The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 28
Chapter XXVIII · Vol. III, pp. 1178–1179
1 The prophet threateneth Ephraim for their pride and drunkenness. 5 The residue shall be advanced in the kingdom of Christ. 7 He rebuketh their error, 9 their untowardness to learn, 14 and their carnal security. 16 Christ, the sure foundation, is promised. 18 Their security shall be tried. 23 They are incited to the consideration of God's discreet providence.
1 Woe to athe crown of pride, to the bdrunkards of Ephraim, whose cglorious beauty is a fading flower, which are1 on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome2 with 3wine!
b Ho.7.5; 4.11,18. Am.6.5. Pr.23.29,30. ch.5.11,12,22; 29.9,10.
c ver.4. 2 Ki.13.25; 14.25. 2 Ch.28.6. ch.7.8,9; 17.4. 1 Ki.16.24. Am.6.1-4.
1 Which is.
2 Heb. broken.
3 Ephraim was the leading tribe of the northern kingdom. Samaria was its capital and the seat of government. Consequently in this prophecy Ephraim means the kingdom of the ten tribes; 'the drunkards of Ephraim' are the godless and dissipated population; 'the crown of pride' is the city of Samaria. The city was celebrated not merely for the beauty of its situation, but of its buildings. The panorama it commands is the richest and most picturesque in central Palestine.—P.
2 Behold, the LORD hath da mighty and strong one,4 which, as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be etrodden under feet:5
e ch.8.7; 2.6-19; 5.21-25; 9.9-21.
5 Heb. with feet.
4 And the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley shall be ga fading flower, and as hthe hasty6 fruit before the summer; which, when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth7 it up.
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be ifor a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue8 of his people,
6 And for ja spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that kturn the battle to the gate.9
j De.33.26. 2 Co.12.9. ch.33.6. Ps.46.1,5,11. Pr.20.8. 1 Co.10.13. ch.1.26. Zec.9.13; 10.5,6.
9 Pursue the enemy even to the gate of his own city.—C.
7 Butl they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way: the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
* After predicting the safety of the kingdom of Judah, and showing how Jehovah himself would rule in it, in wisdom and power; the prophet shows that, notwithstanding God's mercies, Judah was yet guilty of the very same sins which brought ruin upon Israel. Ver. 7 and 8 therefore contain a solemn rebuke and warning.—P.
l Le.10.9. ch.56.10-12. Je.5.31. De.17.9-11. Mi.2.11; 3.11. Ho.4.11,18. Pr.20.1. Je.14.14. La.2.14, or ch.29.9; 65.5; 66.5; 8.14,15. Jn.12.40. Mat.13.14,15; 15.14.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.1
1 See note * in first column.
9 Whomn shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand 2doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 Foro precept must be3 upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with pstammering lips,4 and another tongue, will he speak5 to this people.
A.M. cir. 3278. B.C. cir. 726.
p 1 Co.14.21. De.28.49. Je.5.13. Ac.2.4.
4 Heb. stammerings of lips.
5 Or, he hath spoken.
12 To whom he said, qThis is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: ryet they would not hear.
13 Buts the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept,6 precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that tthey might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore uhear the word of the LORD, yev scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem:
u ch.55.3. Ro.10.17. Eze.3.11.
v ver.22; ch.1.10; 5.19; 3.8,9; 22.12,13. 2 Ch.36.16. 2 Pe.3.3. Ps.1.1.
15 Because ye have said, xWe have made a covenant with death,7 and with hell are we at agreement; ywhen the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made zlies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold,a I lay in Zion for a foundation ba stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: che that believeth shall not make haste.8
a Jn.3.14-17. 1 Co.1.30. ch.49.6; 42.6; 14.32; 54.11.
b Ps.118.22. Mat.21.42. Ac.4.11. Ro.9.33; 10.11. 1 Co.3.11. Ep.2.20. 1 Pe.2.6-8. Ac.3.26.
c ch.8.17; 10.20; 30.18. Ps.62.1,2; 112.7,8. 2 Ch.14.11; 16.8; 20.12. Je.17.7.
