Isaiah 28:13

Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,.... Men of scorn and mockery, that scoffed and mocked at the word of God, as in the preceding verse Isa 28:13; or at the threatenings of punishment; and even made a jest of death and hell, as in the following words: "the word of the Lord" they are called upon to hear, hearken, and attend to, is either the word of promise of the Messiah, Isa 28:16 or rather the word threatening them with ruin, Isa 28:18 or it may be both:

that rule this people which is in Jerusalem; which must not be understood of the chief ruler Hezekiah, but rather of some subordinate rulers, such as Shebna and others; these set a very bad example to the common people: no wonder that irreligion and profaneness prevail, when civil magistrates are scoffers at religion. It agrees best with the rulers of the Jewish people in the times of Christ, who mocked at him and his ministry, and that of his apostles.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Ver. 13. But the word of God was unto them precept upon precept, &c., ] i.e., A derision, {as Isa 28:10} therefore henceforth; hearing they shall hear and not understand: Sic Sanniones Deus punit.

That they may go, and fall backward.] Ut vadant et cadant retrorsum, tanquam turpiter ab hoste superati et resuperati, laid flat on their backs, brought to remediless ruin. This came of their obstinace; though not intentionally, yet eventually.

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.

Isa 28:13. But the word of the Lord was unto them, &c. — The sense of the passage thus rendered, may be, that they spake of God’s word with scorn and contempt, repeating the prophet’s words, (which are as peculiar in sound, as they are strong and expressive in sense, קו לקו, קו לקו, צו לצו, צו לצו, tzav latzav, tzav latzav, kav lakav, kav lakav,) in a scoffing manner, and with a ridiculous tone of voice; as if they had said, It seems the prophet takes us to be mere children, that need to be taught the very rudiments of knowledge, and that but slowly. Precept upon precept, line upon line, &c. — That these were scornful men and mockers, is affirmed Isa 28:14; Isa 28:22; and, as scoffers frequently catch the words out of other men’s mouths, and use them in the way of derision; so it may be thought they did with the prophet’s words. But the clause may be rendered a little otherwise, as indeed it is by divers learned men, thus: And the word of the Lord shall be unto them, precept upon precept, &c.; as this method has been used, and was altogether necessary for them, so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth; as they formerly would not, so now they shall not profit by the word, and their sin shall be their punishment. That they may, or might go, and fall backward — This will be the event, or consequence of their sin: they will fall backward, which is the worst and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28:13 one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there: The Hebrew here is difficult to understand. The words might be intentional nonsense to illustrate the point that the people were so spiritually blind that God’s clearest revelation was nonsense to them (see 6:9-10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Because they will not receive the word of God, when it is offered, it cometh of their own malice, if after their hearts be so hardened, that they care not for it, as before, Isa. 6:9.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

But--rather, "Therefore," namely, because "they would not hear" (Isa 28:12).

that they might go--the designed result to those who, from a defect of the will, so far from profiting by God's mode of instructing, "precept upon precept," &c., made it into a stumbling-block (Hos 6:5; Hos 8:12; Mat 13:14).

go, and fall--image appropriately from "drunkards" (Isa 28:7-8, which they were) who in trying to "go forward fall backward."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(13) That they might go, and fall backward . . .—The words are an echo of those in Isa_8:14-15. The preaching which might have led to “rest and refreshing” would become to those who scorned it a “stumbling stone” on which they would fall, a “net” in which they, who boasted of their freedom, would be entangled.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. But the word of the Lord was] Render: And (so) the word of Jehovah shall be—all that they had scoffingly said about Isaiah’s message (Isa_28:10), a monotonous, intolerable, yet unavoidable, succession of judgments (cf. Isa_28:19).

that they might … backward] that they may go and stumble backwards (cf. ch. Isa_6:11-12). and be broken … taken] as in ch. Isa_8:15.

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.

But the word of the Lord was unto them - Or, rather, but the word of Yahweh “shall be” unto them. This refers to the mode in which God said He would instruct them in a foreign land. They had complained Isa 28:9-10 that his instructions had been like a short lesson constantly repeated, as we instruct children. God here says that it should be as they said it was - they would be carried away to a distant land, and long abide among strangers; they would have ample time there to acquire instruction, and all that they would receive would be lesson after lesson of the same kind - line upon line, one judgment following another, until the lesson of their disobedience had been fully inculcated, and they had been brought to true repentance.

Here a little, and there a little - So they had said Isa 28:10 the lessons of God were to them by the prophets. So God says his lessons “shall be” to them by judgment. It shall not come in one sudden and overpowering burst of indignation, but it shall be, as it were, dealt out to them in small portions that it may not be soon exhausted.

