Isaiah 7:9

9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’ ”

Images for Isaiah 7:9

Isaiah 7:9 in Other Translations

KJV
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.
ESV
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.'"
NLT
9 Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”
MSG
9 The capital of Ephraim is Samaria, and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah. If you don't take your stand in faith, you won't have a leg to stand on."
CSB
9 the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand 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:
FOOTNOTES:

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

Isaiah 7:9 In-Context

7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “ ‘It will not take place, it will not happen,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’ ”
10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

Cross References 4

  • 1. S 2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 9:9; Isaiah 28:1,3
  • 2. S Psalms 20:8; Isaiah 8:10; Isaiah 40:8
  • 3. 2 Chronicles 20:20
  • 4. Isaiah 8:6-8; Isaiah 30:12-14
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