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APOCALYPTIC COMMENTARY

  Isaiah

28

Isaiah 28

Ephraim and its prophets reap disaster for being delusional and for rejecting divine revelation.
1 Woe to the garlands of gloryof the drunkards of Ephraim!Their crowning splendor has become as fading wreathson the heads of athe opulenta overcome with wine.

Chapters 28-31, which form a didactic unit comprising Part VI of Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure (Isaiah 28-31; 55-59), each commence with a “woe” or covenant curse. Ephraim’s chief sins of pride and drunkenness catch up with Israel’s birthright tribe in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Instead of acknowledging current inconvenient truths, the people of Ephraim look back on past glories earned in more righteous times as if they still apply today. Ephraim’s self-deception, stemming from intoxication with “wine” at the highest levels, compounds the hard times that lie ahead (v 7; Isaiah 56:10-12).

2 My Lord has in store one mighty and strong:as a ravaging hailstorm sweeping down,or like an inundating deluge of mighty waters,he will hurl them to the ground by his hand.

The imagery of “a ravaging hailstorm sweeping down” and of “an inundating deluge of mighty waters” identifies the king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance of aggressor nations (Isaiah 8:7-8; 17:12; 18:2). A second “one mighty and strong” in the Book of Isaiah is Jehovah’s servant, who makes an end of him at the last. Although Jehovah provides a refuge for a repentant remnant of his people against the storms of their enemies (Isaiah 4:6; 25:4-5; 57:13), he empowers the archtyrant—Jehovah’s (left) hand—over “the drunkards of Ephraim” to cast their illustriousness to the ground (cf. vv 1, 3).

3 The proud garlands of the drunkards of Ephraimshall be trodden underfoot. 4 And the fading wreaths, the crowns of gloryon the heads of athe opulent,ashall be like the first-ripe fruitbefore summer harvest:he who sees it devours itthe moment he has hold of it.

Ideas that link the king of Assyria/Babylon to these verses are Jehovah’s people being “trodden underfoot” (Isaiah 10:5-6; 63:6) and the timing of Assyria’s assault as early summer (Isaiah 16:9-10; 18:5). Ephraim’s former “crowns of glory”—now mere “fading wreaths” on the heads of a later generation—aren’t enough to prevent Assyria’s desolating invasion. The enemy alliance promptly “devours” or “swallows up” (yibla‘enna) Ephraim’s produce. Jehovah’s Day of Judgment humbles Ephraim’s “opulent” (ge’e semanim)—literally “fat proud ones”—both political and ecclesiastical (v 7; Isaiah 17:3-6).

5 In that day shall Jehovah of Hostsbe as a crown of beauty and wreath of gloryto the remnant of his people: 6 a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,a source of strengthto those who repulse the attack at the gates.

Whereas the main body of Ephraim suffers covenant curses (vv 2-4, 17-22), a remnant of “his people”—Jehovah’s covenant people—rallies to finally oust the Assyrian power. These take no praise to themselves for their heroic deeds but rather give Israel’s God the praise, acknowledging him as their “crown of beauty” and “wreath of glory” (Isaiah 26:12; 63:7). Those who sit in judgment and minister “justice” in that day—superseding his people’s leaders who wrought injustice—are Jehovah (Isaiah 33:22; 51:5), his servant (Isaiah 9:6-7; 16:5; 42:1-4), and certain righteous judges (Isaiah 1:26; 32:1).

7 These too have indulged in wineand are giddy with strong drink:priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor.They are intoxicated with wineand stagger because of strong drink;they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions. 8 For all tables are filled with vomit;no spot is without excrement.

As the political and ecclesiastical leaderships of Jehovah’s people always appear on a par (Isaiah 3:2-4; 9:14-16; 24:2), so Ephraim’s “fat proud ones” (vv 1, 4) include its “priests,” “prophets,” and “seers” (Isaiah 56:10-12). Intoxicated with the wine of self-deception (v 15), they “stray,” “err,” and “blunder” in their policies. Instead of obtaining revelation from Jehovah (vv 9, 14, 16, 26, 29), they water down his word until it is ineffectual in empowering his people (vv 10-13; Isaiah 32:6). The best their spiritual feasts offer is “vomit”—partly digested food regurgitated for Jehovah’s people to consume.

9 Whom shall he give instruction?Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?Weanlings weaned from milk,those just taken from the breast? 10 For it is but line upon line, line upon line,precept upon precept, precept upon precept;a trifle here, a trifle there.

