Isaiah 28

Line upon Line

Drunken leaders mock the prophet’s teaching as baby talk, trust a covenant with death, and ignore the tried and precious cornerstone.

c. 725–705 BC, before Samaria’s fall and during Judah’s flirtation with Egypt Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Chapter 28 begins a new section of Isaiah (chapters 28–33) built around a series of woes.

Chapter 28 begins a new section of Isaiah (chapters 28–33) built around a series of woes. Each one opens with “Woe” (hoy): Isa. 28:1; Isa. 29:1; Isa. 29:15; Isa. 30:1; Isa. 31:1; Isa. 33:1. The setting is the last decades of the 700s BC. The northern kingdom is about to fall to Assyria, and Judah’s leaders are negotiating with Egypt for protection against Assyria. Isaiah considers that treaty a disastrous act of faithlessness.

The chapter opens by condemning Samaria (Ephraim), which sits on its hill like a wreath of flowers on the head of a drunk (verses 1–4). Then it turns to Jerusalem’s own leaders, and they turn out to be no better (verses 7–22).

This chapter holds special meaning for this website, because it is where the phrase “line upon line” comes from (verses 10 and 13). The notes explain how a phrase first used by drunken scoffers to mock Isaiah became one of the Lord’s own descriptions of how He teaches.

The thread through the chapter

Isaiah 28 is about how God teaches, and why some people can’t learn. The chapter’s leaders are literally drunk.

Isaiah 28 is about how God teaches, and why some people can’t learn.

The chapter’s leaders are literally drunk. Priests and prophets stagger with wine, “they err in vision, they stumble in judgment,” and their banquet tables are covered in vomit (verses 7–8). When Isaiah tries to teach them, they sneer (verses 9–10). Who does he think he’s teaching? Toddlers just off the breast? And they mimic his teaching as though it were baby talk: tsav latsav, tsav latsav, qav laqav, qav laqav, “precept upon precept… line upon line.”

God’s answer is sobering (verses 11–13). If they won’t hear His plain, simple teaching, which was meant to give them “rest” and “refreshing” (verse 12), then He will speak to them in another language: the foreign tongue of Assyrian soldiers. The simple lessons they mocked will become the very thing they stumble over.

Their alternative to God’s teaching is a clever political deal, a “covenant with death” (verse 15) that they think will keep them safe when the flood comes. God answers with a stone: “a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation” in Zion (verse 16). Their refuge of lies will be swept away, but whoever builds on that stone “shall not make haste,” shall not panic.

The chapter ends with a quiet parable about a farmer (verses 23–29). He doesn’t plow forever. He sows each seed in its place and threshes each crop the right way, heavy for some and gentle for others, because “his God doth instruct him.” The Lord is like that farmer. His discipline is measured and His teaching is patient. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little: that is exactly how the Lord teaches those willing to learn. The drunk leaders mocked it. The Restoration embraces it.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–6

The fading wreath of Samaria

In plain words

Woe to Samaria, the proud crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, its glorious beauty now a fading flower, sitting at the head of a fertile valley, the city of those overcome by wine! The Lord has someone mighty and strong, like a hailstorm, a destructive wind, or a flood of overflowing water, who will throw it to the ground. The proud crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot. Its fading beauty will be like the first ripe fig of summer: whoever sees it picks it and eats it right away. In that day the Lord of hosts Himself will be a glorious crown and a beautiful wreath for the remnant of His people. He will be a spirit of justice for the one who sits in judgment and strength for those who turn back the attack at the gate.

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

History & Setting #

Samaria, a wreath on a drunkard’s head

Samaria, the capital of Ephraim (the northern kingdom), was built on a rounded hill rising from a fertile valley.

Samaria, the capital of Ephraim (the northern kingdom), was built on a rounded hill rising from a fertile valley. From a distance, the city with its walls looked like a garland crowning the hill. Isaiah turns that image into satire. Samaria is like the flower wreath worn by a partygoer at a banquet, already wilting on the head of a drunk.

The city fell to Assyria in 722 BC, as Isaiah predicts here. The “hasty fruit before the summer” (verse 4) is the first ripe fig of the season, which anyone who sees it plucks and eats immediately. Samaria would be swallowed that quickly.

Sources: “Samaria”, Bible Dictionary. “Ephraim”, Bible Dictionary.

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

Verses 7–13

Mocking the prophet’s lessons

In plain words

But these leaders also stagger from wine and reel from beer. Priests and prophets stagger, confused by wine; they reel when they see visions and stumble when they give judgments. Every table is covered with vomit and filth; there is no clean spot. “Who does he think he is teaching?” they ask. “Who is he explaining his message to? Children just weaned from milk, just taken from the breast? It’s all ‘rule on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there.’” Very well: with stammering lips and a foreign tongue God will speak to this people. He had told them, “This is the place of rest; let the weary rest. This is the place of refreshment.” But they would not listen. So the Lord’s word to them will become “rule on rule, line on line, a little here, a little there,” so that they will go, fall backward, and be broken, snared, and captured.

