Teks -- Isaiah 28:22-29 (NET)

28:22 So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. 28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message! Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! 28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground? 28:25 Once he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant, sow the seed of the cumin plant, and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? 28:26 His God instructs him; he teaches him the principles of agriculture. 28:27 Certainly caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick, and cumin seed with a flail. 28:28 Grain is crushed, though one certainly does not thresh it forever. The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it, but his horses do not crush it. 28:29 This also comes from the Lord who commands armies, who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Isa 28:22 - Lest

Lest thereby you make the judgments of God sure and unavoidable.

Wesley: Isa 28:22 - For

God hath assured me, that he will utterly destroy the people of Israel.

Wesley: Isa 28:24 - Doth

The plowman doth not spend all his time in plowing the ground; but he has several times for several works. And so God has his times and seasons for several works, and his providence is various at several times, and towards several people. Therefore those scoffing Israelites were guilty of great folly, in flattering themselves, because of God's long patience towards them; for God will certainly take a time to thresh, and break them with his judgments, as at present he plowed and harrowed them, and so prepared them for it by his threatenings.

Wesley: Isa 28:24 - Open

Understand, all day.

Wesley: Isa 28:24 - Break

Which they used to do with a kind of harrow.

Wesley: Isa 28:25 - Made plain

By breaking the clods.

Wesley: Isa 28:25 - The wheat

The best which he chuses for seed.

Wesley: Isa 28:25 - Barley

That proportion of barley which he appointed.

Wesley: Isa 28:25 - Place

Heb. in his border; each seed in a several place.

Wesley: Isa 28:27 - A threshing instrument

This then was made like a sledge shod with iron, which was drawn by men or beasts, over the sheafs of corn, to bruise them, and tear the grain out of them.

Wesley: Isa 28:27 - A wheel

A lower wheel than a cart wheel, but of the same form, upon which possibly the threshing instrument was drawn.

Wesley: Isa 28:28 - Bruised

With a threshing instrument.

Wesley: Isa 28:28 - Break it

Understand, forever.

Wesley: Isa 28:28 - Horses

This was another way of threshing out the corn, by driving horses, or other cattle, over the sheaves to tread it.

Wesley: Isa 28:29 - This also

This part of the husbandman's discretion. These words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manages his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world, and his church, with wonderful wisdom: he is great and marvellous, both in the contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.

JFB: Isa 28:22 - mockers

A sin which they had committed (Isa 28:9-10).

JFB: Isa 28:22 - bands

Their Assyrian bondage (Isa 10:27); Judah was then tributary to Assyria; or, "lest your punishment be made still more severe" (Isa 24:22).

JFB: Isa 28:22 - consumption

Destruction (Isa 10:22-23; Dan 9:27).

JFB: Isa 28:23

Calling attention to the following illustration from husbandry (Psa 49:1-2). As the husbandman does his different kinds of work, each in its right time and due proportion, so God adapts His measures to the varying exigencies of the several cases: now mercy, now judgments; now punishing sooner, now later (an answer to the scoff that His judgments, being put off so long, would never come at all, Isa 5:19); His object being not to destroy His people any more than the farmer's object in threshing is to destroy his crop; this vindicates God's "strange work" (Isa 28:21) in punishing His people. Compare the same image, Jer 24:6; Hos 2:23; Mat 3:12.

JFB: Isa 28:24 - all day

Emphatic; he is not always ploughing: he also "sows," and that, too, in accordance with sure rules (Isa 28:25).

JFB: Isa 28:24 - doth he open

Supply "always." Is he always harrowing?

JFB: Isa 28:25 - face

The "surface" of the ground: "made plain," or level, by harrowing.

JFB: Isa 28:25 - fitches

Rather, "dill," or "fennel"; Nigella romana, with black seed, easily beaten out, used as a condiment and medicine in the East. So the Septuagint, "cummin" was used in the same way.

JFB: Isa 28:25 - cast in . . . principal wheat

Rather, plant the wheat in rows (for wheat was thought to yield the largest crop, by being planted sparingly [PLINY, Natural History, 18.21]); [MAURER]; "sow the wheat regularly" [HORSLEY]. But GESENIUS, like English Version, "fat," or "principal," that is, excellent wheat.

JFB: Isa 28:25 - appointed barley

Rather, "barley in its appointed place" [MAURER].

JFB: Isa 28:25 - in their place

Rather, "in its (the field's) border" [MAURER].

JFB: Isa 28:26 - to discretion

In the due rules of husbandry; God first taught it to man (Gen 3:23).

JFB: Isa 28:27

The husbandman uses the same discretion in threshing. The dill ("fitches") and cummin, leguminous and tender grains, are beaten out, not as wheat, &c., with the heavy corn-drag ("threshing instrument"), but with "a staff"; heavy instruments would crush and injure the seed.

