Isaiah 7:8-9

A confirmation of Isaiah 7:7; but the thought is difficult to grasp. The general meaning seems to be that the league is an attempt to obliterate the political distinctions which Jehovah has established between the neighbouring states. (Observe that in Isaiah 7:16 the prophet seems to speak as if Syria and Israel had become one kingdom in virtue of their alliance.) Syria and Ephraim are separate nationalities, each with its own capital and king; Judah belongs to neither of them and is not to be amalgamated with them. In short: "Damascus is the head of Syria and of nothing else, &c." We may even suppose (with Ewald) that Isaiah intended to add, "but the head of Judah is Jerusalem and the head of Jerusalem is Jehovah of Hosts."