Isaiah 7:17-25 meaning

In Isaiah 7:17-25, Isaiah the prophet expounds upon his warning in Isaiah 7:15-16 that Judah will experience invasion within a few decades. He identifies the invader as Assyria. Isaiah warns that the LORD will bring devastating judgment upon Judah—through the king of Assyria—resulting in desolation, poverty, and a return to primitive survival conditions across the land.

The background of Isaiah 7 is that King Ahaz of Judah is terrified that he will be deposed by his hostile neighbors—Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel (Isaiah 7:1-2). The forces of Aram and Israel were camped across the border and poised to besiege Jerusalem. The LORD sent Isaiah to assure the frightened king that their schemes would not succeed and that the house of David would endure because of His covenant (Isaiah 7:3-7). Isaiah invites Ahaz to trust God (Isaiah 7:8-9). But Ahaz does not trust God. Instead, he puts his trust in the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7-8).

The LORD then invites Ahaz to give him a sign to prove His faithfulness, but Ahaz refuses (Isaiah 7:10-12). Isaiah then delivers a sign to the faithless king (Isaiah 7:13-16).

He told the king that the invaders he feared would not harm him and would themselves soon be destroyed. These were words of comfort. But Isaiah also gave Ahaz a prophetic warning—that Judah would suffer an invasion from a different kingdom.

Isaiah predicted this through the image of a virgin who marries and becomes sexually united with her new husband, and conceives and carries a child during the threat from Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel. But by the time her son is born, the threat has vanished, and she names him Immanuel to commemorate God’s present faithfulness through the ordeal (Isaiah 7:14).

Such news would be comforting to hear. But the sign also contained an ominous warning.

Isaiah also predicted that by the time the boy had matured to know to refuse evil and choose good (likely age thirty, the age when Jews considered a man to have attained full strength), that he would “eat curds and honey” (Isaiah 7:15). The expression “curds and honey” meant “under siege.” This is because basic dairy products (curds) and wild bee honey were often the last nutritious foods available within a besieged city.

Isaiah ended his prophecy by assuring Ahaz that before this somewhat distant invasion took place, that his current enemies would be no more (Isaiah 7:16).

Isaiah likely spoke these words when Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel were threatening Ahaz sometime in 734-733 B.C. As Isaiah predicted, Rezin the king of Aram was killed about a year after this prophecy was spoken (2 Kings 16:9). Soon after, Pekah the king of Israel was assassinated (2 Kings 15:30). And just like that, the danger was gone.

But the distant invasion, some thirty years away, was still to come.

In this passage (Isaiah 7:17-25), Isaiah details what the invasion will be like, and he correctly identifies the invader as none other than Assyria, the same nation in whom Ahaz placed his trust instead of the LORD.

Isaiah foretells:

The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria (v 17).

Isaiah declares that the LORD will bring calamity upon Judah and the house of David. It will be worse than anything that has happened to Judah since the kingdom of Israel split in two around 970 B.C. Ephraim is a synonym for the northern kingdom of Israel and it was one of Israel’s most influential tribes. The northern kingdom separated from Judah at the beginning of Rehoboam’s reign and established Jeroboam as its king (1 Kings 12:19-20).

Isaiah says the source of this calamity will be the king of Assyria. This identifies the besieger of Jerusalem who was alluded to but unnamed in Isaiah 7:15 as Assyria.

This prophecy was all the more troubling because even as Isaiah was speaking these words of warning to Ahaz king of Judah and calling upon him to trust in the LORD (Isaiah 7:9), Ahaz was in the process of entrusting his throne and city to Assyria—the kingdom that would besiege his city within a few decades of this prophecy.

In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places. (vv 18-19).

Isaiah continues his prophetic warning with vivid and disturbing imagery.

His declaration begins with a phrase often used in prophetic literature to point to a time of divine judgment—in that day (Isaiah 2:11, Ezekiel 30:3, Joel 3:14, Amos 8:3, Zephaniah 1:9).