JFB: Isa 28:27 - cart wheel

Two iron wheels armed with iron teeth, like a saw, joined together by a wooden axle. The "corn-drag" was made of three or four wooden cylinders, armed with iron teeth or flint stones fixed underneath, and joined like a sledge. Both instruments cut the straw for fodder as well as separated the corn.

JFB: Isa 28:27 - staff

Used also where they had but a small quantity of corn; the flail (Rth 2:17).

JFB: Isa 28:28 - Bread corn

Corn of which bread is made.

JFB: Isa 28:28 - bruised

Threshed with the corn-drag (as contrasted with dill and cummin, "beaten with the staff"), or, "trodden out" by the hoofs of cattle driven over it on the threshing-floor [G. V. SMITH], (Deu 25:4; Mic 4:13).

JFB: Isa 28:28 - because

Rather, "but" [HORSLEY]; though the corn is threshed with the heavy instrument, yet he will not always be thus threshing it.

JFB: Isa 28:28 - break it

"drive over it (continually) the wheel" [MAURER].

JFB: Isa 28:28 - cart

Threshing-drag.

JFB: Isa 28:28 - horsemen

Rather, "horses"; used to tread out corn.

JFB: Isa 28:29 - This also

The skill wherewith the husbandman duly adjusts his modes of threshing is given by God, as well as the skill (Isa 28:26) wherewith he tills and sows (Isa 28:24-25). Therefore He must also be able to adapt His modes of treatment to the several moral needs of His creatures. His object in sending tribulation (derived from the Latin tribulum, a "threshing instrument," Luk 22:31; Rom 5:3) is to sever the moral chaff from the wheat, not to crush utterly; "His judgments are usually in the line of our offenses; by the nature of the judgments we may usually ascertain the nature of the sin" [BARNES].

This chapter opens the series of prophecies as to the invasion of Judea under Sennacherib, and its deliverance.

Clarke: Isa 28:22 - The Lord God

The Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah . Adonai is omitted by four of Kennicott’ s MSS., and in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic.

Clarke: Isa 28:23

Give ye ear, and hear my voice "Listen ye, and hear my voice"- The foregoing discourse, consisting of severe reproofs, and threatenings of dreadful judgments impending on the Jews for their vices, and their profane contempt of God’ s warnings by his messengers, the prophet concludes with an explanation and defense of God’ s method of dealing with his people in an elegant parable or allegory; in which he employs a variety of images, all taken from the science of agriculture. As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seeds to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons; and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom, and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires; now more moderately, now more severely; always tempering justice with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good, and, finally, to separate the one from the other.

Clarke: Isa 28:26 - For his God doth instruct him

For his God doth instruct him - All nations have agreed in attributing agriculture, the most useful and the most necessary of all sciences, to the invention and to the suggestions of their deities. "The Most High hath ordained husbandry, "saith the son of Sirach, Ecclus. 7:15

Namque Ceres fertur fruges, Liberque liquori

Vitigeni laticem mortalibus instituisse

Lucretius, 5:14

"Ceres has taught mortals how to produce fruits; and Bacchus has taught them how to cultivate the vine.

Ὁ δ ’ ηπιος ανθρωποισ

Δεξια σημαινει, λαους δ ’ επι εργον εγειρε

Μιμνησκων βιοτοιο· λεγει δ ’ ὁτε βωλος αριστ

Βουσι τε και μακελῃσι· λεγει δ ’ ὁτε δεξιαι ὡρα

Και φυτα γυρωσαι, και σπερματα παντα βαλεσθαι.

Aratus, Phantom. v

"He, Jupiter, to the human rac

Indulgent, prompts to necessary toi

Man provident of life; with kindly sign

The seasons marks, when best to turn the gleb

With spade and plough, to nurse the tender plant

And cast o’ er fostering earth the seeds abroad."

Clarke: Isa 28:27-28

Four methods of threshing are here mentioned, by different instruments; the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of the cattle. The staff or flail was used for the infirmiora semina , says Jerome, the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron; it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. Kempfer has given a print representing the manner of using this instrument, Amaen. Exot. p. 682, fig. 3. The wain was much like the former; but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges like a saw: Ferrata carpenta rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus . Hieron. in loc. From this it would seem that the axle was armed with iron teeth or serrated wheels throughout. See a description and print of such a machine used at present in Egypt for the same purpose in Niebuhr’ s Voyage en Arabie, Tab. 17 p. 123; it moves upon three rollers armed with iron teeth or wheels to cut the straw. In Syria they make use of the drag, constructed in the very same manner as above described; Niebuhr, Description de l’ Arabie, p. 140. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. See Harmer’ s Observ. 1 p. 425. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which "forbids the ox to be muzzled, when he treadeth out the corn;"Deu 25:4.

