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

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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 Syro-Ephraimite War was rather a simple event, but it sets the stage for the revelations contained in these six chapters. As an attempt to ward off the mounting threat of Assyria's vast power, the king of Syria (Rezin) set up a coalition of several small states, including king Pekah of the Northern Kingdom. The two appealed to Ahaz in Jerusalem to join the coalition, but he refused and Syria and Israel declared war against Judah. Chapter 7 here opens with this announcement of attack, and Ahaz's "heart was moved" (with fear) according to verse 2 of this chapter. Isaiah's prophecy amounts to a major political complication: he tells Ahaz not even to worry, but Ahaz does not at all listen and instead sets up a coalition with Assyria against the Syro-Ephraimite power, for which Isaiah tells Ahaz that Assyria will come through Judah in great destruction. The result of the Syro-Ephraimite War was the foundation of the fall of the Northern Kingdom (by the time Assyria was through with Israel, only Samaria stood as an outpost for the nation), and Judah began to recognize the problems implied by the political compromise with Assyria. Isaiah's six-chapter revelation explores much of this situation, especially the eventualities of the Assyrian power. For Ahaz, the revelation must have been overwhelming (if he paid much attention to it), since it prophesied of the rise of a new Judahite king and his incredible power against Assyria. The details, of course, will be worked out in the commentary for the following six chapters.

As to the structure of these six chapters, it obviously hangs on the historical events related in the last paragraph:

  7:1-9 Isaiah is sent to comfort Ahaz (with the first of Isaiah's sons, Shear-jashub: "the remnant shall return")
  7:10-16 Isaiah gives Ahaz a sign (second of Isaiah's sons)
  7:17-25 Isaiah tells Ahaz that Assyria will begin to subjugate Judah as well as Israel
  8:1-4 Isaiah speaks of a second sign (third of Isaiah's sons)
  8:5-8 Assyria's attack is described
  8:9-22 Isaiah describes the split between those who respond politically and those who respond prophetically
  9:1-7 Isaiah predicts the birth of Hezekiah
  9:8-10:4 Isaiah prophesies the fall of the Northern Kingdom
  10:5-14 The king of Assyria decides to conquer Judah as well
  10:15-19 The Lord responds with fury against Assyria
  10:20-23 The remnant of Israel is to return
  10:24-34 Isaiah watches Assyria's conquest in vision as he tells Judah to be comforted
  11:1-16 A saving king emerges among the remnant, and a utopian era begins (compare Isa 6:13)
  12:1-6 The prophecy ends with a hymn of praise to the Lord

With these broad considerations, the details might be severally considered.

Verse 1

The revelation begins, quite explicitly, with a historical context, one reported in a rather narrative fashion. The situation is detailed above in the broad historical description of the Syro-Ephraimite War. All that might be necessary to note here in addition is that this verse provides a rather broad summary of the whole event, while the revelation itself was received early on during the event. In other words, it is obvious that this first verse was written after the event had come to a conclusion. This is signaled in the final phrase, "but could not prevail against it." The revelation itself could only have been given before this point had been decided. Hence, it is clear that one of two things happened with this first verse: either Isaiah wrote the revelation down, and a later editor (perhaps Isaiah himself as editor) added the first verse to the record, or the whole revelation was written down only subsequent to the wrapping up of the event. The latter seems more likely, perhaps, simply because of how beautifully the prose flows right into the revelatory experience, but the question must remain undecided.

Verse 2

The writing here is top-notch, beautifully written. The house of David (meaning, of course, the king) finds out that Syria and Ephraim have joined forces and are attempting to come after Judah. The king and the people are disturbed by the information: their "heart was moved..., as the trees of th wood are moved with the wind." The verb employed for "move" here means to wave or to shake. Great fear is implied.

Verse 3

Isaiah's call to enter the situation is set, narratively, against the fear of the king and the people. The very placement suggests a sort of fearless prophet, one called to stand firm while all the rest are shaking and waving in the wind. The unquestioning reference to Isaiah (written with the presupposition that any reader is aware of him) is another beautiful narrative move: if the text was written before its inclusion in the "book" of Isaiah, the narrative introduces Isaiah without introduction, presents him as the prophetic figure everyone is supposed to know, like Merlin's appearances in Arthurian legends. This is especially emphasized in the text by the fact that Ahaz, the king (!), requires a genealogy to make sure that the reader knows who is being talked about, while the prophet simply walks right into the story without any such contextualization: Isaiah comes, as it were, absolutely, without ties, without lineage, without a word, and perhaps precisely for these reasons, with power.

Isaiah is told specifically to "meet" Ahaz. This differs from other similar prophetic experiences. Whereas the prophet is usually sent to the king in his quarters, Isaiah is to meet the king on the way. This amounts quite clearly to a sort of relativization of the king, a humbling of the king. Rather than having the prophet appear to the king as a subject, the two are to meet quite simply on the road, on "the highway of the fuller's field," the homeliest place in Jerusalem: Isaiah is supposed to run into the king at the laundromat. Perhaps emphasizing this point still more, Isaiah is to bring with him his son, "Shear-jashub." But this detail complicates things quite a bit.

That Isaiah is to bring his son with him, and then that he is to prophesy of two more of his sons still to come when he meets the king, is of some major significance, especially because the climax of the prophecy he will speak to Ahaz will be the announcement of the birth of the king's son. These six chapters (7-12) are, in the end, built around the discussion of four sons, three of Isaiah's, and one of Ahaz's. The whole of the oracle begins with the mention of this first son, one already living. The name of the son says it all, as will the commanded names of Isaiah's other two sons (Immanuel and Maher-halal-hash-baz): "Shear-jashub" means either (it is ultimately ambiguous) "a remnant shall return" or "a remnant shall convert." In other words, Isaiah is to bring with him a first oracle: that there is a remnant is not in question, but whether it shall be repenting or whether it shall be returning is the question, and the name is closely tied with the oracle Isaiah will give.

Related links

• The Holman Bible Atlas ([ISBN 1558197095]), has a very helpful summary (with maps, of course) of the Syro-Ephraimite war. See this excerpt, the text accompanying maps 67 & 68.