Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 3:4

"And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." — Isaiah 3:4 (ASV)

And I will give children - Not children regarding age so much as regarding talent for governing. I will commit the land to the government of weak and imbecile princes. This would naturally occur when the wise and great were removed. : Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child; .

And babes shall rule ... - That is, babes in experience and knowledge. This was fully accomplished in the succession of weak and wicked princes that succeeded Isaiah, until the time of Zedekiah, the last of them, when the temple was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. - “Lowth.”