Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem:
Parallel Translations
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Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem:
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Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
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Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scoffers, the ballad-mongers of this people which is in Jerusalem:
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Isaiah 28:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 28:22 Now therefore don’t be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, on the whole earth.
- Isaiah 1:10 Hear Yahweh’s word, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Isaiah 29:20 For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off—
- Acts 13:41 ‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.’ ”
- Proverbs 1:22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?
- Proverbs 3:34 Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble.
- Proverbs 29:8 Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger.
- Isaiah 5:9 In my ears, Yahweh of Armies says: “Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful, unoccupied.
- Hosea 7:5 On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 28:14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD,…
Isa 28:14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which [is] in Jerusalem.
Ver. 14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord.] Stand forth and hear your doom, ye that jeer when you should fear, as if you were out of the reach of God’s rod.
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Ye scornful men.] Heb., Ye men of mockage, ye who mock at the word of God by your words, deeds, and gestures; quales sycophantas quotidie videmus, of which sort we find not a few today. Such dust heaps as these we have in every corner - men that have turned religion not only into a form, but also into a scorn, accounting the wisdom of God foolishness. These St Peter calleth scoffers - εμπαικται, - or such as make sport with the word. {2Pe 3:3} And the prophet here - uno verbo multa peccata exprimit, dum illusores nominat - in calling them mockers, calleth them all that naught is.
That rule the people.] Such as Shebnah now was, and afterwards Tobiah, {Neh 2:19} Herod, Domitian, Julian, Sir Thomas Moore, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Ye scornful men; which make a mock at sin,…
Ye scornful men; which make a mock at sin, and at God’s words and threatenings; and doubt not by your witty devices, and by your wicked practices, to escape God’s judgments, of which we read in the next verse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The prophet, having reproved those that made a jest…
The prophet, having reproved those that made a jest of the word of God, here goes on to reprove those that made a jest of the judgments of God, and set them at defiance; for he is a jealous God, and will not suffer either his ordinances or his providences to be brought into contempt. He addressed himself to the scornful men who ruled in Jerusalem, who were the magistrates of the city, Isa 28:14. It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful, when rulers are scorners; but that the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character, that they should make light of God's judgments and scorn to take notice of the tokens of his displeasure, is very sad. Who will be mourners in Zion if they are scorners? Observe,
I. How these scornful men lulled themselves asleep in carnal security, and even challenged God Almighty to do his worst (Isa 28:15) You have said, We have made a covenant with death and the grave. They thought themselves as sure of their lives, even when the most destroying judgments were abroad, as if they had made a bargain with death, upon a valuable consideration, not to come till they sent for him or not to take them away by any violence, but by old age. If we be at peace with God, and have made a covenant with him, we have in effect made a covenant with death that it shall come in the fittest time, that whenever it comes, it shall be no terror to us, nor do us any real damage; death is ours if we be Christ's (Co1 3:22, Co1 3:23): but to think of making death our friend, or being in league with it, while by sin we are making God our enemy and are at war with him, is the greatest absurdity that can be. It was fond conceit which these scorners had, "When the overflowing scourge shall pass through our country, and others shall fall under it, yet it shall not come to us, not reach us, though it extend far, not bear us down, though it is an overflowing scourge." It is the greatest folly imaginable for impenitent sinners to think that either in this world or the other they shall fare better than their neighbours. But what is the ground of their confidence? Why, truly, We have made lies our refuge. Either, 1. Those things which the prophets told them would be lies and falsehood to them and would deceive, but which they themselves looked upon as substantial fences. The protection of their idols, the promises with which their false prophets soothed them, their policy, their wealth, their interest in the people; these they confided in, and not in God; nay, these they confided in against God. Or, 2. Those things which should be lies and falsehood to the enemy, who was flagellum Dei - the scourge of God, the overflowing scourge; they would secure themselves by imposing upon the enemy with their stratagems of war, or their feigned submissions in treaties of peace. The rest of the cities of Judah were taken because they made an obstinate defence; but the rulers of Jerusalem hope to succeed better. They think themselves greater politicians than those of the country towns; they will compliment the king of Assyria with a promise to surrender their city, or to become tributaries to him, with a purpose at the same time to shake off his yoke as soon as the danger is over, not caring though they be found liars to him, as the expression is, Deu 33:29. Note, Those put a cheat upon themselves that think to gain their point by putting cheats upon those they deal with. Those that pursue their designs by trick and fraud, by mean and paltry shifts, may perhaps compasss them, but cannot expect comfort in them. Honesty is the best policy. But such refuges as these are those driven to that depart from God, and throw themselves out of his protection.
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II. How God, by the prophet, awakens them out of this sleep, and shows them the folly of their security.
1. He tells them upon what grounds they might be secure. He does not disturb their false confidences, till he has first shown them a firm bottom on which they may repose themselves (Isa 28:16): Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone. This foundation is, (1.) The promises of God in general - his word, upon which he has caused his people to hope - his covenant with Abraham, that he would be a God to him and his; this is a foundation, a foundation of stone, firm and lasting, for faith to build upon; it is a tried stone, for all the saints have stayed themselves upon it and it never failed them. (2.) The promise of Christ in particular; for to him this is expressly applied in the New Testament, Pe1 2:6-8. He is that stone which has become the head of the corner. The great promise of the Messiah and his kingdom, which was to begin at Jerusalem, was sufficient to make God's people easy in the worst of times; for they knew well that till he came the sceptre should not depart from Judah. Zion shall continue while this foundation is yet to be laid there. "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, for the comfort of those that dare not make lies their refuge, Behold, and look upon me as one that has undertaken to lay in Zion a Stone," Jesus Christ is a foundation of God's laying. This is the Lord's doing. He is laid in Zion, in the church, in the holy hill. He is a tried stone, a trying stone (so some), a touch-stone, that shall distinguish between true and counterfeit. He is a precious stone, for such are the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:19), a corner-stone, in whom the sides of the building are united, the head-stone of the corner. And he that believes these promises, and rests upon them, shall not make haste, shall not run to and fro in a hurry, as men at their wits' end, shall not be shifting hither and thither for his own safety, nor be driven to his feet by any terrors, as the wicked man is said to be (Job 18:11), but with a fixed heart shall quietly wait the event, saying, Welcome the will of God. He shall not make haste in his expectations, so as to anticipate the time set in the divine counsels, but, though it tarry, will wait the appointed hour, knowing that he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. He that believes will not make more haste than good speed, but be satisfied that God's time is the best time, and wait with patience for it. The apostle from the Septuagint explains this, Pe1 2:6. He that believes on him shall not be confounded; his expectations shall not be frustrated, but far out-done.
