Isaiah 28:27 kjv
For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isaiah 28:27 nkjv
For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin; But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick, And the cummin with a rod.
Isaiah 28:27 niv
Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick.
Isaiah 28:27 esv
Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
Isaiah 28:27 nlt
A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin;
rather, it is beaten with a light stick.
A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin;
instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.
Isaiah 28 27 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 28:27 | "For not with a threshing sledge will it be threshed, nor will the cart wheel be rolled over him; but with a club it will be struck, and with the flail." | Clear parallel in same chapter (Isa 28:28) regarding the purpose of agricultural tools in judgment. |
| Hos 10:11 | "Ephraim is like a heifer that is trained and loves to thresh, but I will put my yoke on her pretty neck; I will make Ephraim break the ground; Judah will plow; Jacob will break the clods." | Echoes the agricultural imagery and divine subjugation. |
| Mic 4:12-13 | "But they do not understand the counsel of the LORD; they do not grasp his purpose. He has gathered them like sheaves into the threshing floor." | Connects threshing imagery with divine gathering for judgment. |
| Jer 51:33 | "For Babylon's harvest season has come; the time for threshing will soon be here." | Uses harvest/threshing as a metaphor for impending judgment on a nation. |
| Joel 3:13 | "Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow; for their wickedness is great." | Similar agricultural imagery of ripe harvest and treading for judgment. |
| Prov 20:26 | "A wise king scatters the wicked and turns the wheel of punishment over them." | Compares God's action to a king's deliberate act of judgment, involving a wheel. |
| Isa 41:15 | "Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledgenew, sharp, and with many teeth. You shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff." | God empowers his servant ( Cyrus) with agricultural implements for powerful judgment. |
| Isa 63:3 | "Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who is treading in the wine press?" | Describes God's victorious, and judging, activity with the imagery of treading grapes. |
| Rev 14:14-15 | "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, 'Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to harvest has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.'" | Connects divine judgment with the ripeness of the harvest. |
| Rev 14:19-20 | "So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth and flung it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the press, as high as the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles." | Further emphasizes the treading and outpouring of wrath. |
| Deut 25:4 | "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." | Provides the biblical context for the labor of threshing and its humane treatment, highlighting the intended purpose of these tools. |
| Ps 1:4 | "The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away." | The effect of God's judgment as winnowing chaff. |
| Ps 35:5 | "Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away." | God's angelic activity in scattering the wicked. |
| Isa 27:12 | "And in that day a great trumpet will blow, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem." | Signals a coming time of restoration after judgment. |
| Isa 28:23-26 | Describes God's agricultural instruction for sowing and threshing, indicating the verse is part of a broader agricultural analogy. | Sets the immediate context of farming methods being applied to divine judgment. |
| Nah 2:12 | "The lion brought the prey to his whelp and strangled it for his lionesses and filled his lair with prey, and his cave with ripped-up carcasses." | Powerful predatory imagery of judgment, though not agricultural. |
| Zech 10:3 | "The anger of the LORD is kindled against the shepherds, and he will punish the male goats. For the LORD of hosts must visit his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his good war horse." | Divine judgment against leaders (shepherds) of God's people. |
| Jer 23:29 | "Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" | God's word as a powerful force of judgment. |
| 2 Cor 10:4 | "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." | Spiritual warfare, the principle of God's power being applied through different means. |
| Rom 9:21 | "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" | God's sovereignty over his creation, applying to judgment. |
| Job 41:2, 11 | Descriptions of Leviathan using fire and powerful actions. | Ultimate display of God's power over fearsome creation, analogous to His power to judge. |
Isaiah 28 verses
Isaiah 28 27 Meaning
The verse describes how ordinary agricultural tools, specifically the flail and the cartwheel, are used by God in his justice. This is a powerful metaphor for divine retribution, suggesting that God employs methods that are readily available and effective for judgment, much like these common implements were used for threshing grain or transporting it. It signifies that God’s judgment is practical and thorough, capable of "threshing" the wicked and dispersing them, and rolling over them like a heavy cartwheel.
Isaiah 28 27 Context
This verse is part of a prophecy by Isaiah directed towards the northern kingdom of Israel and its capital, Samaria, who were relying on their own strength and forming alliances, particularly with Egypt, rather than trusting in God. The immediate context is Isaiah 28, which begins with a woe pronounced against Ephraim (representing the Northern Kingdom) for their pride and drunkeness, symbolized by their leaders. Isaiah is explaining that their supposed methods of protection and their reliance on human schemes will ultimately fail. Instead, God will use "a master craftsman," described in the preceding verses, to mete out judgment. This specific verse provides the contrasting method of God’s judgment against those who ignore His ways. It highlights that God’s discipline is practical and sure, even if the methods seem common or brutal, likened to farming implements. The overall chapter addresses the wilful rejection of God’s covenant by the Israelites, leading to divine discipline and a warning of imminent destruction.
