For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father,’ and, ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
Parallel Translations
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For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father,’ and, ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
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For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
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For before the child shall have knowledge to cry: My father, and: My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.'
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Isaiah 8:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 9:11 For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,
- Deuteronomy 1:39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it.
- 2 Kings 16:9 The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.
- 2 Kings 17:3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.
- 2 Kings 17:5-6 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Isaiah 7:8-9 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.’ ”
- Isaiah 7:15-16 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.
- Isaiah 10:6-14 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me I will give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations. For he says, “Aren’t all of my princes kings? Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?” As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria; shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? Therefore it will happen that when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his arrogant looks. For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers. My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”
- Jonah 4:11 Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?”
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
- Isaiah 17:3 The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says Yahweh of Armies.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, the army of Assyria.
That is, the army of Assyria.
Before any child be able to speak.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 8:4 For before the child shall have knowledge…
Isa 8:4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
Ver. 4. For before the child, &c.] That is, within a year or two; for it was an extraordinary thing that is reported of Maximilian the Emperor, that he was eight years old at least ere he spake anything, but afterwards he became a fluent and elegant speaker.
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The riches of Damascus.] Riches do many times change their masters, and kingdoms are oft turned upside down, when they fall to persecuting the people of God especially, as did these Syrians and Israelites.
Before the king of Assyria.] Spoils taken from the enemy were and are usually carried in triumph before the conqueror.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To cry, My father, and my mother; to speak,…
To cry, My father, and my mother; to speak, and to know his parents; which is within the space of two years. And this agrees with the other prophecy, Isa 7:16,
Before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, which requires a longer time than to distinguish his parents from strangers; which suits well to Shear-jashub, who, being born some years before this, was capable of that further degree of knowledge as soon as this was capable of the lower degree.
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The riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away; the kingdoms of Syria and Israel, here signified by their two capital cities, shall be stripped of their wealth and power, as they were by Tiglath-pileser, within the time here limited, 2Ki 15:29.
Before the king of Assyria; in his presence, and by himself and his forces; for in Scripture use that is said to be before a man, which is in or is put into a man’s power, as Gen 13:9; 20:15, &c.; and men are said to be smitten before their enemies, when they are smitten by them, as Num 14:42; Deu 1:42; Jdg 20:39, and oft elsewhere. Others refer this phrase to the ancient custom of conquerors, of sending or carrying their spoils before them into their own country.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For before the child shall have knowledge to cry,…
For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, my father, and my mother,.... Which are commonly the first words children learn to say; and so it signifies that what follows should happen in a year or two; as it did:
the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, shall be taken away before the king of Assyria; or, "he shall take away the riches" (q), &c.; not the child, unless he is considered as the sign of taking them away; but the soldier, put for the whole Assyrian army, which carried off the riches and spoil of these places, in the presence, and by the order, of the king of Assyria; the first of these, namely, Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, with its riches, wealth, and army, were taken and carried away by Tilgathpilneser, king of Assyria, within the time here mentioned, Kg2 16:9 but the latter, Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, was not taken and spoiled until the sixth year of Hezekiah, and ninth of Hoshea, Kg2 17:6 but because the prophecy began to be fulfilled, and was fulfilled in part, within the time mentioned, the whole is attributed to it; though it should be observed, that before this, after Pekah the son of Remaliah was slain, and Hoshea reigned in his stead, the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents; which may be called the spoil of Samaria, Kg2 17:3.
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(q) "asportabit, opulentiam----servus regis Assyriae", Junius & Tremellius "auferet opes----is qui stet coram facie regis Assyriae", Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To cry - To speak and to know his…
To cry - To speak and to know his parents; which is within the space of two years. And his agrees with the other prophecy, chap. vii, 16. Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and chuse the good, which requires a longer time than to distinguish his parents, and suits well to Shear-Jashub, who, being born some years before, was capable of that farther degree of knowledge, as soon as this was capable of the lower degree. Before - In his presence, and by himself and his forces.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. For before the child] For my father…
Verse 4. For before the child] For my father and my mother, one MS. and the Vulgate have his father and his mother. The prophecy was accordingly accomplished within three years; when Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, went up against Damascus and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin, and also took the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and carried them captive to Assyria, 2Kg 15:29; 2Kg 16:9; 1Ch 5:26.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 8:4. Before the child shall have knowledge to…
Isa 8:4. Before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, &c. — To speak and know his parents; which is within the space of two years. And this agrees with the other prophecy, Isa 7:16. For it requires a longer time for a child to know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, than to distinguish his parents from strangers; and Shear-jashub, being born some years before this child, was capable of that higher degree of knowledge as soon as this was capable of the lower degree. The riches of Damascus, &c., shall be taken away — The kingdoms of Syria and Israel, here signified by their two capital cities, shall be stripped of their wealth and power, as they were by Tiglath-pileser, within the time here limited, 2Ki 15:29.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For before ... - This must have occurred in…
For before ... - This must have occurred in a short time - probably before the expiration of three years. A child would usually learn to address his parents in that time. In fact, the event here predicted occurred in less than three years from the time when the prophecy was spoken; see the notes at Isa 7:16.
