1 And it came to passe in the dayes of Ahaz the sonne of Iotham, the sonne of Uzziah king of Iudah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah, the sonne of Remaliah king of Israel, went vp towards Ierusalem to warre against it, but could not preuaile against it.
2 And it was told the house of Dauid, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim: and his heart was moued, and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are mooued with the wind.
3 Then sayd the Lord vnto Isaiah; Goe forth now to meete Ahaz, thou, & Shear-iashub thy sonne, at the end of the conduit of the vpper poole in the high way of the fullers field.
4 And say vnto him; Take heede and be quiet: feare not, neither be faint hearted for the two tailes of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the sonne of Remaliah.
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the sonne of Remaliah haue taken euill counsell against thee, saying;
6 Let vs goe vp against Iudah and vexe it, and let vs make a breach therein for vs, and set a king in the midst of it, euen the sonne of Tabeal.
7 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall not stand, neither shall it come to passe.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and within threescore and fiue yeeres shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne: if yee will not beleeue, surely yee shall not be established.
10 ¶ Moreouer the Lord spake againe vnto Ahaz, saying;
11 Aske thee a signe of the Lord thy God; aske it either in the depth, or in the height aboue.
12 But Ahaz sayd, I will not aske, neither will I tempt the Lord.
13 And he sayd; Heare yee now, O house of Dauid; Is it a small thing for you to wearie men, but will yee wearie my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himselfe shal giue you a signe: Behold, a Uirgine shall conceiue and beare a Sonne, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and hony shall he eat, that hee may know to refuse the euill, and choose the good.
16 For before the childe shall know to refuse the euill and choose the good; the land that thou abhorrest, shalbe forsaken of both her kings.
17 ¶ The Lord shall bring vpon thee and vpon thy people, and vpon thy fathers house, dayes that haue not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Iudah; euen the King of Assyria.
18 And it shall come to passe in that day, that the Lord shall hisse for the flie, that is in the vttermost part of the riuers of Egypt, and for the Bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rockes, and vpon all thornes, and vpon all bushes.
20 In the same day shall the Lord shaue with a rasor that is hired, namely by them beyond the riuer, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the haire of the feet: and it shal also consume the beard.
21 And it shall come to passe in that day, that a man shal nourish a yong cow and two sheepe.
22 And it shall come to passe, for the abundance of milke that they shall giue, he shal eate butter: for butter and hony shall euery one eate, that is left in the land.
23 And it shall come to passe in that day, that euery place shalbe, where there were a thousand Uines at a thousand siluerlings, it shall euen be for briers and thornes.
24 With arrowes and with bowes shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briars and thornes.
25 And on all hilles that shalbe digged with the mattocke, there shall not come thither the feare of briars and thornes: but it shall bee for the sending foorth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattell.
Ahaz threatened by Israel and Syria; and is assured their attack would be in vain. (1-9) God gives a sure sign by the promise of the long-expected Messiah. (10-16) The folly and sin of seeking relief from Assyria are reproved. (17-25)1-9 Ungodly men are often punished by others as bad as themselves. Being in great distress and confusion, the Jews gave up all for lost. They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their friend. The prophet must teach them to despise their enemies, in faith and dependence on God. Ahaz, in fear, called them two powerful princes. No, says the prophet, they are but tails of smoking firebrands, burnt out already. The two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were nearly expiring. While God has work for the firebrands of the earth, they consume all before them; but when their work is fulfilled, they will be extinguished in smoke. That which Ahaz thought most formidable, is made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil counsel against thee; which is an offence to God. God scorns the scorners, and gives his word that the attempt should not succeed. Man purposes, but God disposes. It was folly for those to be trying to ruin their neighbours, who were themselves near to ruin. Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely on the assurances given them. Faith is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose the mind in trials.
10-16 Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great soever your distress and danger, of you the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you. It shall be brought to pass in a glorious manner; and the strongest consolations in time of trouble are derived from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, our expectations of him and from him. He would grow up like other children, by the use of the diet of those countries; but he would, unlike other children, uniformly refuse the evil and choose the good. And although his birth would be by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he should not be fed with angels' food. Then follows a sign of the speedy destruction of the princes, now a terror to Judah. "Before this child," so it may be read; "this child which I have now in my arms," (Shear-jashub, the prophet's own son, ver. #3|,) shall be three or four years older, these enemies' forces shall be forsaken of both their kings. The prophecy is so solemn, the sign is so marked, as given by God himself after Ahaz rejected the offer, that it must have raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion suggested. And, if the prospect of the coming of the Divine Saviour was a never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers, what cause have we to be thankful that the Word was made flesh! May we trust in and love Him, and copy his example.
17-25 Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who neglect the great salvation. If we remain unfruitful under the means of grace, the Lord will say, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.