The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet. Not only cast down with the hand, but trampled upon with the feet; showing their utter destruction, and the contempt with which they should be used; which, with their character, is repeated, to point out their sins, the cause of it, to denote the certainty of it, and that it might be taken notice of. read more
The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim "The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim" - I read עטרות ataroth , crowns, plural, to agree with the verb תרמסנה teramasnah , "shall be trodden down." read more
The drunkards of Ephraim. While Scripture, from first to last, upholds the moderate use of wine as cheering and "making glad the heart of man," it is distinct and severe in its denunciations of drunkenness and unrestrained revelry. The son who was "stubborn and rebellious, a glutton and a drunkard," was to be brought by his parents before the ciders under the Jewish Law, and "stoned with stones that he might die" ( Deuteronomy 21:20 , Deuteronomy 21:21 ). Nabal's drunkenness and... read more
A WARNING TO SAMARIA . The prophet has now east his eagle glance over the whole world and over all time. He has denounced woe upon all the principal nations of the earth (Isaiah 13-23.), glanced at the destruction of the world itself ( Isaiah 24:17-20 ), and sung songs over the establishment of Christ's kingdom, and the ingathering of the nations into it (Isaiah 25-27.). In the present chapter he returns to the condition of things in his own time and among his own people. After a brief... read more
Condition of Samaria. I. DENUNCIATION OF WOE . The condition of Samaria was like that of Jerusalem. And judgment must first fall upon Samaria, and then upon Jerusalem ( Isaiah 8:6 ; cf. Micah 1:6 ). Drunkenness is named," not as the root of the national evil, but rather as its flower. The appalling thing is that when all is on the point of collapsing, those responsible for the state should be given up to careless self-indulgence" (Cheyne). Samaria is described as the city of the... read more
The evil of excess: a sermon on intemperance. The allusion here is to the prevalent baneful vice of intemperance. The evils which are connected with it, and which constitute its condemnation, are such as belong to other kinds of excess, but especially and emphatically to it . I. HONOR IS HUMILIATED BY IT . "The crown of pride is trodden under feet" ( Isaiah 28:1 , Isaiah 28:3 ). The proud city, which was, alas! a city given up to drunkenness, should be brought down to the... read more
The crown of pride, the drunkards ; rather, of the drunkards (comp. Isaiah 28:1 ). The "crown of pride" is scarcely "Samaria," as Delitzsch supposes, it is rather the self-complacent and boastful spirit of the Israelite people, which will be "trodden under foot" by the Assyrians. read more
Isaiah 28:2-4 . Behold, the Lord hath Namely, at his command, prepared and ready to execute his judgments; a mighty and strong one Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria; which, as a tempest of hail, &c., shall cast down The crown of pride, to the earth, by his hand By the hand of God, which shall strengthen him in this work. The crown, the drunkards, shall be trodden under feet The expression is emphatical; the crown which was upon their own heads shall be trodden under the feet of... read more
28:1-33:24 HEZEKIAH AND THE ASSYRIANSBefore reading Chapters 28-33, readers should be familiar with the historical background found in the introduction under the heading ‘Judah’s new policies under Hezekiah’. Hezekiah reversed the policies of his father Ahaz. Whereas Ahaz sought help from Assyria to oppose Israel and Syria, Hezekiah sought help from Egypt to oppose Assyria. Isaiah opposed both policies alike. Faith in God, not reliance on foreign powers, is Judah’s only hope for survival. The... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 28:1-8
Here, I. The prophet warns the kingdom of the ten tribes of the judgments that were coming upon them for their sins, which were soon after executed by the king of Assyria, who laid their country waste, and carried the people into captivity. Ephraim had his name from fruitfulness, their soil being very fertile and the products of it abundant and the best of the kind; they had a great many fat valleys (Isa. 28:1, 4), and Samaria, which was situated on a hill, was, as it were, on the head of the... read more