Isaiah 7:16

For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Isaiah delivers this message to King Ahaz during the Syro-Ephraimite crisis, addressing the king’s fear of the allied rulers of Syria and Israel. The prophecy establishes a precise chronological marker for the collapse of those threatening kingdoms.

The words — The phrase בְּטֶרֶם יֵדַע (beTerem yeda) literally means "before he will know," directly modifying הַנַּעַר (haNaar), "the lad." The paired verbs מָאֹס (ma'os) and בָּחַר (bachar) specify the conscious moral capacity to reject evil and choose good.

The thread — This developmental timeline appears in Isaiah 8:4, where a boy’s speech milestones parallel the plunder of Damascus and Samaria, and in Deuteronomy 1:39, where children who do not yet know good from evil are excluded from the wilderness judgment. The motif ties moral awareness to the timing of divine action across these passages.

Why it lands — The text requires the listener to accept that the stated political events will occur on a fixed schedule regardless of human fear. It demands a cessation of panic-driven diplomacy and a patient alignment with the declared timeline.

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

כִּ֠יkifor בְּטֶ֨רֶםbe./Te.rem<in>/ before יֵדַ֥עye.Da'he will know הַנַּ֛עַרha./Na.'arthe/ lad מָאֹ֥סma.'Osto reject בָּרָ֖עba./Ra'<in> the/ evil וּבָחֹ֣רu./va.Chorand/ to choose בַּטּ֑וֹבba./Tov<in> the/ good תֵּעָזֵ֤בte.'a.Zevit will be forsaken הָאֲדָמָה֙ha./'a.da.Mahthe/ land אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich אַתָּ֣ה'a.Tahyou קָ֔ץKatz[are] feeling dread מִפְּנֵ֖יmi./pe.Neiof/ <the face of>שְׁנֵ֥יshe.Nei[the] two מְלָכֶֽיהָ׃me.la.Khei./hakings/ its

King James Version

For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Cross-references

Isaiah 8:4 For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
Deuteronomy 1:39 And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.
2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
2 Kings 16:9 So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
Isaiah 9:11 The LORD has raised up the foes of Rezin against him and joined his enemies together.
Isaiah 17:1 This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
Hosea 5:9 Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.
Amos 1:3 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
Jonah 4:11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”