Isaiah 7:1-6

Ahaz Receives a Sign

7:1 During ¹  the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel marched up to Jerusalem ²  to do battle, but they were unable to prevail against it. ³ 

7:2 It was reported to the family ⁴  of David, “Syria has allied with ⁵  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ⁶  7:3 So the Lord told Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub ⁷  and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ⁸  7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ⁹  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ¹⁰  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ¹¹  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 7:5 Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ¹²  7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ¹³  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 3:18

3:18 At that time ¹⁵  the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. ¹⁶  Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ” ¹⁷ 

Ezekiel 37:16-24

37:16 “As for you, son of man, take one branch, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 37:17 Join ¹⁸  them as one stick; ¹⁹  they will be as one in your hand. 37:18 When your people ²⁰  say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’ 37:19 tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, ²¹  and make them into one stick – they will be one in my hand.’ ²²  37:20 The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. 37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ²³  37:23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness ²⁴  by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become their God.

37:24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow ²⁵  my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. ²⁶ 

Hosea 1:11

1:11 Then the people ²⁷  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ²⁸  and will flourish in the land. ²⁹  Certainly, ³⁰  the day of Jezreel will be great!

¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Or perhaps, “but they were unable to attack it.” This statement sounds like a summary of the whole campaign. The following context explains why they were unable to defeat the southern kingdom. The parallel passage (2 Kgs 16:5; cf. Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9 for a similar construction) affirms that Syria and Israel besieged Ahaz. Consequently, the statement that “they were not able to battle against them” must refer to the inability to conquer Ahaz.

⁴ tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.

⁵ tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”

⁶ tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.

⁷ tn The name means “a remnant will return.” Perhaps in this context, where the Lord is trying to encourage Ahaz, the name suggests that only a few of the enemy invaders will return home; the rest will be defeated.

⁸ tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “the Washerman’s Field.”

⁹ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

¹¹ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

¹² tn This sentence opens with the conjunction יַעַן כִּי (ya’an ki, “because”). Consequently some take vv. 5-6 with what precedes, as another reason why Ahaz might be tempted to fear (see v. 4). However, it is more likely that vv. 5-6 give the basis for the Lord’s announcement in vv. 7-9. The conjunction יַעַן כִּי here introduces the basis for judgment (as in 3:16; 8:6; 29:13), which is then followed by the formal announcement of judgment.

¹³ tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “In those days.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “bring near.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “one to one for you for one stick.”

²⁰ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

²¹ tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”

²² sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.

²³ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

²⁴ tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.

²⁵ tn Heb “walk [in].”

²⁶ tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”

²⁷ tn Heb “sons” (twice in this verse, so NASB); KJV, ASV “children”; NIV, NRSV, TEV “people.”

²⁸ tn Heb “head” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

²⁹ tn Alternatively, “gain possession of the land” (cf. NRSV) or “rise up from the land” (cf. NIV). This clause may be understood in two ways: (1) Israel will gain ascendancy over the land or conquer the land (e.g., Exod 1:10; cf. NAB “come up from other lands”) or (2) Israel will be “planted” in the land (Hos 2:24-25; cf. NLT “will…plant his people”).

³⁰ tn Or “For” (so NASB); NCV “because”; TEV “Yes.”