. This is that which the Lord threatens unto transgressors of His law, Lev. 26:22.
80 And consequently, there shall be no great store of corn, and other edible commodities.
25And on 81all hills that shall be 82digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but 83it shall be 84for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
81 Namely, the vine hills, and other fruitful places, which are wont to be sown, or to be planted and to be potted.
82 Namely, to plant them afterward with vines.
83 Namely, those hills and grounds that were wont to bear much, good fruit.
84 That is, that oxen or small cattle, whether sheep or goats, may be sent in thither, see Exod. 22:5. Other thus: Concerning all the hills that shall be digged up with mattocks, thither shall not the fear of thorns and briars come, but, etc.; in this sense, that men shall not be able to hide themselves anywhere but on high hills, where they shall yet prepare a place to send some cattle in there.