7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

Liken It #

Leaders who can’t see straight

The problem isn’t only that the leaders drink. It is that their drunkenness corrupts their spiritual work: “they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.”

The problem isn’t only that the leaders drink. It is that their drunkenness corrupts their spiritual work: “they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.” The prophets can’t see straight, and the priests can’t judge straight.

The law forbade priests to drink when serving in the tabernacle, “that ye may put difference between holy and unholy” (Lev. 10:8–10). Whatever clouds our judgment, whether alcohol or something else, makes it impossible to discern holy from unholy. The Word of Wisdom’s promise of “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19) is the positive side of this warning.

8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Word & Language #

Line upon line, and the mockers who said it first

In context, these words are spoken by Isaiah’s mockers. The Hebrew is a string of short, repetitive syllables: tsav latsav tsav latsav / qav laqav qav laqav / zeʿer sham zeʿer…

In context, these words are spoken by Isaiah’s mockers. The Hebrew is a string of short, repetitive syllables:

tsav latsav tsav latsav / qav laqav qav laqav / zeʿer sham zeʿer sham

It sounds like a nursery chant, and that’s the point. The drunken leaders of verse 9 ridicule Isaiah’s teaching as simplistic baby talk: He treats us like toddlers! Rule upon rule, line upon line, a bit here, a bit there! Some scholars think the syllables may even imitate a child learning the alphabet (tsade and qof are Hebrew letters).

And yet the phrase became one of the most treasured descriptions of how God actually teaches. The Lord Himself used it in the Book of Mormon: “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom” (2 Ne. 28:30). He repeated it in modern revelation (D&C 98:12; D&C 128:21).

The scoffers were right about the method and wrong about its value. God does teach in small, repeated pieces. That’s not because the lessons are childish. It is because that is how real understanding grows (D&C 50:24). This site takes its name from that promise.

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

12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Liken It #

When simple truth becomes a stumbling block

This verse is sobering. The same “line upon line” teaching that brings wisdom to those who hearken (2 Ne. 28:30) becomes a stumbling block to those who mock it.

This verse is sobering. The same “line upon line” teaching that brings wisdom to those who hearken (2 Ne. 28:30) becomes a stumbling block to those who mock it. They “fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken”: five verbs of downfall.

Nephi immediately followed his “line upon line” promise with its opposite: “from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Ne. 28:30). Truth is never neutral. Receiving it adds light; rejecting it takes light away (Alma 12:9–11).

Verses 14–22

A covenant with death, or a cornerstone

In plain words

So hear the Lord’s word, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, “We have made a covenant with death, an agreement with the grave. When the overwhelming flood sweeps through, it won’t touch us, because we’ve made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” So the Lord God says: “Look! I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not panic. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be canceled, and your agreement with the grave will not stand. When the overwhelming flood sweeps through, it will beat you down. Morning after morning, day and night, it will sweep through. Understanding this message will bring sheer terror.” The bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too narrow to wrap around you. The Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim and rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His strange task. Now stop mocking, or your chains will get heavier. I have heard from the Lord God of hosts about a destruction decreed against the whole land.

14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

History & Setting #

A covenant with death

This is almost certainly Isaiah’s scathing description of Judah’s treaty with Egypt (see Isa. 30:1–7; Isa. 31:1–3).

This is almost certainly Isaiah’s scathing description of Judah’s treaty with Egypt (see Isa. 30:1–7; Isa. 31:1–3). The leaders were confident: when the Assyrian flood comes, it won’t touch us. We’ve made a deal. Isaiah calls it what it really is: an agreement with death and Sheol, a “refuge of lies.”

Some scholars suggest an extra layer of irony. Egyptian religion was obsessed with death and the afterlife, and making a pact with Egypt was, in a sense, literally making a pact with a culture of death. Whatever the nuance, the point is clear. Any security that depends on something other than the Lord is a covenant with death.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Witness of Christ #

The tried and precious cornerstone

Against the “refuge of lies,” God lays a stone in Zion. It is tried (tested and proven), precious, a cornerstone (the stone that aligns the whole building), and a sure foundation.

Against the “refuge of lies,” God lays a stone in Zion. It is tried (tested and proven), precious, a cornerstone (the stone that aligns the whole building), and a sure foundation.

The New Testament identifies this stone as Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:4–8; Rom. 9:33; Eph. 2:20). The Book of Mormon does too. Jacob foresaw that the Jews would reject “the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation,” and that it would later become “the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation” (Jacob 4:15–17). Helaman used Isaiah’s language to counsel his sons: build “upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God… a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Hel. 5:12).

“He that believeth shall not make haste” means the believer won’t panic or flee in terror. The Greek translation, quoted by Paul and Peter, renders it “shall not be ashamed” (Rom. 10:11; 1 Pet. 2:6).

Sources: Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997.

