Isaiah 7:9-19

9 and Samaria shall fail to be the head of Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah to be [the] head of Samaria. Forsooth if ye shall not believe, ye shall not (still) dwell (But if ye do not believe this, ye shall not endure).

10 And the Lord added to speak to Ahaz, and said,

11 Ask thou to thee a sign of thy Lord God, into the depth of hell, either into [the] height above. (Ask thou for a sign from the Lord thy God for thee, yea, from the depths of hell/from the lowest part of Sheol, or from the heights above.)

12 And Ahaz said, I shall not ask, and I shall not tempt the Lord.

13 And Isaiah said, Therefore the house of David, hear ye; whether it is (too) little to you to be dis-easeful to men, for ye be dis-easeful also to my God? (And Isaiah said, And so, hear ye, the house of David; is it not enough for you to make men weary? must ye also make my God weary as well?)

14 For this thing the Lord himself shall give a sign to you. Lo! a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son; and his name shall be called Immanuel. [Lo! a maid(en) shall conceive, and bare a son; and thou shalt call his name Immanuel.]

15 He shall eat butter and honey, that he know how to reprove evil, and choose good. (He shall eat butter and honey, and he shall know how to rebuke, or to reject, evil, and to choose good.)

16 For why before the child know how to reprove evil, and choose good, the land, which thou loathest, shall be forsaken of the face of their two kings. (And before that the child know how to rebuke, or to reject, evil, and to choose good, the lands of these two kings, whom thou fearest, shall be deserted.)

17 The Lord shall bring on thee, and on thy people, and on the house of thy father, days that came not from the days of [the] departing of Ephraim from Judah, with the king of Assyrians. (The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, such days that came not since the days of the separating of Ephraim from Judah, yea, by the hand, or by the power, of the king of Assyria.)

18 And it shall be, in that day the Lord shall hiss to a fly, which is in the last part of the floods of Egypt; and to a bee, which is in the land of Assur; (And it shall be, on that day the Lord shall whistle for the fly, which is at the ends of the rivers of Egypt; and for the bee, which is in the land of Assyria;)

19 and all those shall come, and shall rest in the strands of valleys, and in the caves of stones, and in all [the] places of bushes, and in all holes. (and they all shall come, and shall rest by the streams in the valleys, and in the caves of stone, and in all the places of bushes, and in all the holes.)

Isaiah 7:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 7

This chapter contains a prophecy of the preservation of the kingdom of Judah, from its enemies; a confirmation of it by a sign; and a prediction of various calamities that should come upon it, antecedent to the accomplishment of that sign. The enemies of Judea are named, and the besieging of Jerusalem by them, and the date of it, which was without effect, are mentioned, Isa 7:1 the fear and dread which seized the house of David upon the news of this confederacy, Isa 7:2 the orders given by the Lord to the Prophet Isaiah, to take with him his son, and meet Ahaz, at a certain place pointed at, Isa 7:3 whose errand was to comfort him, and exhort him to be quiet and easy; since the conspiracy formed against him should be fruitless, and the kingdom of Israel should be broken to pieces, Isa 7:4-9 after which the king is put upon asking a sign of the Lord, for the confirmation of it; which he refusing to do, under a pretence of tempting the Lord, is reproved; and a sign nevertheless is given; which is that of the birth of the Messiah of a virgin, who would be truly God, as his name Immanuel shows, and truly man, as his birth, his food, and gradual knowledge of good and evil, prove, Isa 7:10-15 yea, it is suggested that the deliverance of Judea from the two kings of Syria and Israel should be very speedy; even before the young child Isaiah had with him was capable of knowing to refuse evil, and chose good, Isa 7:16 but as a chastisement of the house of David for their incredulity in this matter, and slight of the divine goodness, various things are threatened to befall them, before the birth of the Messiah; even such as had not been since the revolt of the ten tribes; as that their enemies, the Assyrians and others, should come upon them in great numbers, and fill all places, so that they would be in the utmost distress, and not be able to escape, Isa 7:17-19 there would be a great consumption of men of all sorts, high and low, signified by shaving off the hair of the head, beard, and feet; so that the few that remained would enjoy plenty, Isa 7:20-22 and for want of men to till the land, it would be covered with thorns and briers; and because of wild beasts, the few men in it would be obliged to defend themselves with bows and arrows, Isa 7:23,24 and yet, after this, the land should become fruitful again, before the Messiah's coming, Isa 7:25, as some interpret it.