8 Shall not flee in haste to any refuge of lies, but patiently build his hopes and confidence upon this foundation.—C.
17 Judgmentd also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
18 And eyour covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.9
19 Fromg the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and hit shall be a vexation only to understand the report.1
g 1 Th.5.2,3. ch.30.13,14.
h ch.19.17; 33.7; 36.22; 37.3.
1 Or, when he shall make you to understand doctrine.
20 For ithe bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
i ver.15,17; ch.9.11; 59.5,6. Je.7.8,10. ver.9,10.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount jPerazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of kGibeon, that he may do his work, his lstrange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.2
A.M. cir. 3278. B.C. cir. 726.
j 2 Sa.5.20. 1 Ch.14.11.
k Jos.10.10,12. 2 Sa.5.25. 1 Ch.14.16.
l Eze.33.11. 1 Sa.3.11. Je.30.14. La.3.33. Eze.5.16. Hab.1.5. De.28.15-68; 29.20-28; 32.19-25. Ro.11.8. Lu.19.27.
2 Strange act.—Formerly God had twice smitten the Philistines, now he smites Israel: his act is, in this sense, strange, because unusual.—C.
22 Now, therefore, nbe ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts oa consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.3
23 Givep ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
p Je.22.29. Re.2.7,11,29. ch.1.2. De.32.1.
24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches,4 and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley,5 and the 6rye, in their place?7
4 Or, dill.
5 Or, the wheat in the principal place, and barley in the appointed place.
6 Or, spelt.
7 Heb. border.
27 For rthe fitches are not thrashed with a thrashing-instrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Breads corn is bruised;9 because he will not ever be thrashing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.1
* The Hebrew word rendered 'bread-corn' means 'bread,' then the grain from which bread is usually made; that is wheat. The latter signification it has here. The mode of threshing wheat is this:—It is spread out to the depth of two feet or more upon the circular threshing-floor. A yoke of oxen or horses is then attached to the threshing-instrument, and are driven round and round over the grain until the straw is reduced to powder. It is this process which is expressed by the Hebrew word translated 'bruised.' It does not mean that the grain is bruised, only the straw.—P.
s ch.30.23; 21.9,10. De.25.4.
9 See note * in first column.
1 'Nor bruise it with the feet of his cattle.'—C.
Notes
Ver. 1-4. The proud state and drunken nation of the Israelites shall quickly be robbed of their present transitory power and honour. The Assyrians, furiously invading their country, shall irresistibly, easily, and suddenly reduce them to debasement and misery, lay desolate their country, and seize on their wealth. 5, 6. But the kingdom of Judah shall be marvellously preserved and continued in their relation to God; their magistrates shall be endowed with wisdom and prudence, and their armies with courage and valour to pursue the enemy. 7-13. But they too, their priests and prophets not excepted, are so stupified with drunkenness, error, and superstition, that there is no possibility of instructing them, however frequently the same things be repeated to them; therefore God shall send among them the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Romans, who shall instruct them by repeated and ruinous strokes. And since they have refused to hearken to God's promises, and the offers of his Son and salvation, as the only sure and effectual means of comfort and happiness, their refractory despising of his repeated invitations shall issue in their ruin. 14, 15. And because you, rulers of Judah, deride God's threatenings, and boast that, by confederacies and other political devices, you have secured yourselves and your nation from danger; 16. Behold God exhibits and offers to you his precious Christ, as the sole foundation of solid hope, and the only sure refuge in time of trouble, on whom whosoever believeth need take no unlawful means to escape or get out of trouble. 17-22. But such of you as reject him shall have all your vain hopes frustrated. The Assyrians shall certainly ravage the country: nor shall your confederacies and carnal politics in the least protect you from their fury. They shall quickly involve you in misery; nay, the very rumour of their approach shall fill you with consternation and anguish. None of your devices to which you have trusted will secure you, while, contrary to his usual method, God shall employ his almighty power for the destruction of a great part of his professed people; and if ye despise his threatenings, ye shall be enslaved by the Assyrians and others: for he has determined to accomplish, by sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity, the utter destruction of the Israelites, and of a great part of the kingdom of Judah. 27, 28. In the eastern countries, wheat was beaten out from the husk by drawing a kind of drag with iron wheels over it.