2. He tells them that upon the grounds which they now built on they could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them (Isa 28:17): Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. This denotes,
(1.) The building up of his church; having laid the foundation (Isa 28:16), he will raise the structure, as builders do, by line and plummet, Zac 4:10. Righteousness shall be the line and judgment the plummet. The church, being grounded on Christ, shall be formed and reformed by the scripture, the standing rule of judgment and righteousness. Judgment shall return unto righteousness, Psa 94:15. Or,
(2.) The punishing of the church's enemies, against whom he will proceed in strict justice, according to the threatenings of the law. He will give them their deserts, and bring upon them the judgments they have challenged, but in wisdom too, and by an exact rule, that the tares may not be plucked up with the wheat. And when God comes thus to execute judgment,
[1.] These scornful men will be made ashamed of the vain hopes with which they had deluded themselves. First, They designed to make lies their refuge; but it will indeed prove a refuge of lies, which the hail shall sweep away, that tempest of hail spoken of Isa 28:2. Those that make lies their refuge build upon the sand, and the building will fall when the storm comes, and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Those that make any thing their hiding place but Christ shall find that the waters will overflow it, as every shelter but the ark was over-topped and overthrown by the waters of the deluge. Such is the hope of the hypocrite; this will come of all his confidences. Secondly, They boasted of a covenant with death, and an agreement with the grave; but it shall be disannulled, as made without his consent who has the keys and sovereign command of hell and death. Those do but delude themselves that think by any wiles to evade the judgments of God. Thirdly, They fancied that when the overflowing scourge should pass through the land it should not come near them; but the prophet tells them that then, when others were falling by the common calamity, they should not only share in it, but should be trodden down by it: "You shall be to it for a treading down; it shall triumph over you as much as over any other, and you shall become its easy prey." They are further told (Isa 28:19), 1. That it shall begin with them; they shall be so far from escaping it that they shall be the first that shall fall by it: "From the time it goes forth it shall take you, as if it came on purpose to seize you." 2. That it shall pursue them closely: "Morning by morning shall it pass over; as duly as the day returns you shall hear of some desolation or other made by it; for divine justice will follow its blow; you shall never be safe nor easy by day nor by night; there shall be a pestilence walking in darkness and a destruction wasting at noonday." 3. That there shall be no avoiding it: "The understanding of the report of its approach shall not give you any opportunity to make your escape, for there shall be no way of escape open; but it shall be only a vexation, you shall see it coming, and not see how to help yourselves." Or, "The very report of it at a distance will be a terror to you; what then will the thing itself be?" Evil tidings are a terror and vexation to scorners, but he whose heart is fixed, trusting in God, is not afraid of them; whereas, when the overflowing scourge comes, then all the comforts and confidences of scorners fail them, Isa 28:20. (1.) That in which they thought to repose themselves reaches not to the length of their expectations: The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself upon it, so that he is forced to cramp and contract himself. (2.) That in which they thought to shelter themselves proves insufficient to answer the intention: The covering is narrower than that a man can wrap himself in it. Those that do not build upon Christ as their foundation, but rest in a righteousness of their own, will prove in the end thus to have deceived themselves; they can never be easy, safe, nor warm; the bed is too short, the covering is too narrow; like our first parents' fig-leaves, the shame of their nakedness will still appear.
[2.] God will be glorified in the accomplishment of his counsels, Isa 28:21. When God comes to contend with these scorners, First, He will do his work, and bring to pass his act, he will work for his own honour and glory, according to his own purpose; the work shall appear to all that see it to be the work of God as the righteous Judge of the earth. Secondly, He will do it now against his people, as formerly he did it against their enemies, by which his justice will appear to be impartial; he will now rise up against Jerusalem as, in David's time, against the Philistines in Mount Perazim (Sa2 5:20), and as, in Joshua's time, against the Canaanites in the valley of Gibeon. If those that profess themselves members of God's church by their pride and scornfulness make themselves like Philistines and Canaanites, they must expect to be dealt with as such. Thirdly, This will be his strange work, his strange act, his foreign deed. It is work that he is backward to: he rather delights in showing mercy, and does not afflict willingly. It is work that he is not used to as to his own people; he protects and favours them. It is a strange work indeed if he turn to be their enemy and fight against them, ch. 63:10. It is a work that all the neighbours will stand amazed at (Deu 29:24), and therefore the ruins of Jerusalem are said to be an astonishment, Jer 25:18.
Lastly, We have the use and application of all this (Isa 28:22): "Therefore be you not mockers; dare not to ridicule either the reproofs of God's word or the approaches of his judgments." Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin. The consideration of the judgments of God that are coming upon hypocritical professors should effectually silence mockers, and make them serious: "Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, both the bands by which you are bound under the dominion of sin" (for there is little hope of the conversion of mockers) "and the bands by which you are bound over to the judgments of God." God has bands of justice strong enough to hold those that break all the bonds of his law asunder and cast away all his cord from them. Let not these mockers make light of divine threatenings, for the prophet (who is one of those with whom the secret of the Lord is) assures them that the Lord God of hosts has, in his hearing, determined a consumption upon the whole earth; and can they think to escape? or shall their unbelief invalidate the threatening?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Because ye have said,.... Within themselves; they thought so,…
Because ye have said,.... Within themselves; they thought so, if they did not say it in express words; and their conduct and behaviour showed that these were the sentiments and presumptions of their minds:
We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement: as safe from death, and secure from hell, or the grave, as if a covenant and compact had been formally entered into between them. The phrases are expressive of their being fearless of them, and of their confidence and assurance that they should not be hurt by them. Some interpret this of their deadly enemies, as Sennacherib king of Assyria particularly, with whom they had made peace, and had entered into a covenant of friendship and alliance, and so had nothing to fear from the threatenings of the Lord by the prophet; but Vitringa, better, of the covenant and agreement with the Romans, which the Jewish rulers were careful to observe, and thought themselves safe on account of it; see Rev 6:8,
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when the overflowing scourge shall pass through; when the judgments of God shall come upon the earth, and pass through the whole world, as a chastisement and correction of men for their sins, and as a punishment for them, like a mighty torrent spreading itself, and carrying all before it; or particularly when the Assyrian monarch with his army shall pass through the land of Judea, signified, in Isa 28:2, by a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, a flood of mighty waters overflowing; or rather the Roman army invading Judea:
it shall not come unto us; who were in the city of Jerusalem:
for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves; not what they themselves reckoned so, but what the prophet Isaiah, or the Lord by him, called so, whose words they used, and in whose language they spoke; meaning either their lying prophets, as Kimchi, and the false doctrines they delivered to them, promising them peace when destruction was at hand; or their idols, as Jarchi, which are falsehood, lying vanities, and work of errors; or their carnal policy, arts of dissimulation, sinful compliances, and crafty methods of acting with their enemies, by which they hoped to deceive them, and secure themselves from destruction, as others; or else their wealth and riches, got by lying and fraud, which is the sense of some interpreters; and perhaps all may be intended in which they might put their trust and confidence, and on account of them expect security from threatened evils, though no other than lies and falsehood; and the same may be observed of all outward acts of religion, rites and ceremonies, and works of righteousness done by men, in which they place their trust, and hope to be saved by them from wrath to come.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 28:14-15. Wherefore hear, ye scornful men — Who…
Isa 28:14-15. Wherefore hear, ye scornful men — Who make a mock at sin, and at God’s word and threatenings, and who doubt not that by your crafty counsels, and human efforts, you shall escape God’s judgments; who have said — In your hearts; we have made a covenant with death, &c. — We are as safe from death and hell, or the grave, (as the word שׁאולhere means,) as if they had entered into covenant with us, that they would not invade us. “To be in covenant with any thing, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil, and mischief from it:” see Job 5:23; Hos 2:18. When the overflowing scourge — The calamity which the prophets speak of as coming; shall pass through — Namely, the land: if it should pass through, which, however, we do not believe it will; it shall not come unto us — We shall escape. For we have made lies our refuge, &c. — These words the prophet puts into their mouths, as declarative of the real nature of their false confidence and vain hopes of safety: as if he had said, You are confident the calamity shall not come to you, because you have taken sanctuary in a refuge of lies! You depend on your vain idols, or on your riches, or strength, or crafty devices, which will all fail you. Or, you hope to secure yourselves by your arts of cunning and falsehood, but you will find yourselves disappointed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Wherefore ... - This verse commences a direct address…
Wherefore ... - This verse commences a direct address to the scoffing and scornful nation, which is continued to the close of Isa 28:22. It is addressed particularly to the rulers in Jerusalem, as being the leaders in crime, and as being eminently deserving of the wrath of God.
