Isaiah 28:16-26

16 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall send in the foundaments of Zion a cornerstone precious, proved, founded in the foundament; he that believeth, shall not hasten. (And so the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall put in the foundation of Zion a precious cornerstone, proved, and laid in the foundation; he who believeth shall not be in haste, but shall be patient, or shall be steadfast.)
17 And I shall set doom in weight, and rightfulness in measure; and hail shall destroy the hope of leasing, and waters shall (over)flow on (your) protection. (And I shall put justice in weights, and righteousness in measures; and hail shall destroy the hope of lies, and water shall overflow your protection.)
18 And your bond of peace with death shall be done away, and your covenant with hell shall not stand; when the scourge (over)flowing shall pass, ye shall be to it into defouling. (And your covenant with death shall be done away, and your covenant with Sheol, or the land of the dead, shall not stand/and your covenant with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass by, ye shall be defiled by it.)
19 Whenever it shall pass, it shall take away you (And when it shall pass by you, it shall take you away); for why early in the gray morrowtide it shall pass (by), (and) in day and night; and only travail alone shall give understanding to [the] hearing.
20 Forsooth the bed is strait, so that the tother fall down; and a short mantle shall not cover ever either. (For the bed is too short, so that no one can stretch out on it; and the blanket is too small, so that no one can be covered by it.)
21 For as in the hill of partings the Lord shall stand, as in the valley, which is in Gibeon, he shall be wroth, that he do his work; his work alien, that he work his work; his work is strange from him. (For the Lord shall stand, as he did at Mount Perazim, and he shall be angry, as he was in the Valley of Gibeon; so that he do his work, his strange work; yea, that he work his work, his strange work.)
22 And now do not ye scorn, lest peradventure your bonds be made strait together; for I heard of the Lord God of hosts, ending and abridging on all (the) earth. (And now do not ye mock, lest peradventure your bonds be made altogether strait, or tight; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, of the ending and the shortening, or destruction, of all the earth.)
23 Perceive ye with ears, and hear ye my voice; perceive ye, and hear ye my speech. (Listen, and hear ye my voice; pay attention, yea, listen to me!)
24 Whether he that eareth, shall ear all day, for to sow, and shall he carve (up), and purge his land? (Shall he who ploweth, plow every day, in order to sow, and to furrow, and to purge his land?)
25 Whether when he hath made even the face thereof, shall he not sow gith, and sprinkle abroad cummin? and he shall not set wheat by order, and barley, and millet, and fitches in his coasts? (Or rather, when he hath smoothed, or leveled, its surface, shall he not sow gith, and sprinkle abroad cummin? and shall he not put in, by order, wheat, and barley, and millet, and fitches, in all his fields?)
26 And his God shall teach him, in doom he shall teach him. (And his God shall teach him, yea, he shall teach him good judgement.)

Isaiah 28:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

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, Isa 28:1 the means of their destruction, the Assyrian monarch, compared to a hail storm, and a flood of mighty waters, Isa 28:2 which destruction, for their sins, is repeated, and represented as sudden and swift; when they would be like a fading flower and hasty fruit, Isa 28:3,4 and then, as for the two tribes, though they had a glorious prince at the head of them, who had a spirit of wisdom and judgment for government, and of valour and courage for war, Isa 28:5,6 yet the generality of the people, led on by the example of priest and prophet, went into the same sensual gratifications as they of the ten tribes did, Isa 28:7,8 and became sottish and unteachable, and were like children just taken from the breast, and to be used as such, Isa 28:9-11 and though the doctrine proposed to be taught them was such as, if received, would be of the greatest advantage to them, for their comfort and refreshment, yet it was refused by them with the utmost contempt; which was to be their ruin, Isa 28:12,13, wherefore the rulers of Jerusalem are threatened with the judgments of God, which should come upon them night and day, the report of which would be a vexation to them; and from which they should not be screened by their covenant with death and hell, or by their shelters and coverings with lies and falsehood, in which they placed their confidence, Isa 28:14,15 Isa 28:17-22 in the midst of which account, for the comfort of the Lord's people, stands a glorious prophecy, concerning the sure foundation laid in Zion, on which all that are built are safe and happy, Isa 28:16 and the certainty of these judgments is illustrated by the method which the ploughman takes in sowing his corn, and threshing it out; for which he has instruction and direction from the Lord of hosts, Isa 28:23-29.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.