Isaiah 7:3-9

7:3 So the Lord told Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub ¹  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. ²  7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ³  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ⁴  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ⁵  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. ⁶  7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ⁷  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ⁸  7:7 For this reason the sovereign master, ⁹  the Lord, says:

“It will not take place;

it will not happen.

7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,

and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation. ¹⁰ 

7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,

and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.

If your faith does not remain firm,

then you will not remain secure.” ¹¹ 

[7:3]  ¹ 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.

[7:3]  ² tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “the Washerman’s Field.”

[7:4]  ³ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

[7:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

[7:4]  ⁵ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

[7:5]  ⁵ 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.

[7:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

[7:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

[7:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 14, 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”

[7:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, ta’aminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, te’amenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.