Isaiah 8:4

KJV1611 – Modern English

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֗י בְּטֶ֙רֶם֙ יֵדַ֣ע הַנַּ֔עַר קְרֹ֖א אָבִ֣י וְאִמִּ֑י יִשָּׂ֣א ׀ אֶת־חֵ֣יל דַּמֶּ֗שֶׂק וְאֵת֙ שְׁלַ֣ל שֹׁמְר֔וֹן לִפְנֵ֖י מֶ֥לֶךְ אַשּֽׁוּר׃

Transliteration

kî before yēdaʿ ha-naʿar qərōʾ ʾābî and-ʾimmî yiśśāʾ ʾet-ḥêl dammeśeq and-ʾēt šəlal šōmərôn before melek ʾaššûr

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *bəṭerem*: preposition + noun - before
• *yēdaʿ*: qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - he will know
• *ha-naʿar*: definite article + noun masculine singular - the boy/child/youth
• *qərōʾ*: qal infinitive construct - to call/cry
• *ʾābî*: noun masculine singular construct + 1st person singular suffix - my father
• *ʾimmî*: noun feminine singular construct + 1st person singular suffix - my mother
• *yiśśāʾ*: niphal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - will be carried away
• *ḥêl*: noun masculine singular construct - wealth/power/strength/army
• *dammeśeq*: proper noun - Damascus
• *šəlal*: noun masculine singular construct - spoil/plunder
• *šōmərôn*: proper noun - Samaria
• *lifnê*: preposition + plural construct of *pānîm* - before
• *melek*: noun masculine singular construct - king of
• *ʾaššûr*: proper noun - Assyria

Word Meanings

• *yēdaʿ qərōʾ*: knows to call/is able to say/can cry out
• *ḥêl*: wealth/power/resources/army
• *yiśśāʾ*: will be carried away/will be taken away/will be removed

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  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.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  For why, or euer the childe shal haue knowlege to saye: Abi and Im, yt is father, and mother: shal ye riches of Damascus and ye substaunce of Samaria be take awaye, thorow the Kynge of ye Assirians.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  For before the childe shall haue knowledge to crye, My father, & my mother, he shall take away the riches of Damascus and the spoyle of Samaria, before the King of Asshur.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  For why, or euer the chylde shall haue knowledge to crye my father and mother, shall the riches of Damascus and the spoyle of Samaria be taken away before the kyng of the Assyrians.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  for before the youth doth know to cry, My father, and My mother, one taketh away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Asshur.'

• American Standard Version (1901)

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  For before the child is able to say, Father, or, Mother, the wealth of Damascus and the goods of Samaria will be taken away by the king of Assyria.

• World English Bible (2000)

  For before the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria."

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  for before the child knows how to cry out,‘My father’ or‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

Referenced Verses

• Rom 9:11 : 11 For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him who calls;
• Jonah 4:11 : 11 And should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, where there are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
• Isa 10:6-9 : 6 I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Yet he does not mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off not a few nations. 8 For he says, Are not my princes altogether kings? 9 Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? 10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose carved images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria; 11 Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, also do to Jerusalem and her idols? 12 Therefore, it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13 For he says, By the strength of my hand, I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have brought down the inhabitants like a valiant man; 14 And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.
• Deut 1:39 : 39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
• 2 Kgs 15:29 : 29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
• 2 Kgs 16:9 : 9 The king of Assyria heeded him, for he went up against Damascus, captured it, and carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.
• 2 Kgs 17:3 : 3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him tribute.
• 2 Kgs 17:5-6 : 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
• Isa 7:8-9 : 8 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. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.
• Isa 7:15-16 : 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken by both her kings.
• Isa 17:3 : 3 The fortress shall also cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, says the LORD of hosts.