Ye scornful men - Ye who despise and reproach God and his message; who fancy yourselves to be secure, and mock at the threatened judgments of the Almighty.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Men, who make a parade of your knowledge, (Haydock)…
Men, who make a parade of your knowledge, (Haydock) to turn the most sacred things into ridicule.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 14 “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye…
2. THE FALSE AND THE TRUE REFUGE
Isa_28:14-22
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14 “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,
That rule this people which is in Jerusalem:
15 Because ye have said,
We have made a covenant with death,
And with 15hell are we at agreement;
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
It shall not come unto us:
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,
A tried stone, a precious corner stone,
A sure foundation:
He that believeth shall not 16make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line,
And righteousness to the plummet:
And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
And your agreement with 17hell shall not stand;
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
Then ye shall be 18trodden down by it.
19 19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you:
For morning by morning shall it pass over,
By day and by night;
And it shall be a vexation only 20to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it;
And the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim,
He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon,
That he may do his work, his strange work;
And bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be ye not mockers,
Lest your bands be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption,
Even determined upon the whole earth.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_28:15. שׁוט שׁוטף. So we are to read with the K’ri, 1, because the Kethibh שַׁיִט has in Isa_33:21 the signification “oar,” which is not suitable here; 2, on account of the assonance with שׁוֹטֵף, which would otherwise be lost; 3, because in Isa_28:18 b there is a blending of two figures for the sake of the alliteration. For שׁוֹט is a scourge (Isa_10:26), and שׁטף is to overflow, inundate (comp. on Isa_28:2). A scourge when swung makes a flowing motion; but it does not inundate, overflow. Only the divine judgments do this, and these for another reason can be called the scourge of God. The K’ri יעבר, which is both supported and discountenanced by Isa_28:18, is anyhow unnecessary, for the perfect can be taken as a futurum exactum (comp. Isa_4:4; Isa_6:11).
Isa_28:16. The Dagesh forte in מוּסָּד is manifestly intended to distinguish the word as a participle from the substantive מוּסָד.
Isa_28:20. Hithp. השׂתרע se extendere, porrigere, only here, Kal. שׂרע only Lev_21:18; Lev_22:23.
Isa_28:21. On the absence of the preposition of place before הַר and עֵמֶק, comp. Isa_1:25; Isa_5:18; Isa_5:29; Isa_10:14; Gesenius Gr., § 118, 3, note.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Those scoffers, who are here described as the rulers of the people in Jerusalem, had naturally a foundation on which they rested, in opposition to the foundation of the Prophet which they derided. Their foundation was falsehood and deceit, by the aid of which they hoped that they would have nothing to fear from death and Hades. (Isa_28:14-15). Against this foundation the Lord now says to them: I have laid in Zion my strong corner—and foundation—stone: only he who holds fast to it will not yield (Isa_28:16) And on this foundation-stone the building shall be erected by means of judgment and righteousness; but the flood of waters will sweep away that refuge of lies (Isa_28:17). And that covenant with death and Sheol will not stand. They who made it, shall be trodden down by those who Shall come upon them as the scourge of God (Isa_28:18). That scourge, moreover, shall come not only once, but repeatedly by day and night. Then shall they hear no more a preaching by word, but! a preaching by deed; and it will be nothing but terror (19). For Israel’s might will then prove too weak (Isa_28:20). But the Lord will rise in might as formerly on Mount Perazim, and in the valley of Gibeon, in order to execute His very strange work of destruction, which appears to the secure Jews impossible (Isa_28:21). Therefore the scoffers should be quiet, that they may not remain forever in the snares mentioned Isa_28:13; for that they should not escape from them is announced by the Prophet as the decree of Jehovah, which cannot be averted (Isa_28:22). We perceive, therefore, that the section Isa_28:14-22 corresponds exactly to the preceding one Isa_28:1-13, and especially to the Isa_28:9-13. For here the right foundation is set in opposition to that false one, resting on which those scoffers think that they may deride the Prophet (Isa_28:14-17); then the vanity, yea destructiveness of that false foundation is shown (Isa_28:18-21), and the scoffers are accordingly exhorted to give up their mocking (Isa_28:22).
2. Therefore hear—hid ourselves.
Isa_28:14-15. With לָכֵן, Isa_28:14, the Prophet introduces the judgment of the Lord, which he has to publish on the ground of the accusation preferred Isa_28:9-13. This judgment is addressed to the scoffers (Pro_29:8), whose derisive speeches (Isa_28:10) are quoted, and who, after the judgment has been pronounced, are exhorted to mock no more (Isa_28:22). These scoffers are not insignificant men. They are the leaders of the people (Isa_14:1; Isa_52:5), its Priests and Prophets (Isa_28:7). כִּי in the beginning of Isa_28:15 is “because;” the illative particle לָכֵו in Isa_28:16 corresponding to it. The utterance is put in the mouths of these people, which if not actually spoken by them, yet certainly corresponds to their actual conduct: we have made a covenant with death,etc. This explains why these people scoffed at the Prophet. They stand with their whole manner of thinking and feeling upon another foundation than his. Isaiah has the Lord Himself for his foundation. But they deride this very foundation. They have another and better, as they imagine. This is the art of falsehood, of cunning policy, of fine diplomacy. By its help they hope to be safe from death and Hades. The Prophet admonishes them to obey the Lord, and to trust in Him in order to find protection against Assyria. But in their opinion these are fanatical means of defence, which good policy could not employ. An alliance with Egypt, artfully planned, carried out with all diplomatic skill, appeared to those politicians to be a much more reliable, yea an infallible remedy against the threatening evils. For they hope through that alliance to be proof against death and Hades. They imagine that they have thereby as it were concluded a friendly alliance with death and Hades (כרת ברית as Isa_55:3; Isa_61:8). חֹוֶה (comp. רֹאֶה Isa_28:7), for which below in Isa_28:18חָזוּת stands, has only here the signification “treaty, agreement.” The lie of which they speak, may well refer to the relation of dependence on Assyria into which Ahaz, the predecessor of Hezekiah, had brought Judah (2Ki_16:7 sqq.). For they may even then have considered the right policy to consist in a secret league with Egypt, while appearing to stand by the obligations entered into towards Assyria. A like course was subsequently pursued (2Ki_17:4; Eze_17:15, sqq.). The conjunction of חסה and סתר is characteristic of Isaiah, comp. Isa_28:17; Isa_4:6.
