Discovery BoxIsaiah 7:2 
Context7:2 It was reported to the family 1 of David, “Syria has allied with 2 Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 3
Isaiah 7:13
Context7:13 So Isaiah replied, 4 “Pay attention, 5 family 6 of David. 7 Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God?
Isaiah 16:5
Context16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;
he will rule in a reliable manner,
this one from David’s family. 8
He will be sure to make just decisions
and will be experienced in executing justice. 9
Isaiah 22:22
Context22:22 I will place the key 10 to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.
Isaiah 38:5
Context38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor 11 David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life,
Isaiah 55:3
Context55:3 Pay attention and come to me!
Listen, so you can live! 12
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to 13 you,
just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 14
1 tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.
2 tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”
3 tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.
4 tn Heb “and he said.” The subject is unexpressed, but the reference to “my God” at the end of the verse indicates the prophet is speaking.
5 tn The verb is second plural in form, because the prophet addresses the whole family of David. He continues to use the plural in v. 14 (with one exception, see the notes on that verse), but then switches back to the second singular (addressing Ahaz specifically) in vv. 16-17.
6 tn Heb “house.” See the note at v. 2.
7 sn The address to the “house of David” is designed to remind Ahaz and his royal court of the protection promised to them through the Davidic covenant. The king’s refusal to claim God’s promise magnifies his lack of faith.
8 tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”
9 tn Heb “one who judges and seeks justice, and one experienced in fairness.” Many understand מְהִר (mÿhir) to mean “quick, prompt” (see BDB 555 s.v. מָהִיר), but HALOT 552 s.v. מָהִיר offers the meaning “skillful, experienced,” and translates the phrase in v. 5 “zealous for what is right.”
10 sn This may refer to a literal insignia worn by the chief administrator. Even so, it would still symbolize the administrator’s authority to grant or exclude access to the king. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:422.
11 tn Heb “father” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
12 tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.
sn To live here refers to covenantal blessing, primarily material prosperity and national security (see vv. 4-5, 13, and Deut 30:6, 15, 19-20).
13 tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”
14 tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”
