The Messianic King (Ch. 5). 

        There is considerable difference of opinion as to whether ver. 1 should be taken with the previous chapter or with ver. 2 of the present chapter. The Hebrew includes it in ch. 4, but the general tendency is to preserve the present English chapter division (so R.S.V.) as against the R.V., which follows the Hebrew in its paragraphing. Cheyne (C. B). is probably correct in regarding this verse as a separate prophecy acting as a transition from Ch. 4 to the thought of the Messianic king.

        Apart from ver. 1 this chapter falls into a number of short unconnected prophecies, viz. vers. 2-5a (…this man shall be our peace); ver. 5b (When the Assyrian…) — 6; ver. 7ff; vers. 10-15. The last of these, as not infrequently, pictures the Messianic age by the removal of the evils, social and religious, oi the prophet’s own time; text implies the social evils have risen from increasing wealth and luxury.