INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 28 In this chapter the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, are threatened with divine judgments, because of their sins and iniquities mentioned. The ten tribes, under the name of Ephraim, for their pride and drunkenness, Isaiah 28:1 the means of the... [ Continue Reading ]
WOE TO THE CROWN OF PRIDE, TO THE DRUNKARDS OF EPHRAIM,.... Or, "of the drunkards of Ephraim": or, "O crown of pride, O drunkards of Ephraim l"; who are both called upon, and a woe denounced against them. Ephraim is put for the ten tribes, who were drunk either in a literal sense, for to the sin of... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE LORD HATH A MIGHTY AND STRONG ONE,.... That is, a powerful king, with a mighty army, meaning Shalmaneser king of Assyria; whom the Lord had at his beck and command, and could use at his pleasure, as his instrument, to bring down the towering pride of Ephraim, and chastise him for his sen... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CROWN OF PRIDE, THE DRUNKARDS OF EPHRAIM, SHALL BE TRODDEN UNDER FEET. Not only cast down with the hand, but trampled upon with the feet; showing their utter destruction, and the contempt with which they should be used; which, with their character, is repeated, to point out their sins, the cause... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE GLORIOUS BEAUTY WHICH IS ON THE HEAD OF THE FAT VALLEY,.... Meaning the riches and fruitfulness of the ten tribes, and especially of Samaria the head of them: SHALL BE A FADING FLOWER; as before declared, Isaiah 28:1 and here repeated to show the certainty of it, and to awaken their attenti... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY SHALL THE LORD OF HOSTS BE FOR A CROWN OF GLORY,.... Or, "glorious crown" p; surrounding, adorning, and protecting his people; granting them his presence; giving them his grace, and large measures of it; causing them to live soberly, righteously, and godly: this stands opposed to "the cr... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOR A SPIRIT OF JUDGMENT TO HIM THAT SITTETH IN JUDGMENT,.... That is, as the Lord would give honour and glory to the people in general, so wisdom and prudence, a spirit of judgment and discerning, to the king in particular, who sat on the throne of judgment to do justice, and execute judgment a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY ALSO HAVE ERRED THROUGH WINE,.... Either they that sat in judgment, and turned the battle to the gate, as Jarchi interprets it: or rather, since the Lord was a spirit of judgment and strength to those, the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin in later times are meant, in the latter end of Hezek... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR ALL TABLES ARE FULL OF VOMIT [AND] FILTHINESS,.... The one signifies what is spued out of a man's mouth, his stomach being overcharged, and the other his excrements; and both give a just, though nauseous, idea of a drunken man. This vice was very common; men of all ranks and degrees were infecte... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM SHALL HE TEACH KNOWLEDGE?.... Not the drunken priest or prophet, who were both unfit for teaching men knowledge; but either the true and godly priest or prophet of the Lord, or the Lord himself, before spoken of as a spirit of judgment, Isaiah 28:6 namely, by his prophets and ministers, the lat... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR PRECEPT [MUST BE] UPON PRECEPT, PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT,.... Signifying, that they must be dealt with as children were, when first instructed in the rudiments of a language, first had one rule given them, and then another, and so one after another till they had gone through the whole: LINE UPON LI... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WITH STAMMERING LIPS AND ANOTHER TONGUE WILL HE SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE. Or "hath spoken" s; as parents and nurses, in a lisping manner, and in a language and tone different from what they use in common, speak unto their children, accommodating themselves according to their capacities and weakness;... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WHOM HE SAID,.... Either the Lord himself, or the prophet Isaiah; or rather the Lord by him, and other prophets; so the Targum, "to whom the prophets said;'' that is, the true prophets of the Lord said to the people, or to the priests and other prophets; or Christ and his apostles, as follows:... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD WAS UNTO THEM PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT,.... Was despised and derided by them; they took the prophet's words out of his mouth, and in a scoffing manner repeated them; which, in the Hebrew text, is in a rhyming form, and were sung and drawled out by them, "Tsau lotsau, Tsau lotsau... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD, YE SCORNFUL MEN,.... Men of scorn and mockery, that scoffed and mocked at the word of God, as in the preceding verse Isaiah 28:13; or at the threatenings of punishment; and even made a jest of death and hell, as in the following words: "the word of the Lord" they... