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RSV
From: Isaiah 7:1-9
The sign of Immanu-el
[3] And the Lord said to Isaiah, Go forth to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fullers Field, [4] and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. [5] Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, [6] Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabe-el as king in the midst of it, [7] thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
[8[ For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will
no longer be a people.)
[9] And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established.
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Commentary:
7:1-12:6. This series of oracles and narratives is usually known as the Book of Immanuel, because its climax is taken to be the mysterious announcement of a Messiah-Saviour, called Immanu-el, which means God-with-us (7:14). This book is one of the most interesting parts of First Isaiah. Some scholars include in the book, as its introduction, the prophets vision of God in majesty, and the account of Isaiahs calling (6:1-13).
The Immanuel prophecy begins with the announcement of a God-given sign of salvation — the virgin who will conceive and hear a son (7:1-8:22). The son is described in such a way that he seems to he no ordinary human child (8:23-9:6). Paradoxically, the joy of salvation that has just been proclaimed is then immediately clouded by announcements about the wrath of God, the collapse of Samaria and the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem (9:7-10:19). But, as often happens in Isaiah, we are told that a remnant will he saved, a shoot from the stump of Jesse (11:1), that is, a descendant of David on whom the Spirit of the Lord will rest (11:2), and that a kingdom of righteousness and peace will emerge and the exiles will return home (10:20-11:16). This leads the prophet to intone a short psalm of thanksgiving (12: I-6).
7:1-9. After the account of Isaiahs vocation, where we heard that a hardened heart is unable to hear the word of the Lord (cf. 6:9-10), we are now given evidence to that effect. Isaiah has a meeting with King Ahaz, in which the king is in two minds as to what to do in the face of pressure to join the coalition against the Assyrians made up of Israel (here also called Ephraim), whose capital was Samaria, and Syria (Aram), the capital of which was Damascus. Verse 6 mentions Tabeel, about whom nothing more is known; he may have been a senior official in the Southern kingdom who was in favour of joining the coalition. The prophets message warns Judah that it should put its trust in God, believing in his word, and not try to take refuge in any political alliance, be it with the Syrians and Ephraimites, or with Assyria. It ends abruptly with the threat that if Ahaz and his supporters fail to listen, their downfall will soon follow (vv. 7-9). The narrative says that a son of Isaiah is present at his exchange with Ahaz — Shear-jashub (v. 3), a name full of symbolism, for it means a remnant shall return. The presence of this son implies, in some way, that God will ensure the permanent survival of the people: there will always be some, a remnant, who will come back to the Lord and recover what has been lost (cf. 10:20-22).