Isaiah 7:4

4 And you must say to him, 'Take heed and be quiet! You must not fear, and your heart must not be faint because of these two stumps of smoldering firebrands, {because of the fierce anger of} Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

Isaiah 7:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 7:4

And say unto him, take heed, and be quiet
Or "keep" thyself, not within the city, and from fighting with his enemies, but from unbelief, fear, and dread; or, as the Septuagint version, "keep" thyself, "that thou mayest be quiet" ^F1; be easy, still, and silent, and see the salvation of God: the Jewish writers interpret the first word of resting and settling, as wine upon the lees: see ( Jeremiah 48:11 ) : fear not;
this explains the former: neither be fainthearted;
or "let thy heart soft" ^F2, and melt like wax, through dread and diffidence: for the two tails of these smoking firebrands:
meaning the two kings of Syria and Israel: and so the Targum,

``for these two kings, who are as smoking firebrands;''

a metaphor used to express the weakness of these princes, their vain wrath and impotent fury, and the short continuance of it; they being like to firebrands wholly burnt and consumed to the end; a small part remaining, which could not be laid hold upon to light fires or burn with, and that only smoking, and the smoke just ready to vanish. For the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of
Remaliah;
this shows who are meant by the two firebrands, Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel; and what by the smoke of them, their fierce anger; which, though it seemed to threaten with utter destruction, in the opinion of Ahaz and his court, was only like the smoke of a firebrand burnt to the end, weak and vanishing.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (jqvhw rmvh) (fulaxai) , Sept.; "observa ut sis quieto animo", Vatablus.
F2 (Kry la) "ne mollescas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Isaiah 7:4 In-Context

2 When it was reported to the house of David, saying "Aram stands by Ephraim," his heart and the heart of his people shook like the shaking of the trees of [the] forest because of [the] wind.

3 Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, "Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on [the] highway of [the] washer's field.

4 And you must say to him, 'Take heed and be quiet! You must not fear, and your heart must not be faint because of these two stumps of smoldering firebrands, {because of the fierce anger of} Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

5 Because Aram has plotted evil against you [with] Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying,

6 "Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, {and let us lay it open and so bring it unto ourselves}, and let us install the son of Tabeel [as] king in her midst."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "because of the fierceness of the anger of"