Isaiah 28:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people,

NIV: Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,

NASB: Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

CSB: For he will speak to this people with stammering speech and in a foreign language.

NLT: So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!

KJV: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

NKJV: For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,

Isaiah has described the drunkenness of the religious leaders of Israel (Isaiah 28:7). He also recorded mockery of his message from the Lord: judgment is coming against Samaria and Israel (Isaiah 28:2–4). Priests and prophets have rejected his teaching, claiming Isaiah is lecturing them like little children (Isaiah 28:9–10).

Now Isaiah responds with a dismissive comment of his own. In essence, his words mean, "okay then" or "indeed." In modern English, this would be like someone responding with the single word, "fine." If these men would not take the message from Isaiah, they will receive it from a people whose language they will not understand. By this, Isaiah means the Assyrians, who will soon conquer Israel (2 Kings 17:5–6). They will deliver the Lord's message of judgment in the form of military defeat, exile, and harsh treatment. These religious leaders will not be mocking then. Scholars say that the language of the Assyrians, though of the same region, would have sounded strange and foreign to Hebrew ears.

This passage is not about speaking in tongues, but Paul quoted it in 1 Corinthians 14:21–22 to make a point. Just as the unknown language of the Assyrians was a sign of judgment for Israel, an unbeliever hearing uninterpreted tongues spoken in a church service might also experience a form of "judgment;" they might conclude that the believers had lost their minds and that Christianity had nothing to offer. The unintelligible words would result in a lost opportunity to receive the gospel.

Isaiah 28:1–13 poetically describes Israel's capital Samaria as a crown or wreath on the head of a beautiful valley. Its leaders, though, are drunkards, and the wilted wreath will be trampled by the hailstorm of the Lord's judgment. This comes in the form of Assyrian invaders. Then God will be the glorious crown of Israel once more. Israel's prophets and priests live in a drunken stupor, staggering, vomiting, and mocking Isaiah's warning message from the Lord. Isaiah assures them they will hear the message firsthand from foreign lips when the Lord's judgment falls on them.

Samaria, the capital of Israel, also called Ephraim, is the beautiful crown on the head of the rich valley below. Her leaders are proud and drunk. The Lord will send the Assyrians to trample the crown and send the people into exile. Israel's religious leaders mock Isaiah, but they will hear the Lord's message from the Assyrians. Isaiah warns Jerusalem's leaders not to mock his warning to them from the Lord about the same fate. Their covenant with death will fail. The hailstorm of the Assyrians will beat them down. The Lord's counsel is wonderful.

Isaiah 28 begins a new section following the previous four chapters about Israel's glorious future with the Lord as her king. Now, though, the Lord is sending the Assyrians to judge His own people, first in Ephraim, which is Israel, and then in Judah. The beautiful capital city of Samaria will be trampled like a wilted wreath. Israel's religious leaders mock Isaiah but will hear the Lord's message from the Assyrians themselves. Isaiah warns Jerusalem's leaders not to scoff at his message. Despite Judah's agreements with other nations, the Lord will send the overwhelming scourge to wash away their refuge of lies. The next three chapters of Isaiah (29—31) predict siege and distress for Jerusalem but also promise that God will destroy Judah's enemies and bless them if they return to Him.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).