Ver. 1. Woe to the crown of pride. Samaria was beautifully situated on a hill, and surrounded by a rich valley: and its position and splendour naturally suggested the idea of a crown upon the head of a monarch.—Drunkards. Not merely habitual drunkards from wine, but persons intoxicated with pride and self-will beyond reasoning, and regardless of warning. C.
Ver. 2. With the hand. Not beating off a few topmost gleanings, as in ch. 27. 12, but plucking the best and ripest 'with the hand.' C.
Ver. 9. To the drunkards it is impossible to communicate instruction, it can only be communicated to them who have been 'converted and become as little children,' Mat. 18. 3. C.
Ver. 13. The word of the Lord was 'precept upon precept,' that the rejection of it being manifest, his righteousness might be manifest also in his judicial deliverance of them to their own devices, wherein they should 'fall backward, be broken, snared, and taken.' C.
Ver. 15. For we have made lies our refuge, &c. Not that they admitted, either in thought or word, that they had adopted 'lies and falsehood' as their refuge and covering, but boasted of principles and practices which, though their sophistry, self-sufficiency, and idolatrous inclinations had persuaded them to be true and right, yet God, who seeth and knoweth all things, pronounced to be 'lies and falsehood.' C.
Ver. 16. The words of the scornful men are recorded in ver. 15. They mocked at the thought of death and judgment. In ver. 16 is the Lord's solemn response—'You trust in your own delusions; I lay a sure and everlasting foundation, on which he who places his confidence can rest with perfect safety. The Foundation I lay is the Messiah.' The meaning of the last clause of the verse is often misunderstood. The Septuagint renders it 'he that believeth shall not be ashamed.' The words are quoted three times in the New Testament, 1 Pe. 2. 6; Ro. 9. 33; 10. 11; and the quotations agree with the Septuagint. There is no error or discrepancy here; the Hebrew is metaphorical; in the Greek the metaphor is resolved. The sense of the passage is:—'He that resteth on Christ shall be so confident of security under every circumstance, that he shall never fly hastily from him; he shall never be ashamed of the trust he placed in him; he shall never be confounded through the desertion or failure of his Protector.' P.
Ver. 21. When David had humbly inquired of the Lord, by his command he smote the Philistines, and he and his men burned their forsaken images there, 2 Sa. 5. 20, 21. And when the defeated Philistines mustered their forces again, after similar inquiry, and similar command from the Lord, again David defeated them at Gibeon, and pursued them to Gazer, 1 Ch. 14. 16. C.
Ver. 25. Fitches. 'Vetches.' The word ketsach, translated fitches, occurs only in this verse. Jerome and others understand by it the gith, a plant that bears a black aromatic seed in an ovary like that of the poppy: it is still much used in the East to flavour cakes.—Cummin. This is an umbelliferous plant resembling fennel. Its seeds are bitterish and aromatic, and furnish oil: it is still sown in Malta. C.
Reflections.—Pride and drunkenness render men a compound of beasts and devils; abominations to God, and plagues and monsters on earth. But whatever sinners are proud of is but fading. And nothing bids fairer to hurl men quickly into the depths of disgrace, poverty, and damnation, than pride and drunkenness. God faithfully honours and blesses the nation which conforms to the principles of righteousness. But thrice happy are those to whom Jesus Christ, and God in him, are their glory and crown. Base corruptions often continue, even amidst the most candid and zealous attempts towards reformation. But it is shameful and ill-boding when priests and prophets are partners in their stupidity, and ringleaders in superstition and wickedness. What multitudes obstinately live in ignorance or rejection of God's truth! But if they refuse to hear his word, he will make them feel his rod: and none shall feel it more certainly than proud scorners and obstinate refusers of Jesus Christ. How rich is the grace of God, in exhibiting Jesus as a Saviour to men, when they have eminently ripened themselves for his judgment! Eternally safe are they who trust in him, when all other refuges fail, when all carnal projects and self-righteousness prove lies in their right hand.—But what sovereignty, wisdom, holiness, and equity does God manifest in forming and timing every judgment which he inflicts!