Jesaja 28:27 Kommentar

In this chapter, I. The Ephraimites are reproved and threatened for their pride and drunkenness, their security and sensuality (Isa 28:1-8). But, in the midst of this, here is a gracious promise of God's favour to the remnant of his people (Isa 28:5, Isa 28:6). II. They are likewise reproved and threatened for their dulness and stupidity, and unaptness to profit by the instructions which the prophets gave them in God's name (Isa 28:9-13). III. The rulers of Jerusalem are reproved and threatened for their insolent contempt of God's judgments, and setting them at defiance; and, after a gracious promise of Christ and his grace, they are made to know that the vain hopes of escaping the judgments of God with which they flattered themselves would certainly deceive them (Isa 28:14-22). IV. All this is confirmed by a comparison borrowed from the method which the husbandman takes with his ground and grain, according to which they must expect God would proceed with his people, whom he had lately called his threshing and the corn of his floor (Isa 21:10) (Isa 28:23-29). This is written for our admonition, and is profitable for reproof and warning to us.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 28 In this chapter the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, are threatened with divine judgments, because of their sins and iniquities mentioned. The ten tribes, under the name of Ephraim, for their pride and drunkenness, Isa 28:1 the means of their destruction, the Assyrian monarch, compared to a hail storm, and a flood of mighty waters, Isa 28:2 which destruction, for their sins, is repeated, and represented as sudden and swift; when they would be like a fading flower and hasty fruit, Isa 28:3 and then, as for the two tribes, though they had a glorious prince at the head of them, who had a spirit of wisdom and judgment for government, and of valour and courage for war, Isa 28:5 yet the generality of the people, led on by the example of priest and prophet, went into the same sensual gratifications as they of the ten tribes did, Isa 28:7 and became sottish and unteachable, and were like children just taken from the breast, and to be used as such, Isa 28:9 and though the doctrine proposed to be taught them was such as, if received, would be of the greatest advantage to them, for their comfort and refreshment, yet it was refused by them with the utmost contempt; which was to be their ruin, Isa 28:12, wherefore the rulers of Jerusalem are threatened with the judgments of God, which should come upon them night and day, the report of which would be a vexation to them; and from which they should not be screened by their covenant with death and hell, or by their shelters and coverings with lies and falsehood, in which they placed their confidence, Isa 28:14 in the midst of which account, for the comfort of the Lord's people, stands a glorious prophecy, concerning the sure foundation laid in Zion, on which all that are built are safe and happy, Isa 28:16 and the certainty of these judgments is illustrated by the method which the ploughman takes in sowing his corn, and threshing it out; for which he has instruction and direction from the Lord of hosts, Isa 28:23.

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.