3. Therefore thus saith—the whole earth.
Isa_28:16-22. The scoffers had declared that they had made falsehood their refuge, and that they hope relying on this refuge, to get the better of death and Hades. The Prophet wishes to expose the vanity of this hope. There is only one refuge that guarantees safety. This is the foundation, and corner-stone laid by the Lord Himself in Zion. The water sweeps away the other false foundation, and they who rest upon it go to ruin. Our passage contains, therefore, primarily not a promise, but a threatening. For first of all, the confidence expressed in Isa_28:15 is to be shown to be unfounded. But naturally the (unreal, resting only on appearance) negation of the truth can be overcome only by the positive setting forth of the truth. And where this real positive foundation of truth is exhibited, it involves always eo ipso a promise. לָכֵז, as has been shown, corresponds to the כִּי in Isa_28:15. The false affirmation necessitates a protest in which the truth is testified. הנני יסר=חנְנִי הוּא אֲשֶׁר יִּסַּד comp. Isa_29:14; Isa_38:5. But what sort of a stone is that which the Lord has laid in Zion? It must be a stone which really guarantees truth and right. Consequently it cannot be Zion itself (Hitzig, Knobel), nor the royal house of David (Reinke), nor Hezekiah (Rabbis, Gesenius, Maurer and others; which explanation Theodoret characterizes as ἄνοια ἐσχάτη), nor the temple (Ewald). As Isaiah does not say that they had made Egypt their refuge, but that they had made falsehood their refuge, the antithesis to this refuge of lies can only be a refuge of truth. As such we might, with Umbreit, regard the law, or, with Schegg, the word of God in general. But the law and the word of God, so far as they are laid in Zion as objective means of Salvation, suppose a still deeper, a personal foundation: the law supposes Him through whom the revelation of the law took place; the spoken and written word supposes the living, personal word of God Himself, the Logos (So the Catholic expositors Loch and Reischl, comp. Reinke,the Messianic Prophecies I. p. 404). The Logos, the only mediator between God and men, the Messiah promised in the Old Covenant, who has appeared in the New, this is the personal and living foundation-stone laid in Zion, on whom the whole building fitly framed together grows unto a holy (erected therefore according to the line of right and justice) building (Eph_3:20 sqq.). That the personal Word of the Lord can be called a stone, is apparent from Isa_8:14, where Jehovah Himself is called אֶבֶו and צוּר. It is not impossible that Isaiah had this last passage in view, and perhaps the composer of the 118th Psalm had in Isa_28:22 regard to both these passages of Isaiah. Anyhow Peter (1Pe_2:6-8) combines these three places. The Lord Himself (Mat_21:42-44) had in view the place in the Psalms and Isa_8:14 sq.; and Paul, Rom_9:33, refers to both places of Isaiah; while in Act_4:11 reference is made to the 118th Psalm only; and in Rom_10:11, solely to the place before us. The stone laid in Zion is further called an אבו בחו, i. e., lapis probationis. The term בחו can be taken in an active or passive sense: a tried and a trying stone. The former would mark its tested firmness, the latter would express the idea, that the thoughts of the hearts must be made manifest by it. For no one can escape it, but all must be tried on it, and it must have some effect on all, and be either for their fall or rising. The passages Mat_21:44; Luk_2:34 speak strongly for the latter view. I do not dispute it, but I believe that the Prophet designedly chose an ambiguous expression. For the former interpretation is likewise recommended, being naturally suggested by the expression employed, and by the context. We expect to hear the nature of the stone extolled, and not merely to be told what service it can render. That the praise should be expressed in this particular form is in accordance with the usus loquendiobservable in this chapter, in which so many designations of a property are denoted by a substantive in the genitive (Isa_28:1-5; Isa_28:8). פִנָּה is corner.—And a stone which forms the corner is naturally a corner-stone. (Comp. Isa_19:13; Job_38:6; Jer_51:26; Psa_118:22). יְקָרָה is here, as perhaps also Psa_37:20; Pro_17:27, a substantive, preciousness, so that we must translate; a corner-stone of preciousness of a founded foundation (מוּסָד after the form מוּסָר, comp. 2Ch_8:16; מוּסָדָהIsa_30:32; Eze_41:8; מוּסָּד Part Hoph.), i. e., a corner-stone well suited (1 Kings 5:31; 7:9–11) for a firm foundation. The emphatic expression מוּסָד מוּסָּד is like חֲכָמִים, Pro_30:24. We have already observed that the Prophet shows here a predilection for the accumulation of substantives in the genitive. The firm foundation-stone manifests its saving efficacy, not in a magical way; but this efficacy is conditioned by the inward susceptibility, or faith. The firm foundation itself requires a keeping fast to it. Therefore the Prophet adds: He who believes flees not.—This apothegmatic addition reminds us, both by its form and tenor, of chapter Isa_7:9האמיו ּתֵאָמֵנוּאִם לֹא תַאֲמִינוּ כִּי לֹא occurs further Isa_30:21; Isa_43:10; Isa_53:1. הֵחִישׁ is here not indirectly (to make something or another hasten, Isa_5:19; Isa_60:22) but directly causative; to make haste, to flee hastily, to retreat. There lies in it an antithesis to the idea of firmness, which is contained in what is said of the stone, and in מאמיו. The word has this meaning no where else. Where the firm foundation is objectively laid, and the individual subjectively in faith keeps fast on it, then the erection of a holy temple in the Lord is possible, an erection in which right serves for the line (קַו comp. on Isa_28:10), and righteousness for the plummet (מִשְׁקֶלֶת only here, comp. מִשְׁקלֶת2Ki_21:13); a figurative expression, the meaning of which can be only this, that this building will arise according to the rules of divine justice, and will consequently be a holy building. משׁפט and צדקה stand here related as in Isa_1:27; Isa_5:16; Isa_9:6; Isa_32:16; Isa_33:5; Isa_56:1; Isa_59:9; Isa_59:14. This building stands firm. But the refuge of lies and the hiding-place of deceit the hail will sweep away (יָעָח, whence יָע a shovel for the clearing away of ashes from the altar, Exo_27:3; Exo_38:3; Num_4:14 et saepe, is ἄπ. λεγ) and the waters wash away (Isa_28:2). Inconsequence, that covenant with death and Hades, of which they boasted (Isa_28:15), shall be covered,i. e., obliterated, annulled. The covenant is conceived of as a written document, whose lines are covered, i. e., overspread with the fluid used for writing. Comp. obliterare offensionem, famam, memoriam. To לא יבואנו in verse 15, והייתם לו למרמס corresponds. Comp. Isa_5:5; Isa_7:25; Isa_10:6. The Prophet here leaves the image out of sight. The expression is shaped by his realizing in thought the thing signified by the previous figure, namely, the invading host which serves as the scourge of God. This host shall stamp the scoffers under foot, shall tread them like dirt on the streets. The Prophet had expressly declared in Isa_10:6 that the army of the Assyrians should do this. But the scourge will come not once only, but often. Isa_28:19. The expression יִקַח is suggested by another image, namely, the idea of something which takes away (Jer_15:15), snatches, washes away, corresponding therefore to שׁוטף, as a mighty flood which comes along by rushes. In fact, the invasions by the Assyrians and by