Isaiah 28 27 Word Analysis
For (Hebrew: כִּי - ki): Conjunction, indicating a reason or explanation for what was stated previously.
not (Hebrew: לֹא - lo): Negation.
with (Hebrew: מֵ - me): Preposition, here indicating "from" or "by" means of.
threshing sledge (Hebrew: דּוּשׁ - dush, or perhaps more directly relating to the tool: מַחֲרֵשׁ - machares, though dush refers to the act of threshing; the context suggests a threshing instrument): A heavy, wheeled or sledge-like instrument used to beat out grain from the stalk. It often had sharp stones or metal teeth. The intent here is that this particular form of threshing – perhaps a more aggressive or final method implied by "his" specific methods for them – will not be the method of their final scattering.
will it be threshed (Hebrew: תָּדוּשׁ - tadush, verb from root meaning to thresh): Will it be threshed.
nor (Hebrew: וְלֹא - wə-lo): And not, adding another negation.
will the cart wheel (Hebrew: אוֹפַן - ophan, wheel, or possibly the vehicle itself, an 'agalah, cart): A wheel, implying the whole apparatus of a cart used for transport or rolling over crops. This is used for compacting or breaking down.
be rolled over (Hebrew: יָגוּל - yagul, verb meaning to roll): Will roll over.
him (Hebrew: עָלָיו - alav): Upon him, referring to the subject being judged (the wicked, Israel in their rejection).
but (Hebrew: כִּי אִם - ki im): Rather, but instead. A strong adversative.
with a club (Hebrew: בְּשֵׁבֶט - bə-shevet, from shevet, meaning rod, staff, tribe, scepter): A stick, club, or rod. Can imply authority but here denotes a simple instrument for striking.
it will be struck (Hebrew: יֻכֶּה - yukkeh, passive form of the verb nakah, to strike, smite): It will be struck.
and with the flail (Hebrew: וּבְמַצֶּרֶת - u-mə-maṣṣərəṯ, and with a flail, or beating instrument): A flail, an agricultural implement consisting of two bars linked together, used to strike grain. The context in the previous verse (28:27b) explicitly uses "malmad" (ox goad), which is a farmer's tool for driving oxen, implying divine oversight even in the harshest application of farming techniques. Here, "maṣṣərəṯ" emphasizes the beating/striking aspect for threshing. The emphasis is on precise, applied force, rather than indiscriminate rolling.
Grouped analysis: The verse contrasts God’s precise judgment with the typical agricultural methods. While threshing sledges and cartwheels can be crushing and thorough (28:28), the specific mention of "club" and "flail" implies a directed, applied force for judgment rather than the broad, overwhelming force of the other tools. It signifies God’s discerning judgment, where His methods are appropriate to the offense and the individual or group being judged, leading to ultimate dispersion or defeat. The use of farming tools highlights that God ordains and uses the mundane aspects of life to execute His sovereign purposes.
Isaiah 28 27 Bonus Section
The imagery here resonates with the principle of lex talionis (law of retaliation) seen elsewhere in scripture, but it’s elevated by divine oversight and purpose. Unlike human vengeance, God’s judgment with these tools is characterized by sovereign knowledge and appropriateness. The farmer knows when and how to use these implements effectively. God, likewise, uses these means, symbolizing His complete control and intimate knowledge of His creation, as He brings His purposes to bear on both the wicked and His own people who stray. The preceding verses speak of God’s intention to use wisdom and discernment in His judgment, and this verse provides a specific illustration of that principle through familiar, yet potent, agricultural metaphors of justice. The specific mention of the "malmad" (ox goad) in a similar context (though not in this exact verse's repetition) points to the idea that even the means of discipline are ultimately wielded by a guiding hand for a specific, ordained purpose.
Isaiah 28 27 Commentary
This verse conveys that God’s justice is not a passive or uncontrollable force. Rather, it is a deliberate and applied action. The threshing sledge and cartwheel, while common farming implements for processing grain, represent potentially harsh or final actions in agriculture. However, the prophecy emphasizes that God's judgment will be carried out differently. Instead of an indiscriminate crushing or rolling over (implying absolute destruction without recourse), God will strike with a "club" (rod/staff) and beat with the "flail." This suggests a more direct, perhaps corrective or precisely aimed judgment, reflecting God's nuanced approach to discipline. It's a judgment that breaks and separates, like the flail beats the grain, ultimately scattering or dispersing the chaff. This precision implies that God understands His creation and applies His judgments according to His will and purpose, leading to judgment, but also potentially to discernment and eventual redemption for some.