Isaiah 28:22
in Isaiah 28So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 28
Commentary
11 notes on this verse649. And now do not mock. Here he draws, as a conclusion, sound and wholesome counsel, and first, he prohibits mocking: do not mock; bonds, of captivity: he shall scorn the scorners (Prov 3:34); and he assigns the reason: for I have heard of the …
This site's exposition
His strange work
on Isaiah 28:21-22
The LORD will rise "as at Mount Perazim", where He gave David victory, and "as in the Valley of Gibeon", Joshua's long day. Those battles were fought for Israel, and now He will do "His strange work" and "His disturbing task" against His own people.
This site's exposition
your shackles will become heavier
The shackles are the bonds of captivity. Every scoff makes them heavier, and Thomas Aquinas sets the verse beside Proverbs 3:34, where the LORD mocks the mockers. Isaiah speaks as a witness who has heard the sentence passed in the court of the Lord GOD of Hosts.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 21, 22.) For just as the Lord will stand on the mountain of divisions, and will be angry in the valley of Gibeon, to do his work, his strange work, to carry out his task, his alien task. And now do not mock: lest perhaps your chains be tightened. For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a conclusion and an abbreviation over all the earth.
The Medieval Church1 voice
They do not understand that God grants to each period of time what is appropriate. As he commanded marriage in the law, so in the gospel does he recommend virginity. In the law, an eye is to be offered for an eye, but in the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " Therefore be you not mockers; dare not to ridicule either the reproofs of God's word or the approaches of his judgments." Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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 ( ch. xxi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Now therefore be ye not mockers,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Jehovah. Adonai is omitted by four of Kennicott’s MSS., and in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
mockers--a sin which they had committed (Isa 28:9, 10). 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). consumption--destruction (Isa 10:22, 23;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Now therefore - In view of the certain judgment which God will bring upon you. Be ye not mockers - This was the prevailing sin Isa 28:9-14, and on account of this sin in part the judgment of God was about to come upon the guilty nation. Lest your bands be made strong - Lest your confinement should be more severe and protracted. God would punish them according to their sins, and if they now ceased to mock and deride him it would greatly mitigate the severity of their punishment (compare Isa 24:22). For I have heard ... - I, the prophet, have heard Yahweh of hosts threaten a consumption. A consumption ... - (see this phrase explained in the note at Isa 10:23) Upon the whole earth - The whole land of Judea (see the note at Isa 24:1).
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּה֙ | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּתְלוֹצָ֔צוּ | titlotzatzu | you show yourself a mocker | H3887 → | 28 times |
| פֶּֽן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יֶחְזְק֖וּ | yechzeku | they should become strong | H2388 → | 291 times |
| מֽוֹסְרֵיכֶ֑ם | mosreikhem | fetters your | H4147 → | |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָלָ֨ה | khalah | complete destruction | H3617 → | |
| וְנֶחֱרָצָ֜ה | venecheratzah | and [what] has been decided | H2782 → | 11 times |
| שָׁמַ֗עְתִּי | shama'ti | I have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| מֵאֵ֨ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֧י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| צְבָא֖וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
וְעַתָּה֙and therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּתְלוֹצָ֔צוּyou show yourself a mocker
titlotzatzuH3887 →28 times
פֶּֽן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יֶחְזְק֖וּthey should become strong
yechzekuH2388 →291 times
מֽוֹסְרֵיכֶ֑םfetters your
mosreikhemH4147 →
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כָלָ֨הcomplete destruction
khalahH3617 →
וְנֶחֱרָצָ֜הand [what] has been decided
venecheratzahH2782 →11 times
שָׁמַ֗עְתִּיI have heard
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
מֵאֵ֨תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
אֲדֹנָ֧י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
צְבָא֖וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 25:11And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
it leads to
- Daniel 9:2
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
- Zechariah 1:12
Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
- Jeremiah 25:12
But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting…
- 2 Chronicles 36:21–22
So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.
- Zechariah 7:5
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?
- Daniel 9:2
Through
Jeremiah 20:7You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
it leads to
- Hosea 9:7
The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and…
- Lamentations 3:14
I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long.
- Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of…
- Hosea 9:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Isidore of Seville, THREE BOOKS OF THOUGHTS 1:20.1-21:1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
