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Memorial: St Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor From: Isaiah 7:1-9 The sign of Immanu-el -------------------------------- [1] In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. [2] When the house of David was told, "Syria is in league with Ephraim," his heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. [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 Ful- ler's 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 Sy- ria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, sa- ying, [6] Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for our- selves, 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.â€ ********************************************************************************************* 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 prophet's vision of God in majesty, and the account of Isaiah's calling (6:1-13). The Immanuel prophecy begins with the announcement of a God-given "sign" of salvation -- the "virgin" who will conceive and bear a "son" (7:1-8:22). The "son" is described in such a way that he seems to be 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 hap- pens 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 Isaiah's 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 evi- dence 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 a- gainst the Assyrians made up of Israel (here also called Ephraim), whose capi- tal 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 prophet's 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 Sy- rians and Ephraimites, or with Assyria. It ends abruptly with the threat that if A- haz 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 re- turn". 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). ********************************************************************************************* Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States.