It is argued that introduction of the isobar degree of freedom in describing pion‐nucleus interactions provides a convenient, unified framework within which to discuss both many‐body corrections to the standard multiple scattering approach and the properties of the &Dgr; (1232) in nuclear matter. Important aspects of isobar‐nucleus dynamics, namely, isobar‐hole interactions and &Dgr; self‐energy modifications, are discussed in the context of pion elastic scattering and incoherent pion production.