Despite Isaiah's efforts, the peace party that stood by Ahaz, and the war party that desired an alliance with Pekah and Rezin, continued their separate agitations. The capture of the town of Elath, at the head of the Arabian Gulf, by a detachment of the Syrian army, strengthened Ahaz in his belief that help could come only from Tiglath-Pileser. On the other hand, it convinced the war party that only the union with Samaria and Damascus could restore to the country this center of Judah's lucrative trade, that commanded the commerce to the south. Isaiah recognized the uselessness of appealing to either of these opposing parties. He determined to appeal to the country at large, to the whole people, who were interested not in party quarrels, but in the welfare of the nation. He wanted to create a public opinion in favor of peace and in opposition to entangling alliances, either with Assyria or with the Palestinian coalition. On his own property, in the heart of Jerusalem, where all the passers-by could see and read it, Isaiah erected a great sign which read: "SWIFT BOOTY--SPEEDY PREY." He meant this to indicate to the people that the triumphs of either the champions of peace or the champions of war would mean ruin to the nation at the hands of Assyria. About this time a son was born to Isaiah. He gave a magnificent feast to the leading people of Jerusalem and, to bring his conviction home more forcibly, named the boy "Swift Booty--Speedy Prey." At the close of the feast he addressed his guests and said, in part: "Before the boy knows how to cry, 'My mother' and 'My father,' they shall carry off the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the King of Assyria." At a great meeting in Jerusalem, soon thereafter, Isaiah again took up the burden of his argument against Israel and Syria. He predicted the inevitable destruction of these two kingdoms, because they were in rebellion against Assyria, and he pointed out the consequent foolhardiness of involving Judah in the oncoming disaster. Regarding Israel he said: "In that day the glory of Jacob shall grow dim, And the fatness of his flesh wax lean. And it shall be as when a harvester gathers standing grain, And his arms reap the ears; Yea, it shall be as when he gleans in the valley of Rephaim, And the gleanings thereof shall be as the beating of an olive tree-- Two or three berries on the topmost branch, Four or five on the boughs of a fruit tree, Saith the Lord, the God of Israel." Then, addressing himself as if he were speaking to the people of Israel, but hoping to drive the lesson home to the people of Judah, who were listening to him, he spoke most regretfully: "For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation And hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength." Turning to a consideration of the second of the allies, Syria, Isaiah continued: