Isaiah 9:12

The Syrians … behind Or, Syria on the East and the Philistines on the West (R.V. marg.).

and they shall devour and they devoured.

There is no historic record of Philistine aggression on the kingdom of Ephraim (at least since 1 Kings 15:27); nor is there any mention of a Syrian attack about the time when this passage was written. It is probable that the prophet is looking further back, to the protracted Syrian wars, from Ahab to Jeroboam II., which formed a distinct and memorable episode in the history of N. Israel.

For all this … stretched out still "One of the most effective refrain-verses that have ever been composed." (Duhm.) The figure of Jehovah, with His arm stretched out in wrath, is kept before the mind of the reader, as the prophecy advances to its conclusion.