Isaiah 7:18-25

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 7:17-25

After the comfortable promises made to Ahaz as a branch of the house of David, here follow terrible threatenings against him, as a degenerate branch of that house; for though the loving-kindness of God shall not be utterly taken away, for the sake of David and the covenant made with him, yet his iniquity shall be chastened with the rod, and his sin with stripes. Let those that will not mix faith with the promises of God expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings. I. The judgment threatened... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:18

And it shall come to pass in that day ,.... the time when those evil days before spoken of should take place: that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt ; or flies, as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it; the Egyptians, so called because their country abounded with flies; and because of the multitude of their armies, and the swiftness of their march; this seems to have had its accomplishment when Pharaohnechoh king of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:19

And they shall come ,.... The Egyptian and Assyrian armies, when the Lord calls for them in his providence, and his time is come to make use of them as a scourge to his people: and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys : made so by war; this is said in allusion to flies and bees resting on trees and flowers; and signifies that these armies, after long and tedious marches, should all of them, without being diminished by the way, enter the land of Judea, fill all places, and take... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:20

In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired ,.... Meaning the Assyrian monarch, whom he would use as an instrument in his hand to spoil and cut off the people of the Jews; who is compared to a "razor" for sharpness; and for the thorough work, and utter ruin and destruction, he should be the means of; and called a "hired" one, either in reference to the present Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria, by which he prevailed upon him to come and help him against the kings of Syria... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:21

And it shall come to pass in that day ,.... Not in the days of Hezekiah, after the destruction of Sennacherib's army, when there followed great fruitfulness and plenty, Isaiah 37:30 as Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it; but in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, after the destruction of Jerusalem, when some poor men were left in the land to till it, Jeremiah 39:10 for of these, and not of rich men, are the following words to be understood: that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:22

And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give ,.... The cow and the two sheep, having large pastures, and few cattle to feed upon them, those few would give such abundance of milk, that the owner of them would make butter of it, and live upon it, having no occasion to eat milk; and there being few or none to sell it to: he shall eat butter ; the milk producing a sufficient quantity of it for himself and his family: for butter and honey shall everyone eat... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:23

And it shall come to pass in that day; that every place shall be ,.... Barren and unfruitful, for want of men to till the ground: where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings ; which were so good, as to be sold or let out for so many silver shekels F13 Which was about two shillings and sixpence of our money. ; or the fruit of them came to such a price; see Song of Solomon 8:11 , it shall even be for briers and thorns ; for want of persons to stock the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:24

With arrows and with bows shall men come thither ,.... For fear of wild beasts, serpents, and scorpions, as Jarchi; or in order to hunt them, as others; or because of thieves and robbers, as Aben Ezra: because all the land shall become briers and thorns ; among which such creatures, and such sort of men, would hide themselves. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 7:25

And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock ,.... Which could not be ploughed with a plough, but used to be dug with a mattock or spade, and then sowed with corn: there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns ; where thorns and briers used not to grow, and where there was no fear or danger of being overrun with them, as the vineyards in the valleys and champaign country; yet those places should become desolate in another way; or rather, there shall be now no... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 7:18

Hiss for the fly "Hist the fly" - See note on Isaiah 5:26 . Egypt, and - Assyria - Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Pharaoh-necho, and Nebuchadnezzar, who one after another desolated Judea. read more

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