Isaiah 66:9

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הַאֲנִ֥י אַשְׁבִּ֛יר וְלֹ֥א אוֹלִ֖יד יֹאמַ֣ר יְהוָ֑ה אִם־אֲנִ֧י הַמּוֹלִ֛יד וְעָצַ֖רְתִּי אָמַ֥ר אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃ ס

Transliteration

haʾănî ʾašbîr and-not ʾôlîḏ? yōʾmar YHWH; if-I hammôlîḏ and-ʿāṣartî? ʾāmar ʾĕlōhāyiḵ.

Grammar Details

*ha-ʾănî*: interrogative particle + pronoun, 1st person singular - shall I
*ʾašbîr*: hiphil imperfect, 1st person singular - I cause to break
*wĕ-lōʾ*: conjunction + negative particle - and not
*ʾôlîḏ*: hiphil imperfect, 1st person singular - I cause to bring forth
*yōʾmar*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he says
*YHWH*: proper noun - divine name
*ʾim-ʾănî*: conjunction + pronoun, 1st person singular - if I
*ha-môlîḏ*: article + hiphil participle, masculine singular - the one who causes to bring forth
*wĕ-ʿāṣartî*: conjunction + qal perfect, 1st person singular - and I restrain
*ʾāmar*: qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he said
*ʾĕlōhāyiḵ*: noun, masculine plural construct with 2nd feminine singular suffix - your God

Word Meanings

*ʾašbîr*: I cause to break/bring to birth/open the womb
*ʾôlîḏ*: I cause to bring forth/beget/bear
*yōʾmar*: he says/speaks/declares
*hammôlîḏ*: the one who brings forth/begets/generates
*ʿāṣartî*: I restrain/hold back/shut up
*ʾāmar*: he said/spoke/declared
*ʾĕlōhāyiḵ*: your God/deity (plural form with singular meaning)

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Isa 37:3 : 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Gen 18:14 : 14 Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the set time I will return unto thee, when the season cometh round, and Sarah shall have a son.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Isa 66:7-8
2 verses
84%
7Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.
8Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Isa 45:10
73%
10Woe unto him that saith unto a father, What begettest thou? or to a woman, With what travailest thou?
Mic 4:9-10
2 verses
73%
9Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee, is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail?
10Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and shalt dwell in the field, and shalt come even unto Babylon: there shalt thou be rescued; there will Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
Isa 54:1
73%
1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah.
Isa 46:3
72%
3Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne [by me] from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;
Hos 9:11-12
2 verses
72%
11As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird: there shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception.
12Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, so that not a man shall be left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
Jer 30:6
72%
6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Isa 42:14
72%
14I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: [now] will I cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and pant together.
Isa 66:10
72%
10Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her;
Isa 26:17-18
2 verses
72%
17Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been before thee, O Jehovah.
18We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Isa 49:15
72%
15Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.
Hos 9:14
71%
14Give them, O Jehovah—what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
Hos 13:13
71%
13The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.
Jer 16:3
71%
3For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land:
Jer 15:9
71%
9She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath been put to shame and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith Jehovah.
Job 39:2-3
2 verses
70%
2Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They cast out their pains.
Ps 113:9
70%
9He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [And to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye Jehovah.
Isa 66:12-13
2 verses
70%
12For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck [thereof]; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees.
13As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Isa 44:24
70%
24Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth (who is with me?);
Isa 49:1
70%
1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:
Job 3:10
69%
10Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
Hos 9:16
69%
16Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved fruit of their womb.
Gal 4:27
69%
27For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: For {G4183} more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the husband.
Lam 2:20
69%
20See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
Exod 23:26
69%
26There shall none cast her young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Job 31:15
69%
15Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
Isa 51:18-19
2 verses
68%
18There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand among all the sons that she hath brought up.
19These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?
Isa 49:21
68%
21Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?
John 16:21
68%
21A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world.
Mic 5:3
68%
3Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Hos 2:3
68%
3lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
Jer 31:8
68%
8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither.
Job 38:8
68%
8Or [who] shut up the sea with doors, When it brake forth, [as if] it had issued out of the womb;
Luke 23:29
68%
29For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck.
Isa 8:3
68%
3And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said Jehovah unto me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Jer 9:9
68%
9Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 4:31
68%
31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands, [saying], Woe is me now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers.
Jer 1:5
68%
5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.
Ezek 20:26
68%
26and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through [the fire] all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Jehovah.
Isa 43:6
68%
6I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth;
Num 11:12
68%
12Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
Isa 43:19
67%
19Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Jer 22:23
67%
23O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!