What Does Isaiah 7:7 Mean?
Thus says the Lord, the LORD. It shall not stand, and it shall not be.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.THE KEY
The threat is denied twice: it will neither gain its footing nor come into being.
THE MEANING
A danger that feels settled is still not self-establishing. The Lord’s word puts a boundary around it: it cannot take its stand, and it does not come to be.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A threat that has been spoken has already decided what will happen.
THE ROOT
תָּקוּם
tāqūm
GROWS FROM
קום
qûm
Rise, stand, arise.
The Hebrew carries the sense of taking a stand or gaining footing, not merely remaining in place. Paired with the next verb, it says the threat neither establishes itself nor becomes.
ALSO GROWS
wayyāqom: And he or it arose.
וַיָּקָם
This form shows the root’s basic movement into an upright or active position, the very movement denied here.
hēqîm: Raise up, establish.
הֵקִים
The causative form brings out the sense of making something stand: the threat cannot establish itself.
תִהְיֶה
tihyeh
GROWS FROM
היה
hāyāh
Be, become; by extension, happen.
“be” in this verse is tihyeh. The phrase translated “come to pass” is rooted in being and becoming. The verse denies not just the threat’s footing, but its becoming reality.
ALSO GROWS
hāyāh: Be, become.
הָיָה
The basic verb makes clear that what is denied here is the threat’s becoming.
wayhî: And it was; and it came to pass.
וַיְהִי
This familiar narrative form uses the same root, showing how English “came to pass” can carry the simpler sense “became” or “was.”
THE PATTERN
A threatened outcome does not become inevitable merely because it is spoken; the LORD’s word determines what stands.
Many plans are in the heart of a man, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand.Take counsel together, and it shall be broken; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.Heaven and earth pass by, but my words do not pass by.THE THREAD
Take counsel together, and it shall be broken; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.Isaiah 8:10 repeats the root קום (qûm, “rise, stand”) in “it shall not stand.” The repetition reveals that a threat can be spoken without gaining footing; its declaration alone does not make it real.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us