Isaiah 28:1-8

Context

The Lord Will Judge Samaria

28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed,¹

the withering flower, its beautiful splendor,²

situated³ at the head of a rich valley,

the crown of those overcome with wine.⁴

28:2 Look, the sovereign master⁵ sends a strong, powerful one.⁶

With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm,⁷

with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm,⁸

he will knock that crown⁹ to the ground with his hand.¹⁰

28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards

will be trampled underfoot.

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it.¹¹

28:5 At that time¹² the Lord who commands armies will become a beautiful crown

and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.

28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,

and strength to those who defend the city from attackers.¹³

28:7 Even these men¹⁴ stagger because of wine,

they stumble around because of beer –

priests and prophets stagger because of beer,

they are confused¹⁵ because of wine,

they stumble around because of beer;

they stagger while seeing prophetic visions,¹⁶

they totter while making legal decisions.¹⁷

28:8 Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit;

no place is untouched.¹⁸

[28:1] ¹tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.

[28:1] ²tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.

[28:1] ³tn Heb “which [is].”

[28:1] ⁴tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.

[28:2] ⁵tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[28:2] ⁶tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”

[28:2] ⁷tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”

[28:2] ⁸tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”

[28:2] ⁹tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.

[28:2] ¹⁰tn Or “by [his] power.”

[28:4] ¹¹tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”

[28:5] ¹²tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[28:6] ¹³tn Heb “and [he will become] a spirit of justice for the one who sits [i.e., presides] over judgment, // and strength [for] the ones who turn back battle at the city gate.” The Lord will provide internal stability and national security.

[28:7] ¹⁴tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.

[28:7] ¹⁵tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.

[28:7] ¹⁶tn Heb “in the seeing.”

[28:7] ¹⁷tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”

[28:8] ¹⁸tn Heb “vomit, without a place.” For the meaning of the phrase בְּלִי מָקוֹם (bÿli maqom, “without a place”), see HALOT 133 s.v. בְּלִי.