Isaiah 7:3

3 And Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, thou and thy son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field;

Isaiah 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 7:3

Then said the Lord unto Isaiah
The prophet, the inspired penman of these prophecies, that go by his name; what follows, the Lord said unto him in vision, or by an articulate voice, or by an impulse on his mind: go forth now to meet Ahaz;
the prophet was in the city of Jerusalem, and Ahaz was without, as appears by the place after mentioned, where he was to meet him; perhaps Ahaz was at his country house, which, upon the news brought him of the designs of his enemies, he leaves, and betakes himself to Jerusalem, his metropolis, and fortified city, where he might be more safe; or he had been out to reconnoitre the passes about Jerusalem, and give orders and directions for the strengthening and keeping of them: thou, and Shearjashub thy son:
whose name signifies "the remnant shall return", and who was taken with the prophet, to suggest either that the remnant that were left of the former devastations by those two kings ought to return to the Lord by repentance; or that though the people of Judah should hereafter be carried captive by the Assyrians, yet a remnant should return again. The Targum interprets this not of Isaiah's natural son, but of his disciples; paraphrasing it thus,

``thou, and the rest of thy disciples, who have not sinned, and are turned from sin:''
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool;
for there was an upper pool and a lower one; see ( Isaiah 22:9 ) this was outside the city, and is the same place where Rabshakeh afterwards stood, and delivered his blasphemous and terrifying speech, ( 2 Kings 18:17 ) : in the highway of the fuller's field;
where they washed and dried their garments, and whitened them; the pool, conduit, and field, being fit for their purpose.

Isaiah 7:3 In-Context

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, came up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but they were not able to fight against it.
2 And it was told the house of David saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim. Then his heart and the heart of his people shook, as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind.
3 And Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, thou and thy son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field;
4 and thou shalt say unto him, Take heed and be quiet; fear not, and let not thy heart faint before these two ends of smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
5 Inasmuch as Syria hath taken evil counsel against thee, Ephraim [also] and the son of Remaliah, saying,

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Meaning, 'A remnant shall return.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.