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evoked, in the case of Ahaz, that most full and personal Messianic prediction of "the
Virgin's Son" (Isaiah 7:14). Not only would their plan not "come to pass "(Isaiah 7:7), but
looking beyond the unbelief and the provocations of an Ahaz (Isaiah 7:13), the Divine
promise would stand fast. "The house of David" could not fail. For beyond the present
was the final goal of promised salvation in Immanuel the Virgin-born And this was God's
answer to the challenge of Rezin and of the son of Remaliah - His "sign" as against their
plans: a majestic declaration also of His object in maintaining "the house of David," even
when represented by an Ahaz. And when the hour of judgment came, it would be not by
placing a Syrian king on the throne of David, but by carrying prince and people into a
banishment which would open a new - the last - period of Israel's God-destined history.
But as tidings of the "confederacy," with its avowed purpose of taking all the strongholds
and cities which commanded the defenses of Judah,* and of setting up another king,
reached "the house of David," in the poetic language of Isaiah, Ahaz' "heart shook, and
the hearts of his people, as the trees of the forest shake before the wind" (Isaiah 7:2).
- Isaiah 7:6 - (...) "let us break through for ourselves;" the same word being "used with
reference to the fortified towns or passes commanding the entrance into a country"
(Cheyne, The prophecies of Isaiah, ad loc.).
And in truth the success of the allies was such as to account for such feelings - at least on
the part of an unbelieving and craven king. Joining together the narratives in the Books of
Kings and Chronicles, we have first, in 2 Kings 16:5, a general account of the war - its
purpose, beginning, and final failure. To this is added, in the next verse, a notice of the
expedition of Rezin, in which he "restored Elath to Edom,"* when "the Edomites came to
Elath," and continued to occupy it to the time of the writer. This brief account is
supplemented in 2 Chronicles 28:5.
- For (...) "to Syria," we read with most commentators, (...) "to Edom," while the other
correction, (...) "and the Edomites" (instead of "the Syrians"), is attested by the Qeri, the
LXX....
There we read of a twofold success of the allies - that achieved by Rezin, in consequence
of which a great multitude of captives were carried to Damascus and a victory gained by
Pekah. In all probability Rezin marched from Damascus through the trans-Jordanic
territory straight into the south of Judah, extending his march as far as the latest conquest
of Judah, Elath. This was now restored to Edom.
Syria alone could scarcely have held such an isolated post, nor could it have been left in
the rear in the hands of Judaeans. On the other hand, its restoration to Edom explains
their active participation in the league (2 Chronicles 28:17). The text leaves it somewhat
doubtful whether Rezin actually fought a pitched battle against a Judaean army, such as
was evidently won by Pekah (2 Chronicles 28:6), or else the "smiting" of the Syrians
(^)