Isaiah 28:13 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Isaiah 28:7–13

Read Isaiah 28:13 with 28:7–13. By itself, “But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Intoxicated religious leaders mock elementary teaching, so clipped commands and foreign speech become a word over which they fall.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Within the same chapter, this unit advances from “Ephraim's Fading Crown Meets a Better Crown” into “Priests and Prophets Stumble over Repeated Instruction.” Its non-interchangeable movement is: Intoxicated religious leaders mock elementary teaching, so clipped commands and foreign speech become a word over which they fall. This verse's placement is specific: The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah turns or qualifies the movement with “But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept” at Isaiah 28:13 inside “Priests and Prophets Stumble over Repeated Instruction.”