The Meaning of Isaiah 28:1 Explained

Isaiah 28:1

KJV: Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

YLT: Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim. And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory, That is on the head of the fat valley of the broken down of wine.

Darby: Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious adornment, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine.

ASV: Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine!

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Woe  to the crown  of pride,  to the drunkards  of Ephraim,  whose glorious  beauty  [is] a fading  flower,  which [are] on the head  of the fat  valleys  of them that are overcome  with wine! 

What does Isaiah 28:1 Mean?

Study Notes

Ephraim
In the prophetic books "Ephraim" and "Israel" are the collective names of the ten tribes who, under Jeroboam, established the northern kingdom, subsequently called Samaria 1 Kings 16:24 and were (B.C. 722) sent into an exile which still continues. 2 Kings 17:1-6 .
They are distinguished as "the outcasts of Israel" from "the dispersed of Judah." Isaiah 11:12 . "Hidden" in the world Matthew 13:44 they, with Judah, are yet to be restored to Palestine and made one nation again.; Jeremiah 23:5-8 ; Ezekiel 37:11-24 .

Context Summary

Isaiah 28:1-13 - The Decay Of An Intemperate People
A new series of prophecies begins here and extends to Isaiah 32:20. Samaria is described as a faded crown or garland on the nation's head because it was disgraced by the national drunkenness. See Amos 4:1. So corrupted was she by strong drink and its attendant evils that the Assyrian invader would plunder her as a man gathers ripe figs. But to Judah, that is, the remnant, the Lord would be a crown or garland, not of pride but of glory. His beauty would not be as a fading flower, but a lasting diadem. What wine is to the sensuous man, that God is to the spiritual. See Ephesians 5:18. You that have to form right judgments, and you that have to turn the battle from the gate, will find all your need in Him. In Isaiah 28:7-8 we have a terrible picture of widespread effects of strong drink; and in Isaiah 28:9-10 the prophet recites the ribald remarks addressed to himself by the roisterers of those evil days. He replies that God would Himself answer them by the stern accents of the Assyrian tongue, which would sound like stammering, Isaiah 28:11; and this would befall them because they would not need the wooing accents of His love, Isaiah 28:12. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 28

1  The prophet threatens Ephraim for their pride and drunkenness
5  The residue shall be advanced in the kingdom of Christ
7  He rebukes their error
9  Their unwillingness to learn
14  And their security
16  Christ the sure foundation is promised
17  Their security shall be tried
23  They are incited to the consideration of God's providence

What do the individual words in Isaiah 28:1 mean?

Woe to the crown of pride to the drunkards of Ephraim and a flower fading glorious Whose beauty [is] which [is] at the head of the valleys verdant to those who are overcome with wine
ה֗וֹי עֲטֶ֤רֶת גֵּאוּת֙ שִׁכֹּרֵ֣י אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְצִ֥יץ נֹבֵ֖ל צְבִ֣י תִפְאַרְתּ֑וֹ אֲשֶׁ֛ר עַל־ רֹ֥אשׁ גֵּֽיא־ שְׁמָנִ֖ים הֲל֥וּמֵי ! יָֽיִן

ה֗וֹי  Woe 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הֹוי  
Sense: ah!, alas!, ha!, ho!, O!, woe!.
עֲטֶ֤רֶת  to  the  crown 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֲטָרָה  
Sense: crown, wreath.
גֵּאוּת֙  of  pride 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: גֵּאוּת  
Sense: majesty.
שִׁכֹּרֵ֣י  to  the  drunkards 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: שִׁכֹּור  
Sense: drunken.
אֶפְרַ֔יִם  of  Ephraim 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֶפְרַיִם  
Sense: second son of Joseph, blessed by him and given preference over first son, Manasseh.
וְצִ֥יץ  and  a  flower 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: צִיץ 
Sense: flower, bloom.
נֹבֵ֖ל  fading 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָבֵל 
Sense: to be senseless, be foolish.
צְבִ֣י  glorious 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: צָבָא 
Sense: beauty, glory, honour.
תִפְאַרְתּ֑וֹ  Whose  beauty  [is] 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: תִּפְאֶרֶת  
Sense: beauty, splendour, glory.
אֲשֶׁ֛ר  which  [is] 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
עַל־  at 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
רֹ֥אשׁ  the  head 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
גֵּֽיא־  of  the  valleys 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: גַּיְא  
Sense: valley, a steep valley, narrow gorge.
שְׁמָנִ֖ים  verdant 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שֶׁמֶן  
Sense: fat, oil.
הֲל֥וּמֵי  to  those  who  are  overcome 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine plural construct
Root: הָלַם  
Sense: (Qal) to smite, strike, hammer, strike down.
! יָֽיִן  with  wine 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: יַיִן  
Sense: wine.