Isaiah 28:8

8 They throw up. All of the tables are covered with the mess they've made. There isn't one spot on the tables that isn't smelly and dirty.

Isaiah 28:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 28:8

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 infected with it, rulers and people; and no wonder that the common people ran into it, when such examples were set them; the tables of the priests, who ate of the holy things in the holy place, and the tables of the prophets, who pretended to see visions, and to prophesy of things to come, were all defiled through this prevailing sin; [so that there is] no place [clean]
or free from vomit and filthiness, no table, or part of one, of prince, prophet, priest, and people; the Targum adds,

``pure from rapine or violence.''

R. Simeon, as De Dieu observes, makes "beli Makom" to signify "without God", seeing God is sometimes with the Jews called Makom, "place", because he fills all places; and as if the sense was, their tables were without God, no mention being made of him at their table, or in their table talk, or while eating and drinking; but this does not seem to be the sense of the passage. Vitringa interprets this of schools and public auditoriums, where false doctrines were taught, comparable to vomit for filthiness; hence it follows:

Isaiah 28:8 In-Context

6 He will help those who are fair when they judge. He will give strength to those who turn back their enemies at the city gate.

7 Israel's leaders are drunk from wine. They can't walk straight. They are drunk from beer. They are unsteady on their feet. Priests and prophets drink beer. They can't walk straight. They are mixed up from drinking too much wine. They drink too much beer. They are unsteady on their feet. The prophets see visions but don't really understand them. The priests aren't able to make good decisions.

8 They throw up. All of the tables are covered with the mess they've made. There isn't one spot on the tables that isn't smelly and dirty.

9 My people are making fun of me. They say, "Who does he think he's trying to teach? Who does he think he's explaining his message to? Is it to children who do not need their mother's milk anymore? Is it to those who have just been taken from her breast?

10 Here is how he teaches. Do this and do that. Do that and do this. Obey this rule and obey that rule. Obey that rule and obey this rule. Learn a little here and learn a little there."