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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 28

Isaiah 28: woe to Ephraim's drunkards and the foundation stone in Zion

General context

The chapter opens with a woe to the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, whose beauty is a fading flower on the head of the fat valleys. The Lord has a mighty and strong one, like hail and an overflowing flood, who casts down to the earth; the crown will be trodden under feet and eaten like early fruit. In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory to the residue of his people. But priest and prophet have also erred through wine and strong drink, stumbling in judgment, and all tables are full of vomit. The word comes as precept upon precept, line upon line, and with stammering lips and another tongue, to a people who would not hear the offer of rest, until they fall backward and are snared. The scornful rulers in Jerusalem say they have made a covenant with death and made lies their refuge. The Lord God answers that he lays in Zion a tried corner stone, that he who believes will not make haste, that hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and that the covenant with death will be disannulled so the overflowing scourge tramples them. The bed is too short and the covering too narrow. The Lord will rise up as at Perazim and Gibeon to do his strange work, and a consumption is determined on the whole earth. A closing parable shows the plowman sowing each seed in its place and threshing each crop with the right tool, because God instructs him; this too comes from the Lord of hosts, wonderful in counsel.

Cited passages: Isaiah 28:1, Isaiah 28:2, Isaiah 28:3, Isaiah 28:4, Isaiah 28:5, Isaiah 28:7, Isaiah 28:8, Isaiah 28:9, Isaiah 28:10, Isaiah 28:11, Isaiah 28:12, Isaiah 28:13, Isaiah 28:14, Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:16, Isaiah 28:17, Isaiah 28:18, Isaiah 28:20, Isaiah 28:21, Isaiah 28:22, Isaiah 28:24, Isaiah 28:25, Isaiah 28:26, Isaiah 28:27, Isaiah 28:29

Isaiah 28 (KJV)

1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, 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.

3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

7But 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.

8For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

12To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

16Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

17Judgment 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.

18And your 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.

19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

21For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

22Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

23Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

25When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

26For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

27For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing 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.

28Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

29This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

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Historical context

The chapter has two named addressees. The first woe is against Ephraim, pictured as a drunken crown on the head of fat valleys, and the second address is to the scornful men who rule this people which is in Jerusalem. The text does not name the mighty and strong one whom the Lord has, describing him only as hail, storm and flood. The priest and prophet of verse 7 are not named. The covenant with death is a saying the rulers make, reported in their own words, and the text does not describe any actual treaty behind it. Mount Perazim and the valley of Gibeon are mentioned as past occasions of the Lord's rising and wrath, but this chapter does not retell what happened there. The speaker in verse 22 says I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, an unnamed prophetic voice reporting a decree. A later New Testament citation quotes verse 16: 1 Peter 2:6 reads, Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Another later citation quotes verse 11: 1 Corinthians 14:21 reads, In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. The chapter gives no date and names no king.

Cited passages: Isaiah 28:1, Isaiah 28:14, Isaiah 28:2, Isaiah 28:7, Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:21, Isaiah 28:22, 1 Peter 2:6, 1 Corinthians 14:21

Literary context

The chapter is built on reversals of the same words. The crown of pride on Ephraim's head is set against the Lord of hosts as a crown of glory for the residue. The fading flower of verse 1 returns in verse 4, and the flood of mighty waters in verse 2 returns as the overflowing scourge of verses 15 and 18. The refrain precept upon precept, line upon line appears twice, first as a description of teaching and then as the word that makes them fall backward, so the same words serve as offer and as sentence. The rulers' boast, a covenant with death, is quoted and then answered point by point: their refuge of lies is swept away and their covenant is disannulled. Against the flood the Lord sets a stone, and against their boasted refuge a sure foundation. Verse 20 uses a bed too short and a covering too narrow, a homely image inside a threat. The closing parable of the plowman, introduced with a call to hear, argues from ordinary farming that God's work is measured and varied, answering the strange work of verse 21. The woe form continues in 29:1 with Ariel.

Cited passages: Isaiah 28:1, Isaiah 28:5, Isaiah 28:4, Isaiah 28:2, Isaiah 28:18, Isaiah 28:13, Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:17, Isaiah 28:16, Isaiah 28:20, Isaiah 28:23, Isaiah 28:28, Isaiah 28:21, Isaiah 29:1

Key moments

  1. Woe to Ephraim's crown (Isaiah 28:1). The drunkards of Ephraim are a fading flower on the head of fat valleys.
  2. A crown of glory for the residue (Isaiah 28:5). In that day the Lord of hosts himself is the crown for his remaining people.
  3. Priest and prophet erring in drink (Isaiah 28:7). Those who should see and judge stumble through wine and strong drink.
  4. Line upon line (Isaiah 28:13). The word becomes precept upon precept until the hearers fall backward and are snared.
  5. A covenant with death (Isaiah 28:15). Jerusalem's rulers claim an agreement with hell and make lies their refuge.
  6. A stone laid in Zion (Isaiah 28:16). The Lord God lays a tried corner stone; he who believes will not make haste.
  7. The plowman's parable (Isaiah 28:26). The farmer's measured sowing and threshing come from God's instruction.

For reflection

The rulers say they have made a covenant with death so the scourge will not reach them, and the Lord answers with a stone and a line and a plummet. What does the text suggest about the difference between a refuge one makes and a foundation one is given?

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