Bible Strands
Isaiah 11:8
The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses Judah regarding the future reign of the Branch from Jesse, positioning the verse between the peace of wild animals (v. 7) and the universal revelation of God’s knowledge (v. 9). The prophecy describes a coming era under righteous rule.
The words — יוֹנֵ֖ק (yo.Nek) = suckling-child and פָּ֑תֶן (Pa.ten) = cobra. The text uses these terms literally to describe vulnerable infants interacting with dangerous reptiles without fear or harm.
The thread — The serpent imagery connects to Psalms 140:3 and Isaiah 59:5, where snakes symbolize human malice and lethal threat. Here the same creatures become harmless backdrops to a restored creation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that current danger will be reversed by God’s coming knowledge. It calls the reader to anchor expectation in divine restoration rather than present threats.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
Cross-references
- Psalms 140:3 They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
- Isaiah 59:5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.