The Birth of the King: Isaiah 9:1-7 - Part I

In order to understand and appreciate the prophecy concerning the birth of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:1-7, we must begin with its historical and literary context. The references to the “days of Ahaz” (7:1) and the crisis posed by the Syrian-Israelite alliance (734-732 BC) require the prophecies of the so-called “Book of Immanuel” (chapters 7-12) to be dated around 734 BC.[1] In the north, the Syrians and the Israelites had made an alliance against Assyria, and they sought to include Judah in their political resistance to the potential threat of Assyrian invasion. However, instead of joining this ungodly alliance, Isaiah offers Ahaz, who was the king of Judah at that time, an alternative. Ahaz must ask the Lord for “a sign” (7:11). Ahaz refuses, but Isaiah provides the sign to the house of Judah in spite of the king’s obstinacy: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (7:14). Although Isaiah’s son Maher-shalal-hash-baz (8:1-4) may “offer immediate evidence that the distant prediction will come to pass,” the birth of Isaiah’s son in no way fulfills the Immanuel prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.[2] Therefore, it is not surprising that Isaiah elucidates the birth of the child with the lofty language of Isaiah 9:1-6. In any event, both the political unrest in Judah caused by the Syrian-Israelite alliance and the fear of Assyrian invasion form the background of Isaiah 9:1-6, and it is in this historical context that the people receive Isaiah’s words of comfort about the assured victory of a future King.

[1] C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the OT Prophetical Books, Moody: 2007, 165.
[2] Bullock, 167.