What Does Isaiah 7:11 Mean in the King James?
Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew makes the request itself stretch: “make it deep” or “make it high above,” opening both ends of the vertical world to the sign.
THE MEANING
Your asking can reach beyond ordinary limits, down into depth or up to the height above. The LORD your God is named as the source of the sign, while the verse leaves the request’s reach unbounded.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that asking for a sign is itself a failure of trust: the request is invited, and its scale is left open.
THE ROOT
הַעְמֵק
haʿmēq
GROWS FROM
עמק
Be deep; make deep.
The Hebrew does not merely place the sign in a depth; it uses a verb meaning “make deep” for the asking itself. The same root names a valley, giving depth the shape of a low place rather than an abstraction.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāmōq: deep
עָמֹק
This adjective carries the same root into the quality of what lies far down.
ʿēmeq: valley, lowland
עֵמֶק
The valley branch makes the root’s depth a place one can enter, not just a measure of distance.
הַגְבֵּהַּ
hagbeh
GROWS FROM
גבה
Be high; make high.
Its partner is also an imperative: make the request high. Together, these roots make depth and height matched directions in which the asking can stretch.
ALSO GROWS
gābōah: high, lofty
גָּבֹהַּ
This branch names the height as a quality, matching the verse’s upward reach.
gōbah: height, loftiness
גֹּבַהּ
This noun makes explicit the vertical dimension that the imperative opens.
THE PATTERN
What lies at either vertical extreme remains within God’s reach, knowing, and love.
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.THE THREAD
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.Both verses use the Hebrew word אוֹת (ʾôt), “sign.” Here a sign is something asked for; there, people themselves are called signs, so a sign can be a life that makes a message visible.
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