Isaiah 28:4

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

shall be: Isaiah 28:1, Psalms 73:19, Psalms 73:20, Hosea 6:4, Hosea 9:10, Hosea 9:11, Hosea 9:16, Hosea 13:1, Hosea 13:15, James 1:10, James 1:11

the hasty: "No sooner," says Dr. Shaw, "doth the boccore (or early fig) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the kermez or summer fig, begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August; about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez hanging and ripening upon the tree, even after the leaves are shed; and, provided the winter proves mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring." Micah 7:1, Nahum 3:12, Revelation 6:13

eateth: Heb. swalloweth

Reciprocal: Genesis 45:18 - the fat Psalms 103:15 - a flower Jeremiah 24:2 - first ripe Amos 8:2 - A basket

Cross-References

Genesis 12:7
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring." So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 28:1
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. "Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women," he commanded.

Genesis 28:3
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

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 28:6
Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman,"

Genesis 28:7
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.

Genesis 28:8
And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,

Genesis 28:9
Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.

Genesis 28:12
And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God's angels were going up and down the ladder.

Genesis 28:13
And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley,.... Meaning the riches and fruitfulness of the ten tribes, and especially of Samaria the head of them:

shall be a fading flower; as before declared, Isaiah 28:1 and here repeated to show the certainty of it, and to awaken their attention to it:

[and] as the hasty fruit before the summer; the first ripe fruit, that which is ripe before the summer fruits in common are. The Septuagint render it the first ripe fig; and so the Targum and Aben Ezra:

which [when] he that looketh upon it seeth it; that it is goodly and desirable, and so gathers it, Micah 7:1:

while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up; and as soon as he has got it into his hand, he cannot keep it there to look at, or forbear eating it, but greedily devours it, and swallows it down at once; denoting what a desirable prey the ten tribes would be to the Assyrian monarch, and how swift, sudden, and inevitable, would be their destruction.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As the hasty fruit before the summer - The word rendered ‘hasty fruit’ (בכוּרה bikûrâh); in Arabic, bokkore; in Spanish, albacore), denotes the “early fig.” this ripens in June; the common fig does not ripen until August. Shaw, in his “Travels,” p. 370, says: ‘No sooner does the “boccore” (the early fig) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the “kermez” or summer fig begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August, about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening on the tree after the leaves are shed; and provided the winter be mild and temperate it is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring.’ Robinson (George), (“Travels in Palestine and Syria,” vol. i. p. 354), says, ‘The fig tree, which delights in a rocky and parched soil, and is therefore often found in barren spots where nothing else will grow, is very common in Palestine and the East. The fruit is of two kinds, the “boccore” and the “kermouse.” The black and white boccore, or early fig, is produced in May; but the kermouse, or the fig properly so called, which is preserved and exported to Europe, is rarely ripe before September.’ Compare Hosea 9:10. The phrase ‘before the summer’ means before the heat of the summer, when the common fig was usually ripe. The idea here is this, the early fig would be plucked and eaten with great greediness. So the city of Samaria would be seized upon and destroyed by its enemies.

Which when he that looketh upon it seeth ... - That is, as soon as he sees it he plucks it, and eats it at once. He does not lay it up for future use, but as soon as he has it in his hand he devours it. So soon as the Assyrian should see Samaria he would rush upon it, and destroy it. It was usual for conquerors to preserve the cities which they took in war for future use, and to make them a part of the strength or ornament of their kingdom. But Samaria was to be at once destroyed. Its inhabitants were to be carried away, and it would be demolished as greedily as a hungry man plucks and eats the first fig that ripens on the tree.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 28:4. The hasty fruit before the summer - "The early fruit before the summer"] "No sooner doth the boccore, (the early fig,) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the kermez or summer fig begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August; about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening upon the tree even after the leaves are shed; and, provided the winter proves mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring;" Shaw, Travels, p. 370, fol. The image was very obvious to the inhabitants of Judea and the neighbouring countries, and is frequently applied by the prophets to express a desirable object; by none more elegantly than by Hosea, Hosea 9:10: -

"Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel;

Like the first ripe fig in her prime, I saw your fathers."

Which when he that looketh upon it seeth - "Which whoso seeth, he plucketh it immediately"] For יראה yireh, which with הראה haroeh makes a miserable tautology, read, by a transposition of a letter, יארה yoreh; a happy conjecture of Houbigant. The image expresses in the strongest manner the great ease with which the Assyrians shall take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they shall seize the rich prey without resistance.