the Chaldaeans, who were called to complete their work, were as waterfloods that kept ever inundating the land till it was entirely desolated (Isa_24:1; Isa_24:3). The second half of Isa_28:19 is clearly related to יביו שׁמועה in Isa_28:9. There the scoffers had asked: to whom will he preach? They thought themselves much too high to need the preaching of the Prophet. In opposition to this language Isaiah now tells them: because you would not hear my well-meant preaching by word, which was designed to give you מְנוּחָה, you will be compelled to hear a preaching in act, and it will be naught but terror. זועה stands therefore opposed to מנוחה. If in Isa_28:9הביו שׁמועה signified “to make to know, or understand preaching,” it must in the connexion in which it here stands signify “to hear preaching” (comp. Isaiah 39:16; Job_28:23; Mic_4:12 et saepe). For it is not the preacher who experiences terror, but he who hears the preaching. זְוָעָה (only here in Isaiah, besides comp. Deu_28:25; Jer_15:4 et saepe; Eze_23:46) is concussio, commotio vehemens, formido. The subject of the sentence is הָבִיו and the predicate זְוָעָה. Is not that a dreadful preaching, when one finds himself in a situation which is fittingly compared to a bed that is too short, or to a covering that is too narrow?—This is a distressful condition. For resistance is encountered on all sides, and the means are insufficient for any undertaking. קצר in Isaiah besides only Isa_1:2; Isa_59:1. מַצָּעstratum, ἅπ λεγ. מַסֵּכָה besides only Isa_25:7. בָּנַס, colligere, coacervare, Hithp. se ipsum colligere, to make of one’s self a heap, only here כְּ in כְּהִתְכַּנֵּס marks coincidence = when one bends one’s-self together, coils one’s-self (Isa_18:3; Isa_23:5). That such will really be the nature of the situation is now further illustrated by two historical examples. Israel will themselves be in a condition like that in which they through God’s help twice brought their enemies. One of these events to which the Prophet here alludes, is the defeat which David inflicted on the Philistines at Baal-Perazim (2Sa_5:20; 1Ch_14:11). David there said פָרַץי אֶת־אֹיְבַי לְכָּנַי כְפֶרֶץ מַיִם, i.e., Jehovah has broken through my enemies before me, as water breaks through. Vitringa perceived that Isaiah was led to think of this passage by what he had said in Isa_28:17 and Isa_28:2 of the מים שֹׁטְפִים. The other event I take, with most of the older interpreters, to be the defeat which Joshua inflicted on the Canaanites at Gibeon (Jos_10:10). There, in Isa_28:11, it is said expressly that the Lord crushed the enemy by a great hail-storm. And this circumstance corresponds exactly to what Isaiah in verse 2 and verse 17 had said of the hail from which Israel should suffer. That victory of David over the Philistines at Gibeon (2Sa_5:22 sqq.; 1Ch_14:14 sqq.) does not supply such an analogy. ירנו comp. on Isa_14:9. זר מעשׂהו (comp. Isa_5:12) and נכריה עבדתו (Isa_2:6) are parenthetical clauses, and not in apposition to the preceding מעשׂהו and עבדתו; for the putting of the adjective first would in that case be quite abnormal. Strange, inconceivable is the work of the Lord pronounced, because He does something which could not have been expected of Him. Who could have thought that Jehovah would treat Israel as the heathen, that He would thus destroy His own work? After all these statements we see how foolish and infatuated the people were in scoffing at the warning voice of the Prophet, and in relying on their own miserable, self-chosen supports (Isa_28:15). The admonition which the Prophet adds at the close, and now be ye not mockers is well-meant, and deserving to be laid to heart. Hithp.התלוצץ=to behave mockingly, is found only here. If they do not cease to mock, the bands by which they have been bound ever since Ahaz foolishly made submission to Assyria (2Ki_16:7 sqq.), can never be broken. For that they must bear these bands, and become acquainted with the nature of them, that is the purpose of God, resolved on, and already revealed to the Prophet. On כלה ונחרצה comp. on Isa_10:23.
Footnotes:
[15]Sheol.
[16]flee.
[17]Sheol.
[18]Heb. a treading down to it.
[19]as often as.
[20]Or, when he shall make you to understand doctrine.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain scornful--(See on Isa 28:9).
scornful--(See on Isa 28:9).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14-16. Scornful men — The debased, drunken priests and…
14-16. Scornful men — The debased, drunken priests and false prophets in Jerusalem, (Isa_28:7-8,) scorning the message of the true prophets. (Isa_28:9-10.)
Because ye have said — Have said by your actions. If their actions were translated into words, their actual language would be as stated in this fifteenth verse.
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Covenant with death — A metaphorical representation of their having made terms with the king of terrors not to be too soon called to die.
With hell — The underworld — place of departed spirits — a poetic equivalent with death. With this the same terms are supposed to have been made, not to be too soon called to the spirit world.
Overflowing scourge — A mixed metaphor, probably referring to the Assyrian army invading and passing through Judea on its way to Egypt.
Lies — The prophet’s definition. They acted as if a sufficient refuge was to be found in falsehood and deceit — in the false notions and doctrines on which their whole conduct was transacted.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. ye scornful men] Better: scoffing men. The “scoffer”…
14. ye scornful men] Better: scoffing men. The “scoffer” (lêç, a word almost confined to Pss. and Prov.) represents the last degree of ungodliness,—open contempt of religion. The phrase here is applied to worldly politicians, who form their plans in defiance of Jehovah’s revealed will (cf. Isa_28:22; ch. Isa_29:20).
that rule this people] The prophet’s antagonists are the party which has gained the upper hand in the councils of state; the king himself is tacitly acquitted of responsibility.
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15 is the protasis to Isa_28:16 f.
Because ye have said] Isaiah no doubt clothes the thoughts of the conspirators in his own language; but the vagueness of the allusions corresponds to the air of mystery which shrouded their designs. The utmost secrecy was observed with regard to the negotiations with Egypt (ch. Isa_29:15, Isa_30:1), and it is doubtful if at this time Isaiah knew exactly what project was on foot.
with hell are we at agreement] Lit. with Sheôl we have made a vision. The simplest explanation of this and the preceding expression is that the political plot had been ratified by a compact with the dreaded powers of the underworld. That those who had renounced the guidance of Jehovah should have recourse to necromancy and other superstitions was natural (ch. Isa_8:19). At the same time the phrases may be proverbial, or they may merely express Isaiah’s abhorrence of the dark immorality which marked the proceedings. In any case the feeling attributed to the schemers is one of absolute security against the worst that fate could bring.
the overflowing scourge]—a mixture of metaphors, which is still further increased in Isa_28:18.
we have made lies our refuge] The reference might be to conscious political treachery (towards Assyria), but more probably it is to false grounds of confidence, such as false oracles (Eze_13:6-8; Mic_2:11), Isaiah putting his own language into their mouth.