In that day of judgment the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria (v 18).

This metaphor evokes the image of God summoning foreign armies as easily as a shepherd might whistle to call his sheep to him. But strangely the shepherd is not whistling for sheep, but swarming bugs from far—off lands.

Egypt and Assyria were historically two powerful nations. The mention of both suggests that Judah will face pressure from both the south (Egypt) and the north (Assyria). But Assyria has already been identified as the dominant threat in the near future.

The LORD Himself is the one whistling—He is sovereign over the nations, even using them as instruments of judgment.

Later in Isaiah, The LORD describes Assyria as

“…Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
I send it against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My fury.”
(Isaiah 10:5-6a)

The two types of insects Isaiah describes have symbolic meaning.

The fly from Egypt represents an unwelcome swarming presence of filth and corruption.

Flies were associated with discomfort, pestilence, and death.

Egypt, located near the rivers of the Nile, was known for its marshy lands and insect infestations, especially flies. Flies were associated with Egyptian religion and culture and were often depicted in their jewelry and amulets.

Biblically, the image of flies recalls the plague of flies that God sent upon Egypt in the time of Moses (Exodus 8:21-24), which overwhelmed the land and served as a sign of divine wrath.

The comparison suggests that Egypt will again be a source of affliction and/or corruption as a symbol of Judah’s misguided alliances. Though Judah would later attempt to lean on Egypt for support (Isaiah 30:1-3), that corrupt alliance would prove futile and bring shame. In context, the fly, intrusive and unclean, becomes a symbol of powerless protection that ends in devastation.

In contrast, the bee from Assyria symbolizes a disciplined and stinging force.

Bees are persistent, organized, and dangerous in swarms. Assyria was exactly that—a powerful, expansive empire with a fearsome military reputation. This prophetic image portends Assyria’s brutal campaigns against the northern kingdom of Israel (722 B.C.) and Judah (701 B.C).—including its eventual siege of Jerusalem under Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13 - 19:13, Isaiah 36). Like a bee that sharply stings, Assyria would bring sharp judgment upon Judah, as the LORD had warned through Isaiah.

Isaiah adds that these invading forces will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places (v 19).

This description shows the total saturation of the land by the invading armies. Just as flies and bees can swarm and infiltrate every crevice, so too will the corrupting influence of Egypt pervade and the armies of Assyria invade the land. They will inhabit both high places (cliffs) and low (watering places), inhospitable terrain and fertile spots, suggesting that no area will be spared from foreign presence. Taken together, it is an image of complete occupation—military and cultural—reaching into every corner of Judah’s landscape.

This image corresponds with what Isaiah later describes in his prophecy:

“It will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, it will reach even to the neck….”
(Isaiah 8:8)

The Assyrian threat would not simply strike the border; it would overwhelm the land.

Ahaz’s choice to appeal to Assyria (2 Kings 16:7-9) would backfire disastrously, as Isaiah had warned. The LORD, who offered Ahaz protection and even invited him to ask for a sign (Isaiah 7:11), now declares that He Himself will summon judgment. The irony is sharp: the very nation Ahaz trusted for deliverance would become Judah’s invader.

One clear take away from Ahaz’s folly is this: when the people refuse to trust in God and demand something less, His wrath eventually gives them over to the very thing they hoped would save them (See how God gives people over to their own destructive desires in Romans 1:18-32).

Next, Isaiah gives a second image of how severe Assyria’s invasion of Judah will be.

In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard (v 20).

Isaiah repeats the phrase—in that day—to emphasize the LORD’s judgment upon Judah.

This vivid picture of shaving with a razor represents utter disgrace, domination, and vulnerability.

In ancient Israelite culture, the beard was a symbol of dignity and manhood, and its forced removal was considered deeply shameful (See 2 Samuel 10:4-5, where David’s men were humiliated by having their beards shaved).

