Discovery BoxIsaiah 7:17 
Context7:17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time 1 unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!” 2
Isaiah 22:23
Context22:23 I will fasten him like a peg into a solid place; 3 he will bring honor and respect to his father’s family. 4
Isaiah 38:19
Context38:19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
Isaiah 39:7
Context39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father 5 will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
Isaiah 45:10
Context45:10 Danger awaits one who says 6 to his father,
“What in the world 7 are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?” 8
Isaiah 64:8
Context64:8 Yet, 9 Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor. 10
1 tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB); NASB, NRSV “such days.”
2 sn Initially the prophecy appears to be a message of salvation. Immanuel seems to have a positive ring to it, sour milk and honey elsewhere symbolize prosperity and blessing (see Deut 32:13-14; Job 20:17), verse 16 announces the defeat of Judah’s enemies, and verse 17a could be taken as predicting a return to the glorious days of David and Solomon. However, the message turns sour in verses 17b-25. God will be with his people in judgment, as well as salvation. The curds and honey will be signs of deprivation, not prosperity, the relief announced in verse 16 will be short-lived, and the new era will be characterized by unprecedented humiliation, not a return to glory. Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust the Lord, potential blessing would be transformed into a curse, just as Isaiah turns an apparent prophecy of salvation into a message of judgment. Because the words “the king of Assyria” are rather awkwardly tacked on to the end of the sentence, some regard them as a later addition. However, the very awkwardness facilitates the prophet’s rhetorical strategy here, as he suddenly turns what sounds like a positive message into a judgment speech. Actually, “the king of Assyria,” stands in apposition to the earlier object “days,” and specifies who the main character of these coming “days” will be.
3 sn The metaphor depicts how secure his position will be.
4 tn Heb “and he will become a glorious throne for the house of his father.”
5 tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”
6 tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”
7 tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.
8 sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.
9 tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.
10 tn Heb “the work of your hand.”