Clarke: Isa 28:28 - The bread-corn

The bread-corn - I read ולהם velahem , on the authority of the Vulgate and Symmachus; the former expresses the conjunction ו vau , omitted in the text, by autem ; the latter by δε

Bruise it with his horsemen "Bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle"- For פרשיו parashaiv , horsemen or teeth, read פרסיו perasaiv , hoofs. So the Syriac, Syrnmachus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate. The first is read with ש shin , the latter with ס samech , the pronunciation is nearly the same.

Calvin: Isa 28:22 - Now therefore // Lest your chains be more firmly fastened // Be ye not mockers // For I have heard a consumption // Upon the whole earth

22.Now therefore He again reminds those wicked men, whom he had formerly called “scorners,” (Isa 28:14,) that their cunning, and contempt, and jeers, and mockery, will avail them nothing, because all their ingenuity will be thwarted; and he exhorts them to repentance, if there still be any of them that are capable of being cured. For this reason he repeats the same threatenings, in order to arouse them.

Lest your chains be more firmly fastened He says that all that they will gain by resistance will be to draw themselves more firmly into their nets. Instead of “chains,” there are some who render מוסרים ( mōsĕrīm) “chastisements;” but this does not agree with the context. The metaphor of “chains” is highly appropriate in this passage; for, as the fox which has fallen into a snare, fastens the knot more firmly by his attempts to extricate himself and escape, so wicked men by their disobedience entangle and fasten themselves more and more. They desire to escape the hand of God, and kick against the spur, like an unruly horse which bends all its strength to shake of its rider; but all that they accomplish by their obstinacy and stubbornness is to receive heavier and severer blows.

Be ye not mockers This shews us how we ought to deal with wicked men, when we see that they are altogether destitute of the fear of God. All that remains for us to do is, to warn them that their jeers and scorn will be attended by no success in resisting the vengeance of God which hangs over them. We are also reminded that we ought not to sport with God, since we see, as in a mirror, what has been the end of those who despised the warnings and threatenings of the prophets since the beginning of the world.

For I have heard a consumption That his prediction may be firmly believed, he declares that he brings nothing forward which God did not reveal. כלה ( chālāh) sometimes signifies “perfection,” and sometimes “consumption,” as we formerly stated ²⁴⁰ (Isa 10:23.) Here it must denote “consumption,” for the Prophet means nothing else than that God has determined speedily to destroy the whole earth by a general slaughter. This includes two things; first, that dreadful and grievous destruction is about to overtake the world, (unless it be thought better to limit the word “earth” to Judea, to which I do not object,) and, secondly, that the day is fixed and is not distant. The word hearing is here used to denote Revelation. He says that it has been made known to him; for, as the Lord determined to make use of the ministry of the prophets, so he revealed to them his secrets, that they might be, as it were, interpreters of them.

Upon the whole earth As if he had said, “The whole world abounds with shocking impiety, reprobate men have grown wanton in their wickedness, as if there would be no judgment of God; but throughout the whole world, or in every part of Judea, God will shew that he is judge and avenger, and not a corner of the earth will be exempted from troubles and calamities, because they have despised the word.” Now, although these things were revealed in the age of Isaiah, yet they belong not less to other times, in which God shews that he is always like himself, and is wont to execute his judgments by the same method and rule. ²⁴¹

Calvin: Isa 28:23 - Give ear and hear my voice

23.Give ear and hear my voice Isaiah makes use of a preface, as if he were about to speak of something important and very weighty; for we are not wont to demand attention from our hearers, unless when we are about to say what is very important. And yet he seems here to speak of common and ordinary subjects, as for example, about agriculture, sowing, thrashing, and such like operations. But the Prophet intended to direct the minds of his hearers to higher matters; for when he discourses about the judgments of God, and shews with what wisdom God governs the world, though wicked men think that everything moves by chance and at random, he intended to lay down and explain a difficult subject, in a plain style, by metaphors drawn from objects which are well known and understood. We often complain that God winks too much at the crimes of wicked men, because he does not immediately punish them agreeably to our wish; but the Prophet shews that God appoints nothing but what is just and proper.

The design of this preface therefore is, that men may perceive their stupidity in carping at the judgments of God, and putting an unfavourable construction on them, while even in the ordinary course of nature they have a very bright mirror, in which they may see them plainly. There is an implied expostulation with men who shut their eyes amidst so clear light. He shews that they are dull and stupid in not understanding the works of God which are so manifest, and yet are so rash and daring that they presume to judge and censure what is hidden. In like manner Paul also, when speaking of the resurrection, pronounces that those who do not perceive the power of God in the seeds which are thrown into the earth are madmen.