Isaiah emphasizes that the LORD Himself will use the king of Assyria as His razor, as a tool of judgment to bring this dishonor upon Judah in the sight of men. God will not only shave the beard, but also the head. In addition to humiliation and shame, baldness was a sign of mourning (Micah 1:16).

God will shave even the hair of the legs. There will be not a hair of honor left remaining. This total shave of the body symbolizes total subjugation and loss of honor for the nation.

The phrase hired from regions beyond the Euphrates again digs at the ironic judgment of the prophecy. Ahaz had hired Assyria’s help by paying for it from the temple treasury (2 Kings 16:7-8). Ahaz had hoped Assyria would save him from Aram and Israel. It did. But instead of becoming a faithful savior, Assyria would become the instrument of Judah’s disgrace—a foreign razor in the LORD’s hand. What Ahaz sought as protection would instead became the tool of divine exposure and shame.

After describing the sting and shame of foreign invasion through the imagery of flies, bees, and razors, Isaiah then begins to describe the practical sufferings Judah would endure because of Ahaz’s disobedience.

Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep; and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey (vv 21-22).

Isaiah continues to use the phrase—in that day—to emphasize the LORD’s judgment upon Judah.

Isaiah paints a bleak picture of what life in Judah will look like during and/or after the invasion. During the invasion and siege, farming and trade will cease.

This scene is not one of prosperity but of desolation—only a handful of livestock remain because the population has been devastated by war and the land depopulated. A once prosperous man has only a single cow and two sheep. This speaks volumes about how much the agricultural economy and population will have collapsed.

The phrase the abundance of the milk produced is said with sarcasm. Milk and dairy products, along with foraging for wild honey, are the main food source. That is why everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey. Curds are dairy products like yogurt.

Though curds and honey could suggest a land of plenty in other Biblical contexts, as in “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8, Leviticus 20:24, Deuteronomy 26:9), in Isaiah’s prophecy the expression serves as a bitter irony.

In Isaiah 7:22, these foods are not signs of blessing but of survival in a ruined land, where the complexity of agriculture and society has been reduced to what a man can glean from a few surviving animals and the wilderness. The remnant that remains—everyone that is left within the land—is not feasting but enduring.

Instead of being used as an expression to evoke the LORD’s blessings, curds and honey evokes the curses God’s faithless people brought upon themselves for their disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15-37).

Isaiah’s message is clear: rejecting trust in the LORD will lead not only to political humiliation but to economic collapse, where Judah is stripped down to the barest means of existence.

The phrase eat curds and honey is significant because it echoes what was first mentioned in Isaiah 7:15, where the child “Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14) is said to eat curds and honey at the time he knows to refuse evil and choose good.

In Isaiah 7:15, the phrase alluded to the siege which Isaiah is now describing in awful detail. The fact that a then not—yet—conceived and not—yet—born child would suffer these things, indicates that the horrors of this invasion is still a ways off. Before this happens the virgin must get married, conceive and bear a son (Isaiah 7:14), and the child must come of age—know enough to refuse evil and choose good (Isaiah 7:15). This expression “know enough to refuse evil and choose good” (Isaiah 7:15) could mean reach full maturity—age 30 in ancient Israelite culture.

The Assyrian invasion described by Isaiah occurred 30 years after he first spoke it. Moreover, it perfectly matches the timeframe of a virgin getting married, conceiving and bearing a son who then grows up for 30 years, at which time he and everyone else in Jerusalem are forced to eat curds and honey because of Assyria’s invasion.

The same imagery of Isaiah 7:15—eating curds and honey—reappears here in verse 22, confirming that this condition of survival will extend to the entire land and to everyone left in it. What was initially a detail attached to a prophetic sign about one child (v 15) has become the national condition for all its surviving inhabitants.

Isaiah closes with a desolate description of what the land will be like after the invasion of Assyria is finished.

And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns (v 23).

Once again, Isaiah uses the phrase—in that day—to evoke the LORD’s judgement upon Judah.

