Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Christ is Promised ISAIAH VII. for a Sign to Ahat.
8. C, 9, 12). 7. (Oh. 8. 10; Proverbs 21. 30.) 8. head—<. e., In both .Syriajiiid IsisK'l thftcnpilal shall remaiuas it is; they shall not conquer Judah, but eaeh shall possess ouly his own Uoniinions. tlireescore and live . . , not a people —as these words break the symmetry of the parallelism In this verse, either they ought to be placed after "Remasis 3. 15), whose seed shotild bruise the serpent's head and deliver captive man (Jeremiah 31. 22; Micah 5. 3). Language is selected such as, whilst f)cirtia% applicable totheimmediate event, receives its fullest, most appropriate, and exhaustive accomplishment in Messianic events. The New Testament application of such prophecies is nota strained "accommodation;" rather the temporary fulfilment of an ada ptation of the far-reachi ng prophecy to the present passing event, which foreshadows typically the great central end of prophecy, Jesus Christ (Revelation 19. 10). Evidently the wording is such as to apply more fully to Jesus Christ than to the prophet's son; "virgin" applies, in its simplest sense, to the Virgin Mary, I'ather than to the proplietess who ceased to be a virgin when she "conceived;" "Immanuel," Ood with us (John 1. 14 ; Revelation 21. 3), cannot liah's son," in i'. 9, or else they refer to some older prophecy of Isaiah, or of Amos (as the Jewish writers represent), pnrentlietically ; to which, in v. 8, the words "If ye will jiot believe . . . not be established," correspond in parallelism. One deportation of Israel happened within one or two years from this time, under Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings
15. 29). Another in the reign of Hoshea, under Slialmaneser(2 Kings 17. l-fi), was about twenty years after. But the final one which utterly "broke" up Israel so as to be "not a people," accompanied by a colonization of Samaria with foreigners, was under Esar-haddon, who carried away Manasseh, king of Judah, also, in the twenty-second year of his reign, sixty-five years from the utterance of this prophecy (cf. Ezra 4.2,3,10, with 2 Kings 17. 21; 2 Chronicles 33. 11). [Usher.] The event, though so far off, was enough to assure the people of Judah that as God, the Head of the theocracy, would uUimatelj/ interpose to destroy the enemies of His people, so they might rely on Him now. 9. believe, ... be established—There is a paronomasia, or play on the words, in the Hebrew, "if ye will not confide, ye shall not abide." Ahaz brought distress on himself by distrust In the Lord, and trust in Assyria. 11. Ask thee— since thou dost not credit the prophet's words, sign—a miraculous token to assure thee that God will fulfil His promise of saving Jerusalem (ch.
'in a strict sense apply to Isaiah's son, but only to Him who is presently called expressly (ch. 9. 6), " the Child, the Son, Wonderful (cf. ch. 8. 18), the mighty Ood." Local and temporary features (as v. 15, 16) are added in every type; otherwise it would be no type, but the thing itself. There are resemblances to the great Antitype sufficient to be recognized by those who seek them; dissimilarities enough to confound those who do not desire to discover them, call i. e., she shall, or as Margin, thou, O Virgin, Shalt call; mothers often named their children (Genesis 4.
