Isaiah 7 · Verse 11

Isaiah 7:11

Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Isaiah 7:11, King James Version

Isaiah 7:11 in other translations

BSB“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
WEB“Ask a sign of the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
ASVAsk thee a sign of Jehovah thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
YLT‘Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God, Make deep the request, or make it high upwards.'
DARBYAsk for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God; ask for it in the deep, or in the height above.
BBEMake a request to the Lord your God for a sign, a sign in the deep places of the underworld, or in the high heavens.
WebsterAsk thee a sign from the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the hight above.

What does Isaiah 7:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. Ask thee--since thou dost not credit the prophet's words. sign--a miraculous token to assure thee that God will fulfil His promise of saving Jerusalem (Is 37:30; 38:7, 8). "Signs," facts then present or near at hand as pledges for the more distant future, are frequent in Isaiah. ask ... in ... depth--literally, "Make deep ... ask it," that is, Go to the depth of the earth or of Hades [Vulgate and Lowth], or, Mount high for it (literally, "Make high"). So in Mt 16:1. Signs in heaven are contrasted with the signs on earth and below it (raising the dead) which Jesus Christ had wrought (compare Ro 10:6, 7). He offers Ahaz the widest limits within which to make his choice.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 In the depth "Go deep to the grave" - So Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 7:10-16

Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 7:10-16 →

Isaiah 7:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

שְׁאַל\־she.'al-askH7592
לְךָ֣le.Khafor yourself
א֔וֹת'ota signH226
מֵעִ֖םme.'Imfrom withH5973
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430
הַעְמֵ֣קha'.Mekmake deepH6009
שְׁאָ֔לָהshe.'A.lah[as] SheolH7585
א֖וֹ'oorH176
הַגְבֵּ֥הַּhag.Be.ahmake highH1361
לְמָֽעְלָה\׃le.Ma.'e.lah<to> upwards <towards>H4605

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 7:11

  • Isaiah 37:30

    And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

  • Isaiah 38:7-8

    And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

  • 2 Kings 19:29

    And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

  • Judges 6:36-40

    And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. …

  • Isaiah 38:22

    Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?

  • 2 Kings 20:8-11

    And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

  • Jeremiah 19:10

    Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

  • Matthew 12:38-40

    Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

  • Matthew 16:1-4

    The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

  • Jeremiah 51:63-64

    And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

  • Jeremiah 19:1

    Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
a sign.
37:30; 38:7,8,22; Jud 6:36-40; 2Ki 20:8-11; Jer 19:1,10; 51:63,64
Mt 12:38-40; 16:1-4
ask it either in the depth. or, make thy petition deep.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 7:10

    Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

  • Isaiah 7:11

    Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

  • Isaiah 7:12

    But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

Read all of Isaiah 7

Isaiah 7:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Pide para ti señal de Jehová tu Dios, demandándola en lo profundo, ó arriba en lo alto.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Demande pour toi un signe de la part de l’ Éternel, ton Dieu; demande-le dans les lieux bas ou dans les hauteurs d’en haut.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Fordere dir ein Zeichen von Jehova, deinem Gott; fordere es in der Tiefe oder oben in der Höhe.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Pete tibi signum a Domino Deo tuo, in profundum inferni, sive in excelsum supra.