Isaiah 28:1

The crown of pride. Or, “the proud crown.” The drunkards of Ephraim. This chapter is Isaiah’s only message of reproof specifically addressed to the northern kingdom (though Jerusalem is also mentioned in v. 14). It must therefore have been given before the capture of Samaria by the Assyrians in 723/722. Samaria, the “proud crown” of a nation of drunkards, was rebuked more than once for drunkenness (Amos 4:1, 2; 6:1, 6). The prophets frequently issued warnings against this vice (Isa. 5:11, 12; 28:7, 8). However, as the context makes apparent, Isaiah refers primarily to the leaders of the northern kingdom, who were drunk both literally and figuratively and incapable of guiding the nation in harmony with God’s will. A fading flower. From the death of Jeroboam II in 753 until the fall of the kingdom 30 years later, the waning strength and glory of Israel were plain for all to see. The kingdom was rapidly disintegrating (see on 2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chron. 5:26). When Isaiah bore this message it was, indeed, “a fading flower.” The fat valleys. Samaria stood on a hill situated in a beautiful and fertile valley.