Isaiah 7:20

“In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, &c.] Meaning the Assyrian monarch, whom he would use as an instrument in his hand to spoil and cut off the people of the Jews; who is compared to a “razor” for sharpness; and for the thorough work, and utter ruin and destruction, he should be the means of; and called a “hired” one, either in reference to the present Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria, by which he prevailed upon him to come and help him against the kings of Syria and Israel, (<121607>2 Kings 16:7-9) or to a reward given by the Lord to Nebuchadnezzar for the service in which he employed him, (see <262918>Ezekiel 29:18-20): [namely], by them beyond the river; not…”

“razor--The Assyrians are to be God's instrument of devastating Judea, just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it (Isa 10:5; Eze 29:19-20). hired--alluding to Ahaz' hiring (Kg2 16:7-8) Tiglath-pileser against Syria and Israel; namely, by them beyond the river--namely, the Euphrates; the eastern boundary of Jewish geographical knowledge (Psa 72:8); the river which Abram crossed; the Nile also may be included (Isa 7:18) [G. V. SMITH]. GESENIUS translates, "With a razor hired in the parts beyond the river." head . . . feet--the whole body, including the most honored parts. To cut the "beard" is the greatest indignity to an Easterner (Isa 50:6; Sa2 10:4-5; Eze 5:1).”

“In the same day ... - The idea in this verse is the same as in the preceding, though presented in a different form. The meaning is, that “God” would bring upon them this punishment, but that he would make use of the Assyrian as an “instrument” by which to do it. Shave - The act of shaving off the hair denotes punishment or disgrace; compare 2 Samuel 10:4 : ‘Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off one half of their beards;’ 1 Chronicles 19:4. With a razor - Using them as an instrument. God here claims the power of directing them, and regards them as employed by him; see Isaiah 10:5-7. That is hired - This is an allusion to the custom of hiring soldiers, or employing mercenary armies. Thus…”

“Shave - Utterly spoil, as shaving takes away the hair. Hired - By Ahaz, who did hire them, Kg2 16:7-8. And so the prophet notes the just judgment of God, in scourging them with a rod of their own making. By - By the successive kings of the Assyrian empire, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and especially by Nebuchadnezzar. The head - By these metaphorical expressions he signifies the total destruction of their state, from head to foot, from the highest to the lowest. Isaiah 7:21”

“7:20 shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people: In the ancient Near East, forced shaving was an act of disgrace (see 2 Sam 10:4-5). Here it was a metaphor for the despoiling of the country.”

“shave: Isa 10:6; Kg2 16:7, Kg2 16:8; Ch2 28:20, Ch2 28:21; Jer 27:6, Jer 27:7; Eze 5:1-4, Eze 29:18, Eze 29:20 head: Isa 1:5, Isa 9:14-17, Isa 24:2 Isaiah 7:21”

“"In that day will the Lord shave with a razor, the thing for hire on the shore of the river, with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and even the beard it will take away." Knobel takes the hair to be a figurative representation of the produce of the land; but the only thing which at all favours the idea that the flora is ever regarded by biblical writers as the hairy covering of the soil, is the use of the term nâzir as the name of an uncultivated vine left to itself ( Lev 25:5). The nation of Judah is regarded here, as in Isa 1:6, as a man stript naked, and not only with all the hair of his head and feet shaved off (raglaim, a euphemism), but what was regarded as the…”