Isaiah 7:8

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֣י רֹ֤אשׁ אֲרָם֙ דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק וְרֹ֥אשׁ דַּמֶּ֖שֶׂק רְצִ֑ין וּבְע֗וֹד שִׁשִּׁ֤ים וְחָמֵשׁ֙ שָׁנָ֔ה יֵחַ֥ת אֶפְרַ֖יִם מֵעָֽם׃

Transliteration

For rōʾš ʾĂrām Dammeśeq, and-rōʾš Dammeśeq Rəṣîn; and-in-yet-ʿôḏ sixty and-five šānāh, yēḥaṯ ʾEp̄rayim from-being-people.

Grammar Details

• *rōʾš*: noun, masculine singular construct - head of
• *ʾĂrām*: proper noun, masculine singular - Aram/Syria
• *Dammeśeq*: proper noun, feminine singular - Damascus
• *Rəṣîn*: proper noun, masculine singular - Rezin
• *ʿôḏ*: adverb - still/yet
• *šānāh*: noun, feminine singular - year
• *yēḥaṯ*: imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular, Niphal - it will be broken/shattered
• *ʾEp̄rayim*: proper noun, masculine singular - Ephraim (Northern Kingdom)

Word Meanings

• *rōʾš*: head/chief/capital
• *ʿôḏ*: still/yet/more
• *yēḥaṯ*: will be broken/will be shattered/will be destroyed
• *mēʿām*: from being a people/from nationhood

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken, that it will not be a people.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  For the head{H7218} of Syria{H758} is Damascus,{H1834} and the head{H7218} of Damascus{H1834} is Rezin;{H7526} and within threescore{H8346} and five{H2568} years{H8141} shall Ephraim{H669} be broken{H2865} in pieces, so that it shall not be a people:{H5971}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  For the head{H7218} of Syria{H758} is Damascus{H1834}, and the head{H7218} of Damascus{H1834} is Rezin{H7526}; and within threescore{H8346} and five{H2568} years{H8141} shall Ephraim{H669} be broken{H2865}{(H8735)}, that it be not a people{H5971}.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  for the headcitie of ye Sirians is Damascus, but the head of Damascus is Rezin. And after fyue and threscore yeare, shal Ephraim be nomore a people.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin: and within fiue and threescore yeere, Ephraim shalbe destroyed from being a people.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  For the head citie of the Syrians is Damascus, but the head of Damascus is Razin: And after threscore and fiue yeres shall Ephraim be no more a people.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  For the head of Syria [is] Damascus, and the head of Damascus [is] Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  For the head of Aram `is' Damascus, And the head of Damascus `is' Rezin, And within sixty and five years Is Ephraim broken from `being' a people.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken in pieces, so that is shall not be a people:

• American Standard Version (1901)

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people:

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (and in sixty-five years from now Ephraim will be broken, and will no longer be a people):

• World English Bible (2000)

  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  For Syria’s leader is Damascus, and the leader of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation.

Referenced Verses

• Isa 17:1-3 : 1 This is an oracle concerning Damascus: Behold, Damascus will no longer be a city; it will become a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned; they will be places for flocks, where they will lie down, and no one will disturb them. 3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites, declares the LORD of Hosts.
• Gen 14:15 : 15 He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and attacked them. He pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
• 2 Sam 8:6 : 6 Then David stationed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became his servants, bringing tribute. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went.
• 2 Kgs 17:5-9 : 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor River, and in the cities of Media. 7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods. 8 They followed the practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites, as well as the practices of the kings of Israel that they themselves had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every leafy tree. 11 There, on all the high places, they burned incense as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the Lord to anger. 12 They served idols, about which the Lord had said to them, 'You shall not do this thing.' 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and seers, saying, 'Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and statutes according to the entire law I commanded your fathers to follow, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.' 14 But they would not listen. Instead, they hardened their necks like their fathers who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised His statutes, His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His warnings He gave them. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They imitated the nations around them, though the Lord had commanded them not to do so. 16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God. They made for themselves two cast idols in the form of calves, made an Asherah pole, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire, practiced divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 18 So the Lord became very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left. 19 But even Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God. They followed the practices of Israel as the Israelites had done. 20 Therefore the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to plunderers until He had cast them out of His presence. 21 For when Israel was torn from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and led them into great sin. 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them. 23 Finally, the Lord removed Israel from His presence as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So the Israelites were exiled from their own land to Assyria, and they remain there to this day.
• Ezra 4:2 : 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here."
• Isa 8:4 : 4 For before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.
• Hos 1:6-9 : 6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to him, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah (Not Pitied), for I will no longer show compassion to the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them." 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or sword, by war, by horses, or by horsemen. 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi (Not My People), for you are not my people, and I am not your God."