Isaiah 9:10

It has been conjectured that these words are a fragment of a drinking song actually sung in Ephraim. They express the spirit of bravado which prevailed in the northern capital, cf. Amos 6:13; Hosea 7:9-10. It is, therefore, not necessary to refer them to any particular recent reverses, such as the inroads of Assyria which punished the ill-timed attack on Judah. From the time of the Syrian wars there had been abundant "occasion to use this proverb in Israel."

hewn stones Cf. Amos 5:11.

sycomores The wood of the mulberry-fig, spongy but exceedingly durable, is still the cheapest and commonest building material in Palestine, cf. 1 Kings 10:27.