Before the king of Assyria - By the king, or by his conquests. By the spoil of Samaria here, is to be understood, not the plunder which should be carried away from the city, but from the kingdom of Samaria. In other places, the land is called by the name of the capital; compare 2Ki 17:26; 2Ki 23:19; Jer 31:5. The city of Samaria was not plundered until eighteen years after the time mentioned here by the prophet; Isa 8:5-6. These verses introduce again what was predicted in Isa 7:17, following, respecting the invasion of the land by the king of Assyria. The cause of the invasion is specified, and the consequences are foretold.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Assyrians. Theglathphalassar, the next year, took the Damascenes to…
Assyrians. Theglathphalassar, the next year, took the Damascenes to Kir, and Nephthali, Reuben, Gad, and Manasses into captivity. Yet the kingdom continued some time longer. Never was prediction more explicit. Can the pagans produce any thing similar?
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain before, &c.--within a year.
before, &c.--within a year.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Before this it was known the inscription meant…
4. Before this it was known the inscription meant “plunder and spoils;” but which the plundered party was to be was not known.
Shall have knowledge to cry — Shall know how to speak the name My father. The date of the prophecy’s fulfilment is determined by the infant’s growth, about two years from its birth. And now who the vanquished party are becomes known. The Assyrian power, hired by Ahaz, will pillage Damascus, and spoil Samaria before the boy-child shall know how to lisp “My father,” etc.
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Denunciation of the foreign parties in Judah, and assertion for Jehovah and his adherents, Isa_8:5-22.
The prophet denounces the despisers of Siloah, the emblem of the mild Davidic kingdom, and threatens that they shall be overwhelmed with the Euphrates, the emblem of the terrible Assyrian empire, 5-8. He bids the enemies of Jehovah defiance, 8-10; calls upon the people to reject their clamors, and to turn to the law and to the Jehovistic signs presented in himself and family, 11-18. He denounces the deserters from God’s law who resort to sorcerers for guidance.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. The period here indicated, about a year, is…
4. The period here indicated, about a year, is of course shorter than in ch. Isa_7:16, the date of the prediction being about a year later.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) For before the child shall have knowledge to…
(4) For before the child shall have knowledge to cry . . .—Here then was another sign like that of Isa_7:14-16. The two witnesses of Isa_8:2 were probably summoned to the circumcision and naming of the child, and the mysterious name at which all Jerusalem had gazed with wonder was given to the new-born infant. The prediction is even more definite than before. Before the first cries of childhood (Heb. Abi, Ami) should be uttered, i.e., within a year of its birth, the spoils of the two capitals of the kings of the confederate armies should be carried to the king of Assyria. The conclusion of the period thus defined would coincide more or less closely with the longer period assigned at an earlier date (Isa_7:16). Historically the trans-Jordanic region and Damascus fell before Tiglath-pilneser; Samaria, besieged by Salmaneser, before his successor Sargon (2Ki_15:29; 2Ki_16:9; 2Ki_17:6).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain My father... my mother. "Abi," "Immi," would have been…
My father... my mother. "Abi," "Immi," would have been among the first utterances of childhood simple sounds, combinations of primary vowels with labials, corresponding in easiness of utterance to "Pappy," "Mammy," rather than to the expressions of the text. A child commonly utters such sounds when it is about a year old. The riches of Damascus. The position of Damascus lay in the direct path of the main trade that was carried on between the West and East, which was conducted by the merchants of Tyro chiefly, and passed from the Syrian coast by way of Damascus and Tadmor to Nineveh and Babylon. This commerce greatly enriched the cities lying upon its route. "Damascus," says Ezekiel, addressing Tyre, "was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white. (Eze_27:18) The "palaces of Benhadad" seem to have been noted for their magnificence. (Jer_49:27 Amo_1:4) The spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the King of Assyria. Scripture does not record the fulfillment of this prophecy, which makes the same Assyrian king carry off the spoil of Samaria and the spoil of Damascus, fixing also the time of the carrying off as within a few years of the time when the prophecy was given. But the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser himself supply the deficiency. They state that this monarch "sent the population, the goods of the people of Beth-Omri, and their furniture to the land of Assyria;" after which he "appointed Husih (Hoshea) to the dominion ever them," and fixed their annual tribute at two talents of gold and a thousand talents of silver (see "Records of the Past," vol. 5. p. 52).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 8:4 before this child is old enough: See also…
8:4 before this child is old enough: See also 7:16. • Damascus and Samaria were ruined and destroyed in 732 BC, fulfilling this verse along with 7:8, 19-20.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.