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE YE HAVE SAID,.... Within themselves; they thought so, if they did not say it in express words; and their conduct and behaviour showed that these were the sentiments and presumptions of their minds: WE HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH DEATH, AND WITH HELL ARE WE AT AGREEMENT: as safe from death, an... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... In order to show what is the true foundation of hope and trust for security from death and hell, and to convince men of their vain and false confidence, as well as to comfort the people of God, such as truly feared him in Jerusalem; who, bearing the judgment de... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT ALSO WILL I LAY TO THE LINE,.... A metaphor taken from builders, who in building use the line and plummet to carry on their work even and regular, retaining such stones as agree thereunto, and rejecting such as do not; signifying, that in the spiritual building, where Christ is the foundati... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YOUR COVENANT WITH DEATH SHALL BE DISANNULLED,.... Or, "be besmeared" x, or daubed over, as the ark was with pitch, Genesis 6:14 where the same word is used as here; so that it shall not be legible, as any writing that is blotted out by ink, or any other liquor, so that it cannot be read; in lik... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THE TIME THAT IT GOETH FORTH, IT SHALL TAKE YOU,.... Or, "as soon as it passeth through" z, "it shall take you away"; as soon as it begins to overflow, and as it goes along, it shall make clear work, and carry you away with it; you will not be able to resist it, to withstand its motion, and sto... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE BED IS SHORTER THAN THAT [A MAN] CAN STRETCH HIMSELF [ON IT],.... When a bed is short, a man cannot lie at his full length, and at ease: AND THE COVERING NARROWER THAN THAT HE CAN WRAP HIMSELF [IN IT]; when the bedclothes are narrow a man cannot cover himself with them, so as to be warm and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD SHALL RISE UP AS [IN] MOUNT PERAZIM,.... Where the Lord broke forth on David's enemies the Philistines, as the breach of waters; see Isaiah 28:17 and destroyed them, from whence the place had the name of Baalperazim, 2 Samuel 5:20. The Targum is, "for as the mountain which moved when t... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE BE YE NOT MOCKERS,.... At the words of the prophets, and the judgments denounced by them, which is very common, when they are deferred, and not immediately executed: this was the case before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and one cause of it, 2 Chronicles 36:16 and also... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE YE EAR, AND HEAR MY VOICE,.... So said the prophet, as the Targum introduces the words; and because what he was about to say was of importance, and delivered in a parabolical manner, and required attention, he makes use of a variety of words to the same purpose, to engage their attention: HEAR... [ Continue Reading ]
DOTH THE PLOUGHMAN PLOUGH ALL DAY TO SOW?.... Or, "every day"; he ploughs in order to sow; by ploughing he prepares the ground for sowing, that is his end in ploughing; and he may plough a whole day together when he is at it, but he does not plough every day in the year; he has other work to do besi... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE HATH MADE PLAIN THE FACE THEREOF,.... By harrowing it, after it is ploughed: DOTH HE NOT CAST ABROAD THE FITCHES, AND SCATTER THE CUMMIN; in sowing them in the ground, prepared for them; the former of these does not seem to be the same we so call, but something else. The Septuagint version... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HIS GOD DOTH INSTRUCT HIM TO DISCRETION, [AND] DOTH TEACH HIM. God gives the husbandman instruction and discretion how to sow his seed, at what time, and in a proper place; for this refers to what goes before; though some think a new act is here intended, namely, threshing or beating out of corn... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE FITCHES ARE NOT THRESHED WITH A THRESHING INSTRUMENT,.... A wooden sledge, dray, or cart, drawn on wheels; the bottom of which was stuck with iron teeth, and the top filled with stones, to press it down with the weight thereof, and was drawn by horses, or oxen, to and fro, over the sheaves o... [ Continue Reading ]
BREAD [CORN] IS BRUISED,.... The corn which bread is made of is bruised and ground in a mill: BECAUSE HE WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THRESHING IT; for there is another way of bringing it to flour, that so it may be made bread, namely, by grinding it in a mill; and therefore the husbandman uses his discretio... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS ALSO COMETH FROM THE LORD OF HOSTS,.... All this wisdom the husbandman has, in manuring his ground, in sowing it with proper seed, and in threshing it out in a manner suitable to it. Agriculture or husbandry, even among the Heathens, is always ascribed to God, as an invention of his, and it was... [ Continue Reading ]