Isaiah 11:7 Meaning and Explanation
“And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Images of peace can seem distant when danger, hunger, and rivalry feel ordinary. Isaiah 11:7 gives peace a bodily, visible shape: creatures that would ordinarily threaten one another are secure together, and the lion's food is changed. The verse invites us to consider the breadth of the LORD's promised healing.
Isaiah portrays a peace so thorough that animals ordinarily set against one another share food and rest. The verse pictures the restoring rule of the promised ruler reaching even the patterns of creation.
The Context of Isaiah 11:7
Isaiah 11 opens with the promised ruler from Jesse's line, upon whom the Spirit of the LORD rests. His righteous judgment especially concerns the poor and meek, and righteousness and faithfulness mark his rule. Verses 6 through 8 describe animals and children living without the danger familiar in a fallen world. Verse 7 stands in the center of that picture, extending the scene from shared resting to shared feeding. Verse 9 gives the chapter's stated ground: the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD. The chapter then turns to the gathering of Israel and Judah's dispersed people and the nations' seeking the root of Jesse.
What Does Isaiah 11:7 Mean?
The cow and bear belong to very different kinds of life in the world Isaiah knew. A cow is a grazing domestic animal; a bear is a powerful wild animal. Yet they "shall feed," and their young ones "shall lie down together." Feeding and resting are vulnerable acts, so the language presents more than a brief truce. Their offspring inherit safety rather than fear. The final line presses the vision further: "the lion shall eat straw like the ox." A lion's manner of feeding is altered, while the ox remains a familiar image of peaceful grazing. Isaiah uses concrete creatures and ordinary actions to show a condition in which predation and threat have lost their place.
The verse belongs to a larger promise about the reign of the Branch from Jesse. The chapter first describes his Spirit-given wisdom, righteous judgment, and faithfulness. Peace in creation follows that righteous rule; it is part of the order established by the LORD's king. Verse 7 also deepens verse 6. There a wolf, lamb, leopard, kid, calf, young lion, and fatling dwell together. Here Isaiah adds mothers and young, feeding and lying down. The chapter's vision therefore includes the preservation of life across generations. Verse 9 identifies knowledge of the LORD as filling the earth, showing that this peace arises within a world brought under his holy and life-giving rule.
Isaiah later returns to this same picture when he declares that the wolf and lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like the bullock. The promise is connected to the LORD's holy mountain, where hurting and destroying cease. The New Testament also speaks of creation awaiting liberation from bondage into a freedom joined to God's children. These passages keep Isaiah's imagery from being reduced to private calm. God cares for the created order, and his saving purpose reaches farther than the settling of human feelings. In the chapter, the ruler from Jesse gathers peoples and restores what is scattered. Isaiah 11:7 fittingly displays the peace belonging to that gathering work.
Bible Verses Related to Isaiah 11:7
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
- Isaiah 11:9
“The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.”
- Isaiah 65:25
“And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.”
- Hosea 2:18
“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
- Romans 8:21
Where Isaiah 11:7 Echoes in Scripture
Isaiah 65:25 closely echoes this verse by again joining the wolf and lamb in feeding and saying that the lion will eat straw like the bullock. There the promise appears in a wider announcement of the LORD's new work, ending with the assurance that creatures will neither hurt nor destroy in all his holy mountain. The repeated image confirms that Isaiah 11:7 is part of a sustained biblical hope for creation's peace under the LORD's rule.
How to Apply Isaiah 11:7 Today
This verse gives our hope a scale larger than personal escape from trouble. We may bring the places where fear governs our homes, work, neighborhoods, and relationships before the LORD, asking for the truthful peace that comes with his righteous rule. It also encourages careful treatment of the creatures and places entrusted to human care. We cannot produce Isaiah's promised world by our own strength, yet we can live as people who look for it: refusing needless cruelty, seeking reconciliation where possible, protecting the vulnerable, and remembering that God's knowledge is meant to fill the earth.
Reflection & Prayer
Where have fear, rivalry, or the struggle to secure enough food and rest shaped our imagination more deeply than God's promise of peace? Let us name that place honestly before him. Suggested prayer: "LORD, fill us with the knowledge of thee, and teach us to hope for thy righteous reign. Make our lives a fitting witness to the peace thou hast promised."