Isaiah 8:7

"“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;"

Key Reflection

The verse from Isaiah 8:7 speaks to a time when the people of Judah were choosing allegiance over wisdom and peace. The "waters of Shiloah that go softly" likely refer to King Hezekiah, who provided water to Jerusalem during the siege by drawing it from Gihon Spring through an underground tunnel (2 Kings 18:17-19:36), symbolizing a gentle and beneficial ruler. By contrast, rejoicing in "Rezin and Remaliah’s son" refers to the kings of Aram and Israel who posed a threat. The original audience would have understood that rejecting Hezekiah's peaceful solution meant aligning themselves with the more aggressive and potentially destructive forces represented by Rezin and Pekah (Remaliah’s son).

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The waters of the river -By the river, in the Scripture, is commonly meant the river Euphrates, as being, by way of eminence, the largest river with which they were acquainted; and also as being that distinguished by the fact that Abraham had lived beyond it, and crossed it; see the note atIsaiah 7:20. In this verse the image is kept up which was commenced inIsaiah 8:6. The Jews rejected the gentle waters of Siloah, and sought the alliance of a foreign king, whose kingdom stretched along, and extended beyond the Euphrates. It was natural, therefore, to compare the invasion of the land to the overflowing of mighty waters that would sweep everything away.

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