14–22. There is again a literary connexion with what precedes; although the passage is probably a summary of an independent discourse. The prophet’s aim is to impress on his opponents the disastrous consequences of persisting in their scoffing attitude towards himself and his message.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) Ye scornful men, that rule this people .…
(14) Ye scornful men, that rule this people . . .—The last words emphasise the fact that the men who derided the prophet in their worldly wisdom were found among Hezekiah’s chief princes and counsellors, the partizans now of an Assyrian, now of an Egyptian alliance—anything rather than the policy of righteousness and repentance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 14-22. THE REBUKE OF JUDAH"S NOBLES. The power…
Vers. 14-22. THE REBUKE OF JUDAH"S NOBLES. The power of the nobles under the later Jewish monarchy is very apparent throughout Isaiah"s prophecy. It is they, and not the king, who are always blamed for bad government (Isa_1:10-23 Isa_3:12-15, etc.) or errors of policy. (Isa_9:15, 16 22:15-19, etc.) Isaiah now turns from a denunciation of the priests and prophets, who especially opposed his teaching, to a threatening of the great men who guided the course of public affairs. He taxes them with being "men of scorn" (ver. 14), i.e. scorners of Jehovah, and with" a proud and insolent self-confidence" (Delitzsch). They have made, or are about to make, secret arrangements which will, they believe, secure Judaea against suffering injury at the hands of the Assyrians, and are quite satisfied with what they have done, and fear no evil. Isaiah is instructed that their boasted arrangements will entirely fail in the time of trial their "refuge" (Egypt) will be found a refuge of lies (ver. 17), and the "overflowing scourge" (Assyria) will pass through the land, and carry all before it (ver. 18). There will then ensue a time of "vexation" and discomfort (vers. 19, 20) God"s anger will be poured out upon the land in strange ways (ver. 21). He therefore warns the rulers to lay aside their scorn of God, and humble themselves, lest a worse thing happen to them (ver. 22).
Ye scornful men; literally, ye men of scorn. The word used is rare, but will be found in the same sense in Pro_1:22 and Pro_29:8. A cognate participle occurs in Hos_7:5. That rule this people. (On the authority of the nobles at this period, see the introductory paragraph.)
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Vers. 14-22. The judgment prepared for scorner"s.
"Scorners," in the language of Scripture, are those who set at naught God"s prophets, or his messages, or his Holy Word, or his Church, or his ministers. Men delight in such scorn because it seems to them so fine a thing, so grand a thing, so bold, so brave, so heroic. It is a poor thing, comparatively, to exalt one"s self against man; it is magnificent to measure one"s strength with God"s, and enter the lists against him. This may, no doubt, be so in one point of view, and for a time, while God chooses to endure the contradiction of sinners against himself. But nothing can be really grand or heroic which is irrational, absurd, doomed to end in failure, shame, and ruin. There is nothing admirable in a child kicking against the commands of a wise father, or in a schoolboy setting at naught the rules of grammar or of conduct given him by a good schoolmaster. It is the true wisdom of those who know themselves to be weak, and ignorant, and short-sighted, and imperfect, and liable to error, to accept loyally the rule of an authority stronger and wiser and better than themselves. The "scorners" find in a little time that their resistance of God is folly.
I THEIR EARTHLY RELIANCE FALLS THEM. This reliance may be
(1) physical force the fact they have at their beck and call vast armies, a numerous police, a well-filled treasury, important allies, and the like; or
(2) intellectual power, a consciousness of a reserve of mental strength in themselves, an indomitable will, a keen intellect, a fertile imagination, great logical acumen, etc. But their hold on all such things is uncertain. Armies revolt, melt away by sickness and desertion, suffer defeat, become demoralized, surrender themselves; a police fails and fraternizes with revolution; a treasury becomes exhausted; allies draw back in the hour of danger, as the Egyptians did in Israel"s greatest need; and the mighty potentate who has scorned God and his laws finds himself, together with his advisers, brought to shame, defeated, ruined. So with the scorners" whose mental pride has puffed them up. God can abase them in a moment by mental disease, brain-softening, paralysis, sense of depression, disgust with life. How the bald atheist trembles, and wishes that he could retract his daring speeches, when he is struck down by sickness, crippled, bedridden, palsied perhaps. God does not always launch his bolts in this life; but he can at any time do so, and he does it with sufficient frequency to leave men without excuse if they do not note, and profit, by his warnings.
II As EXTERNAL DANGER THREATENS. No one is safe from the worst forms of human suffering. Temporal ruin may come upon the rich, disfavor and unpopularity upon the long-applauded statesman, domestic woe, severe illness, excruciating pain, upon any one. In every case there is always death threatening men. Some overflowing scourge" or other is almost sure, sooner or later, to pass through," and press upon us, and threaten to bring us down to the ground. The scorner trembles when such an hour arrives, and inwardly confesses his impotency, even if outwardly he wear a front of brass, and professes to fear neither God nor man.
III CALAMITY SWOOPS DOWN AT LAST. Even if no special judgment is sent to punish the scorner, there arrives at last of necessity the time of old age, weakness, weariness; there arrives at last death; and, some time before death, the fear of death. The scorner must go to that God whose message he has scorned, whose messengers he has treated with contempt and contumely. "A consummation is decreed." He must "fall into the hands of the living God!" Then the folly of that "brave" conduct on which he prided himself becomes apparent, and he would fain retract his old speeches, and submit himself, and make his peace. But the words addressed to scorners (Pro_1:22) sound in his ears and hold him back: Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them". (Pro_1:24-32)
Vers. 14-22. Jehovah pronounces judgment.
The rulers or politicians are addressed. They are stigmatized as men of scorn" (cf. ver. 22; Isa_29:20; Hos_7:5). The scornful or scoffing habit implies excessive self-confidence on the one hand, on the other contempt of religion and of God. But "be not deceived; God is not mocked." "It has been commonly found," says Calvin, "in almost every age, that the common people, though they are distinguished by unrestrained fierceness and violence, do not proceed to such a pitch of wretchedness as nobles and courtiers, or other crafty men, who think that they excel others in ability and wisdom." It is a dreadful and monstrous thing when the governors of the Church, not only are themselves blinded, but even blind others, and excite them to despise God and ridicule godly doctrine.
I FALSE SECURITY. It is some delusion as to their own security which leads men to mock at the judgments of God. The ruling classes thought they had secured themselves against an Assyrian invasion. "They had their fortresses, their soothsayers and prophets, their diplomatists the latter almost occupied with the preliminaries for a treaty with Egypt" (Cheyne). This fancied security is expressed under a bold figure. To be in covenant with death is like being in covenant with the beasts or the stones of the. (Job_5:23 Hos_2:18) They have made, as they think, a compact with Hades. Probably enough the allusion may be to the wizards whom they consult. If so, it is true enough to all experience that men, when they have cast off the restraints of true religion, seek to make up for it by dabbling in superstition. "The scorners or free-thinkers have retained a strong belief in the infernal powers, though little enough in those supernal" (Cheyne). Idly have they made lies their refuge, and so think to be exempt from the "flooding scourge" as it sweeps over the land. (cf. Isa_8:7, Isa_8:8) They act as if there was any security except in "walking uprightly, and in speaking truth with the heart." Their resources are spoken of by them under plausible names, and there are ways that "seem right to them." They do not think they are falsehoods; but the prophet tears away the disguise, and calls them by their proper names. "The essential substance of the thoughts and words of the rulers is manifest to the Searcher of hearts" (Delitzsch).
