Isaiah 7:9

9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is ¹the son of Remaliah. ²If you^[a] are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.'"

Isaiah 7:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 7:9

And the head of Ephraim [is] Samaria
. Samaria was the metropolis or chief city of Ephraim, or the ten tribes of Israel: and the head of Samaria [is] Remaliah's son;
Pekah, son of Remaliah, was king of Samaria, as of all Israel. The sense is, that, until the sixty five years were ended, there should be no enlargement of the kingdom of Israel; Judah should not be added to it; Samaria should continue, and not Jerusalem be the metropolis of it; and Pekah, during his life, should be king of Israel, but not of Judah. If ye will not believe;
the Targum adds,

``the words of the prophet;''

surely ye shall not be established,
or remain ^F7; that is, in their own land, but should be carried captive, as they were after a time; or it is, "because ye are not true and firm"; in the faith of God, as Kimchi interprets it; or, "because ye are not confirmed" ^F8; that is, by a sign; wherefore it follows:

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (wnmat al yk) "non permanebitis", V. L. Cocceius.
F8 "Quod non confirmamini", Junius & Tremellius.

Isaiah 7:9 In-Context

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. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.'"

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,

11 "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven."

Cross References

• 1. ver. 1
• 2. [2 Chronicles 20:20]

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14