Isaiah 3:4

4 The Lord says, "I will cause young boys to be your leaders, and foolish children will rule over you.

Isaiah 3:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 3:4

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 according to this sense of the word the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "mockers shall rule over them".

Isaiah 3:4 In-Context

2 the heroes and great soldiers, the judges and prophets, people who do magic and older leaders,

3 the military leaders and government leaders, the counselors, the skilled craftsmen, and those who try to tell the future.

4 The Lord says, "I will cause young boys to be your leaders, and foolish children will rule over you.

5 People will be against each other; everyone will be against his neighbor. Young people will not respect older people, and common people will not respect important people."

6 At that time a man will grab one of his brothers from his own family and say, "You have a coat, so you will be our leader. These ruins will be under your control."