Isaiah 7:1

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it.

Isaiah 7:1 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 7:1

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of
Jotham, the son of Uzziah king of Judah
Here begins a new prophecy under the reign of another king; who, though a wicked king, had religious ancestors; and who are mentioned, not, as the Jewish writers F21 generally say, because it was owing to their worthiness that the enemies of Ahaz could not prevail against him; but because it was under these kings the prophet had prophesied: what is contained in the first five chapters were delivered in the times of Uzziah; and the vision in the sixth was in the times of Jotham, in the beginning of his reign; and what is said here, and in some following chapters, was in the time of Ahaz; so that this is mentioned to fix and carry on the date of the prophecy: [that] Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah king
of Israel, went up towards Jerusalem to war against it;
at the latter end of Jotham's reign, and the beginning of Ahaz's; these two separately came up against Judah, and greatly distressed and afflicted the kingdom, slew many, and carried others captive, ( 2 Kings 15:37 ) ( 2 Chronicles 28:5-7 ) but afterwards, in the third F23 or fourth F24 year of Ahaz, as it is said, they joined together to besiege Jerusalem, which this refers to, ( 2 Kings 16:5 ) : but could not prevail against it;
or "he could not"; that is, according to Aben Ezra, the king of Israel, Pekah, the son of Remaliah; but, according to Kimchi, it was Rezin king of Syria, who, he says, was the principal in the war, and brought Pekah along with him; but it may very well be understood of them both, since in ( 2 Kings 16:5 ) , the plural number is used; "and they could not"; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Oriental versions here.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. & Yalkut Simeoni, ex Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 54. 4.
F23 Yalkut Simeoni in loc.
F24 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 23. p. 85. Jarchi in ver. 14.

Isaiah 7:1 In-Context

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it.
2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, "Syria's forces are deployed in Ephraim." So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller's Field,
4 and say to him: 'Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.