Isaiah 28:1

“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, &c.] Or, “of the drunkards of Ephraim”: or, “O crown of pride, O drunkards of Ephraimf546”; who are both called upon, and a woe denounced against them. Ephraim is put for the ten tribes, who were drunk either in a literal sense, for to the sin of drunkenness were they addicted, (<280705>Hosea 7:5) (<300606>Amos 6:6). The Jews sayf547, that wine of Prugiatha (which perhaps was a place noted for good wine), and the waters of Diomasit (baths), cut off the ten tribes from Israel; which both Jarchi and Kimchi, on the place, make mention of; that is, as Buxtorff548 interprets it, pleasures and delights destroyed the ten tribes. The…”

“(Isa. 28:1-29) crown of pride--Hebrew for "proud crown of the drunkards," &c. [HORSLEY], namely, Samaria, the capital of Ephraim, or Israel. "Drunkards," literally (Isa 28:7-8; Isa 5:11, Isa 5:22; Amo 4:1; Amo 6:1-6) and metaphorically, like drunkards, rushing on to their own destruction. beauty . . . flower--"whose glorious beauty or ornament is a fading flower." Carrying on the image of "drunkards"; it was the custom at feasts to wreathe the brow with flowers; so Samaria, "which is (not as English Version, 'which are') upon the head of the fertile valley," that is, situated on a hill surrounded with the rich valleys as a garland (Kg1 16:24); but the garland is "fading," as garlands often…”

“Pride - That proud and insolent kingdom. Drunkards - Having many and excellent vines among them, they were much exposed to this sin. Ephraim - Of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Who are - Who have their common abode. The head - Samaria, might well be called the head, as being seated upon a mountain, and the head of the kingdom, and the head of the fat valleys, because it was encompassed with many fat and rich valleys. Isaiah 28:2”

“28:1–33:24 This section is connected by a series of six threats of judgment or woes (cp. 5:8-23). Apart from the initial address to Samaria in 28:1-13, the remainder of the section is addressed to Judah, especially because of their inclination to trust Egypt to rescue them from Assyria (30:2). 28:1-29 The glory of Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, is here contrasted with the glory of the Lord. This section represents the first of the six woes (What sorrow . . .). 28:1 The drunks of Israel epitomized pride, spiritual complacency, and scorn for God and his commands. • Unlike Jerusalem, Samaria was in a fertile valley.”

“am 3279, bc 725 the crown: This chapter begins a new subject, chiefly relating to the devastations of Israel and Judah by the Assyrian kings. The ancient Samaria being beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, and surrounded immediately with a rich valley, and then a circle of other hills around it, suggested the idea of a chaplet, or wreath of flowers. Isa 28:3; Hos 5:5, Hos 6:10 drunkards: Isa 28:7, Isa 5:11, Isa 5:22; Pro 23:29; Hos 4:11, Hos 7:5; Amo 2:8, Amo 2:12, Amo 6:6 whose: Isa 28:4, Isa 7:8, Isa 7:9, Isa 8:4; Kg2 14:25-27, Kg2 15:29, Kg2 18:10-12; Ch2 28:6, Ch2 30:6, Ch2 30:7; Amo 6:1 overcome: Heb. broken Isaiah 28:2”

“Isaiah, like Micah, commences with the fall of the proud and intoxicated Samaria. "Woe to the proud crown of the drunken of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its splendid ornament, which is upon the head of the luxuriant valley of those slain with wine." The allusion is to Samaria, which is called (1.) "the pride-crown of the drunken of Ephraim," i.e., the crown of which the intoxicated and blinded Ephraimites were proud ( Isa 29:9; Isa 19:14), and (2.) "the fading flower" (on the expression itself, compare Isa 1:30; Isa 40:7-8) "of the ornament of his splendour," i.e., the flower now fading, which had once been the ornament with which they made a show. This flower stood "upon the head of…”