Isaiah 7:16

7:16 Here is why this will be so: ¹  Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land ²  whose two kings you fear will be desolate. ³ 

Isaiah 8:4

8:4 for before the child knows how to cry out, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria ⁴  will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” ⁵ 

Isaiah 29:12

29:12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read ⁶  and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” ⁷ 

Isaiah 42:25

42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,

along with the devastation ⁸  of war.

Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; ⁹ 

it burned against them, but they did notice. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 59:8

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ¹¹ 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ¹² 

¹ tn Heb “for, because.” The particle introduces the entire following context (vv. 16-25), which explains why Immanuel will be an appropriate name for the child, why he will eat sour milk and honey, and why experiencing such a diet will contribute to his moral development.

² sn Since “two kings” are referred to later in the verse, the “land” must here refer to Syria-Israel.

³ tn Heb “the land will be abandoned, which you fear because of its two kings.” After the verb קוּץ (quts, “loathe, dread”) the phrase מִפְּנֵי (mipney, “from before”) introduces the cause of loathing/dread (see Gen 27:46; Exod 1:12; Num 22:3).

⁴ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

⁵ sn The child’s name foreshadows what will happen to Judah’s enemies; when their defeat takes place, the child will be a reminder that God predicted the event and brought it to pass. As such the child will be a reminder of God’s protective presence with his people.

⁷ tn Heb “and if the scroll is handed to one who does not know a scroll.”

⁸ tn Heb “I do not know a scroll.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.

¹² tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”

¹³ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”