Although Jehovah wants to give his people “instruction” and “revelation,” they are but babes and sucklings who haven’t developed far enough to digest more than milk: “Everyone who uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13). Ephraim’s mode of learning is still “line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little” (saw lasaw saw lasaw qaw laqaw qaw laqaw ze‘ir sam ze‘ir sam). Assonance and alliteration parody their rote method of learning that consists of parroting back what their leaders teach.

11 Therefore, by incomprehensible speechand a strange tonguemust he speak to these people, 12 to whom he said, This is rest; let the weary rest!This is a respite! But they would not listen.

The lesser portion of Jehovah’s word proves fatefully insufficient to save “these people”—Jehovah’s alienated people—from being slain and taken captive by their enemies (vv 2-3, 13, 22). The only way that remains for Jehovah to speak to his people that may induce them to repent is through the “incomprehensible speech” and “strange tongue” of the alien Assyrian invaders (Isaiah 33:18-19; 54:16-17). Assuming that the lesser law they labor under is, in fact, the whole law, Jehovah’s people who have grown “weary” of it now reject Jehovah’s “rest” and “respite” that characterize his higher law.

13 So to them the word of Jehovah remained:Line upon line, line upon line,precept upon precept, precept upon precept;a trifle here, a trifle there, that,persisting, they might lapse into stumblingand break themselves,become ensnared and be taken captive.

Instead of receiving a greater portion of the “word of Jehovah” through divine revelation, the people of Ephraim remain ensconced in its lesser version as that is all they know. The end result is their ruination: “Sanctify Jehovah of Hosts, making him your fear, him your awe. And [to you] he will be a sanctuary, but to the two houses of Israel a stumbling block or obstructing rock, and a snare, catching unawares the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble into them, and when they fall shall be broken, and when they become ensnared shall be taken captive” (Isaiah 8:13-15; cf. 5:13; 42:18-25).

14 Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, you scofferswho preside over these people in Jerusalem. 15 You have supposed, by taking refuge in deceptionand hiding behind falsehoods,to have covenanted with Death,or reached an understanding with Sheol, that,should a flooding scourge sweep through the earth,it shall not reach you.

By seeking “refuge in deception” instead of in Jehovah (Isaiah 4:6; 25:4), and by “hiding behind falsehoods” instead of acknowledging the truth (Isaiah 9:15; 32:6), Ephraim’s leaders rely on their own counsel as epitomized by a “Covenant with Death.” Such a policy leads to death at the hands of Jehovah’s agent of death, the king of Assyria/Babylon, in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Having turned into scoffers of Jehovah’s word, they think to escape the “flooding scourge”—the power of the archtyrant (v 2). Rejecting Jehovah’s Covenant of Life (Isaiah 55:3), they end up in Sheol—Hell or the underworld.

16 Therefore, thus says my Lord Jehovah:I lay in Zion a stone, a keystone,a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.They who believe it will not do rashly.
17 I will make justice the measure,righteousness the weight;a hail shall sweep away your false refugeand waters flood the hiding place.

In spite of their repudiating Jehovah’s word, the leaders of his people “in Zion” are to hear it anyway (v 14). Although there are among them those who will not believe it, some do believe. Consequently, Jehovah empowers (1) his servant—a stone or seer who acts as antidote to the erring seers (v 7); and (2) the archtyrant and his alliance—the hail and “waters” that flood the hiding place (v 2; Isaiah 17:12; 32:19). This results in a reconstruction of Jehovah’s people based on justice—as carried out by Jehovah’s exemplar of righteousness (Isaiah 41:2; 42:1-4)—and in the demise of the mockers.

18 Your covenant with Death shall prove void,byour understanding with Sheol have no effect:when the flooding scourge sweeps through,you shall be overrun by it. 19 As often as it sweeps through,you shall be seized by it:morning after morning it shall sweep through,by day and by night it shall seize you;it shall cause terror merely to hear word of it.

The façade the leaders of Jehovah’s people maintain that hides their Covenant with Death (v 15) is swept away in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment when the king of Assyria/Babylon—the scourge of the wicked—overruns their Promised Land. Those unprepared to receive Jehovah’s new revelation (v 16; Isaiah 42:9; 48:6-8)—because they have mistaken the old or taken it lightly (Isaiah 41:26-29; 50:10-11)—face a protracted period of Jehovah’s justice. In the pattern of ancient Assyria’s and Babylon’s destructions of Jehovah’s people and their lands, his people’s apostasy triggers Jehovah’s Day of Judgment.

20 Then shall come to pass the proverb:The couch is too short to stretch out on,the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For Jehovah will rise upas he did on Mount Perazim,and be stirred to anger, as in the Valley of Gibeon—to perform his act, his unwonted act,and do his work, his bizarre work.