“Thou fool, that which thou sowest does not grow or vegetate till it has rotted.”
(1Co 15:36.)

Thus Isaiah here declares that those who do not see the wisdom of God in things so obvious are stupid, and, in short, that men are blind and dull in beholding the works of God.

Calvin: Isa 28:24 - Doth the ploughman plough every day

24.Doth the ploughman plough every day ²⁴² to sow? This passage is commonly explained as if the Lord reproached his people for ingratitude, because he had cultivated the field as a husbandman, and had spent on it all his care and industry, and yet did not reap such fruit as it ought to have yielded. Such is the interpretation given by the Jews, who have been followed also by the Greek and Latin commentators; but Isaiah’s meaning was quite different. He connects this doctrine with his former statement, that the destruction of Judea, or of the whole world, had been revealed to him; and therefore he adds, that still God does not always display his hand, or constantly punish the wickedness of men; for he often appears as if he did not see it, and delays the punishment of it for a time. The Lord’s forbearance and slowness to punish, which is thus manifested, is abused by wicked men for leading them to greater lengths in wickedness, as Solomon remarks that men are encouraged to commit wickedness by observing that

“all things happen alike to the good and to the bad,” (Ecc 8:14,)

that all the worst and basest men enjoy prosperity, while the godly are liable to distresses not less and even greater than those of other men. ²⁴³

In short, when the wicked perceive no difference in outward matters, they think either that there is no God, or that everything is governed by the blind violence of fortune. To such thoughts therefore Isaiah replies, “Do you not know that God has his seasons, and that he knows what he ought to do at the proper time?” If ploughmen do not “every day” cleave the earth or break the clods, this ought not to be attributed to their want of skill; for, on the contrary, their skill requires them to desist. ²⁴⁴ What would they gain by continually turning over the soil, but to weary themselves to no purpose, and prevent it from yielding any fruit? Thus God does not act with bustle or confusion, but knows the times and seasons for doing his work. ²⁴⁵

Calvin: Isa 28:25 - When he hath levelled its surface // Wheat in measure, and barley measured

25.When he hath levelled its surface He now speaks about sowing. The sower will not put into the earth as much as he can, nor will he throw it in at random, but will measure the ground, and give to it as much as is necessary; for otherwise the superfluous mass would rot, and not a single grain would take root.

Wheat in measure, and barley measured ²⁴⁶ He will not mix various seeds, but will allot one part of the field for “wheat,” another for “vetches,” and another for “cummin.” He will do this in measure, for that I consider to be the proper interpretation of שורה ( sōrāh.) ²⁴⁷ It does not mean excellent or good; for he is speaking about measurement. Similar statements are made about reaping and thrashing; for all kinds of grain are not thrashed in the same manner. Wheat is thrashed with the wheel of a cart or wagon, vetches with a staff, and cummin with a thicker rod. He speaks according to the custom of the country. This mode of thrashing is unknown in any part of France, except Provence. ²⁴⁸ In short, he means that the manner of thrashing which is suitable to the grain does not apply equally to all. Besides, the husbandman is not constantly or incessantly employed in thrashing, but exercises moderation, that he may not bruise the grain.

Calvin: Isa 28:26 - His God instructeth and teacheth him what is right

26.His God instructeth and teacheth him what is right From whom did the husbandman learn these things but from God? If they are so well educated and taught in the smallest matters, what ought we to think of so great a teacher and instructor? Does he not know how to apply a fixed measure and equity to his works? Does he not see the time for executing his judgment; when he ought to cut down the people, and, as we may say, to harrow ²⁴⁹ them; when he ought to thrash; what strokes, what kind of chastisements he ought to inflict; in short, what is most suitable to each time and to each person? Will not he who appointed the universal order of nature regulate these things also by a just proportion? Are men so headstrong that they will venture to remonstrate with him, or to impugn his wisdom? The general meaning is, that we ought not to judge rashly, if God does not immediately punish the wickedness of men.

This shews that we ought to restrain the presumption of men, who, even in the smallest matters, often fall into mistakes. If a person ignorant of agriculture should see a husbandman cutting fields with a plough, making furrows, breaking clods, driving oxen up and down and following their footsteps, he would perhaps laugh at it, imagining that it was childish sport; but that man would be justly blamed by the husbandman, and convicted of ignorance and rashness; for every person of great modesty will think that those things are not done idly or at random, though he does not know the reason. When the seed is committed to the ground, does it not appear to be lost? If ignorant men find fault with these things, as ignorance is often rash and presumptuous in judging, will not intelligent men justly blame and pronounce them to have been in the wrong? If this be the case, how shall the Lord deal with us, if we dare to find fault with his works which we do not understand?

