The representative of the house of David was, according to [Pg 33] ver. 1, Ahaz, to whom the suffix in לבבו refers. It is thereby intimated that Ahaz does not come into consideration as an individual, but as a representative of the whole Davidic family, of which the members were responsible, conjunctly and severally, and which in Ahaz denied their God, and gave themselves up to the world's power,--a deed of the family from the consequences of which a heroic faith only, like that of Hezekiah, could deliver, but in such a manner only that it at once became valid again when this faith ceased, until at length in Christ the house of David was raised to glory. Ver. 19 shows that נוח must be taken in the signification "to let oneself down," "to sit down," "to encamp." The anguish of the natural man, who has not his strength in God at the breaking in of danger, is most graphically described. Ver. 3. "_And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, thou and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field._" Why is the Prophet to seek out the king just at this place? The answer is given by chap. xxii. 2. "And a reservoir you make between the two walls for the waters of the old pool: and not do ye look unto him who makes it (viz., the impending calamity), and not do ye regard him who fashioned it long ago." When a siege of Jerusalem was imminent, in the lower territory, the first task was to cut off the water from the hostile army. This measure Hezekiah, according to 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, took against Sennacherib: "And he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men, to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city, and they helped him." That might be done in faith; but he who, like Ahaz, did not stand in the faith, sought in it, _per se_, his safety; his despairing heart clung to such measures. The stopping of the fountains was, in his case, on a level with seeking help from the Assyrians. It is thus in the midst of his sin that the Prophet seeks out the king, and recalls to his conscience: "take heed and be quiet." But why did the Prophet take his son Shearjashub with him? It surely cannot be without significance; for otherwise it would not have been recorded, far less would it have been done at the express command of the Lord. As the boy does not appear actively, the reason can only be in the signification of the name. According to chap. viii., the Prophet was accustomed to give to [Pg 34] his sons symbolical names which had a relation to the destinies of the nation. They were, according to chap. viii. 18, "for signs and for wonders in Israel." But as an interpretation of the name, the passage chap. x. 21 is to be considered: "The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God." The word שוב can, accordingly, be understood of returning to the Lord, of repentance only, comp. chap. i. 27; Hos. iii. 5. But