1,25; 19.37; 29.32). In Matthew 1. 23 the expression is strikingly changed into, "They shall call;" when the prophecy received its full accomplishment, no longer is the name Immanuel restricted to the prophetess' view of His character, as in its partial fulfilment in her son; all sliall then call (i. e., not literally), or regard Him as peculiarly and most filly characterized by the descriptive name, "Immanuel" (1 Timothy 3. 16; Colossians 2. 9). name—not mere appellation, which neither Isaiah's son nor Jesus Christ bore literally ; but what describes His manifested attributes; His character (so ch. 9. 6). The name in its proper destination was not arbitrary, but characteristic of the individual; sin destroyed the faculty of perceiving the internal being; hence the severance now between the name and the character; in the case of Jesus Christ and many in Scripture, the Holy Ghost has supplied this want. [Olshausen.] 15. Butter—rather, Curdled milk, the acid of which is grateful in the heat of the East (Job
37. 30; •'>S.7, 8). "Signs," facts then present or near at hand as pledges for the more distant future, are frequent in
Isaiali. Ask . . . in . . . depth lit., ifake deep, ask ii, i.e.. Go to the depth of the earth or of Hades [Vulgate and LoWTH], or. Mount high for it (lit., Make high). So in Matthew 16. 1. Signs in heaven are contrasted with the signs on eartli and below it (raising the dead) which Jesus Christ had wrought (cf. Romans 10. 6, 7). He oflfers Ahaz the widest limits within which to make his choice. 13. neither . . . tempt—hypocritical pretext of keeping the law (Deuteronomy 6. 16); " tempt," i. e., put God to the proof, as In Matthew 4.'7, bj' seeking His miraculous interposition without warrant. But here there was the warrant of the prophet of God; to have asked a sign, when thus offered, would not have been a tempting of God. Ahaz's true reason for declining was his resolve not to do God's will, but to negotiate with Assyria, and persevere in his idolatry (2 Kings 16. 7, 8, 3, 4, 10). Men often excuse their distrust in God, and trust in their own devices, hy professed reverence for God. Ahaz may have fancied that though Jehovah was the God of Judea and could work a sign there, that was no proof that the local god of Syria might not be more powerful. Such was the common heathen notion
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. [Barnab. Ep.] HORSI.EY takes this as implying the real humanity of the Immanuel Jesus Christ, about to be fed as other infants (Luke 2. 52). Ver. 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.J that He may know—rather, until He shall know, evil . . . choose . . . good—at about three years of age moral consciousness begins (cf. ch. 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 (v. 14, 15), shall last only till the child grows to know good and evil; for, &o. the land that . . . ablior> rest . . . forsaken of . . . kings—rather, desolate shall be the land, before whose two kings thou art alarmed. [Hengstenberg and Gesenius.] the land—viz., 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 (lit., 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.
(ch. 10. 10, 11 ; 36. 18-20). 13. Is it a small thing t—Is it not enough for you (Numbers 16. 9)? Theallusion to "David " is in order to contrast his trust in God with his degenerate descendant Ahaz's distrust, weary—try the patience of. men—prophets. Isaiah as yet had given no outward proof tliat he was from God ; but now God has offered a sign, wliich Ahaz publicly rejects. The sin is therefore wo Jtinot merely against " men," butopenly against "God." Isaiali's manner tlierefore changes from mildness to bold reproof. 14. himself— since thou wilt not ask a sign, nay, rcjectest tlie offer of one. you— for the sake of the house of believing " David " (God remembering His everlasting covenant with David), not for unbelieving Ahaz's sake, behold—arresting attention to the extraordinary pi'ophee.v. virgin—from a root, to lie hid, virgins being closely kept from men's gaze in their parents' custody in the East. The Hebrew, and LXX. here, and Greek (Matthew 1.2:^), have the article, the virgin, some definite one known to the speaker and his hearers; primarily, the woman, then a virgin, about immediately to liecome the second wife, and bear a child, whose attainment of the age of discrimination (about three years) should be preceded by the deliverance of Judah from its two invaders;
17-25. Fatal Consequences of Ahaz's Assyrian Policy. Though temporary deliverance (ch. 7. 16; 8.4) was to be given then, and final deliverance through Messiah, sore punishment shall follow the former. Alter subduing Syria and Israel, the Assyrians shall encountei Egypt (2 Kings 23.29), and Judah shall be the battle-field of both (v. 18), and be made tributary to that very Assyria (2 Chronicles 28. 20 ; 2 Kings 16. 7, 8) now about to be called 1«
Its fullest significancy is realized in "the woman" (Gene-