_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._ Ver. 1. _And it came to pass._] This is not a s... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 2. _And it was told the house of David,_] _i.e., _ the king and chief officers of the crown and court. Ill ne... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 3. _Then said the Lord unto Isaiah._] Wicked Ahaz shall have a prophet sent him with a promise, if it be but to leave him... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 4. _Take heed, and be quiet._] _Cave et quiesce; _ or as others render it, _Vide ut sileas,_ see tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Ver. 5. _Because Syria, Ephraim, &c._] This was the fruit of their fury fuming out at their noses, Isa 7:4 and proving like smoke, which the higher it riseth, the sooner it vanisheth; or like the bubbles... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 6. _Let us go up against Judah and vex it._] So they had done separately, and so they think much more to do jointly. _Sed aliter Deo visum est._ There i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass._ Ver. 7. _It shall not stand._] The counsel of the Lord, that shall stand Psa 33:11 when the world's wizards shall be taken in their own craftiness. 1Co 3:19 _ It shall not be._] All their projects are dashed by a word. _... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 8. _For the head of Syria is Damascus._] Not Jerusalem, as they haply had contrived it; looking upon Jerusalem as a city fatally foun... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver 9. And the head of Samariah, Remaliah's son.] In contempt he hath neither his name nor title of a king given him, but is fairly warned to keep within hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,_ Ver. 10. _Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz._] Wicked though he were, and under the power of unbelief, yet he shall see that be hath to do with a very gracious and longsuffering God, who, by a wonderful condescension, will needs give him a si... [ Continue Reading ]
Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. Ver. 11. _Ask the sign of the Lord._] Not of any other God, to whom thou art addicted. _ Thy God._] From whom thou hast deeply revolted; but of whom thou mightest upon thy return be graciously reaccepted. _ A... [ Continue Reading ]
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. Ver. 12. _I will not ask._] All, lewd lowly! "I will not ask"; what a base answer was this of a bedlam Belialist! what a wretched entertainment of such an over bounding mercy! He doth upon the matter say, I will ask no asks; I will try n... [ Continue Reading ]
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? Ver. 13. _Hear ye now, O house of David._] But shamefully degenerate from your thrice worthy progenitors, and strangely forgetful of God's promises for a perpetual succession; whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel._ Ver. 14. _Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign._] Give it you, _ingratiis vestris,_ without your leave, of his own proffer. "If we believe not, yet God... [ Continue Reading ]
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. Ver. 15. _Butter and honey shall he eat,_] _i.e., _ He shall be fed with children's meat, after the manner of other infants; for, as he shall take upon him our nature, so shall he also partake with us in our na... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 16. _For before the child._] _Hannagnar,_ this child Shear-jashub here present, Isa 7:3 the proper sign of this present deliverance _as _ Isa 8:4-7 made so... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. _The Lord shall bring upon thee, &c., _] _sc., _ In case thou believe not. Thou and thine shall perish, notw... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 18. _The Lord will hiss for the fly, &c._] Out of Egypt and the confines. The people of which parts are fitly... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 19. _And they shall come, and shall rest all of them._] As flies do upon flesh, and as bees upon trees. They shall seize all. _ In the desolate val... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. _In the same day shall the Lord shave._] Not _shear,_ but _shave,_ with a razor, to set fort... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; Ver. 21. _A man shall nourish two sheep._] He that was wont to say, _Mille meae Siculis errant in montibus agnae,_ _a_ shall now be reduced to so great penury as to be glad of two sheep, and have scarce a... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 22. _For the abundance of milk._] Yielded him by his two cows, through the paucity of people, and plenty of grass. _ He shall e... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 23. _Where there were a thousand vines._] Which once were to the sensual Jews an occasion of drunkenness and forgetfulness... [ Continue Reading ]
_With arrows and with bows shall [men] come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns._ Ver. 24. _With arrows and with bows shall they come._] For their necessary defence against the wild beasts that haunt those desert places, _propter densa ferarum lustra hominibus infesta._ Thi... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 24. _And on all the hills that shall be digged, &c._] A good translation of a text is inst... [ Continue Reading ]