While “they who walk uprightly shall attain peace and rest in their beds” in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment (Isaiah 57:2), the wicked suffer deprivation and other covenant curses (Isaiah 3:6-7). In that context, Jehovah’s “act” or “work” (Isaiah 5:19; 10:12; 40:10; 45:9; 62:11) is twofold: (1) the destruction of the wicked; and (2) the deliverance of the righteous. As in this instance, the work’s destructive aspect is “unwonted” or “strange” (zar). It is “bizarre” or “alien” (nokriya) because on this occasion Jehovah is “stirred to anger” and “rises up” against his own people instead of against their enemies.

Jehovah’s rising up as he did on “Mount Perazim”—literally the “Mount of Breakings Forth”—harks back to his breaking forth upon his people who transgressed their bounds at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:20-24) and to his breaking forth upon Israel’s enemies the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:18-20). Jehovah’s being stirred to anger “as in the Valley of Gibeon” refers to Joshua’s victory over an alliance of Amorites, when the sun stood still upon Gibeon for an entire day until the Israelites had slaughtered them and Jehovah had helped them by casting great hailstones upon their enemies (Joshua 10:10-14).

22 Now therefore scoff not,lest your bonds grow severe,for I have heard utter destructiondecreed by my Lord, Jehovah of Hosts,upon the whole earth.

Still addressing his people’s leaders who scoff at his word as delivered by his servant (vv 14-16, 22-23), Jehovah reminds them that “utter destruction” is coming upon the entire earth: “Jehovah of Hosts is marshaling an army for war. They come from a distant land beyond the horizon—Jehovah and the instruments of his wrath—to cause destruction throughout the earth” (Isaiah 13:4-5; cf. 10:23; 37:18). Those who scoff only harden the bonds of their self-deception that hold them bound to unreality, thereby sealing upon themselves the very disaster they had hoped to evade (Isaiah 30:12-14).

23 Give heed, and hear my voice!Be attentive, and listen to what I say! 24 Will the plowman be forever plowing to sow seed,disking and harrowing the same ground? 25 When he has smoothed its surface,does he not sprinkle fennel and scatter cumin?Does he not demarcate wheat from barleyand plant buckwheat in its own plot? 26 His God instructs him,directing him in the proper procedure.

Two agents of Jehovah, consisting of two alternative exemplars, intervene among Jehovah’s end-time people of Ephraim: (1) Jehovah’s voice—his servant (v 23); and (2) the tongue—the king of Assyria/Babylon (v 11). Although few may “give heed,” “hear,” “be attentive,” or “listen” to his voice (Isaiah 50:10), those who do Jehovah personally “instructs” and “directs.” Like the plowman, who doesn’t plow the same ground over and over but moves on and plants crops so that the land may yield its abundance, so his discerning people use wisdom and discretion in implementing Jehovah’s word.

27 Fennel is not threshed with a sharp-toothed sledge,nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin:fennel is beaten out with a stickand cumin with a rod. 28 Domestic grain is ground;one does not go on endlessly threshing it.It cannot be groundby driving horse and threshing cart over it. 29 These things originate with Jehovah of Hosts,whose counsel is wonderful,whose inspiration is surpassing.

It is impossible for Ephraim’s prophets to provide proper spiritual nurture to Jehovah’s people by performing a mélange of improper procedures that yield confusion. When things reach that point—when a simple farmer’s inspiration (vv 26, 29) surpasses that of his people’s leaders (vv 7, 15)—Jehovah sets his house in order (Isaiah 1:25-26; 66:6). The terms “wonderful counsel” establish word links to Jehovah’s servant—“the man who performs my counsel” (Isaiah 46:11), upon whom rests the “spirit of counsel” (Isaiah 11:2), and who exemplifies the function of a “wonderful counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).

Each poetic allegory (vv 23-26, 27-29) reiterates chapter 28’s theme of the need for divine revelation and its lack among the people of Ephraim that leaves them unprepared for Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Parallel ending verses—“His God instructs him, directing him in the proper procedure” (v 26) and “These things originate with Jehovah of Hosts, whose counsel is wonderful, whose inspiration is surpassing” (v 29)—hark back to verse 9: “Whom shall he give instruction? Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?” and to Jehovah’s taking steps to restore his revelation to “those who believe it” (v 16).

  • a1 Hebrew gěᵓê šěmānîm; so 1QIsaa. MT gěᵓ šěmānîm, fat gully/ravine.
  • a4 Hebrew gěᵓê šěmānîm; so 1QIsaa. MT gěᵓ šěmānîm, fat gully/ravine.
  • b18 Hebrew kūppar, expiated, emended to hūpar.


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