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

Restoration Insight #

His strange act

At Mount Perazim the Lord broke through David’s enemies “as the breach of waters” (2 Sam. 5:20).

At Mount Perazim the Lord broke through David’s enemies “as the breach of waters” (2 Sam. 5:20). At Gibeon He fought for Joshua and the sun stood still (Josh. 10:10–14). Both were great victories for Israel. Now Isaiah says the Lord will rise up the same way, but this time against His own unfaithful people. That’s why it is His “strange work” and “strange act”: it is alien to His nature to fight His own people.

The Lord used this exact language in modern revelation about the redemption of Zion and the troubles of the last days: “that I may proceed to bring to pass my act, my strange act, and perform my work, my strange work, that men may discern between the righteous and the wicked” (D&C 101:95). What seems strange from our point of view serves the Lord’s purposes of justice and discernment.

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.

Verses 23–29

The parable of the farmer

In plain words

Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. Does a farmer plow all day long? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing the soil forever? When he has leveled the surface, doesn’t he sow dill and scatter cumin, plant wheat in rows, barley in its place, and spelt along the edges? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Dill isn’t threshed with a heavy sledge, and a cartwheel isn’t rolled over cumin. Dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. Grain for bread must be threshed, but not forever; he drives his cart wheels and horses over it, but he doesn’t crush it. All this also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

Imagery & Symbol #

The parable of the farmer

The chapter ends with a wisdom parable. A farmer doesn’t plow forever; plowing is only to prepare for planting.

The chapter ends with a wisdom parable. A farmer doesn’t plow forever; plowing is only to prepare for planting. He sows each kind of seed in its proper place. Fitches (black cumin or dill) and cummin are small, delicate seeds scattered by hand. Wheat is planted in rows, barley in its plot, and rie (spelt) around the edges.

At harvest, he threshes each crop appropriately. Delicate cumin is beaten with a light stick. Nobody runs a heavy threshing sledge or cartwheel over it; that would crush it. Grain for bread needs heavier threshing, but even then the farmer doesn’t keep threshing forever or crush it to powder.

The point: the farmer knows what each crop needs, because “his God doth instruct him.” How much more does God Himself know exactly what each person and nation needs, and exactly how much discipline is enough (Isa. 27:8)?

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 rie in their place?

26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

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.

28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

Liken It #

Threshing, but not forever

This may be the most comforting line in the chapter. Threshing is necessary to separate the grain from the husk, but the farmer “will not ever be threshing it.”

This may be the most comforting line in the chapter. Threshing is necessary to separate the grain from the husk, but the farmer “will not ever be threshing it.” The point is bread, not destruction.

If you feel as though you are being threshed right now, this verse says the Lord knows how much is enough, and it will not last forever. Paul put it this way: God “will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able” (1 Cor. 10:13; see Alma 13:28). And the Lord told Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, “thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment” (D&C 121:7).

29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Seeing Christ in Isaiah 28

Isaiah 28 gives us one of the great titles of Jesus Christ: the tried stone, the precious corner stone, the sure foundation laid in Zion (verse 16), identified by Peter, Paul, Jacob, and Helaman (1 Pet. 2:6; Hel. 5:12; Jacob 4:15–17). He is also the crown of glory that doesn’t fade (verse 5), the one who offers rest to the weary (verse 12; Matt. 11:28–30), and the Wonderful Counsellor whose wisdom guides even the farmer (verse 29).

And He is the Teacher who teaches “line upon line, precept upon precept.” He didn’t give the Nephites everything at once. He told them to go home, ponder, and pray, and come back the next day (3 Ne. 17:2–3). He teaches us the same way.

Liken it to yourself

The mockers dismissed simple, repeated lessons as childish. Do I ever feel “I’ve heard this before” about basic gospel teachings? What might I be missing?
What “covenant with death” am I tempted to make, some arrangement that promises security without the Lord?
Is my life built on the “sure foundation,” or on something that is a bed too short and a blanket too narrow?
If I’m being “threshed” right now, can I trust verse 28, that He will not thresh forever and that the purpose is bread?

Worth exploring next

Line upon line. Read Isaiah 28:9–13, then 2 Ne. 28:26–31, D&C 98:11–12, D&C 50:24, and D&C 128:21. How does the Restoration transform the phrase?
The cornerstone. Trace it through Ps. 118:22, Isa. 8:14, Isa. 28:16, Matt. 21:42, 1 Pet. 2:4–8, Jacob 4:15–17, and Hel. 5:12.
The strange act. Read D&C 101:89–101. In what setting did the Lord quote Isaiah 28:21?

This chapter elsewhere in scripture

2 Ne. 28:30 — The Lord promises to teach “line upon line, precept upon precept.”
1 Pet. 2:6 — Peter identifies the cornerstone as Christ.
D&C 101:95 — The Lord’s “strange act” in the latter days.

Sources & further reading

Chapter 15: Prophecies of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (Isaiah 24–35), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997.
Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.

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