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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
1:12b-13 Judah, Having Been Afflicted by the Lord, Is Freed from Assyrian Bondage. The Assyrian yoke was only temporary, for God's purposes.
1:12b Though I have afflicted you. Suddenly God addresses Judah (see v. 15). This dramatic change in the flow of v. 12, the direct address, and the initial anonymity of the addressee were attention-getting devices emphasizing the announcement of good news that follows. God had used the Assyrians to chasten wayward Judah. I will afflict you no more. Since God would overthrow Nineveh, the Assyrians would never again be Judah's scourge.
1:13 His yoke refers to the burdensome rule of the Assyrian monarchs (cf. v. 11) over Judah. , during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7-8), the southern kingdom had become a vassal state of Assyria. This involved paying heavy tribute to the Assyrians (cf. 2 Kings 18:13-16) and other oppressive measures. When Judah revolted under Hezekiah, the Assyrians in devastated the land (2 Kings 18:13; Isa. 7:18-25; 8:5-8) and took away many people and much plunder. break . . . burst. The vassalage of Judah lasted until the reign of Josiah (), when Assyria began to decline rapidly and finally ceased to be a nation (see Introduction: Date).
