“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
- KJV Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
- NKJV “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”
- NASB “Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
- NLT “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God invites Ahaz to ask for any sign he wishes, whether in the depths or the heights. It is a remarkable display of God's willingness to confirm His word.
Overview
The breadth of the offer, from Sheol below to heaven above, shows God placing no limit on the sign that would assure Ahaz. Such an offer reveals God's gracious eagerness to bolster faith. Ahaz's response to this generous invitation will expose the true condition of his heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 37:30And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Isa 38:7–8This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:
- 2 Kgs 19:29And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Isa 38:22And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”
- Judg 6:36–40Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,
- 2 Kgs 20:8–11Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”
- Matt 12:38–40Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
- Jer 19:10Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,
- Jer 51:63–64When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates.
- Jer 19:1This is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests,
- Matt 16:1–4Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 7:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.