Isaiah 47:7 kjv
And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
Isaiah 47:7 nkjv
And you said, 'I shall be a lady forever,' So that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them.
Isaiah 47:7 niv
You said, 'I am forever? the eternal queen!' But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.
Isaiah 47:7 esv
You said, "I shall be mistress forever," so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.
Isaiah 47:7 nlt
You said, 'I will reign forever as queen of the world!'
You did not reflect on your actions
or think about their consequences.
Isaiah 47 7 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Rev 18:7 | "As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously... in her heart, 'I sit as queen, I am no widow, and I will never mourn.'" | New Testament echo of Babylon's pride. |
| Isa 14:13–14 | "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne... I will make myself like the Most High.'" | Lucifer/King of Babylon's pride. |
| Jer 50:11 | "Because you are glad, because you rejoice... you have grown fat like a heifer at grass and you bellow like stallions." | Babylon's arrogance and indulgence. |
| Jer 51:13 | "O you who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; your thread of life is cut." | Babylon's judgment despite wealth. |
| Ps 10:4 | "In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are that there is no God." | Pride leads to rejection of God. |
| Ps 30:6–7 | "As for me, I said in my prosperity, 'I shall never be moved.' Your favor... made my mountain stand firm; you hid your face; I was dismayed." | Human pride in prosperity is fleeting. |
| Prov 16:18 | "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." | Universal principle of pride's consequence. |
| Ezek 28:2 | "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 'Because your heart is proud, and you have said, "I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods..."'" | Another powerful ruler's self-deification. |
| Zep 2:15 | "This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, 'I am, and there is none besides me.' How has she become a desolation..." | Nineveh's pride and subsequent fall. |
| Lk 12:19–20 | "And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods... eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you...'" | Parable of the rich fool, no thought of end. |
| Dan 4:30–31 | "The king answered and said, 'Is not this great Babylon, which I have built...' While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven..." | Nebuchadnezzar's pride and immediate judgment. |
| Deut 8:12–14 | "Lest, when you have eaten and are full... and your silver and gold are multiplied... then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God." | Warning against pride in prosperity. |
| 1 Pet 5:5 | "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." | God's stance against pride. |
| Jam 4:6 | "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." | New Testament reiteration of divine principle. |
| Job 18:5–6 | "Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out... The lamp in his tent is extinguished." | The end of the proud and wicked. |
| Hos 13:6 | "But when they had fed, they were full; they became proud; therefore they forgot me." | Connection between fullness, pride, and forgetting God. |
| Pss 52:7 | "See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his greed!" | Trust in riches instead of God. |
| 1 Tim 6:17 | "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches..." | Warning against pride in wealth. |
| Eze 31:3 | "Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon... his top among the thick boughs." Its eventual fall (vs 11-13). | Analogy of a great power's rise and fall. |
| 2 Thess 2:4 | "who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." | Ultimate human hubris, foreshadowing antichrist. |
| Pss 73:6 | "Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment." | Description of the proud and violent. |
| Pss 75:4–5 | "I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn; do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with an arrogant neck.'" | Warning against arrogant boasting. |
| Isa 2:11 | "The haughty eyes of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." | God's ultimate exaltation over human pride. |
Isaiah 47 verses
Isaiah 47 7 Meaning
Isaiah 47:7 portrays Babylon's profound self-delusion and arrogance, believing its power and dominion were eternal and unchallengeable. She saw herself as an enduring queen, immune to the vulnerabilities of widowhood (loss of husband/king, thus power and protector) or childlessness (loss of heirs, thus future and continuation). This self-assured declaration directly defies the Lord's impending judgment, highlighting a lack of foresight and an entrenched complacency that fails to acknowledge divine sovereignty or the transient nature of earthly power.
Isaiah 47 7 Context
Isaiah 47 forms a lament, or "oracle against Babylon," where the prophet pronounces divine judgment upon the mighty Neo-Babylonian Empire, personified as a virgin daughter. Prior to this verse, the Lord has commanded Babylon to descend from her throne of power, to take up the grinding mill, and to sit in the dust, her status reduced to a slave. The context of verse 7 specifically exposes the internal, arrogant thought process that led to Babylon's downfall – a profound self-assurance that failed to account for a sovereign God. Historically, Babylon had indeed become the preeminent power in the Near East after conquering Assyria and destroying Judah, embodying perceived invincibility and ruthless dominance, which aligns perfectly with her boast of eternal rule. This chapter also serves as a warning against relying on idolatry and sorcery, which Babylon famously practiced, depicting their utter failure in the face of God's power.
Isaiah 47 7 Word analysis
- וַתֹּאמְרִי (vat-tom'ri) - "And you said" (feminine singular perfect consecutive verb from אָמַר `amar`, to say).
- Significance: This implies a declarative internal thought or public boast, not just a quiet hope. It highlights Babylon's active self-deception and arrogant self-proclamation. The "you" is the personified "virgin daughter of Babylon." This statement directly reflects the inner confidence and security she felt, revealing her spiritual state.
