Isa 7:20, 8:6 | JFB | e4.org | 20. razor —The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it ( ). hired —alluding to Ahaz' hiring ( ) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely, by them beyond the river —namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge ( ); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included ( ) [G. V. SMITH ]. GESENIUS translates, "With a razor hired in the parts beyond the river. " head . . . feet —the whole body, including the most honored parts. To cut the "beard" is the greatest indignity to an Easterner ( ). . THE COMING DESOLATE STATE OF THE LAND OWING TO THE ASSYRIANS AND EGYPTIANS.

‏ Isaiah 7:20

20. razor—The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it (Isa 10:5; Eze 29:19, 20).

hired—alluding to Ahaz' hiring (2Ki 16:7, 8) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely,

by them beyond the river—namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge (Ps 72:8); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included (Isa 7:18) [G. V. SMITH]. GESENIUS translates, "With a razor hired in the parts beyond the river."

head . . . feet—the whole body, including the most honored parts. To cut the "beard" is the greatest indignity to an Easterner (Isa 50:6; 2Sa 10:4, 5; Eze 5:1).

Isa 7:21-25. THE COMING DESOLATE STATE OF THE LAND OWING TO THE ASSYRIANS AND EGYPTIANS.

‏ Isaiah 8:6

6. waters of Shiloah . . . softly—Their source is on the southeast of Zion and east of Jerusalem. It means "sent," the water being sent through an aqueduct (Joh 9:7). Figurative for the mild, though now weak, sway of the house of David; in the highest sense Shiloah expresses the benignant sway of Jehovah in the theocracy, administered through David. Contrast to the violent Euphrates, "the river" that typifies Assyria (Isa 8:7; Re 17:15). "This people" refers both to Israel, which preferred an alliance with Rezin of Syria to one with the kings of Judah, and to Judah, a party in which seems to have favored the pretentions of the son of Tabeal against David's line (Isa 7:6); also to Judah's desire to seek an Assyrian alliance is included in the censure (compare Isa 7:17). Isa 8:14 shows that both nations are meant; both alike rejected the divine Shiloah. Not "My people," as elsewhere, when God expresses favor, but "this people" (Isa 6:9).