Let us therefore learn from this how carefully we ought to avoid this rashness, and with what modesty we ought to restrain ourselves from such thoughts. If we ought to act modestly towards men, and not to condemn rashly what exceeds our understanding or capacity, we ought to exercise much greater modesty towards God. When we consider therefore the various calamities with which the Church is afflicted, let us not complain that loose reins are given to the wicked, ²⁵⁰ and that consequently she is abandoned to her fate, or that all is over with her; but let us believe firmly, that the Lord will apply remedies at the proper time, and let us embrace with our whole heart his righteous judgments.

If any person carefully examining those words shall infer from them that some are punished more speedily and others more slowly, and shall pronounce the meaning to be, that punishment is delayed, such a view is not merely probable, but is fully expressed by the Prophet. We draw from it a delightful consolation, that the Lord regulates his thrashing in such a manner that he does not crush or bruise his people. The wicked are indeed reduced by him to nothing and destroyed; but he chastises his own people, in order that, having been subdued and cleansed, they may be gathered into the barn.

Calvin: Isa 28:29 - This also hath proceeded from Jehovah of hosts

29.This also hath proceeded from Jehovah of hosts This passage is explained by some, as if The Prophet had said that the science of agriculture proceeded from the Lord; but I consider it to be the application of what goes before. Having pointed out the wisdom of God, even in the smallest matters, he bids us, in like manner, raise our eyes to higher subjects, that we may learn to behold with greater reverence his wonderful and hidden judgments. A passing observation on the 26^th verse may be made, and indeed ought to be made, that not only agriculture, but likewise all the arts which contribute to the advantage of mankind, are the gifts of God, and that all that belongs to skillful invention has been imparted by him to the minds of men. Men have no right to be proud on this account, or to arrogate to themselves the praise of invention, as we see that the ancients did, who, out of their ingratitude to God, ranked in the number of the gods those whom they considered to be the authors of any ingenious contrivance. Hence arose deification and that prodigious multitude of gods which the heathens framed in their own fancy. Hence arose the great Ceres, and Triptolemus, and Mercury, and innumerable others, celebrated by human tongues and by human writings. The Prophet shews that such arts ought to be ascribed to God, from whom they have been received, who alone is the inventor and teacher of them. If we ought to form such an opinion about agriculture and mechanical arts, what shall we think of the learned and exalted sciences, such as Medicine, Jurisprudence, Astronomy, Geometry, Logic, and such like? Shall we not much more consider them to have proceeded from God? Shall we not in them also behold and acknowledge his goodness, that his praise and glory may be celebrated both in the smallest and in the greatest affairs?

TSK: Isa 28:22 - be ye // lest // a consumption

be ye : Isa 28:15; 2Ch 30:10, 2Ch 36:16; Jer 15:17, Jer 20:7; Mat 27:39, Mat 27:44; Act 13:40,Act 13:41; Act 17:32

lest : 2Ch 33:11; Psa 107:16; Jer 39:7; Lam 1:14; Rev 22:18, Rev 22:19

a consumption : Isa 10:22, Isa 10:23, 24:1-23, Isa 32:12-14; Jer 25:11; Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27; Luk 21:24

TSK: Isa 28:23

Isa 1:2; Deu 32:1; Jer 22:29; Rev 2:7, Rev 2:11, Rev 2:14, Rev 2:29

TSK: Isa 28:24 - break

break : Jer 4:3; Hos 10:11, Hos 10:12

TSK: Isa 28:25 - in the principal // place

in the principal : etc. or, the wheat in the principal place, and the barley in the appointed place. rye. or, spelt. Exo 9:31, Exo 9:32; Eze 4:9

place : Heb. border

TSK: Isa 28:26 - For his God

For his God : etc. or, And he bindeth it in such sort as his God doth teach him, Exo 28:3, Exo 31:3-6, Exo 36:2; Job 35:11, Job 39:17; Psa 144:1; Dan 1:17; Jam 1:17

TSK: Isa 28:27 - threshed // the fitches

threshed : Isa 41:15; 2Ki 13:7; Amo 1:3

the fitches : Isa 27:7, Isa 27:8; Jer 10:24, Jer 46:28

TSK: Isa 28:28 - Bread // the wheel

Bread : Isa 21:10; Amo 9:9; Mat 3:12, Mat 13:37-43; Luk 22:31, Luk 22:32; Joh 12:24; 1Co 3:9; 1Co 9:9, 1Co 9:10

the wheel : Isa 28:27

TSK: Isa 28:29 - cometh

cometh : Isa 28:21, Isa 28:22, Isa 9:6; Job 5:9, Job 37:23; Psa 40:5, Psa 92:5; Jer 32:19; Dan 4:2, Dan 4:3; Rom 11:33

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Isa 28:22 - Be ye not mockers // Lest your bands be made strong // I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth

Be ye not mockers for your own sakes do not make a mock of God’ s word and threatenings, as you use to do.