- לְעוֹלָם (l-`olam) - "Forever" / "eternally" (preposition `l` meaning "to/for" + noun עוֹלָם `olam`, meaning "long duration, eternity, for all time").
- Significance: Babylon perceived its empire as permanent, established beyond the reach of time or change, immune to the rise and fall that characterized other empires. This belief directly challenges God's exclusive claim to eternal existence and sovereign rule (Ps 90:2).
- אֶהְיֶה (ehyeh) - "I shall be" (first person singular imperfect verb from הָיָה `hayah`, to be/become).
- Significance: A strong, self-referential declaration of future state. This verb mirrors the divine "I Am" (Exod 3:14), arrogantly placing Babylon's destiny under her own control rather than God's.
- גְּבֶרֶת (g'veret) - "Mistress" / "Queen" (feminine noun, `g'veret`, meaning lady, mistress, queen, potentate).
- Significance: Denotes a position of power, authority, and dominance, ruling over others. It speaks of a woman who is the head of a household or nation, respected, wealthy, and powerful, not subject to others. This highlights Babylon's perceived imperial status and supreme rule over nations.
- לֹא־ (lo-) - "Not" (negative particle).
- Significance: A direct denial, indicating her firm conviction against the very things God planned for her.
- אֵדַע (eida') - "I shall know" (first person singular imperfect verb from יָדַע `yada`, to know, perceive, experience).
- Significance: To "know" here means to experience or suffer. Babylon boasts she will never experience or suffer the pain and vulnerability associated with loss. It's an assertion of her impenetrable state of prosperity and security.
- שִׂכּוּל (sikul) - "Loss of children" / "bereavement" (noun, `shikkul`, from the root שָׁכַל `shakal`, to miscarry, bereave of children).
- Significance: In ancient Near Eastern culture, the loss of children represented the severest blow to a family's future, heritage, and continuity, deeply intertwined with honor and societal standing. For a nation, it implies the extinction of its people or future generations, the ultimate destruction.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "And you said in your heart" (implicit): The opening "And you said" carries the weight of a decree born from inner conviction. Though "in your heart" isn't explicitly in Isa 47:7, the parallel in Rev 18:7 confirms this internal, self-confident mindset, a decision rather than a mere thought.
- "Forever I shall be mistress": This phrase captures the height of Babylon's hubris. "Forever" asserts permanence against a backdrop of constantly shifting earthly powers. "Mistress" (גְּבֶרֶת `g'veret`) implies total command, not merely existing but dominating and ruling with unchallenged authority. This stands in direct contrast to God's warnings about the transient nature of all earthly kingdoms.
- "nor will I know widowhood": "Widowhood" (`'alm'nut`) in the ancient world symbolized utter vulnerability, loss of protection, economic ruin, and social humiliation for a woman. For a nation, it represented the loss of its king, protector, and military power—essentially, conquest and subjugation. Babylon rejects this fate, seeing itself eternally secure.
- "nor loss of children": This denial targets the worst possible calamity for continuity and future hope in ancient societies. "Loss of children" (`shikkul`) meant the end of the lineage, utter devastation and depopulation. It suggests that Babylon's population, its strength, and its future generations would remain secure and intact, a boast against any form of total destruction or depopulation.
Isaiah 47 7 Bonus section
This verse embodies the essence of "hubris," a fatal flaw often leading to downfall in classical literature and a recurring theme in biblical prophecy. Babylon's self-proclamation of eternal rule and invincibility is a direct polemic against the Lord, Yahweh, who alone is eternal (Ps 90:2) and whose kingdom alone has no end (Dan 2:44). The specific imagery of avoiding "widowhood" and "loss of children" would have resonated deeply with the original audience, who understood these as the most catastrophic forms of societal and personal desolation. This hyper-specific denial on Babylon's part ironically foreshadows the very judgments that God pronounces upon her: indeed, she will become a "widow" losing her king and power, and her "children" (population/generations) will be cut off, often through the literal extermination or enslavement described elsewhere in Isaiah and Jeremiah. This passage therefore underscores the profound irony of divine judgment: the proud are often struck with the very calamities they boast they will avoid.
Isaiah 47 7 Commentary
Isaiah 47:7 masterfully exposes Babylon's profound spiritual blindness and self-idolatry. The nation, puffed up by its military victories and perceived invincibility, has embraced a lie of eternal dominion and absolute security. Her declaration of being an everlasting "mistress" immune to the humiliations of widowhood and child loss—potent symbols of national collapse and demographic annihilation—reveals an utter disregard for divine sovereignty and a fatal overestimation of her own power. This verse encapsulates the root sin of pride, the refusal to acknowledge any higher authority or the ephemeral nature of all human enterprises. It serves as a stark warning: those who forget the impermanence of earthly might and ignore the ultimate authority of God are destined for a rude awakening, a sudden and total reversal of fortune predicted just chapters later.