Editing Immanuel (section)

===Interpretation===
{{bibleverse|Isaiah|7:1–8:15|KJV}}, is on the surface set in the time of king [[Ahaz]], and a prophecy concerning the two kings whom Ahaz dreads, namely [[Pekah]] and [[Rezin]]. The defeat and death of both these kings at the hands of the Assyrians is dated around 732 BCE, placing the birth of the Immanuel child late in the reign of [[Ahaz]].

Scholars generally date the written version of these events from the reign of Ahaz's son [[Hezekiah]] some thirty years later, the purpose being to persuade Hezekiah not to join with other kings who intended to rebel against their joint overlord, [[Assyria]]. Isaiah points to the dreadful consequences that followed for Judah's northern neighbours, the [[kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|kingdom of Israel]] and [[Aram-Damascus]] (Syria) when they rebelled in the days of Ahaz and brought the Assyrians down on themselves. In the event, Hezekiah ignored Isaiah and joined the rebels, and the prophet's warning came true: the Assyrians ravaged Judah and Hezekiah barely escaped with his throne. A century later, in the time of [[Josiah]], the prophecy was revised to present Ahaz as the faithless king who rejected God's promise of protection for Jerusalem and the house of David, with the result that God brought Assyria to devastate the land until a new and faithful king (presumably Josiah) would arise.{{sfn|Sweeney|1996|p=159}}

[[Isaiah 7]][[Isaiah 8|–8]] mentions three children with symbolic names: [[Shear-jashub]], meaning "a remnant shall return"; Immanuel, "God is with us"; and [[Maher-shalal-hash-baz]], "the spoil speeds, the prey hastens".{{sfn|Barker|2001|p=506}} {{bibleverse|Isaiah|8:18|KJV}} informs the reader that Isaiah and his children are signs ("Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion"). The meaning of these name-signs is not clear: Shear-jashub has been variously interpreted to mean that only a remnant of Ephraim and Syria will survive the Assyrian invasion, or that a remnant of Judah will repent and turn to God, while in {{bibleverse|Isaiah|10:20–23|KJV}} it seems to mean that a remnant of Israel will return to the Davidic monarchy.{{sfn|Finlay|2005|p=178–179}} Maher-shalal-hash-baz is more clearly related to the expected destruction of Ephraim and Syria. As for Immanuel, "God is with us", Isaiah might mean simply that any young pregnant woman in 734 BCE would be able to name her child "God is with us" by the time he is born; but if a specific child is meant, then it might be a son of Ahaz, possibly his successor [[Hezekiah]] (which is the traditional Jewish understanding); or, since the other symbolic children are Isaiah's, Immanuel might be the prophet's own son.{{sfn|Finlay|2005|p=178–179}} However this may be, the significance of the sign changes from [[Isaiah 7]], where Immanuel symbolises the hope of imminent defeat for Syria and Ephraim, to Isaiah 8:8, where Immanuel is addressed as the people whose land is about to be overrun by the Assyrians.{{sfn|Finlay|2005|p=173}}