Lest your bands be made strong lest thereby you make the judgments of God, which are oft compared to bands, as Psa 66:11 73:4 , and elsewhere, more sure and unavoidable, and more severe and terrible, as bands are when they are tied faster and more strongly upon a prisoner.

I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth God hath assured me that he will utterly root out and destroy the people of Israel; as indeed he did in Hezekiah’ s reign.

Poole: Isa 28:23

Observe what I say, and do you judge if it be not reasonable.

Poole: Isa 28:24 - Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow? // Doth he open // And break the clods of his ground

Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow? the ploughman doth not spend all his time in ploughing the ground, in order to the sowing it, or, as it follows, in opening it, and breaking its clods; but he hath several times for several works, a time for ploughing, and a time for sowing and harrowing, and a time for reaping, and a time for threshing, or beating, and bruising the corn for his own use; which wisdom God hath put into him. This is the sum of the similitude propounded here and in the following verses; the design and meaning whereof seems to be this, to teach them that God had his times and seasons for several works, and that the methods of his providence were various at several times, and towards several persons or people; and therefore that those scoffing Israelites were guilty of great folly, in flattering themselves, and despising God’ s threatenings, because of God’ s long patience towards them, and because of their present impunity and prosperity; for God would certainly and speedily take a time to thresh and break them with his judgments, as at present he ploughed and harrowed them, and so prepared them for it by his threatenings.

Doth he open understand, all day, or continually, out of the foregoing clause.

And break the clods of his ground which they used to do with a kind of harrow, or other proper instrument. See Jer 4:3 Hos 10:11,12

Poole: Isa 28:25 - Made plain the face thereof // The principal wheat // The appointed barley

Made plain the face thereof by breaking the clods, which made it ragged and uneven.

The principal wheat either,

1. The wheat, which is the principal or chief of all these grains; or,

2. The best wheat, which he prudently chooseth for seed.

The appointed barley that proportion of barley which he appointed. Or, as others, the marked barley ; or, the choice barley , which they laid aside in a sack for seed; and therefore set aside with a peculiar mark upon it. In their place , Heb. in his border ; each seed in a several and proper place.

Poole: Isa 28:26

The sense of the words thus rendered is this, All this he performeth by that discretion which God hath put into him; and therefore be assured that God will order all his affairs with judgment, and will in due season execute the punishments which now he threatens, and will perfect his own works. But the words by some are rendered otherwise.

And he beateth it out (as this word may be rendered, 1Ki 12:11 Pro 19:18 29:17 ) in such sort as his God doth teach him ; in a discreet manner, which being generally mentioned here, is particularly described in the following verse.

Poole: Isa 28:27 - A threshing instrument // A cart wheel // The fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod

A threshing instrument which then and there was made like a sled shod with iron, which was drawn by men or beasts over the sheafs of corn, to bruise them, and beat the grain out of them.

A cart wheel a lesser and lower wheel than a cart wheel, but of the same form, upon which possibly the threshing instrument was drawn.

The fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod as being unable to bear harder usage.

Poole: Isa 28:28 - Bread corn is bruised // Because // Nor break it // With his horsemen

Bread corn is bruised with a threshing instrument, by comparing this with the foregoing verse and the following words.

Because or rather, but , or nevertheless , as the word is frequently used. The sense is, The husbandman doth indeed thresh the bread corn, but he doth it with moderation, and only for a time, not for ever.

Nor break it understand, for ever , out of the foregoing clause, as is usual in Scripture.

With his horsemen which governed the horse or horses that drew the threshing instrument. Or, with horses ; for it is evident, and hath been observed before, that this Hebrew word signifies horses as well as horsemen . And this was another way of threshing out the corn, by driving horses, or other cattle, over the sheaves to tread it out; of which see Deu 25:4 Mic 4:13 .

Poole: Isa 28:29 - This also // Which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working

This also this part of the husbandman’ s discretion, expressed Isa 28:27,28 , as well as that expressed Isa 28:24,25 .

Which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working: these words contain the application of the similitude. The husbandman manageth all his affairs with common discretion; but God governs the world and his church with wonderful wisdom; he is great and marvellous, both in the design or contrivance of things, and in the execution of them.

Haydock: Isa 28:22 - Earth

Earth. Nabuchodonosor will take a complete and speedy vengeance, chap. x. 22.

Haydock: Isa 28:24 - Sow

Sow. The works of the husbandman vary, so will God's punishments be inflicted with measure, according to each one's deserts, ver. 27., and Wisdom vi. 7. (Calmet)

Haydock: Isa 28:25 - Gith

Gith. Heberw ketsach. Septuagint, Greek: melanthion. (Haydock) (Pliny, [Natural History?] xx. 17.) (Menochius) ---

Septuagint have not expressed all the terms of the original, (Haydock) being perhaps ignorant of their meaning. (St. Jerome)

Haydock: Isa 28:26 - God

God. From him proceeds every useful invention. The pagans attributed the discovery of corn, &c., to their idols.

