Isaiah 47:7
in Isaiah 47You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou saidst, I shall be mistress for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof.
KJV
And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
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This verse in Isaiah 47
Commentary
11 notes on this verseSecond, their pride of heart: and you have said, setting out their proud thinking: I shall be a lady for ever: she says in her heart: I sit a queen (Rev 18:7); he also sets out the foolishness of the proud, that they did not …
This site's exposition
Sit in silence and go into darkness
on Isaiah 47:5-7
“Sit in silence and go into darkness” strips Babylon of her second title. The charge is specific: the LORD placed his people “under your control” in anger, and “You showed them no mercy”. She said, “I will be queen forever”, and did not “consider their outcome.”
This site's exposition
I will be queen forever
Barnes grounds the boast in Babylon's walls, gates and stores, thought able to feed the city through a siege of many years. Aquinas hears the same queen's boast in Revelation 18, set in the heart of the great city. Pride forgets the outcome.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4 onwards) Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name. Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no longer be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy. You have made your yoke very heavy on the aged, and you have said, 'I shall be a mistress forever': you did not lay these things to heart, you did not remember their outcome.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
She looked upon the patent of her honour to be not merely during the pleasure of the sovereign Lord, the fountain of honour, or during her own good behaviour, but to be perpetual to the present generation and their heirs and successors for ever. She was not only proud that she was a lady, but confident that she should be a lady for ever.
Virgin - So, called, because she was tender and delicate. The empire is taken from thee, and translated to the Persians. Millstones - Thou shalt be brought to the basest slavery, which grinding at the mill was esteemed.
These things - Thy cruel usages of my people, and the heavy judgments which thou hadst reason to expect for them. Nor remember - Thou didst not consider what might and was likely to befall thee afterward.
And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever,.... That her monarchy would continue in a succession of kings, that should rule over all nations to the end of the world.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever - This passage describes the pride and self-confidence of Babylon. She was confident in her wealth; the strength of her gates and walls; and in her abundant resources to resist an enemy, or to sustain a siege. Babylon was ten miles square; and it was supposed to contain provisions enough to maintain a siege for many years.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
so that--Through thy vain expectation of being a queen for ever, thou didst advance to such a pitch of insolence as not to believe "these things" (namely, as to thy overthrow, Isa 47:1-5) possible. end of it--namely, of thy insolence, implied in her words, "I shall be a lady for ever."
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
So that thou didst not “Because thou didst not” - For עד ad, read על al; so two MSS., and one edition. And for, אחריתה acharithah, “the latter end of it, “read אחריתך acharithecha, “thy latter end;” so thirteen MSS., and two editions, and the Vulgate. Both the sixth and seventh verses are wanting in one of my oldest MSS.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֣אמְרִ֔י | vatomri | and you said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֖ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| אֶהְיֶ֣ה | ʾehyeh | I will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| גְבָ֑רֶת | gevaret | a queen | H1404 → | 9 times |
| עַ֣ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שַׂ֥מְתְּ | samt | you put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אֵ֙לֶּה֙ | ʾeleh | these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לִבֵּ֔ךְ | libekh | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| זָכַ֖רְתְּ | zakhart | you remembered | H2142 → | 230 times |
| אַחֲרִיתָֽהּ׃ ס | ʾacharitah | outcome its | H319 → | 61 times |
וַתֹּ֣אמְרִ֔יand you said
vatomriH559 →5305 times
לְעוֹלָ֖םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
אֶהְיֶ֣הI will be
ʾehyehH1961 →3559 times
גְבָ֑רֶתa queen
gevaretH1404 →9 times
עַ֣דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שַׂ֥מְתְּyou put
samtH7760 →584 times
אֵ֙לֶּה֙these [things]
ʾelehH428 →746 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
לִבֵּ֔ךְheart your
libekhH3820 →595 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
זָכַ֖רְתְּyou remembered
zakhartH2142 →230 times
אַחֲרִיתָֽהּ׃ סoutcome its
ʾacharitahH319 →61 times
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
Deuteronomy 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
it leads to
- Psalms 81:13
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deuteronomy 5:29
If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Luke 19:41–42
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Psalms 81:13
Through
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
- Micah 2:11
If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Ezekiel 13:6
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.