EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Isaiah 7:12
12But Ahaz said, ‘I will never ask the Lord to do that. I do not want to test him.’
Isaiah 7:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
Context of Isaiah 7:12
10Isaiah also gave this message from the Lord to Ahaz. 11He said, ‘Ask the Lord your God to do a miracle for you. That will show you that what he has said is true. Ask for anything, deep in the earth or high in the sky.’ But Ahaz said, ‘I will never ask the Lord to do that. I do not want to test him.’ 13So Isaiah replied, ‘Now listen, you royal family of David! You cause trouble for people like me. That is bad enough. But now you are trying to cause trouble for God himself. 14So the Lord God himself will show you that he speaks a true message. Look, the young woman who has never had sex will become pregnant. She will give birth to a son. She will call his name Immanuel.
Read all of Isaiah 7Isaiah 7:12 word by word
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָחָ֑ז לֹא־אֶשְׁאַ֥ל וְלֹֽא־אֲנַסֶּ֖ה אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 7:12
- 2 Kings 16:15Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, ‘On the large new altar, offer these gifts: A burnt offering for each morning. A grain offering for each evening. A burnt offering and a grain offering on behalf of the king. A burnt offering on behalf of all the people of Israel. A grain offering and drink offerings on behalf of the people. Splash the blood from all these sacrifices on the new altar. But I will use the bronze altar myself, to find out about my future times.’
- 2 Chronicles 28:22During this time of trouble, King Ahaz did even more bad things against the Lord.
- Ezekiel 33:31They are my people and they come as a crowd to listen to you. They sit and they listen to your words. But they do not obey what you say. They say that they love me. But really they like to cheat people to get things for themselves.
- Deuteronomy 6:16Do not test the Lord your God, to see what he will do. That is what you did at Massah.
- Malachi 3:15But it is proud people that God blesses! Yes, it is the people who do evil things who become rich! God does not even punish people who like to test him. That is what we think.” ’
- Acts 5:9Peter said to her, ‘It was wrong for you and your husband to do this bad thing. You agreed together to tell a lie to the Holy Spirit of the Lord God. Listen! The men who have just buried your husband are at the door again now. They will carry your body out too.’
- 1 Corinthians 10:9Nor must we do bad things to see whether the Lord will punish us. Some of our ancestors did that, and God sent snakes to destroy them.
Commentaries on Isaiah 7:12
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12I will not ask - In this case Ahaz assumed the appearance of piety, or respect for the command of God. In Deuteronomy 6:16, it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;‘ and Ahaz perhaps had this command in his eye. It was a professed reverence for God. But the true reason why he did not seek this sign was, that he had already entered into a negotiation with the king of Assyria to come and defend him; and that he was even stripping the temple of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-16Verses 10-16 Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great soever your…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12I will not test the LORD: Ahaz’s answer sounded respectful and faithful (based on Deuteronomy 6:16. However, Ahaz was likely already speaking with the Assyrians. He had probably already decided to trust them for help in this war. His response sounded spiritual and proper, but his actions showed that he did not plan to trust the Lord.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. neither ... tempt--hypocritical pretext of keeping the law (De 6:16); "tempt," that is, put God to the proof, as in Mt 4:7, by seeking His miraculous interposition without warrant. But here there was the warrant of the prophet of God; to have asked a sign, when thus offered, would not have been a tempting of God. Ahaz' true reason for declining was his resolve not to do God's will, but to negotiate with Assyria, and persevere in his idolatry (2Ki…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 7:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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