The most sought—after and expensive vineyards valued at a thousand shekels of silver and where there used to be a thousand vines will be abandoned and desolate. Once highly cultivated plots of land will become full of briars and thorns.

The prophetic contrast is deliberate: what was once prosperous and fruitful will become barren and hostile. It is a tangible reflection of the people’s spiritual rebellion. Before the judgment, this land was greatly valued and richly productive. It was a source of economic and agricultural strength, where vineyards flourished and wealth was drawn from the soil. But that same land will become overtaken by briars and thorns.

Briars and thorns are another biblical image of curse and divine judgment (Genesis 3:18, Isaiah 5:6). The phrase—briars and thorns—is repeated three times for emphasis in the final three verses of Isaiah 7 to reinforce the certainty and/or severity of the wrath to come for Ahaz’s faithlessness.

Isaiah continues: People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns (v 24).

Instead of plows and pruning hooks, people will enter these areas with weapons, not for warfare, but for survival. The land, overrun by wilderness and wild animals, will require self—defense simply to gather food or to pass through.

This scene of a wasteland echoes the earlier prophecy in Isaiah 5:5-6, where the LORD warns that God’s “vineyard,” which represents Israel, will be laid waste and will grow only briars and thorns because His people rejected Him. Here in Isaiah 7, that judgment has moved from warning to certainty.

Isaiah completes the picture:

As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample (v 25).

Even the hills once cultivated with the hoe—land that required effort and skill to grow crops—will be abandoned. The wild overgrowth will keep people away. But these places will be repurposed as grazing grounds, not for organized farming but for the roaming of livestock. This again shows a major downgrade of economic value, as ranching produces substantially less economic value per acre of land than farming.

This relates to what Isaiah said in verses 21-22, where the land’s desolation is shown in a well—off man being reduced to surviving with only a heifer and two sheep, eating curds and honey.

Throughout this entire judgment, the pattern is consistent: the LORD’s judgment of Judah through Assyria’s invasion will reverse civilization, replacing vineyards and farmland with wilderness and survival.

All of this is the consequence of the king of Judah’s failure to trust the LORD. Isaiah warned Ahaz:

“If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”
(Isaiah 7:9b)

Ahaz, instead of believing, placed his trust in the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7-8), and Isaiah prophesied that the LORD would bring upon Judah “the king of Assyria” (v 17) —the very one Ahaz trusted—as an instrument of judgment. The irony is sharp: what Ahaz hoped would save him would instead be what destroyed the land. This is the fulfillment of God's warning: when His people reject His word, even their most fertile ground will become a place of loss and fear.

As mentioned several times already throughout this commentary, Isaiah 7:17-25 harkens back to earlier covenant warnings in Scripture,

“I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it… and your land shall become a desolation.”
(Leviticus 26:32-33)

Likewise, in Deuteronomy, the LORD warned Israel that disobedience would bring agricultural ruin:

“The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze… The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust.”
(Deuteronomy 28:23-24)

Isaiah 7:17-25 is a prediction that Judah is about to experience not only a cruel and humiliating invasion from Assyria, but it also describes the effects of that invasion as the divine judgment declared in the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is designed as a covenant/treaty of life and blessing for obedience and death and devastation for rebellion (Deuteronomy 30:19). The land itself testifies to the people’s relationship with God. When they trusted Him, it was “flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:9), but now, because of unbelief and misplaced alliances, it becomes “briars and thorns.”

Ultimately, Isaiah is not just forecasting economic hardship or natural decline. He is describing spiritual consequences expressed in the land itself. The descent from vineyards to thorny hills reflects a nation under judgment, a people who exchanged the glory of trusting the LORD for the ruin of trusting in man.

But even amidst the death, humiliation, and ruin, God is faithful. And He miraculously protects His people and perseveres them and the House of David (Isaiah 36-37).

See The Bible Says Commentary of Isaiah 36:1-3 to start at the beginning of our commentary of the fulfillment of these events.