Isaiah 3:4
in Isaiah 3“I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
KJV
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
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This verse in Isaiah 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd I will give children to be their princes,.... Either in age, or in understanding, who are really so, or act like such; and in either sense, when this is the case, it is an unhappiness to a nation, Ecc 10:16, and babes shall rule over them; which is the same as before.
This site's exposition
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them
on Isaiah 3:4-7
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them names the judgment that follows the removed leadership of the previous verses, incompetent rule rather than no rule at all. The child behaving proudly against the ancient and the base against the honourable pictures a complete reversal of the respect a functioning society depends on, and verse six shows the result, a man seizing his own brother by the clothes on his back and begging him to rule, because there is simply no one qualified left standing. Verse seven's refusal, I will not be an healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing, shows even that desperate offer turned down, no one willing to take responsibility for a ruin this complete.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4.) And I will give their children as princes. If this is said in the person of the Prophet: Behold, for the Lord God of hosts will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the mighty: all the strength of bread, and all the strength of water, and the rest: how does the same prophet now speak: I will give their children as princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them?
The Medieval Church1 voice
104. And I will give children. Here he shows the subversion of the government as to unworthy men being placed over them. And this is divided into two parts: in the first is placed the authority of unworthy men; in the second, the consequent disturbance …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I will give children to be their princes “I will make boys their princes” - This also was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple, and the taking of Zedekiah, the last of them, by Nebuchadnezzar. Babes shall rule over them - Dymennysche men schul lordschopen to hem. - Old MS. Bible.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I will give children - Not children in respect to age so much as in regard to talent for governing. I will commit the land to the government of weak and imbecile princes. This would naturally occur when the wise and great were removed; compare Ecc 10:16: ‘Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child;’ compare Isa 3:12. And babes shall rule ... - That is, babes in experience and knowledge. This was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes that succeeded Isaiah, until the time of Zedekiah, the last of them, when the temple was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. - “Lowth.”
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתַתִּ֥י | venatati | and I will make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| נְעָרִ֖ים | nearim | youths | H5288 → | 239 times |
| שָׂרֵיהֶ֑ם | sareihem | leaders their | H8269 → | 421 times |
| וְתַעֲלוּלִ֖ים | vetaalulim | and wantonness<es> | H8586 → | |
| יִמְשְׁלוּ־ | yimshelu- | they will rule | H4910 → | 81 times |
| בָֽם׃ | vam | over them |
וְנָתַתִּ֥יand I will make
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
נְעָרִ֖יםyouths
nearimH5288 →239 times
שָׂרֵיהֶ֑םleaders their
sareihemH8269 →421 times
וְתַעֲלוּלִ֖יםand wantonness<es>
vetaalulimH8586 →
יִמְשְׁלוּ־they will rule
yimshelu-H4910 →81 times
בָֽם׃over them
vam
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:16Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:12
Youths oppress My people, and women rule over them. O My people, your guides mislead you; they turn you from your paths.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 5:11–12
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- Isaiah 3:4–5
“I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.”
- Proverbs 20:1–2
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire…
- Isaiah 3:12
Through
2 Chronicles 36:5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:36–37
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.
- 2 Kings 23:36–37
Through
2 Chronicles 33:1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:1–18
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
- 2 Kings 21:1–18
Through
2 Chronicles 36:9Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 24:8–17
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 24:8–17
About Isaiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
