Isaiah 28:12
in Isaiah 28to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 28
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThis is the rest “This is the true rest” - The sense of this verse is: God had warned them by his prophets that their safety and security, their deliverance from their present calamities and from the apprehensions of still greater approaching, depended wholly on their trust in God, their faith and obedience; but they rejected this gracious warning with contempt and mockery.
This site's exposition
with mocking lips and foreign tongues
on Isaiah 28:11-13
The LORD answers the mockery, "with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people", the speech of a foreign conqueror, Assyria. Paul quotes this verse at 1 Corinthians 14:21 on tongues as a sign to unbelievers. "Order on order" becomes their snare, and they "will go stumbling".
This site's exposition
This is the place of rest
The place of rest is the safety the LORD offered his weary people if they would trust him. Adam Clarke reads the verse as the warning of the prophets that deliverance depended wholly on faith and obedience. The people would not listen, and they mocked the offer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 10 seqq.) Who will teach knowledge, and who will make understanding? Weaned from milk, pulled from the breasts: command, re-command; command, re-command; wait, re-wait; wait, re-wait; a little here, a little there. For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, 'This is the rest, give rest to the weary,' and 'This is the refreshing,' but they would not hear. And the word of the Lord will be to them, command, re-command; command, re-command; wait, re-wait; wait, re-wait; a little here, a little there, that they may go and fall backward, and be broken, snared, and caught. LXX: To whom shall we announce evil, and to whom shall we announce good news? Those who have been weaned from milk, those who have been taken away from the breast. Expect tribulation upon tribulation; wait for hope upon hope; still little, still little: because of the mockery of lips, because of the other tongue with which they will speak to this people, saying to them: This is the rest for the hungry, and this is the crushing, and they did not want to hear. The word of the Lord will come upon them: Tribulation upon tribulation: wait, wait; hope upon hope: still little, still little; so that they may go and fall backward, and be crushed, and be endangered, and be captured. Who, he says, is worthy of the teaching of the Lord, to whom are the words of the Savior saying: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matthew 12:15), so that what he has heard with his ears, he may understand with his heart? […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
645. Second, as to disobedience, to whom he said. Hence he first sets out the precept, this is my rest, refresh the weary: because you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me (Matt 25:40); second, their contempt, and …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What little effect all this had upon the people. They were as unapt to learn as young children newly weaned from the milk, and it was as impossible to fasten any thing upon them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
They had no mind to hear it. The word of God commanded their serious attention, but could not gain it; they were where it was preached, but they turned a deaf ear to it, or as it came in at one ear it went out at the other. It was unto them precept upon precept, and line upon line (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
To whom he said,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
ASSUREDLY Isaiah was one of the most eloquent of preachers and yet he could not win the ears and hearts of those to whom he spoke, for it is written, "they would not hear." Beyond all question he was thoroughly evangelical, for, as Dr. Watts truly says, he spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest of the Prophets and yet the message of love was treated as though it were an idle tale.
ASSUREDLY Isaiah was one of the most eloquent of preachers and yet he could not win the ears and hearts of those to whom he spoke, for it is written, "they would not hear." Beyond all question he was thoroughly evangelical, for, as Dr. Watts truly says, he spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest of the Prophets and yet the message of love was treated as though it were an idle tale. His doctrine was clear as daylight and yet men would not see it, so that he had to ask with sorrow, "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" It was not the fault of the preacher that Israel rejected his warnings—all the fault lay with that disobedient and gainsaying nation. The people to whom he spoke so earnestly were drunken in a double sense. They were overcome with wine and so general was this vice that Isaiah says, "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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To whom he said - To whom God had said; that is, to the Jews. He had taught them the way of rest through the prophets, but they had refused to learn. This is the rest - That is, this is the true way of happiness, to wit, by keeping the commands of God which had been so often repeated as to become to them objects of satiety and disgust. This is the refreshing - This is the way in which the mind may be comforted.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For he said The prophet said to them, “This is the rest,” that you should have rest, “give rest to the weary,” that you shall not rob him, “and this” shall be “tranquility” for them (var. for you).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר׀ | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| זֹ֤את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| הַמְּנוּחָה֙ | hamenuchah | [is] the resting place | H4496 → | 22 times |
| הָנִ֣יחוּ | hanichu | give rest | H5117 → | 142 times |
| לֶֽעָיֵ֔ף | leayef | to the weary | H5889 → | 17 times |
| וְזֹ֖את | vezot | and this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| הַמַּרְגֵּעָ֑ה | hamargeah | [is] the place of rest | H4774 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָב֖וּא | ʾavu' | they were willing | H14 → | 54 times |
| שְׁמֽוֹעַ׃ | shemoa' | to listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
אֲשֶׁ֣ר׀whom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָמַ֣רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֗םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
זֹ֤אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
הַמְּנוּחָה֙[is] the resting place
hamenuchahH4496 →22 times
הָנִ֣יחוּgive rest
hanichuH5117 →142 times
לֶֽעָיֵ֔ףto the weary
leayefH5889 →17 times
וְזֹ֖אתand this
vezotH2063 →603 times
הַמַּרְגֵּעָ֑ה[is] the place of rest
hamargeahH4774 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אָב֖וּאthey were willing
ʾavu'H14 →54 times
שְׁמֽוֹעַ׃to listen
shemoa'H8085 →1159 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 6:16This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.…
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:21
And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
- Deuteronomy 32:7
Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
- Jeremiah 18:15
Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
- Matthew 11:28–29
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Jeremiah 7:23
but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that…
- Isaiah 30:21
Through
Isaiah 30:15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:3–4
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Isaiah 32:17
The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
- Psalms 125:1–2
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
- Isaiah 26:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1593: “Rejecters Of The Gospel Admonished” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset and 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.