And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
Addressed to Hezekiah.
This (shall be) a sign - a token which, when fulfilled would assure him of the truth of the whole prophecy as to the enemy's overthrow.
Ye shall eat (this) year ... The two years, in which they were sustained by the spontaneous growth of the earth, were (according to Rosenmuller) the two in which Judea had been already ravaged by Sennacherib (Isaiah 32:10).
Thus translate, 'Ye did eat (the first year) such as groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same, but in this third year sow ye,' etc., for in this year the land shall be delivered from the foe. The fact that Sennacherib moved away his camp immediately after, so that the Jews would have nothing to prevent their sowing that year, in this view shows that the first two years refer to the past, not to the future. Others, referring the first two years to the future, get over the difficulty of Sennacherib's speedy departure, by supposing that year to have been the Sabbatical year and the second year the Jubilee: no indication of this appears in the context. The English version seems best. The invaders had destroyed the harvest of that year, and it was either too late to sow for the second year, or they had not enough seed grain to spare above food for sowing, so that year they must depend on the spontaneous growth of corn, the next year also on what of itself sprang from the same, then for the third year they should sow and reap. The fulfillment of this promise would be "a sign" or pledge that the Assyrian army was entirely withdrawn, and that henceforth they should have nothing to fear from that quarter.