Isaiah 7
1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.
3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:
7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Isaiah 7.
What historical setting lies behind Isaiah 7?
Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel pressure Ahaz of Judah during the anti-Assyrian coalition crisis.
How does Isaiah 7's historical narrative + sign oracle shape the chapter?
Narrative encounter, symbolic child-name, and short oracles interpret a rapidly changing geopolitical crisis.
What does the Hebrew word ʿalmah mean in Isaiah 7:14?
ʿAlmah denotes a young woman of marriageable age; the word itself does not encode a technical statement about virginity. The Septuagint’s Greek parthenos and later reception created an important translation history around the verse.
WORTH A CLOSER LOOK
Map the Syro-Ephraimite crisis around Jerusalem
Isaiah 7 makes much more sense when Jerusalem is seen between the allied capitals of Damascus and Samaria and the much larger Assyrian power to the northeast. This is an orientation map, not a reconstruction of troop movements.
Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life2
- King Ahaz and the Crisis Facing JudahBible Odyssey
Introduces Ahaz, the Judahite king confronted by the coalition of Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel. It explains the political crisis behind Isaiah 7 and Ahaz’s decision to seek Assyrian assistance rather than rely on the prophet’s proposed course.
- The Syro-Ephraimite WarBible Odyssey
Explains the regional conflict in which Damascus and the northern kingdom of Israel attempted to pressure Judah into an anti-Assyrian coalition. This historical setting clarifies the threat to replace Ahaz, the identity of Rezin and Pekah, and Isaiah’s prediction that the coalition would soon collapse.
Language & Literature1
- Young Woman, Virgin, and the Immanuel SignTranslation Insights and Perspectives
Examines the Hebrew term *almah*, the Greek translation using *parthenos*, the child’s symbolic name Immanuel, and the immediate historical function of the sign given to Ahaz. It helps readers distinguish lexical questions from later interpretive traditions.
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