✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Isaías 7

ARC · Chapter 7/66

1Succedeu pois nos dias de Achaz, filho de Jothão, filho d'Uzias, rei de Judah, que Resin, rei da Syria, e Peka, filho de Remalias, rei d'Israel, subiram a Jerusalem, para pelejar contra ella, porém, pelejando, nada poderam contra ella.

2E deram aviso á casa de David, dizendo: A Syria repousa sobre Ephraim. Então se commoveu o seu coração, e o coração do seu povo, como se commovem as arvores do bosque com o vento

3Então disse o Senhor a Isaias: Agora tu e teu filho Sear-jasub sahi ao encontro de Achaz, ao fim do canal do viveiro superior, ao caminho do campo do lavandeiro.

4E dize-lhe: Guarda-te, e está descançado, não temas, nem se desanime o teu coração por causa d'estes dois rabos de tições fumegantes, por causa do ardor da ira de Resin, e da Syria, e do filho de Remalias.

5Porquanto a Syria teve contra ti maligno conselho, com Ephraim, e com o filho de Remalias, dizendo:

6Vamos subir contra Judah, e despertemol-o, e repartamol-o entre nós, e façamos reinar no meio d'elle como rei o filho de Tabeal.

7Assim diz o Senhor Deus: Isto não subsistirá, nem tão pouco acontecerá.

8Porém o cabeça da Syria será Damasco, e o cabeça de Damasco Resin: e dentro de sessenta e cinco annos Ephraim será quebrantado, e deixará de ser povo.

9Entretanto o cabeça de Ephraim será Samaria, e o cabeça de Samaria o filho de Remalias: se o não crerdes, devéras não ficareis firmes.

10E continuou o Senhor a fallar com Achaz, dizendo:

11Pede para ti ao Senhor teu Deus um signal; pede-o ou em baixo nas profundezas ou em cima nas alturas.

12Porém disse Achaz: Não o pedirei, nem tentarei ao Senhor.

13Então disse: Ouvi agora, ó casa de David: Pouco vos é afadigardes os homens, senão que ainda afadigareis tambem ao meu Deus?

14Portanto o mesmo Senhor vos dará um signal: Eis que a virgem conceberá, e parirá um filho, e chamará o seu nome Emmanuel.

15Manteiga e mel comerá, até que elle saiba rejeitar o mal e escolher o bem.

16Na verdade, antes que este menino saiba rejeitar o mal e escolher o bem, a terra de que te enfadas será desamparada dos seus dois reis.

17Porém o Senhor fará vir sobre ti, e sobre o teu povo, e sobre a casa de teu pae, dias taes, quaes nunca vieram, desde o dia em que Ephraim se desviou de Judah, pelo rei d'Assyria.

18Porque ha de acontecer que n'aquelle dia assobiará o Senhor ás moscas, que ha no extremo dos rios do Egypto, e ás abelhas que andam na terra da Assyria;

19E virão, e pousarão todas nos valles desertos e nas fendas das penhas, e em todos os espinhos e em todas as florestas.

20N'aquelle dia rapará o Senhor com uma navalha alugada, que está d'além do rio, com o rei da Assyria, a cabeça e os cabellos dos pés: e até a barba totalmente tirará.

21E succederá n'aquelle dia que alguem creará uma vacca e duas ovelhas:

22E acontecerá que por causa da abundancia do leite que lhe derem comerá manteiga; e manteiga e mel comerá todo aquelle que ficar de resto no meio da terra.

23Succederá tambem n'aquelle dia que todo o logar, em que houver mil vides, do valor de mil moedas de prata, será para as sarças e para os espinheiros.

24Com arco e frechas se entrará n'elle, porque toda a terra será sarças e espinheiros.

25E tambem todos os montes, que costumam cavar com enxadas, se não irá a elles por causa do temor das sarças e dos espinheiros, porém servirão para enviarem ali bois e serem pisados do gado miudo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Facing the threat of invasion from Syria and Israel (the northern kingdom), God sends Isaiah to reassure King Ahaz of Judah. When Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign, God gives one anyway: a young woman will conceive a son named Immanuel ('God with us').

Explanation

Around 734 BC, Judah was under pressure from an alliance between Syria (Rezin) and Israel (Pekah), who wanted to force Ahaz to join them against Assyria. Isaiah assures him that this threat will fail, and in its immediate context the sign of 'Immanuel' would be a child whose growth would mark the time until the defeat of these two kings. Centuries later, the Gospel of Matthew (1:23) applies this prophecy to Jesus, reading in it a deeper messianic meaning. The practical lesson is that trusting God — rather than political alliances or panic — is the path to true security in a crisis.

