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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Isaiah 7:2 - 7:2
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It is this which is referred to in Isa 7:2 : “And it was told the house of David, Aram has settled down upon Ephraim: then his heart shook, and the heart of his people, as trees of the wood shake before the wind.” The expression nuach ‛al (settled down upon) is explained in 2Sa 17:12 (cf., Jdg 7:12) by the figurative simile, “as the dew falleth upon the ground:” there it denotes a hostile invasion, here the arrival of one army to the support of another. Ephraim (feminine, like the names of countries, and of the people that are regarded as included in their respective countries: see, on the other hand, Isa 3:8) is used as the name of the leading tribe of Israel, to signify the whole kingdom; here it denotes the whole military force of Israel. Following the combination mentioned above, we find that the allies now prepared for a second united expedition against Jerusalem. In the meantime, Jerusalem was in the condition described in Isa 1:7-9, viz., like a besieged city, in the midst of enemies plundering and burning on every side. Elath had fallen, as Rezin's timely return clearly showed; and in the prospect of his approaching junction with the allied army, it was quite natural, from a human point of view, that the court and people of Jerusalem should tremble like aspen leaves. וַיָנַע is a contracted fut. kal, ending with an a sound on account of the guttural, as in Rth 4:1 (Ges. §72, Anm. 4); and נֹועַ, which is generally the form of the infin. abs. (Isa 24:20), is here, and only here, the infin. constr. instead of נוּעַ (cf., noach, Num 11:25; shob, Jos 2:16; mōt, Psa 38:17, etc.: vid., Ewald, §238, b).