Isaiah 3:4

And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. AND I WILL GIVE CHILDREN - in ability for governing: antithesis to the "ancient" (see ; ). (TO BE) THEIR PRINCES, AND BABES SHALL RULE OVER THEM - "babes" in warlike might: antithesis to "the mighty" and "man of war....

4._And I will appoint children to be their princes _(56) That the vengeance of God may be more manifest, he now describes how sad and wretched will be the change, when competent and faithful rulers shall be taken from among them and God shall put cowardly and worthless persons in their room. By _children _are meant not only those who are so by age, but also by mind and conduct, such as delicate and effeminate persons, who are destitute of courage and cannot wield the sword entrusted to them. He does not here carry out the contrast, clause by clause; for he thought it enough to point out one way in which a commonwealth is speedily ruined; that is, when its rulers are weak and foolish men like _children_, who have no gravity or wisdom. But it must be laid down as a principle, that no man is qualified for governing a commonwealth unless he have been appointed to it by God, and be endued wit...

1-9 God was about to deprive Judah of every stay and support. The city and the land were to be made desolate, because their words and works had been rebellious against the Lord; even at his holy temple. If men do not stay themselves upon God, he will soon remove all other supports, and then they must sink. Christ is the Bread of life and the Water of life; if he be our Stay, we shall find that is a good part not to be taken away, John 6:27. Here note, 1. That the condition of sinners is exceedingly woful. 2. It is the soul that is damaged by sin. 3. Whatever evil befals sinners, be sure that they bring it on themselves....

Verse Isaiah 3:4. _I WILL GIVE CHILDREN TO BE THEIR PRINCES _- "I will make boys their princes"] This also was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes, from the death of Josiah to the destruction of the city and temple, and the taking of Zedekiah, the last of them, by Nebuchadnezzar. _BABES SHALL RULE OVER THEM._] _Dymennysche men schul lordschopen_ _to hem_. - Old MS. Bible....

AND I WILL GIVE CHILDREN - Not children in respect to age so much as in regard to talent for governing. I will commit the land to the government of weak and imbecile princes. This would naturally occur when the wise and great were removed; compare Ecclesiastes 10:16 : ‘Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child;’ compare Isaiah 3:12. AND BABES SHALL RULE ... - That is, babes in experience and knowledge. This was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes that succeeded Isaiah, until the time of Zedekiah, the last of them, when the temple was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. - “Lowth.”...

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 3:1 GOD'S JUDGMENT UPON JERUSALEM. The general denunciations against Israel of the two preceding chapters are here turned especially against Jerusalem. God will deprive her of all her superior and more honorable classes (Isaiah 3:1); and will give her "children" for her rulers (Isaiah 3:4). There will be continued oppression, and the rise of an insolent and undutiful spirit (Isaiah 3:5). Those fit to bear rule will refuse to do so (Isaiah 3:6,...

AND I WILL GIVE CHILDREN [TO BE] THEIR PRINCES,.... Either in age, or in understanding, who are really so, or act like such; and in either sense, when this is the case, it is an unhappiness to a nation, Ecclesiastes 10:16: AND BABES SHALL RULE OVER THEM; which is the same as before. The Targum is, "the weak shall rule over them;'' such who are weak in their intellectuals, or are of mean pusillanimous spirits, "effeminate", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; and so as "children" are opposed to the "ancient", that should be taken away, these are opposed to "men of might" and courage, who would now be wanting: or "men of illusions", as in the margin; such as were subtle as foxes, and should deceive them, and impose upon them, and were audacious and impudent, and would mock at them, and despise them. So Jarchi and Abarbinel; and acc

CHAPTER 3 Judgments upon the Rulers and the Daughters Of Zion 1. _The judgment against the rulers (Isaiah 3:1)_ 2. _Jerusalem's sad condition (Isaiah 3:8)_ 3. _Jehovah's message (Isaiah 3:10)_ 4. _The worldliness of the daughters of Zion (Isaiah 3:16)_ 5. _Their humiliation in judgment (Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 4:1)_ This chapter describes the corrupt conditions among the professing people of God in Isaiah's day. A similar corruption and worldliness pr

JUDAH TO BE PUNISHED WITH ANARCHY. The date is uncertain. That it was early in the reign of Ahaz is a dubious inference from Isaiah 3:12. The pillars of society will be removed, and control will thus be thrown into the hands of young, inexperienced upstarts. Social distinctions will be swept away, age and rank no longer secure respect. Tired of the anarchy, the people will offer the headship of their district to one whom they imagine equal to it, apparently because he belongs to the old order and has hereditary instincts for administration. But he will refuse, disclaiming the qualification. This impending ruin is due to Judah's rebellious provocation of Yahweh, its respect of persons (_mg.),_ Sodom-like shamelessness in its sin. Blessed is the righteous, woe to the wicked; each shall reap what he has sown. The people is governed by oppressors and usurers, its leaders mislead it....

CHILDREN. youths, or boys. BABES. with caprice. Not the same word...