Fun facts

  • The Hebrew word translated 'virgin' (almah) can mean either 'young woman' or 'virgin'; this ambiguity has fueled centuries of debate between Jewish and Christian scholars over the full scope of the prophecy.
  • The name 'Immanuel' (God with us) reappears in the New Testament as one of the most beloved titles of Jesus, especially in Christmas contexts.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 7:1This is the background of the Syro-Ephraimite war: around 734 BC, Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, the northern kingdom called here Ephraim, join forces to attack Judah and force King Ahaz into an alliance against Assyria. It is amid this panic that Isaiah goes to meet Ahaz.
  2. Isaías 7:2The news that Syria has allied with Ephraim, the northern kingdom, reaches the "house of David," King Ahaz, and his heart and the people's heart shake like trees stirred by the wind—describing the panic before the combined military threat.
  3. Isaías 7:3Shear-jashub is the name of Isaiah's son, and in Hebrew it means something like a remnant shall return. Isaiah brings his own son to the meeting with Ahaz as a living sign: the child's name is already a prophetic message walking alongside the prophet.
  4. Isaías 7:4God tells Isaiah to reassure Ahaz: the two enemy kings are compared to "smoking firebrands," nearly burned-out pieces of wood, even though they seem threatening in the moment—a sign that the danger is only temporary.
  5. Isaías 7:5It explains the enemies' plan: Syria, together with Ephraim, plotted "evil counsel" against Judah, detailed in the next verse.
  6. Isaías 7:6The plan was to invade Judah, divide the territory, and put a certain "son of Tabeal" on the throne in place of Ahaz—likely a puppet ruler favorable to the alliance against Assyria.
  7. Isaías 7:7God's direct answer to the enemies' plan: this will not happen, it will not even stand—the guarantee that the conspiracy against Judah will fail.
  8. Isaías 7:8It explains the enemies' hierarchy (Damascus leads Syria, Rezin leads Damascus) and gives a specific deadline: in sixty-five years Ephraim will cease to exist as a people.
  9. Isaías 7:9The same structure applies to the other side (Samaria leads Ephraim, the son of Remaliah leads Samaria), ending with a warning: if they do not "believe," they will not be "established"—a wordplay in Hebrew between the two terms.
  10. Isaías 7:10A simple narrative transition: God continues speaking to Ahaz, preparing to offer the sign that comes next.
  11. Isaías 7:11God invites Ahaz to ask for a sign, of any size, from the depths to the heights above—a generous offer to confirm the promise, rarely given so openly.
  12. Isaías 7:12Ahaz refuses, claiming piety ("I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD"), but the text suggests it is a lack of faith disguised as reverence—he had already decided to trust Assyria instead of God.
  13. Isaías 7:13Isaiah answers with irritation: wearying men was not enough, now Ahaz wearies God too with his disguised refusal—this introduces the sign God will give anyway, even without being asked.
  14. Isaías 7:14The Hebrew word translated here as virgin can also simply mean young woman, and the ancient Greek translation chose a more specific term centuries later. Traditions read this sign in different ways. In its immediate context, it refers to a child who will be born within a few years, before Ahaz sees his two enemies fall.
  15. Isaías 7:15Butter (or curds) and honey were the kind of simple food available when the region's farmland lies in ruin. All that is left is what animals produce on their own—not a sign of plenty, but a sign of land impoverished by war.
  16. Isaías 7:16It completes the promise from verses 14-15: before this child even knows to tell right from wrong, the two kings threatening Ahaz will already have been defeated—a short timeline, within the same generation.
  17. Isaías 7:17But the good news comes with a warning: days worse than any since the kingdom split will come upon Judah—brought, of all things, by the king of Assyria, the very power Ahaz was seeking help from.
  18. Isaías 7:18Flies from Egypt and bees from Assyria are summoned by a whistle from God—an image of foreign armies invading like swarms, drawn in like insects to a target.
  19. Isaías 7:19The image continues: these swarms will spread through valleys, clefts of rocks, thornbushes, and forests—covering every corner of the territory, no place left untouched by the invasion.
  20. Isaías 7:20A king shaving the head, legs, and even the beard of an entire people with a hired razor is an image of total humiliation, since shaving off the beard was one of the greatest public disgraces in the ancient world. Here this barber hired by God is the king of Assyria himself, used as an instrument of punishment against Judah.
  21. Isaías 7:21After the devastation, a poor scene remains: someone manages to raise only one cow and two sheep—very little, a sign of an economy wrecked by war.
  22. Isaías 7:22Even with so little livestock, the milk still yields butter—the same simple food from verse 15, survival food, not abundance, for whoever remains in the land.
  23. Isaías 7:23It describes land that was once worth a great deal, with a thousand vines valued at a thousand pieces of silver, turning into pure thornbushes—an image of agricultural wealth completely lost.
  24. Isaías 7:24People will have to enter these fields armed with bow and arrow, like someone hunting in wild country, because everything has become dense thicket.
  25. Isaías 7:25Even the hills once cultivated with the hoe are abandoned for fear of the thorns, now serving only to let oxen and sheep roam freely—cultivated farmland turned into wild pasture.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play