7 But they also ahave erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; bThe priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place isclean.
9 “Whoma will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?
10aFor precept mustbe upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
11 For with astammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, “This is the arest withwhich You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the Lord was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, aFor we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
A Cornerstone in Zion
16 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion aa stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
Here the drunkards are introduced as scoffingly commenting on Isaiah's warnings: "Whom will he (does Isaiah presume to) teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand instruction? Is it those (that is, does he take us to be) just weaned, etc.? For (he is constantly repeating, as if to little children) precept upon precept," etc.
line—a rule or law. [MAURER]. The repetition of sounds in Hebrew tzav latzav, tzav latzav, qav laqav, qav laquav, expresses the scorn of the imitators of Isaiah's speaking; he spoke stammering (Isaiah 28:11). God's mode of teaching offends by its simplicity the pride of sinners (II Kings 5:11-12; I Corinthians 1:23). Stammerers as they were by drunkenness, and children in knowledge of God, they needed to be spoken to in the language of children, and "with stammering lips" (compare Matthew 13:13). A just and merciful retribution.
Isaiah 28:5-13
The prophet now turns to Judah; a gracious promise to the remnant ("residue"); a warning lest through like sins Judah should share the fate of Samaria.
the residue—primarily, Judah, in the prosperous reign of Hezekiah (II Kings 18:7), antitypically, the elect of God; as He here is called their "crown and diadem," so are they called His (Isaiah 62:3); a beautiful reciprocity.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Isaiah 28:9:
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