Isaiah 7:5-7

7:5 Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ¹  7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ²  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ³  7:7 For this reason the sovereign master, ⁴  the Lord, says:

“It will not take place;

it will not happen.

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¹ tn This sentence opens with the conjunction יַעַן כִּי (ya’an ki, “because”). Consequently some take vv. 5-6 with what precedes, as another reason why Ahaz might be tempted to fear (see v. 4). However, it is more likely that vv. 5-6 give the basis for the Lord’s announcement in vv. 7-9. The conjunction יַעַן כִּי here introduces the basis for judgment (as in 3:16; 8:6; 29:13), which is then followed by the formal announcement of judgment.

² tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

³ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

sn The precise identity of this would-be puppet king is unknown. He may have been a Syrian official or the ruler of one of the small neighboring states. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 370.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 14, 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).