(Vers. 23 seqq.) Pay attention and listen to my voice: listen and hear my speech. Does the plowman plow all day to sow, break up the soil, and harrow it? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow dill, scatter cumin, plant wheat in rows, barley, millet, and rye in their proper place? For his God instructs him and teaches him the right way. For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; but dill is beaten out with a stick and cumin with a rod, and the wheat for bread is crushed. But he will not crush him forever, nor will the wheel of his cart bruise him, nor will he grind him with his hoofs. This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear my words. Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cumin and scatter the cumin seed? He plants wheat in rows, barley in its designated place, and spelt along its borders, for he instructs him with judgment, and teaches him knowledge. For it is not when gith is cleansed by hardness, nor when the wheel of a cart goes over the cumin; but the gith is shaken off, and the cumin is eaten with bread. For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you, and these wonders have come from the Lord. Come, consult, exalt empty consolation. Now he even speaks to the same ones to whom he said before: Hear the word of God, you scoffers, who rule over my people who are in Jerusalem: and he commands them to hear his voice, and to carefully attend to his discourse. He says, 'Does the farmer always plow so that he may scatter the seed? Will he not first break up the soil and turn over the furrows with a plow, and break up the clods with a rake and a hoe, so that when he has leveled the surface of the earth and softened the previously hard fields, then he may spread spelt or cumin and sow wheat, barley, millet, and spelt in his fields, according to the variation of the soil and the seasons; for not all things are sown at the same time.' Some understand by farre what the Greeks call ζέαν. And God, by His natural judgment, teaches the farmer, that is, the sower, and instructs him to know what cultivation he should apply to each seed. Finally, when the time for harvesting comes, barley and cumin, which are weaker seeds, are not crushed by the wheels of carts, which are turned and pulled like sawmills over the harvested crops; but they are beaten out with a stick and a staff, which are commonly called flails. But bread, that is, wheat from which bread is made, is ground with iron wheels, and all its chaff is crushed into straw. However, it is not always ground and crushed by the nails of the wheels; for this reason, it is said in Hebrew with their horses: so that because he had mentioned the nails of the wheels, he would maintain the metaphor in the rest. Some want it to be shown from the fact that he mentioned nails and horses, the herds of mares, which are usually sent into the threshing floors for grinding wheat: but the Scripture could not say that the province of Judea did not have them. However, this, that is, that the branches of gith and cumin are shaken off with a stick: the grain of barley and far, perhaps also millet, is crushed with iron wheels, is not a perpetual judgment of God, who in all things shows his wonderful counsel, and shows the greatness of his justice in all things. We have said these things paraphrastically, so that we may more easily understand the meaning for which these things are said. God dispenses the human race in various ways, now punishing, now having mercy: now rebuking, now defending; that is, now he plows, now he sows, now he harvests the ripe fruits, and threshes them in the barns, and governs his own world as he pleases. He who knew the will of his Lord, and did not do it, will be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47); and in another place it is written: The mighty shall suffer mighty tortures (Wisdom 6:7). But they will not be tormented forever. For it is one thing to be impious, another thing to be a sinner. What we have interpreted concerning the nations and the Jews, others explain as referring to the people and the priests, so that the ignorant multitude will be chastised like a reed and cumin with a rod; but the priests who have the key of knowledge will be tormented with great punishments. And may this be done by the judgment of the Lord, who reveals his wonderful counsel and the truth of justice in all things, so that those who have received more will be required to give more. As for what we have translated: 'On a rod the gith will be shaken, and cumin on a staff.' I do not know why the LXX translators chose to translate it this way, but cumin is actually eaten with bread. And indeed, even the ancient Greek translators, discussing the Hebrew text, remained silent about this passage, perhaps because they did not know what to say. But what we have placed according to the Hebrew is: 'He will not continually thresh him, nor will a wagon wheel drive over him, nor will his hooves crush him.' The LXX translators interpreted it not according to the exact words, but according to the meaning: 'For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you.' They were showing future blessings to sinners after torment, and that these things were like wonders and miracles that have come from the Lord. Where it is commanded to sinners who are about to be punished, that they should seek counsel and raise up their consolation, not in any way vain, as it is added by the Seventy, but absolutely consolation. For God would never command them to raise up their vain consolation, which would not be profitable for them.

Second, the discretion of his judgment, for he punishes some in one way and others in a different way, just as a farmer beats out wheat in one way and cumin in another, and he indicates this where it says: for he will instruct him in judgment. Bread, that is, grain.

One of those pretended prophets spoken of on the preceding chapter, having contrasted and opposed Jeremiah, receives an awful declaration that, as a proof to the people of his having spoken without commission, he should die in the then current year; which accordingly came to pass its the seventh month, vv. 1-17.

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.

