Isaías 7

VBL · Chapter 7/66

1Fue durante el reinado de Acaz hijo de Jotam, hijo de Uzías, rey de Judá, cuando Rezín, rey de Harán, marchó para atacar Jerusalén. Pecaj, hijo de Remalías, rey de Israel, se unió al ataque, pero no pudieron conquistar la ciudad.

2Cuando la familia real de Judá fue informada, “Harán y Efraín tienen una alianza”, Acaz y su pueblo se aterrorizaron y se estremecieron como árboles en el bosque sacudidos por el viento.

3Entonces el Señor dijo a Isaías: “Toma a tu hijo Sear-Jasub contigo y ve al encuentro de Acaz. Estará al final del acueducto del estanque superior, junto al camino del campo de lavado.

4Dile que se calme y se calle. No tengas miedo ni te asustes por un par de trozos de leña que arden, por la ira ardiente de Rezín y Harán, y del hijo de Remalías.

5Harán ha conspirado para destruirte junto con Efraín y el hijo de Remalías diciendo:

6¡Vamos a atacar a Judá! La aterrorizaremos y la conquistaremos para nosotros, y haremos rey al hijo de Tabel”.

7Pero esto es lo que dice el Señor Dios: “¡Este plan no se concretará, simplemente no sucederá!

8Porque el jefe de Harán es Damasco, y el jefe de Damasco es Rezín. Además, dentro de sesenta y cinco años Israel como nación será destruida.

9El jefe de Israel es Samaria, y el jefe de Samaria es el hijo de Remalías. Si no confían en mí, no sobrevivirán”.

10Más tarde, el Señor envió otro mensaje a Acaz:

11“Pide al Señor, tu Dios, una señal, ya sea tan profunda como donde está enterrada la gente o tan alta como el cielo”.

12“No, no voy a pedirla”, respondió Acaz. “Me niego a poner al Señor a prueba”.

13Entonces Isaías dijo: “¡Escuchen, familia real de Judá! ¿No les basta con desgastar a la gente? ¿Tienen que desgastar también a mi Dios?

14Por eso el Señor mismo les dará una señal. ¡Miren! Una virgen quedará embarazada y dará a luz un hijo, al que llamará Emanuel.

15Comerá leche y miel hasta que sepa rechazar el mal y elegir el bien.

16Porque antes de que el niño sepa rechazar el mal y elegir el bien, la tierra de los dos reyes que temes será abandonada.

17El Señor hará que tú, tu pueblo y la familia real experimenten un tiempo diferente a todo lo ocurrido desde el día en que Efraín se separó de Judá. Traerá al rey de Asiria para que te ataque!”

18En ese momento el Señor silbará para llamar a las moscas de los lejanos ríos de Egipto y a las abejas del país de Asiria.

19Todas vendrán y descenderán sobre los valles escarpados y las grietas de las rocas, sobre todos los arbustos espinosos y las charcas.

20En ese momento el Señor usará una navaja alquilada desde más allá del río Éufrates, el rey de Asiria, para afeitarlos de pies a cabeza, incluyendo sus barbas.

21En ese tiempo, el que logre mantener con vida a una vaca joven y a dos ovejas

22comerá cuajada, porque producen mucha leche; pues todo el que sobreviva en la tierra comerá cuajada y miel.

23En aquel tiempo, en todos los lugares donde antes había mil vides que valían mil siclos, sólo habrá zarzas y espinas.

24La gente irá a cazar allí con arcos y flechas porque la tierra estará cubierta de zarzas y espinas.

25De hecho, a todas las colinas que antes se cultivaban con la azada no querrán ir porque se preocuparán por las zarzas y los espinos que hay allí. Sólo serán lugares donde se suelta el ganado y donde las ovejas vagan.

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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.

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