II THE TRUE FOUNDATION. A Foundation-stone is, or shall be, laid in Zion, nay, costly and solid. (cf. 1Ki_5:17, "Great stones, costly stones, hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house The foundation-stone of the temple typifies the unchangeable verity of God, as revealed from age to age in his holy seat and oracle. The believer shall rest securely upon God, and only here shall true security be found. (For the general idea, of. Mat_7:24, Mat_7:25. For the application to the Messiah, see 1Pe_2:6 Rom_10:11 Mat_21:42 Luk_20:17, 18 2:34 Eph_2:20) The kingdom of God on earth rests on the Messiah. He was tried by temptation and other suffering, and so proved able and sufficient for the work of salvation. His Name, his work, is the most precious element in the Church"s foundation. And amidst every tempest of judgment which shall sweep over the world, he who confides in Christ shall feel that he has built upon a Rock which cannot be shaken; and shall make no haste, shall be free from agitation and alarm. Till we possess faith, we must have continual perplexity and distress; for there is but one Object on which we can safely rely the truth of the Lord, which alone wilt give us peace and serenity of mind. Peace is the direct result of faith, (Rom_5:1) and faith is repose on that Foundation other than which none can be laid. (1Co_3:11)
III OVERTHROW OF FALSE REFUGES. There will be judgment exact and severe, figured by the carpenter"s line and plummet. The hail-symbol of Divine wrath (Psa_105:32 Eze_13:13 Eze_38:22 Rev_8:7 Rev_11:19) will sweep away the refuge of falsehood, and the hiding-place of deceit shall be carried along in the flood. That "covenant with death" shall be cancelled, and the "agreement with Sheol" shall not stand. There shall be repeated Assyrian invasions; and the "tidings" at which men laughed shall be a terror for them to hear (cf. ver. 9). Or, having neglected the soul-message, they shall be compelled to listen to the preaching of facts. The proverb (ver. 20) depicts the state of distress which will exist. History will repeat itself. As when David conquered the Philistines on Perazim and Gibeon, (2Sa_5:20 1Ch_14:16) or as in the scene of Jos_10:10, Jehovah will arise to do his work of judgment, a work more fitted for an alien people than that of his choice and love. God does not delight in judgment; it may even be called his "strange work," being foreign to the kindness of his heart. All that he drives at in his chastisements is to bring men to the knowledge of themselves. He is "slow to anger," and infinitely compassionate. (Psa_103:8 Exo_34:6) Or the strangeness may be that he will now proceed to attack and exterminate his people, as formerly he had their foes. The hand felt by their fathers for salvation shall be felt by them for destruction.
IV CLOSING APPEAL. These scornful politicians who desire to break the Assyrian bonds are exhorted to change their minds, and so avoid the destruction otherwise certain and infallibly decreed by Jehovah of hosts. They wished to escape from their fetters by a breach of faith, with the help of Egypt, without Jehovah, and so mocked at the prophet"s warning. He therefore appeals to them to stop their scoffing, lest they should fall out of their present bondage into one more severe, and lest the judgment certainly at hand should fall more weightily upon them. Timely repentance might even now open a way of escape. We may apply the appeal as general. As God gives us" to foresee the issue of unwise ways in time, so by repentance may we avert the danger. To despise the Divine justice is not courage, but madness. Let us judge ourselves, that we may not be judged of the Lord; and because "that day" shall come as a thief in the night, ever let us have oil in our lamps, i.e. faith and repentance in our hearts, wisdom in the intelligence, justice and charity in our lives; and meditate daily on the vanity and shortness of our lives, the certainty and uncertainty of our deaths, the exactness and severity of the judgment to come, and the immutability of its results (South). J.
Vers. 14, 15, 18-20. The infatuation of sin.
In strong, pictorial language the prophet points out
I THAT SINFUL MEN ACT AS IF THEY COULD AVERT IMPENDING DOOM. They act as if they said, We have made a covenant with death," etc. Every day the gully and the foolish are living as if they were possessed with a power to wrestle with and overcome approaching doom. The drunkard seems to say, "I will drink, and not be ruined in health;" and the gambler to say, "will stake money, and not be disappointed;" and the rogue to say, "I will defraud, and not be detected;" and the men who "mind earthly things" to say, We will invest all our hopes and find all our heritage in this world, and not be robbed of our portion," etc. Such men seem to buoy themselves up with that which, to all that look on, is a transparent infatuation.
II THAT SINFUL MEN CONVINCE THEMSELVES OF THAT WHICH THEY MIGHT KNOW TO BE WHOLLY FALSE. They "make lies their refuge, and hide themselves udder falsehoods.
1. They choose the wrong course, and tell themselves they are acting under compulsion, and are guiltless.
2. They soften their sin by covering it with some pleasant euphemism.
3. They place between themselves and the condemnation of God the shield of human example, the frequency and popularity of their vice; they screen themselves behind their brethren, as if God did not see them, and did not hold them guilty.
4. They allow evil practice to beget such obliquity of moral vision that they call good evil," and evil "good;" they even "glory in their shame," so have they lied unto themselves.
III THAT SINFUL MEN ACT AS IF THEY COULD RELY ON SUCCOR WHICH IS WORTHLESS. They stretch themselves on a bed which is too short for their stature; they wrap themselves with clothing which will not cover them (ver. 20). In their weariness they resort to pleasures which do not give them rest, and from which they rise as tired as before. In their sorrow, or in their shame, or in their defeat, they have recourse to comforts which give no heart-ease, and leave them sad and troubled in soul. Many weary years, whole periods of life, even an entire earthly course, will men spend, trying and pitifully failing to console themselves with false comforts, to find rest in excitements, in vanities, and sometimes in vices, which have no power to soothe and satisfy the soul which only truth and love can fill.
IV THAT GOD WILL ONE DAY AROUSE THEM FROM THEIR GUILTY ERROR. (Vers. 18, 19.) The overflowing scourge will come, and will not pass by them; they will be trodden down beneath it. The overwhelming storm will hold them in its embrace of death. The day of disillusion, of self-reproach, of shame, of Divine retribution, will arrive: "Be not deceived do not deceive yourselves; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men
Isa_28:14-22
Hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men
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Isaiahs response
The prophet replies that when the storm does sweep over the land, as it assuredly will, these refuges of lies will prove no shelter to their builders; they have been tried by the plummet of honesty and righteousness and found to be so out of line that they must come down: but meanwhile, nay, from of old, Jehovah has Himself founded a really serviceable house for His people, namely, the ancient constitution and polity of which He Himself is the chief cornerstone; and the man who trusts in that foundation, believing that it really is there, will not be urged to any impatient acts of panic, whatever may be the apparent danger.
(Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Scornful rulers
It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful. (M. Henry.)
Incongruous scorning
That the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character is very sad. Who will be mourners in Zion if they are scorners? (M. Henry.)
Scorners
I. HOW THESE SCORNFUL MEN LULLED THEMSELVES ASLEEP in carnal security, and even challenged God Almighty to do His worst (Isa_28:15).
II. HOW GOD AWAKENS THEM OUT OF THIS SLEEP, and shows them the folly of their security.
1. He tells them upon what grounds they might be secure. He doth not disturb their false confidences till He hath first showed them a firm bottom on which they may repose themselves (Isa_28:16). This foundation is--
(1) The promises of God in general.
