Passage

Isaiah 7.15-16

Book: Isaiah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

13. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that ye will weary my God also? 14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15. Butter and honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings thou abhorrest shall be forsaken.

Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. 18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. (Isaiah 7:13-18, ASV)

WEB

13. He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also? 14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

15. He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16. For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.

Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 18. It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. (Isaiah 7:13-18, WEB)

KJV

13. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ^{shall call: or, thou, O virgin, shalt call}

15. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16. 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.

The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. (Isaiah 7:13-18, KJV)

YLT

13. And he saith, 'Hear, I pray you, O house of David, Is it a little thing for you to weary men, That ye weary also my God? 14. Therefore the Lord Himself giveth to you a sign, Lo, the Virgin is conceiving, And is bringing forth a son, And hath called his name Immanuel,

15. Butter and honey he doth eat, When he knoweth to refuse evil, and to fix on good. 16. For before the youth doth know To refuse evil, and to fix on good, Forsaken is the land thou art vexed with, because of her two kings.

Jehovah bringeth on thee, and on thy people, And on the house of thy father, Days that have not come, Even from the day of the turning aside of Ephraim from Judah, By the king of Asshur. 18. And it hath come to pass, in that day, Jehovah doth hiss for a fly that [is] in the extremity of the brooks of Egypt, And for a bee that [is] in the land of Asshur. (Isaiah 7:13-18, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Isaiah
Audience: King Ahaz and the house of David
Location: Jerusalem
Time period: the Syro-Ephraimite crisis, c. 734 BC

Theological reading

He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

These verses supply the timescale that anchors the Immanuel sign to Ahaz's crisis, and they are the strongest argument for a near-term referent: the child's early childhood is the measure of when Rezin and Pekah will be gone.

That near fulfilment is conceded rather than resisted in careful Christian treatment. The dispute is whether it exhausts the sign, given that 7:14 introduces it to the house of David rather than to Ahaz alone and that the child is named Immanuel, and given the royal-child oracles of chapters 9 and 11 that follow.

The knowing of good and evil here is ordinary moral maturation and not the idiom of Genesis 3, which is a different construction. See Isaiah 7-14 Was Mistranslated Objection Defeater.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H2896 - tov, tov, Strong's H2896
H3045 - yada, yada, Strong's H3045

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.