His Opponent Mock Isaiah's Teaching (Isaiah 28:9-13).
Isaiah's opponents mock him because all that he does is proclaim a repetitive message. In their view that is to treat them like children. But his reply is that God will indeed speak to them through what they see as babbling, because He will bring against them people who speak in a strange tongue, which to them will seem like babbling. And this will happen because they have refused the rest that He has repeatedly offered them. And the result can only be disaster.
Analysis.
a To whom will he teach knowledge, and whom will he make to understand the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? (Isaiah 28:9).
b For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little (Isaiah 28:10).
c No, but with babbling lips and with a different tongue, will he speak to this people (Isaiah 28:11).
c To whom he has said, “This is rest, give rest to the weary, and this is a resting place”, but they would not hear (Isaiah 28:12).
b Therefore will the word of Yahweh be to them, “Tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw, kaw lakaw kaw lakaw, ze‘er sham ze‘er sham” (precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little) (Isaiah 28:13 a).
a That they may go and fall backwards, and be broken and snared and taken (Isaiah 28:13 b).
In ‘a' they mock him declaring that his teaching can only be for babes, and in the parallel like babes they try to ‘go', fall over backwards, and are ensnared. In ‘b' his message is repetitive and in the parallel the word of Yahweh is repetitive to them. In ‘c' he speaks to the people as with babbling lips, and with a different tongue (because they have been exiled abroad in a place where there is no rest), and that because in the parallel they would not hear his message of rest in their resting place.
‘To whom will he teach knowledge,
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
And drawn from the breasts?
For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.'
In their drunken state the leaders reply by deriding Isaiah. They see themselves as wiser and more superior in thought than he is. They think that he clearly does not understand politics. They ask, to whom then should he convey his knowledge, to whom should he give his message? Who is there who can possibly be expected to listen to what he wants to tell them? Their answer is that it can only be those who are so young that they have just been weaned from their milk, or even recently withdrawn from the breast. For what he says is like rote teaching, constant repetition, a message that never changes, elementary repetitive words unfit for grown men, with a bit here and a bit there added as words are seen to be remembered, but constantly repeated over and over again. (For all he can say is ‘trust in Yahweh, trust in Yahweh, trust in Yahweh', but that is for children. People today say the same thing about the Gospel).
‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.' That is he teaches in an elementary fashion and by rote. The Hebrew is ‘tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw kaw lakaw kaw lakaw ze‘er sham ze‘er sham', a clear example of childish rote learning or even a baby's babbling. So they deliberately insult him saying, ‘he just goes on and on saying tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw kaw lakaw kaw lakaw ze‘er sham ze‘er sham'. He just teaches repetitively at a child's level or even as a babbling baby.
‘No, but with babbling lips and with a different tongue,
Will he speak to this people, to whom he has said,
“This is rest, give rest to the weary,
And this is a resting place”, but they would not hear.'
The stern reply comes back. He has offered them the option of resting in Yahweh, and of helping their weary subjects by giving them rest. Indeed he has offered them a complete resting place in Yahweh (see Isaiah 28:16; Isaiah 7:4; Isaiah 26:3-4; Isaiah 30:15). Note the deliberate repetitiveness of ‘rest' and ‘resting place', sarcastically confirming what they say. But they still will not listen to him, and instead accuse him of babbling. So be it, is his reply. God will in turn speak to them through babbling lips in a foreign tongue. In other words He will now speak to them in Assyrian (Akkadian)!! God's word will come through the strange foreign words of Assyrian generals, and by action through the Assyrian invasion. And they will have to learn them in exile once they are taken to Assyria. The Assyrian ‘words' from Yahweh will be difficult to understand and even more difficult to accept, but they will certainly speak powerfully.
‘Therefore will the word of Yahweh be to them,
“Tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw,
Kaw lakaw kaw lakaw,
Ze‘er sham ze‘er sham”
That they may go and fall backwards,
And be broken and snared and taken.'
So Yahweh's word to them will appear like the meaningless repetition that they have accused him of. Thus because they will not listen they will go and fall backwards into the camouflaged trap prepared for them where their bodies will be broken and they will be ensnared and captured. The picture is of the hunter's pit with its wooden pointed stakes waiting to receive them. There may also be in mind the unsteadiness of a babe on its feet.
“Tsaw latsaw tsaw latsaw, kaw lakaw kaw lakaw, ze‘er sham ze‘er sham.” That is, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.' They might mock in this way, but in fact this is how spiritual growth takes place, learning verse upon verse, doctrine upon doctrine, here a little, there a little, until we grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
But in context it is a reminder to us that if we treat God's word to us as fit only for children we can only expect devastating consequences.