The Lord’s ‘being with’ individuals or the whole people, particularly in battle, is a common biblical theme (cf. Num. 14.43; Deut. 20.4; Judg. 6.12–16, etc.), but it is specifically in the context of the Assyrian threat that it is epitomized by Isaiah as Immanuel, ‘God is with us’, to become a token of faith (Isa. 7.14; 8.8, 10).