Haydock: Isa 28:27 - Saws

Saws, or heavy instruments. It would be thus crushed too much. (Calmet)

Haydock: Isa 28:28 - But

But. Septuagint, "it shall be eaten with bread. For I will not be angry with you for ever, nor shall the sounds of my bitter wrath trample upon you." (Haydock)

Haydock: Isa 28:29 - This also

This also, &c. Such also is the proceeding of the Lord with his land, and the diverse seeds he sows therein. (Challoner)

Gill: Isa 28:22 - 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

Now therefore be ye not mockers,.... At the words of the prophets, and the judgments denounced by them, which is very common, when they are deferred, and not immediately executed: this was the case before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and one cause of it, 2Ch 36:16 and also by the Romans; see Act 13:41,

lest your bands be made strong; punishment become heavier, and more grievous; and so the Syriac version renders it; as prisoners that attempt to make their escape have their bonds and fetters made faster, and so are put to more pain and distress; to which the allusion seems to be, signifying, that by scoffing and mocking at the word of God they would bring upon themselves greater and sorer punishments, Heb 10:29,

for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts; in a vision from him, by a spirit of prophecy, as a secret communicated by him; for whatever the Lord did he usually made it known to his prophets; and it might be depended upon what they said, as being what the Lord had declared in their hearing; see Amo 3:7,

a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth: or, "on the whole land", the land of Judea; for this destruction seems only to respect that; and is the same with "the consummation, and that determined", that should be "poured upon the desolate", Dan 9:27 which manifestly designs the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, which was an affair determined by the Lord, whose counsel shall stand, and therefore would surely come to pass.

Gill: Isa 28:23 - Give ye ear, and hear my voice // hearken, and hear my speech

Give ye ear, and hear my voice,.... So said the prophet, as the Targum introduces the words; and because what he was about to say was of importance, and delivered in a parabolical manner, and required attention, he makes use of a variety of words to the same purpose, to engage their attention:

hearken, and hear my speech; now about to be made; listen to it, and get the understanding of it.

Gill: Isa 28:24 - Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow // doth he open and break the clods of his ground

Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?.... Or, "every day"; he ploughs in order to sow; by ploughing he prepares the ground for sowing, that is his end in ploughing; and he may plough a whole day together when he is at it, but he does not plough every day in the year; he has other work to do besides ploughing, as is later mentioned; such as breaking of clods, sowing seed, and threshing the grain after it is ripe, and reaped, and gathered. The prophet signifies that the Lord, like a ploughman, had different sorts of work; he was not always doing one and the same thing; and particularly, that he would not be always admonishing and threatening men, and making preparation for his judgments, but in a little time he would execute them, signified by after metaphors:

doth he open and break the clods of his ground? he does, with a mallet or iron bar, or with the harrow; whereby the ground is made even, and so more fit for sowing. The Targum interprets the whole in a mystical sense, of the instructions of the prophets, thus,

"at all times the prophets prophesy to teach, if perhaps the ears of sinners may be opened to receive instruction;''

and it may be applied to the work of the Spirit of God upon men's hearts, by the ministry of the word: the heart of man is like the "fallow ground", hard and obdurate, barren and unfruitful; the ministry of the word is the "plough", and ministers are the "ploughmen"; but it is the Spirit of God that makes their ministrations useful, for the conviction of the mind, the pricking of the heart, and breaking it in pieces; see Jer 4:3.

Gill: Isa 28:25 - When he hath made plain the face thereof // doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin // and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place

When he hath made plain the face thereof,.... By harrowing it, after it is ploughed:

doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin; in sowing them in the ground, prepared for them; the former of these does not seem to be the same we so call, but something else. The Septuagint version calls it the little "melanthion" ^c, the same with the "nigella" ^d of the Latins, and is sometimes called "gith" ^e, as in the Vulgate Latin version here. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it "anise", which is mentioned along with "cummin", as common with the Jews, and which, in Christ's time, were tithed, Mat 23:23 and both these in the text are by Kimchi said to be the food of man:

and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place? each in their proper place, or in soil suitable for them; some land being more suitable for the one than for the other, which the husbandman understands: "wheat" is the choicest and most excellent grain, and therefore called "principal"; or else because it is "first" sown, or sown in the best and "principal" ground: "barley" is said to be "appointed", or to be sowed in a place appointed for it; or "marked" ^f, referring either to places marked in the field, where it should be sown; which sense the Targum and the Jewish commentators favour; or to sacks of it marked, in which the best seed for sowing was put: "and the rye in its border" ^g; appointed for that Jarchi thinks this refers to the different places of sowing; the wheat was sown in the middle of the field; barley round about the mark or sign for that purpose; and rye upon the borders. The Targum is,

