Isaiah Chapter 3 verse 4 Holy Bible
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
read chapter 3 in ASV
And I will make children their chiefs, and foolish ones will have rule over them.
read chapter 3 in BBE
And I will appoint youths as their princes, and children shall rule over them.
read chapter 3 in DARBY
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
read chapter 3 in KJV
read chapter 3 in WBT
I will give boys to be their princes, And children shall rule over them.
read chapter 3 in WEB
And I have made youths their heads, And sucklings rule over them.
read chapter 3 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - I will give children to be their princes; rather, youths than "children." The extreme youth of the later kings of Judah at the date of their accession is very remarkable. After Hezekiah, only one was as much as twenty-five years old when he came to the throne. Jehoahaz was twenty-three (2 Kings 23:31); Amon, twenty-two (2 Kings 21:19); Zedekiah twenty-one (2 Kings 24:18); Jehoiachin, eighteen (2 Kings 24:8); Manasseh, twelve (2 Kings 21:1); and Josiah eight (2 Kings 22:1). Thus this prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. And babes shall rule over them; literally, puerilities shall rule over them; i.e. the youths shall behave in a childish way.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) I will give children to be their princes.--Better, youths. The words may point obliquely to Ahaz, who had ascended the throne at the age of twenty (2Chronicles 28:1). Manasseh was but twelve when he became king; Josiah but eight (2Chronicles 33:1; 2Chronicles 34:1). In an Eastern monarchy the rule of a young king, rash and without experience, guided by counsellors like himself, was naturally regarded as the greatest of evils, and the history of Rehoboam had impressed this truth on the mind of every Israelite. (Comp. Ecclesiastes 10:16.)
