2 Nephi 17 corresponds to Isaiah 7.
History: Uzziah ruled from 767 to 740/739 B.C. He was succeeded by his son Jotham, who ruled from 740/739 B.C. to 732/731 B.C. Ahaz is the grandson of Uzziah, and ruled from 732/731 to 716/715 B.C. According to the custom of the southern kingdom, Ahaz had served, at least for a time, as coregent. This practice smoothed the transfer of power, making for more orderly continuity in the southern kingdom than in the north, where regnal transition tended to follow the Davidic model of prophetic anointing and popular acclaim. The northern kingdom’s practice left the line of succession more open, and a comparison of the king lists for each kingdom confirms faster turnover and greater dynastic change in the northern kingdom.
Tribal affiliations underlay much of Hebrew politics, and the separation of the two kingdoms renewed the rivalry between Judah and the Ephraim-Manassah-Benjamin power centers that David had united. These tribal divisions are important in understanding Isaiah, particularly in this chapter, where the house of David becomes the lineage designation for the southern kingdom, and Ephraim becomes the tribal division signifying the northern kingdom. At this point, they have been separate kingdoms for more than two hundred years. The northern kingdom is allied with Syria, the southern kingdom with Assyria.
Syria intended to take Jerusalem and conquer Judah, while Ahaz was hoping that his alliance with Assyria would be a deterrent. Isaiah rebukes him for placing his confidence in this alliance instead of in Yahweh. This prophecy, directed to Ahaz, will warn him that the alliance will be temporarily beneficial but eventually disastrous. Victor Ludlow comments:
At the time the Immanuel prophecy was given (about 734 B.C.) the country of Judah was under threat of attack by Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel. These kings had formed an alliance during the final part of the reign of Jotham, the predecessor of Ahaz, and had made war against Jerusalem but had not been able to prevail against it. (See 2 Kgs. 15:37, 16:5.) When Ahaz came to the throne in 735 B.C., the Syro-Ephraimite coalition made a renewed effort to take Jerusalem. The alliance had as its primary goal the unification of all the countries in the area into a solid anti-Assyrian block. When Ahaz refused to join, Rezin and Pekah decided to subjugate Judah and replace Ahaz with a leader more sympathetic to their anti-Assyrian policies.