Isaiah 28:2

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine. ²Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty one. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, He will smash it to the ground.³The majestic crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot. ⁴The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will swallow it while it is still in his hand. ⁵On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people, ⁶a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. ⁷These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. ⁸For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the Lord: Isaiah 9:9-12, Isaiah 27:1, Ezekiel 30:10, Ezekiel 30:11

as a tempest: Isaiah 28:15-19, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Isaiah 25:4, Isaiah 29:6, Isaiah 30:30, Ezekiel 13:11, Nahum 1:8, Matthew 7:25-27, Revelation 18:8

Reciprocal: Joshua 10:11 - the Lord Psalms 124:4 - the waters Isaiah 28:17 - and the hail Isaiah 32:19 - it shall Ezekiel 38:9 - shalt ascend Haggai 2:17 - with hail Matthew 21:43 - The kingdom Revelation 8:7 - hail Revelation 11:19 - and great Revelation 12:15 - cast

Cross-References

Genesis 24:10
Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor's hometown in Mesopotamia.

Genesis 24:29
Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring.

Genesis 24:50
Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.

Genesis 25:20
and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Genesis 28:5
So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Genesis 28:15
Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Genesis 28:20
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

Genesis 29:1
Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the people of the east.

Genesis 31:18
and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.

Genesis 32:10
I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one,.... That is, a powerful king, with a mighty army, meaning Shalmaneser king of Assyria; whom the Lord had at his beck and command, and could use at his pleasure, as his instrument, to bring down the towering pride of Ephraim, and chastise him for his sensuality:

[which] as a tempest of hail; that beats down herbs and plants, and branches of trees, and men and beasts:

[and] a destroying storm; which carries all before it, blows down houses and trees, and makes terrible devastation wherever it comes:

as a flood of mighty waters overflowing; whose torrent is so strong there is no stopping it: so this mighty and powerful prince

shall cast down to the earth with the hand; the crown of pride, the people of Israel, and the king of it; he shall take the crown from his head, and cast it to the ground with a strong hand, as the Jews interpret it, with great violence; or very easily, with one hand, as it were, without any trouble at all. The Targum is,

"so shall people come against them, and remove them out of their own land into another land, because of the sins which were in their hands;''

see Isaiah 8:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one - The Hebrew of this passage is, ‘Lo! there is to the Lord (לאדני la'donāy) mighty and strong.’ Lowth renders it,

‘Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one,’

And supposes that it means the Lord himself. It is evident, however, that something must be understood as being that which the Lord ‘hath,’ for the Hebrew properly implies that there is something strong and mighty which is under his control, and with which, as with a tempest, he will sweep away and destroy Ephraim. Jarchi supposes that רוח rûach (“wind”) is understood; Kimchi thinks that the word is יום yôm (“day”); others believe that חיל chayil (“an army”) is understood. But I think the obvious interpretation is to refer it to the Assyrian king, as the agent by which Yahweh would destroy Samaria 2 Kings 17:3-6. This power was entirely under the direction of Yahweh, and would be employed by him in accomplishing his purpose on that guilty people (compare the notes at Isaiah 10:5-6).

As a tempest of hail - A storm of hail is a most striking representation of the desolation that is produced by the ravages of an invading army (compare Job 27:21; the note at Isaiah 30:30; also Hosea 13:15).

A flood of mighty waters - This is also a striking description of the devastating effects of an invading army (compare Psalms 90:5; Jeremiah 46:7-8)

Shall cast down to the earth - To cast it to the earth means that it should be entirely humbled and destroyed (see the note at Isaiah 25:12).

With the hand - Septuagint: βίᾳ bia - ‘Force,’ ‘violence.’ This is its meaning here; as if it were taken in the hand, like a cup, and dashed indignantly to the ground.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 28:2. Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one - "Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one"] אמץ לאדני ammits ladonai, fortis Domino, i.e., fortissimmus, a Hebraism. For לאדני ladonai, to the Lord, thirty-eight MSS. Of Dr. Kennicott's and many of De Rossi's, with some of my own, and two editions, read ליהוה laihovah, to JEHOVAH.