In the year King Ahaz died, ca. 720 b.c., the prophet received an oracle (a revelation) against Philistia.
Verse 29: The King James Version’s “Palestina” is Latin for Philistia, later called Palestine.
Some think that historically the “serpent’s root” may have been Shalmaneser V, and the “cockatrice” that followed was Sennacherib.
Verse 31: The gate, and the city which it represents, will howl and cry and ultimately be dissolved by a power coming down from the north, which Assyria and then Babylon did.
Verse 32: The whole prophecy against Philistia revolves around the final thought, the central message: there is no future in any temporal state, for the Lord has founded Zion; the poor in spirit (meaning the humble) and the meek will always turn to the Lord, and Zion will be established. That foundation is sure.