"as wheat is sown in an uncultivated field, and barley by the signs, and rye by the borders;''

but the whole is intended to express the wisdom of the husbandman, in sowing different seeds, not in the same field, which was forbidden by the law, Lev 19:19 but in ground suitable to each of them; and in the mystical sense designs the execution of divine judgments on men, in proportion to their sins, after they have been admonished of them, and reproved for them; and may be applied also to the sowing of the seed of the word in the hearts of men, and illustrated by the parable of the sower in Mat 13:19.

Gill: Isa 28:26 - For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. God gives the husbandman instruction and discretion how to sow his seed, at what time, and in a proper place; for this refers to what goes before; though some think a new act is here intended, namely, threshing or beating out of corn, rendering the words, "and he" (the husbandman) "beateth it out, according to the discretion", or "judgment, his God teaches him" ^h; which is expressed in general terms here, and is next particularly insisted on in the following verses Isa 28:27.

Gill: Isa 28:27 - For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument // neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin // but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod

For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument,.... A wooden sledge, dray, or cart, drawn on wheels; the bottom of which was stuck with iron teeth, and the top filled with stones, to press it down with the weight thereof, and was drawn by horses, or oxen, to and fro, over the sheaves of corn, laid in proper order, whereby the grain was separated from the husk: See Gill on 1Co 9:9 but fitches, the grain of them being more easily separated, such an instrument was not used in threshing them:

neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; the cart wheel of the above instrument was not turned upon the cummin, that being also more easily threshed, or beaten out, and therefore another method was used with these, as follows:

but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod: in like manner as corn is with us threshed out with a flail; so the Lord proportions the chastisement, and corrections of his people to the grace and strength that he gives them; he afflicts them either more gently, or more severely, as they are able to bear it; with some he uses his staff and rod, and with others his threshing instrument and cart wheel; some being easier and others harder to be wrought upon by the afflictive dispensations of Providence; see 1Co 10:13 or this may point out the difference between the punishment of wicked men and the chastisement of the saints.

Gill: Isa 28:28 - Bread corn is bruised // because he will not always be threshing it // nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen

Bread corn is bruised,.... The corn which bread is made of is bruised and ground in a mill:

because he will not always be threshing it; for there is another way of bringing it to flour, that so it may be made bread, namely, by grinding it in a mill; and therefore the husbandman uses his discretion in threshing it; he will not thresh it too much, nor too long, no more than what is necessary to get out the grain, but will take care that he does not bruise and break it; as follows:

nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen; though he makes use of the above threshing instrument, drawn upon wheels by horses, or oxen, for the threshing out of wheat, barley, or rye, corn of which bread is made; yet he takes care that it is not crushed and spoiled by the wheels of the cart, or the feet of the horses, or oxen, going too often over it; by all which may be signified the tender regard of God in afflicting his own people; he will not always be chiding, striving, and contending with them, or be always angry, and ever afflicting, and, when he does afflict, it is in a tender and careful manner, Psa 103:9.

Gill: Isa 28:29 - This also cometh from the Lord of hosts // which is wonderful in counsel // and excellent in working

This also cometh from the Lord of hosts,.... All this wisdom the husbandman has, in manuring his ground, in sowing it with proper seed, and in threshing it out in a manner suitable to it. Agriculture or husbandry, even among the Heathens, is always ascribed to God, as an invention of his, and it was the first work which God put man to, and instructed him in, Gen 3:23 and as this, so all other arts, and sciences, and manufactures, come from God, even all things in nature, providence, and grace, and the knowledge of them; wherefore he himself must be infinitely wise and knowing; see Psa 94:9 and be as he is next described:

which is wonderful in counsel: in giving counsel to man, both with respect to things temporal and spiritual; and whose counsel is always wise and good, and for the best; and, when taken, infallibly succeeds. See an instance of his wonderful counsel, Rev 3:18 and also he is "wonderful" in forming wise plans and schemes of operation; the wise plan of his works of creation and providence was formed in his vast and infinite mind from eternity; the wise scheme of our redemption and salvation by Christ was concerted by him, wherein he has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence; and the manner, means, time, and place, of his gathering and the effectual calling of his people, are all wisely fixed by him; and he does all things after "the counsel of his will", Eph 1:11 and therefore it follows:

and excellent in working; both as to the matter or things wrought by him, which are the most excellent things in nature, providence, and grace, wrought out either by the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit; and as to manner of working, all being done well and wisely; and likewise with respect to the end, his own glory, and the good of his people.