Isaiah 28:4

4 and the fading flower of its proud splendor, located at the head of the rich valley, is like the first ripe fig of summer whoever sees it picks and eats it.

Isaiah 28:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 28:4

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 attention to it: [and] as the hasty fruit before the summer;
the first ripe fruit, that which is ripe before the summer fruits in common are. The Septuagint render it the first ripe fig; and so the Targum and Aben Ezra: which [when] he that looketh upon it seeth it;
that it is goodly and desirable, and so gathers it, ( Micah 7:1 ) : while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up;
and as soon as he has got it into his hand, he cannot keep it there to look at, or forbear eating it, but greedily devours it, and swallows it down at once; denoting what a desirable prey the ten tribes would be to the Assyrian monarch, and how swift, sudden, and inevitable, would be their destruction.

Isaiah 28:4 In-Context

2 Adonai has someone strong and powerful. He comes like a hailstorm, a destructive tempest, like a flood of water, rushing, overwhelming; with his hand he hurls them to the ground.

3 The haughty crown of Efrayim's drunks is trampled underfoot;

4 and the fading flower of its proud splendor, located at the head of the rich valley, is like the first ripe fig of summer whoever sees it picks and eats it.

5 On that day, ADONAI-Tzva'ot will be a glorious crown, a brilliant diadem for the remnant of his people.

6 He will also be a spirit of justice for whoever sits as a judge, and a source of strength for those repelling enemy attacks at the gate.