That they might go ... - That they may go into captivity, and stumble, and be broken by the judgments of God. God will so deal out the lessons of his judgment and wrath, that as a people they shall be broken up, and made prisoners, and be borne to a distant land.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Taken. God will make his prophets speak, notwithstanding your repugnance; or he will reduce you to the necessity of learning an unknown language. (Calmet)

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).

The sense of the words thus rendered may be this, They spake of God’s word with scorn and contempt, repeating the prophet’s words in a scoffing manner, and with a stammering and ridiculous tone, saying, Precept upon precept, &c.; as if they had said, It seems the prophet takes us to be mere children, that need to be taught our first rudiments, and that but slowly. That these were scornful men. and mockers is affirmed, Isa 28:14,22; and as scoffers frequently catch the words out of other men’s mouths, and use them in way of derision, so it may be thought they did with the prophet’s words. But the words may be, and by divers learned men are, rendered a little otherwise;

And the word of the Lord shall be unto them precept upon precept, &c. As this method hath been used by them, and was altogether necessary for them; so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall still continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth; as they formerly would not, so now they shall not, profit by the word; and their sin shall be their punishment. And this seems to suit with the following clause, which notes the dreadful design and effect of that judicial blindness,

that they may or might go and fall backward, & c.

That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken: according to the former, which is our translation, this clause notes only the event or consequent of their sin; according to the latter, it notes the judgment of God designed and inflicted for it; that God’s word being so horribly abused by them, might be an occasion at which they might stumble and fall, and that backward, which is the worst and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces, or by which they might be snared and taken.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Word… unto them precept — God’s method of training this people is described, namely, by the most patient, ploddingly-repeated, lessons.

That — Two things are meant by this word. 1. The consequences to the people for their disloyalty to Jehovah, namely, ruin to them as a nation. 2. Intention to maintain the majesty of the divine law of righteousness. Scoffing men are long and patiently endured, to the end that, if they will not hear, their guilt shall be punished, their example shall be a warning, and the divine honour shall be maintained.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The word of the Lord was to them; rather, shall be to them. God will now speak to them, not by his prophet, but by the Assyrian conqueror, who will do what they said Isaiah had done, i.e. lay upon them command after command, rule alter rule, a constant series of minute injunctions, under which they will chafe and fret and at last rebel, but only to be "snared and taken." It is uncertain whether the reference is to the immediate future and to the Assyrians proper only, or whether the Babylonians are not taken into account also, and their oppression of Judaea pointed to. The yoke of Babylon was probably quite as difficult to endure as that of Assyria; and we find that, in the space of eighteen years, it produced at least three rebellions.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here a little - As this method has been used and was altogether necessary for them; so it still is, and for the future shall be. As they were children in understanding, they shall still continue to be such; they shall be ever learning, and never come to the knowledge of the truth. That - This will be the event, or consequence of their sin: they will fall backward, which is the worst, and most dangerous way of falling; and so be broken to pieces.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And the word of Jehovah was to them rule upon rule, line upon line, a little here, a little there, that they might go, and fall backwards, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.” The law was given that sin might abound. The only effect of the minute instructions, which they found so irksome, was to aggravate their guilt and condemnation. The terms of the first clause are repeated from v. 10, and have of course the same meaning in both places.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So the word of Yahweh

"So Yahweh's message"

command upon command, command upon command; rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little

These are the words that the drunk priests and prophets used to criticize how Isaiah teaches them. See how you translated this in Isaiah 28:10.

so that they may go and fall backward, and be broken, ensnared, and captured

This can be stated in active form. AT: "in order that the army of Assyria will come and defeat them and take them as captives" (See: Active or Passive)

go and fall backward, and be broken

People losing in battle to the enemy army is spoken of as if the people will fall down and break. (See: Metaphor)

ensnared

The enemy soldiers capturing the people of Israel is spoken of as if they were hunters that catch an animal in a snare. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

word of God

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And the word of the Lord shall be, etc. According to their measure, He shall mete out to them; He shall decree upon them with His word upon them, a precept of the nations that enslave them, upon a precept, a command upon a command, labor upon labor; a line of retribution commensurate with the line of sins that they committed (lit., in their hand); קַו לָקָו, derived from קוה, a hope instead of a hope; they will hope for light, and behold, there will be darkness.

a little there, a little there In a short time, it shall come upon them, and they shall become few there in the land of their enemies.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

But the word of the Lord was unto them, etc. They indeed thought that the word of God itself was of no importance; it was only a school-exercise to them. That they might go to Egypt. Comp. Woe to those that go down to Egypt, etc. (31:1), a portion of this same prophecy.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.