Isaiah 7

15. Butter--rather, curdled milk, the acid of which is grateful in the heat of the East ( Job 20:17 ).
honey--abundant in Palestine ( Judges 14:8 , 1 Samuel 14:25 , Matthew 3:4 ). Physicians directed that the first food given to a child should be honey, the next milk [BARNABAS, Epistle]. HORSLEY takes this as implying the real humanity of the Immanuel Jesus Christ, about to be fed as other infants ( Luke 2:52 ). Isaiah 7:22 shows that besides the fitness of milk and honey for children, a state of distress of the inhabitants is also implied, when, by reason of the invaders, milk and honey, things produced spontaneously, shall be the only abundant articles of food [MAURER].
that he may know--rather, until He shall know.
evil . . . choose . . . good--At about three years of age moral consciousness begins (compare Isaiah 8:4 , Deuteronomy 1:39 , Jonah 4:11 ).

16. For--The deliverance implied in the name "Immanuel," and the cessation of distress as to food ( Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah 7:15 ), shall last only till the child grows to know good and evil;
for . . . the land that . . . abhorrest . . . forsaken of . . . kings--rather, desolate shall be the land, before whose two kings thou art alarmed [HENGSTENBERG and GESENIUS].
the land--namely, Syria and Samaria regarded as one ( 2 Kings 16:9 , 15:30 ), just two years after this prophecy, as it foretells. HORSLEY takes it, "The land (Judah and Samaria) of (the former of) which thou art the plague (literally, 'thorn') shall be forsaken," &c.; a prediction thus, that Judah and Israel (appropriately regarded as one "land") should cease to be kingdoms ( Luke 2:1 , Genesis 49:10 ) before Immanuel came.

Isaiah 7:17-25 . FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF AHAZ' ASSYRIAN POLICY.

Though temporary deliverance ( Isaiah 7:16 , 8:4 ) was to be given then, and final deliverance through Messiah, sore punishment shall follow the former. After subduing Syria and Israel, the Assyrians shall encounter Egypt ( 2 Kings 23:29 ), and Judah shall be the battlefield of both ( Isaiah 7:18 ), and be made tributary to that very Assyria ( 2 Chronicles 28:20 , 2 Kings 16:7 2 Kings 16:8 ) now about to be called in as an ally ( Isaiah 39:1-6 ). Egypt, too, should prove a fatal ally ( Isaiah 36:6 , 31:1 , &c.).

18. hiss--whistle, to bring bees to settle
fly--found in numbers about the arms of the Nile and the canals from it ( Isaiah 19:5-7 , 23:3 ), here called "rivers." Hence arose the plague of flies ( Exodus 8:21 ). Figurative, for numerous and troublesome foes from the remotest parts of Egypt, for example, Pharaoh-nechoh.
bee--( Deuteronomy 1:44 , Psalms 118:12 ). As numerous in Assyria as the fly in marshy Egypt. Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled this prediction.

19. rest--image of flies and bees kept up. The enemy shall overspread the land everywhere, even in "desolate valleys."
thorns--wild, contrasted with "bushes," which were valued and objects of care (see Margin).

20. razor--The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it ( Isaiah 10:5 , Ezekiel 29:19 Ezekiel 29:20 ).
hired--alluding to Ahaz' hiring ( 2 Kings 16:7 2 Kings 16:8 ) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely,
by them beyond the river--namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge ( Psalms 72:8 ); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included ( Isaiah 7:18 ) [G. V. SMITH]. GESENIUS translates, "With a razor hired in the parts beyond the river."
head . . . feet--the whole body, including the most honored parts. To cut the "beard" is the greatest indignity to an Easterner ( Isaiah 50:6 , 2 Samuel 10:4 2 Samuel 10:5 , Ezekiel 5:1 ).

Isaiah 7:21-25 . THE COMING DESOLATE STATE OF THE LAND OWING TO THE ASSYRIANS AND EGYPTIANS.

21. nourish--that is, own.
young cow--a heifer giving milk. Agriculture shall cease, and the land become one great pasturage.

22. abundance--by reason of the wide range of land lying desolate over which the cows and sheep (including goats) may range.
butter--thick milk, or cream. Food of spontaneous growth will be the resource of the few inhabitants left. Honey shall be abundant as the bees will find the wild flowers abounding everywhere.

23. where there were, &c.--where up to that time there was so valuable a vineyard as to have in it a thousand vines, worth a silverling (shekel, about fifty cents; a large price) each, there shall be only briers ( Solomon 8:11 ). Vineyards are estimated by the number of the vines, and the goodness of the kind of vine. Judea admits of a high state of cultivation, and requires it, in order to be productive; its present barrenness is due to neglect.

24. It shall become a vast hunting ground, abounding in wild beasts (compare Jeremiah 49:19 ).

25. shall be--rather, "were once."
digged--in order to plant and rear vines ( Isaiah 5:6 ).
there shall not come--that is, none shall come who fear thorns, seeing that thorns shall abound on all sides [MAURER]. Otherwise, "Thou shalt not come for fear of thorns" [GESENIUS]. Only cattle shall be able to penetrate the briery ground.
lesser cattle--sheep and goats.