Difference between revisions of "Isa 7:1-9"

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Questions

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

On Isaiah 7-12

These six chapters ultimately must be considered together. They are all grounded in a single historical situation: the Syro-Ephraimite war. Isaiah characteristically outstrips this historical situation in a rather radical manner, but it must be admitted that this outstripped historical situation is what ties the many themes of this lengthy prophecy together. Of utmost significance (on a number of accounts) in this six-chapter prophecy is the introduced theme of "the remnant." The theme is almost universal among the Old Testament prophets, but the theme takes on a sort of absolute character in this prophecy of Isaiah (as it does parallelistically in the writings of Micah--a contemporary of Isaiah: it is certainly of interest that Isaiah and Micah are the two prophets taken up into the Book of Mormon discussions of the "remnant"). In the end, it appears as if any approach to the subject of the "remnant" must begin with a careful investigation here in Isaiah 7-12 and, as a parallel task, in Micah 4-5. To lay the groundwork of an approach to these six chapters, it is important to understand the historical situation out of which the prophecy arose, as it might well be helpful to lay out the broad structure of these six chapters.

The Holman Bible Atlas has a decent summary of the Syro-Ephraimite War: "Anti-Assyrian sentiment flared again, apparently fanned by Rezin, king of Damascus. Rezin organized an anti-Assyrian coalition that included Peka of Israel, certain Philistine city-states, and perhaps Edom. Judah, first under Jotham and then Ahaz, refused to join the coalition even int he face of military pressure. Damascus and Israel besieged Jerusalem (the "Syro-Ephraimite War") in 735 B.C. with the intent of replacing Ahaz with a king willing to join the coalition (2 Kgs 16:5; Isa 7:1-14). Ahaz, an Assyrian vassal, appealed to Tiglath-pileser for help, resulting in a three-pronged Assyrian attack against the coalition. In 734 B.C. Tiglath-pileser campaigned along the Mediterranean coast as far south as Gaza. This move punished the rebellious Philistine states and checked any support Egypt might give to the coalition. Then in 733 B.C. the Assyrian armies marched against Israel, moving down the Huleh Basin taking key cities and fortifying the northern approaches: Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor (2 Kgs 15:29). Assyrian forces ranged throughout Israel taking many captives for deportation. About 80 percent of Israel was divided into four new Assyrian provinces (Dor, Megiddo, Gilead, and Karnaim). Pekah was killed by Hoshea, who subsequently became king of a much-reduced Israel centered on Samaria. In 732 B.C. Tiglath-pileser attacked Damascus and converted the conquered kingdom to an Assyrian province. These campaigns greatly reduced Israel and plunged Judah deeper into Assyrian bondage (2 Kgs 16:10-19; 2 Chr 28)" (this is from the text accompanying maps 67 and 68).

As to the structure of the passage:

Related links

• The Holman Bible Atlas ([ISBN 1558197095]), mentioned in the exegesis above, has a very helpful summary (with maps, of course) of the Syro-Ephraimite war.