would exemplify the prediction, calling their chil- dren Immanuel. But perhap.s the 'almah become! definite to the prophets mind just from the cir- cumstances connected with her and the part sh« performs (2S 17"). There is nothin}; in the pas- sage to suggest that the 'almah is ot mean birth or estate ; but the generality of the term is un- favourable to the idea that the wife of the prophet — called ' the prophetess ' 8'^-or the wife of king Ahaz is meant. Neither is there anything in the passage to suggest that tlie 'aliiuih is a personiiica- tion of the house of David or the people of Judah.
The prophecy is to be explained partly from tlia historical circumstances, partly from the circle of thoughts which had filled the jirophet's mind fron the beginning (chs. 1-G), and in the light of which he interpreted the circumstances, and partly from ideas regardin" the house of David that had long formed ]iart of the national faith. It cannot bo altogether without significance that it is ' the house of David' that is addressed and spoken of throughout the chapter.
The historical circumstances were these : In the days of Ahaz the kings of Syria and Ephraim formed an alliance and made war on Judah. The object of the allies was possibly to compel >Iudah to enter into a confederacy against Assyria, and not improbably Egypt had its hand in the game (7"). Ahaz being reluctant, the allies resolved to dethrone the liouse of David and set a tool of their own upon the throne of Judah. Amidst the terror inspired by the alliance (7^), the prophet was bidden go to meet the king and say to him in regard to the purpose of tlie allies, ' It shall not stiand.' He added the solemn warning tliat faith in J" was the condition of deliverance. Shortly after, tlie projihet ollered the corrobora- tion of any sign which the king might ask. This olier Ahaz rejected, putting it away under the pretext that he would not put God to the proof. Roused to passion by the king's unbelief or ob- stinacy, the prophet exclaimed, ' Is it too small a thing for you to weary men, that ye weary my God also ? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.'
The subject may be approached by asking : Of what is Immanuel the sign or corroboration ?
1. Some answer, of the pronii.se, ' It shall not stand' — of the failure of tlie northern coalition, and of the deliverance of Judah from Ephraim and S.\Tia. In this case the sign lies partly in the meaning of the name Immanuel, ' God is with us,' and partly in the time of his birth. His mother and he are no persons in particular — they are any young woman and her son. By the time young women conceive and bear sons they will be calling their children ' God is with us,' in token of Judah's deliverance from Syria and Ephraim : ' Before the child shall know to reject evil and choose good, the land before whose two kings thou fearest shall be depopulated,' v.'^ (Duhm). Thia interpretation is sunple, but difficult to accept.
(1) It requires the excision of \'v."-". For, who- ever Immanuel and his mother .be, they are Judteans, and when it is said that the child shall eat thick milk and honey (v.'^), it is implied that Judah shall be reduced by ^^•ar to a pasture land no more cultivated (v, ='"■•) — a thing in direct con- tradiction to the su])|)osed meaning of the sign.
(2) The sign becomes virtually a duplicate of that of Mahershalal (S'"*), for though .Assyria is not named as the destroyer of Syria and "Ephraim in 7'°, it is admittedly in the prophet's mind. A duplication of the same sign is highly Improbable.
(3) Is it probable or possible that Isaiah should conceive JudEean mothers expressing their thank- fulness for deliverance from Ephraim and Syria by using the name Immanuel ? He has himsell
IiOIA2«'UEL
IMMANUEL
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the utmost contempt for the northern alliance (7''). The danper does not seem to him to lie there (S"). Further, that which will make the northern alliance abortive is the Assyrian invasion, but everj'where in the passage he assumes that the Assyrian will devastate Judah also {''"■ '■" 8'- '). The Assyrian invasion will extend over Israel and Judah in common. Iinmaiiuel cannot be a sign of deliverance from Ephraim and Syria, for the deliverance will be elleoted only througli a cala- mity infinitely greater. (4) Though the sign Urst offered to Ahaz was to be a token of deliverance from the allies (7"- '*), the change of tone on the prophet's part suggests that the sign now given will be of a different sort. It is a mistake to suppose that the sign must be something which Ahaz could see, in corroVjoration of something else. The sign may be just the coming fact, or some aspect of it, as it was said to Moses, 'And this is the sign to thee that I have sent thee : when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain ' (Ex 3'" ; cf. Is 37**).
2. Some regard the sim as lying partly in the meaning of the name Immanuel, and partly in the circumstances of his birth and life; that is, the sign is twofold, first, of deliverance from the northern coalition (Immanuel), and second, of the Assyrian devastation of .Judah ('mUk and honey shall he eat,' vv.'»- "). But, as before, against this is the utter uselessness of gi^ang Ahaz a sign of deliverance from the allies when that deliverance is effected only by the complete desolation of his own country at the same time.