(2) The promise of Christ in particular (1Pe_2:6-8).
2. He tells them that upon these grounds which they now built on they could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them (Isa_28:17-21).
III. HERE IS THE USE AND APPLICATION OF ALL THIS (Isa_28:22). (M. Henry.)
We have made lies our refuge
Refuges of lies
Let us assemble in classes the excuses of a score or more of people who have told me frankly why they had decided not to become Christians.
1. First of all, is a class who excuse themselves because the Church has stood for bigotry, narrowness, and cruelty. It is said that in all ages the Church has included hypocrites among its members. But can anything be more unfair than these excuses? Granted that Peter cursed and denied with vulgar oaths his Master, what has that to do with the beauty of Christs character or the claim of His kingdom upon your life? Confessedly, John Calvin was simply an organised syllogism, an animated argument, bloodless as a stone. Even if he did play the traitor like Peter, and refuse to forgive his enemy and forgot the God who makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, how does his recreancy make right yours? Here is the world of business and commerce. Tomorrow merchants will adulterate their goods, traders will tamper with the weights, clerks will steal money from the bank, assistants will rob their employers. Since you do not care to associate with hypocrites, withdraw tomorrow morning from business. Give up all physicians, because some are quacks. Draw down the shades over your windows, because there are spots on the sun; and give up the summer, because there are stormy days in July; and give up the fruits, because there are blemishes on the apples.
2. There is another class that emphasise the uncertainty and disagreements concerning Christianity. Since it is all so hazy, and at best only a probability, they are unwilling to commit themselves to the Christian life. It is not necessary that we should understand all doctrines and the philosophy of duty, in order to fulfil the moral obligations. Life is governed by probability. There may be a thousand disagreements as to theology, but there is no disagreement as to what it is to be a Christian. We are asked to show the fruits of love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness.
3. Others there are who urge that becoming a Christian puts restraints upon the individual, narrows the range of his enjoyments, shuts up certain highways of happiness. I want always to feel perfectly free, exclaims the youth. I am afraid that I might find myself somewhat cabined and confined by taking upon myself these obligations. But becoming a Christian is simply to obey the laws of Christ. This objection is based upon a false theory of liberty. Liberty is obedience to law. It is sin that narrows the life. It is disobedience that cabins men and confines them; it is loyalty to Gods laws that breaks down the walls, pushes back the horizons and makes the soul a citizen of the universe. (N. D. Hillis, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The False qnd the True Refuge
The False qnd the True Refuge
v. 14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, those who despised and mocked the prophet’s warning, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem, the capital being named for the entire Southern Kingdom.
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v. 15. Because ye have said, in some further mockery which is now recorded, We have made a covenant with death, confident that death itself could not harm them, and with hell, the realm of the dead, are we at agreement, hoping to be safe against its power on account of their alliance with Egypt; when the overflowing scourge, the Assyrian army, shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves, concealing their real intention and purposes by the use of cunning policy, of fine diplomacy, the same procedure being found in all unbelievers to this day:
v. 16. therefore thus saith the Lord God, in another beautiful statement concerning the true foundation of the believer’s trust, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, as the Rock upon which His Church is firmly founded, a Stone, a tried Stone, one who is Himself approved, and by whom the hearts of all men are tested, a precious Corner-stone, one laid where two walls meet, which serves to connect them firmly, a sure Foundation, literally, "a Corner-stone of preciousness and a founded Foundation," to emphasize the solidity of this foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste, he who relies on Him shall not be confounded or flee in hasty alarm, for this Cornerstone is Jesus Christ Himself, the Rock of Ages for His Church. Cf Mat 21:42; Act 4:11; Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:6-8.
v. 17. Judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet, the acts of Jehovah being regarded as the erecting of a building against the scorners according to the strictest vengeance of His Law; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, as the shovel cleared away the ashes from the altar in the Temple, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place, thereby both exposing and sweeping away the fabric of lies built by the leaders of Judah.
v. 18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, its writing obliterated and the covenant nullified, and your agreement with hell, with the realm of death, shall not stand, these enemies rather overcoming them; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, when the flood of the Assyrian army would come along, then ye shall be trodden down by it, literally, "ye shall be to it a treading down," signifying a complete subjection.
v. 19. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you, one Assyrian campaign after the other would be successful; for morning by morning shall it pass over, in one wave of invasion after the other, by day and by night; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report, the scoffers would now hear a preaching in act, which would be naught but terror.
v. 20. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it, that is, the people of Jerusalem would find that the Egyptian covenant in which they hoped to find safety and rest would prove altogether insufficient.
v. 21. For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, He shall be wrath as in the Valley of Gibeon, when, at the time of David, as an ally of Israel, He overthrew the armies of the Philistines and afforded deliverance to His people, 2Sa 5:20; 1Ch 14:11-15, that He may do His work, His strange work, for it would surely appear strange to other nations to see Jehovah punishing His own children in this manner, and bring to pass His act, His strange act, whereby He destroys His own people.
v. 22. Now, therefore, so the prophet, in conclusion, warns the scoffers, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, namely, the fetters of their submission to Assyria; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, that He intended a general destruction, even determined upon the whole earth. Therefore quick repentance was in order, lest the punishment of the Lord consume them all.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 So listen to the word of Yahweh
So listen to the word of Yahweh
"So listen to Yahweh's message"
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We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have reached an agreement
Both of these statements mean basically the same thing. Possible meanings are 1) the leaders of Jerusalem have used magic or sorcery to try to make an agreement with the gods of the place of the dead so that these gods would protect them from dying or 2) this is a metaphor that speaks of the leaders having made an agreement with the leaders of Egypt. The leaders of Jerusalem were so confident that the Egyptians would protect that it was like they had made an agreement with the gods of the place of the dead. (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
So when the overwhelming whip passes through, it will not reach us
This speaks of Yahweh's judgment and punishment as if it were a whip that would strike the people. And the whip is spoken of as if it were a flood that would pass through Jerusalem. AT: "As a result, when everyone else is suffering and dying, nothing will harm us" (See: Metaphor)
For we have made a lie our refuge, and taken shelter in falsehood
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. A "lie" and "falsehood" are spoken of as if they were places where a person could go to hide. The leaders in Jerusalem would not have said they trust in a lie. They believed they were truly safe. But Isaiah knows they are not safe, because they trust in lies. AT: "For lies and falsehoods have become like a place where we can hide from danger" (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
a lie our refuge ... taken shelter in falsehood
Possible meanings are 1) the leaders trust in their own lies that they have said in order to protect themselves or 2) the leaders trust that the covenant they have made with the false gods of the place of the dead will keep them safe or 3) the leaders trust that the agreement they have made with the Egyptians will keep them safe.
translationWords
word of God
mock
people group
Jerusalem
covenant
die
Hades
judge
refuge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 28:14-22 After having pronounced judgment on Samaria (28:1-13), Isaiah…
28:14-22 After having pronounced judgment on Samaria (28:1-13), Isaiah now pronounces judgment on Jerusalem. The leaders of Judah are accused of being as blind as those in the northern kingdom of Israel.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.