Isaiah 28:14
in Isaiah 28Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:
KJV
Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 28
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIt is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful, when rulers are scorners; but that the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character, that they should make light of God's judgments and scorn to take notice of the tokens of his displeasure, is very sad.
This site's exposition
O scoffers who rule this people
on Isaiah 28:14-15
The rulers are named directly, "O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem". Their boast is quoted, "We have made a covenant with death", a pact they trust to keep "the overwhelming scourge" from touching them. The same verse names their confidence: "we have made lies our refuge".
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
What, then, are the burdens that he censures? None but those which they were accumulating of their own accord, when they taught for commandments the doctrines of men; for the sake of private advantage joining house to house, so as to deprive their neighbor of his own; cajoling the people, loving gifts, pursuing rewards, robbing the poor of the right of judgment, that they might have the widow for a prey and the fatherless for a spoil. Of these Isaiah also says, "woe to them that are strong in Jerusalem!"
A commentator
Verecundus of JuncaCOMMENTARY ON THE CANTICLE OF EXODUS 1:3 · Written before 552.
proposed
"He has become my help and my protector unto salvation." They are said to be helpers who grant us their cooperation through specific acts. Protectors, however, are those who defend us with their power. Protection can take a variety of forms. For some, God is …
When you renounce Satan, trampling underfoot every covenant with him, then you annul that ancient "league with hell," and God's paradise opens before you, that Eden, planted in the east, from which for his transgression our first father was banished.
(Verse 14, 15). Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you mockers who rule over my people in Jerusalem. For you have said: We have made a covenant with death, and with the grave we have made a pact. When the overwhelming whip passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made falsehood our refuge, and we have hidden behind deceit.
The Medieval Church1 voice
646. Wherefore. Here he excludes remedy. And first, he sets out two remedies; second, he excludes both from them: and I will set (Isa 28:17). Concerning the first, he sets out two remedies.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wherefore ... - This verse commences a direct address to the scoffing and scornful nation, which is continued to the close of Isa 28:22. It is addressed particularly to the rulers in Jerusalem, as being the leaders in crime, and as being eminently deserving of the wrath of God. Ye scornful men - Ye who despise and reproach God and his message; who fancy yourselves to be secure, and mock at the threatened judgments of the Almighty.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
the allegorists of this people who express their scorn as an allegory, such as:
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֛ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שִׁמְע֥וּ | shimu | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| דְבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֣י | ʾanshei | O people of | H582 → | 566 times |
| לָצ֑וֹן | latzon | mockery | H3944 → | |
| מֹֽשְׁלֵי֙ | moshelei | O rulers of | H4910 → | 81 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ | birushalim | [are] in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
לָכֵ֛ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
שִׁמְע֥וּhear
shimuH8085 →1159 times
דְבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אַנְשֵׁ֣יO people of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
לָצ֑וֹןmockery
latzonH3944 →
מֹֽשְׁלֵי֙O rulers of
mosheleiH4910 →81 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃[are] in Jerusalem
birushalimH3389 →643 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
Acts 13:41‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”
it leads to
- Habakkuk 1:5
“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
- 1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
- Isaiah 28:14–22
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Habakkuk 1:5
Through
Proverbs 3:34He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.
it leads to
- James 4:6
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Psalms 138:6
Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- Proverbs 9:12
If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.
- Proverbs 21:24
Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man—of him who acts with excessive pride.
- James 4:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 1:9; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.27; Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah and Verecundus of Junca, COMMENTARY ON THE CANTICLE OF EXODUS 1:3.