(Isa. 28:1-29) crown of pride--Hebrew for "proud crown of the drunkards," &c. [HORSLEY], namely, Samaria, the capital of Ephraim, or Israel. "Drunkards," literally (Isa 28:7-8; Isa 5:11, Isa 5:22; Amo 4:1; Amo 6:1-6) and metaphorically, like drunkards, rushing on to their own destruction. beauty . . . flower--"whose glorious beauty or ornament is a fading flower." Carrying on the image of "drunkards"; it was the custom at feasts to wreathe the brow with flowers; so Samaria, "which is (not as English Version, 'which are') upon the head of the fertile valley," that is, situated on a hill surrounded with the rich valleys as a garland (Kg1 16:24); but the garland is "fading," as garlands often do, because Ephraim is now close to ruin (compare Isa 16:8); fulfilled 721 B.C. (Kg2 17:6, Kg2 17:24).

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. 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. staff--used also where they had but a small quantity of corn; the flail (Rut 2:17).

Again, the labour of the husbandman is just as manifold after the reaping has been done. "For the black poppy is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin; but black poppy is knocked out with a stick, and cummin with a staff. Is bread corn crushed? No; he does not go on threshing it for ever, and drive the wheel of his cart and his horses over it: he does not crush it. This also, it goeth forth from Jehovah of hosts: He gives wonderful intelligence, high understanding." Ki (for) introduces another proof that the husbandman is instructed by God, from what he still further does. He does not use the threshing machine (chârūts, syn. mōrag, Ar. naureg, nōreg), or the threshing cart (agâlâh: see Winer's Real-Wrterbuch, art. Dreschen), which would entirely destroy the more tender kinds of fruit, but knocks them out with a staff (baculo excutit: see at Isa 27:12). The sentence lechem yūdâq is to be accentuated as an interrogative: Is bread corn crushed? Oh no, he does not crush it. This would be the case if he were to cause the wheel (i.e., the wheels, gilgal, constr. to galgal) of the threshing cart with the horses harnessed in front to rattle over it with all their might (hâmam, to set in noisy violent motion). Lechem, like the Greek sitos, is corn from which bread is made (Isa 30:23; Psa 104:14). אדושׁ is metaplastic (as if from אדשׁ) for דושׁ (see Ewald, 312, b). Instead of וּפרשׁיו, the pointing ought to be וּפרשׁיו (from פרשׁ with kametz before the tone = Arab. faras, as distinguished from פרשׁ with a fixed kametz, equivalent to farras, a rider): "his horses," here the threshing horses, which were preferred to asses and oxen.Even in this treatment of the fruit when reaped, there is an evidence of the wonderful intelligence (הפלא), as written הפלא) and exalted understanding (on תּוּשׁהיה, from ושׁי, see at Job 26:3) imparted by God. The expression is one of such grandeur, that we perceive at once that the prophet has in his mind the wisdom of God in a higher sphere. The wise, divinely inspired course adopted by the husbandman in the treatment of the field and fruit, is a type of the wise course adopted by the divine Teacher Himself in the treatment of His nation. Israel is Jehovah's field. The punishments and chastisements of Jehovah are the ploughshare and harrow, with which He forcibly breaks up, turns over, and furrows this field. But this does not last for ever. When the field has been thus loosened, smoothed, and rendered fertile once more, the painful process of ploughing is followed by a beneficent sowing and planting in a multiform and wisely ordered fulness of grace. Again, Israel is Jehovah's child of the threshing-floor (see Isa 21:10). He threshes it; but He does not thresh it only: He also knocks; and when He threshes, He does not continue threshing for ever, i.e., as Caspari has well explained it, "He does not punish all the members of the nation with the same severity; and those whom He punishes with greater severity than others He does not punish incessantly, but as soon as His end is attained, and the husks of sin are separated from those that have been punished, and the punishment ceases, and only the worst in the nation, who are nothing but husks, and the husks on the nation itself, are swept away by the punishments" (compare Isa 1:25; Isa 29:20-21). This is the solemn lesson and affectionate consolation hidden behind the veil of the parable. Jehovah punishes, but it is in order that He may be able to bless. He sifts, but He does not destroy. He does not thresh His own people, but He knocks them; and even when He threshes, they may console themselves in the face of the approaching period of judgment, that they are never crushed or injured.