Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Isaiah 7

Isa 7:2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

Ephraim

In the prophetic books "Ephraim" and "Israel" are the collective names of the ten tribes who, under Jeroboam, established the northern kingdom, subsequently called Samaria (1Ki 16:24), and were (B.C. 722) sent into an exile which still continues (2Ki 17:1-6). They are distinguished as "the outcasts of Israel" from "the dispersed of Judah" (Isa 11:12). "Hidden" in the world (Mat 13:44) they, with Judah, are yet to be restored to Palestine and made one nation again (Jer 23:5-8; Eze 37:11-24).

Isa 7:3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;

Shearjashub

Meaning, a remnant shall return. Cf. Isa 8:3.

Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

tempt

Temptation. Mal 3:15. (Gen 3:1; Jas 1:2.)

Isa 7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

house of David

The prophecy is not addressed to the faithless Ahaz, but to the whole "house of David." The objection that such a far-off event as the birth of Christ could be no "sign" to Ahaz, is, therefore, puerile. It was a continuing prophecy addressed to the Davidic family, and accounts at once for the instant assent of Mary (Luk 1:38).

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

a virgin shall conceive

Mat 1:23.

bear a son

Christ (First Advent). Isa 9:6. (Gen 3:15; Acts 1:9.)

call his name

Kingdom (O.T.). Isa 9:6, 7. (Gen 1:26; Zec 12:8).

Immanuel

i.e. God with us.

Isa 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Butter and honey

Indicating the plainness and simplicity of the life in which the young Immanuel should be brought up.

Isa 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

The LORD shall bring upon thee

2Ch 28:19.

Ephraim departed from Judah

1Ki 12:16.

Isa 7:19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.

in the holes of the rocks

Isa 2:19; Jer 16:16.

Isa 7:20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

shave with a razor that is hired

2Ki 16:7, 8; 2Ch 28:20, 21; see Eze 5:1.