Isaiah 11:8
in Isaiah 11The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
KJV
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
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This verse in Isaiah 11
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Ambrose of MilanCommentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms, On Psalm 37.4 · Written before 397.
Listen to how the flesh of God becomes an antidote: The Word became flesh; He put His hand into the den of vipers, He expelled the venom, He removed sin; that is, He condemned sin in the flesh.
This site's exposition
The wolf will live with
on Isaiah 11:6-8
The wolf lives with the lamb, the leopard with the goat, and a little child leads calf and young lion together. The lion eating straw like the ox reverses the animal kingdom's violence. Gill and Barnes note that the images build by degree toward the smallest figure in the picture.
This site's exposition
The infant will play
The cobra and the viper are the deadliest things a child could meet, and here they do no harm. Barnes took the infant as an emblem of innocence. Gill found the meaning in verse 9, where none will harm or destroy on all the holy mountain of the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Happily the Creator has promised by Isaiah to give this power even to little children, of putting their hand in the cockatrice den and on the hole of the young asps without at all receiving hurt. And, indeed, we are aware … that under the figure of scorpions and serpents are portended evil spirits, whose very prince is described by the name of serpent, dragon and every other most conspicuous beast in the power of the Creator. This power the Creator conferred first of all upon his Christ, even as the ninetieth psalm says to him: "Upon the asp and the basilisk shall you tread; the lion and the dragon shall you trample under foot." So also Isaiah: "In that day the Lord God shall draw his sacred, great and strong sword" (even his Christ) "against that dragon, that great and tortuous serpent; and he shall slay him in that day."
(Verse 6 and following) The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf, the lion, and the sheep will all stay together, and a small child will lead them. The calf and the bear will graze together; their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like an ox. The infant will play near the cobra's den, and the young child will put his hand into the viper's nest. They will not cause harm or destroy on my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. This also the Jews and our Jewish followers contend will happen literally, that in the glory of Christ, whom they believe will come at the end of the world, all beasts will be tamed, and the former ferocity, the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the other things with the others, which we now see as contrary to each other. We should ask those who accept everything in the present text as it is written, and do not relate to spiritual understanding, according to the saying of the Apostle, who says: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3), therefore, the root, and the branch, and the flower should not be understood literally: and when it is said that the earth was struck by the word of God, and the wicked were killed by the breath of his lips, they should be understood as written: and they should be compelled to teach how the Lord's loins are surrounded by incorporeal things with righteousness and truth. But let us also ask them what is worthy of the majesty of the Lord, that the wolf and the lamb may feed together, and the leopard may lie down with the young goat, and the lion may eat straw like the ox, and a small child may put his hand into the hole of the venomous snake? […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
372. And the sucking child shall play. Here he shows the security of the young, and he sets out three things: their confidence, where against horror he sets out joy: on the other hole of the asp, that is, on the trials which the devil …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,.... Without fear or danger: and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den; and suffer no damage: the meaning is explained in the next words, and to be understood of regenerate persons, both of new born babes, or just born, and all such who are weaned from their own righteousness, and live by faith on Christ, who shall not be hurt by the poison of false teachers, nor by the force of violent persecutors, now no more, See Gill (Editor's note) on "Isa 11:6".
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The cockatrice’ den - This is supposed, both by the Targum and by Kimchi, to mean the pupil of this serpent’s eye. “When,” says Kimchi, “he is in the mouth of his den, in an obscure place, then his eyes sparkle exceedingly: the child, seeing this, and supposing it to be a piece of crystal, or precious stone, puts forth his hand to take it. What would be very dangerous at another time, shall be safe in the days of the Messiah; for the serpent will not hurt the child.”
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
play--literally, "delight" himself in sport. cockatrice--a fabulous serpent supposed to be hatched from the egg of a cock. The Hebrew means a kind of adder, more venomous than the asp; BOCHART supposes the basilisk to be meant, which was thought to poison even with its breath.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the sucking child - An emblem here of harmlessness and innocence. The change in the world, under the Messiah, shall be as great as if a sucking infant should be able to play unharmed with a venomous serpent. Shall play - Shall delight himself (שׁעשׁע shı̂‛ăsha‛) as children usually engage in their sports; compare Pro 8:30-31; Psa 119:24. On the hole of the asp - Over, or around the cavern, hole, or place of retreat of the asp. He shall play over that place as safely as if the nature of the asp was changed, and it had become innocuous. The Hebrew word rendered here “asp” (פתן pethen) denotes the serpent usually called the asp, whose poison is of such rapid operation that it kills almost instantly: see Job 20:14, Job 20:16; Psa 58:4; Psa 91:13; Deu 32:33. The word occurs in no other places in the Old Testament. This serpent is small. It is found particularly in Egypt, though also in other places; see the note at Job 20:14. It is used here as the emblem of the more sudden, malignant, and violent passions; and the idea is, that under the Messiah a change would be performed in people of malignant and deadly passions as signal “as if” the asp or adder were to lose his venom, and become innocuous to a child. And the weaned child - But still, a young and helpless child. The image is varied, but the same idea is retained. Shall put his hand - That is, he shall do it safely, or uninjured. On the cockatrice’ den - Margin, ‘Adder’s.’ The word rendered here “cockatrice” (צפעוני tsı̂p‛ônı̂y) occurs only in the fellowing places: Isa 14:29; Isa 11:8; Isa 59:5; Pro 23:32; Jer 8:17. In all these places, it is rendered cockatrice, except in Pro 23:32. The “cockatrice” was a fabulous kind of serpent, supposed to be hatched from the egg of a cock. […]
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשִֽׁעֲשַׁ֥ע | veshiasha' | and he will play | H8173 → | 9 times |
| יוֹנֵ֖ק | yonek | a suckling-child | H3243 → | 33 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| חֻ֣ר | chur | [the] hole of | H2352 → | |
| פָּ֑תֶן | paten | a cobra | H6620 → | |
| וְעַל֙ | veal | and over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מְאוּרַ֣ת | meurat | [the] nest of | H3975 → | |
| צִפְעוֹנִ֔י | tzifoni | a viper | H6848 → | 5 times |
| גָּמ֖וּל | gamul | a weaned [child] | H1580 → | 37 times |
| יָד֥וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הָדָֽה׃ | hadah | he will put out | H1911 → |
וְשִֽׁעֲשַׁ֥עand he will play
veshiasha'H8173 →9 times
יוֹנֵ֖קa suckling-child
yonekH3243 →33 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
חֻ֣ר[the] hole of
churH2352 →
פָּ֑תֶןa cobra
patenH6620 →
וְעַל֙and over
vealH5921 →5755 times
מְאוּרַ֣ת[the] nest of
meuratH3975 →
צִפְעוֹנִ֔יa viper
tzifoniH6848 →5 times
גָּמ֖וּלa weaned [child]
gamulH1580 →37 times
יָד֥וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
הָדָֽה׃he will put out
hadahH1911 →
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
Psalms 140:3They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 23:32
In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 58:4
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
- Romans 3:13–14
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
- Jeremiah 9:3
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Proverbs 23:32
Through
Isaiah 59:5They 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.
it leads to
- Matthew 3:7
But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- Isaiah 14:29
Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
- Job 8:14
His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web.
- Matthew 3:7
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms, On Psalm 37.4; 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); Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.24 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.