“Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as 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.
- BSB “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
- NKJV “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”
- 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 37:30This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
- Isa 38:7–8This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken.
- 2 Kgs 19:29“This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit.
- Isa 38:22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to Yahweh’s house?”
- Judg 6:36–40Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,
- 2 Kgs 20:8–11Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh’s house the third day?”
- Matt 12:38–40Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
- Jer 19:10“Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,
- Jer 51:63–64It shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates.
- Jer 19:1Thus said Yahweh, “Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take some of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
- Matt 16:1–4The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked 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.