What does Isaiah 28:11 mean by "foreign lips and strange tongues"? Canonical Text “For with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people.” (Isaiah 28:11) Immediate Literary Setting Isaiah 28 is a series of woes pronounced upon Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom) and upon the leaders of Judah for their pride, drunkenness, and scoffing (vv. 1–13). Verse 11 sits inside a taunt-oracle (vv. 9-13) in which Judah’s officials ridicule Isaiah’s simple, repetitive teaching (literally, “tsav latsav, kav lakav…,” v. 10). In reply, the prophet warns that because they refuse plain Hebrew instruction, God will now address them in a language they will not wish to hear—“foreign lips and strange tongues.” Historical Context: Assyria’s Advance The phrase points directly to the invading Assyrian armies, whose Akkadian speech would sound unintelligible to Judah’s populace. Tiglath-Pileser III had already subjugated Galilee (2 Kings 15:29). Sargon II captured Samaria in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6). Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah in 701 BC, recorded on the Taylor Prism and corroborated by the Lachish reliefs in Nineveh’s palace, fits Isaiah’s timeline precisely. To Judah’s ear, the staccato Assyrian commands barked in Akkadian would fulfill the prophecy of “foreign lips.” Mosaic Echoes Isaiah intentionally echoes Deuteronomy 28:49: “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar… a nation whose language you will not understand.” The prophets repeatedly pick up this Deuteronomic sanction (Jeremiah 5:15; Habakkuk 1:6). Thus Isaiah’s warning is not novel but rooted in the Torah’s covenant structure. Prophetic Function of Unintelligible Speech 1. Judgment: A sign that Yahweh’s patience has reached its limit (v. 13, “they will go, fall backward, be broken”). 2. Reversal: The leaders mocked Isaiah as though his words were baby talk; now God will address them with syllables they truly cannot decode. 3. Authentication: When the Assyrian tongue is heard in Judah’s streets, the prophecy’s accuracy will be undeniable (cf. Isaiah 30:17). New Testament Citation Paul cites Isaiah 28:11 in 1 Corinthians 14:21 to instruct the Corinthian church about uninterpreted tongues: “In the Law it is written: ‘By other tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me.’” Paul applies the text analogically: uninterpreted glossolalia in church, like Assyrian speech in Judah, functions as a sign of judgment to unbelievers. Properly interpreted tongues, however, serve for edification. The apostle thereby preserves Isaiah’s original judgment motif while extending a principle for orderly worship. Pentecost and Reversal of Judgment Acts 2 records intelligible tongues—each hearer understood “the wonders of God” in his own dialect (Acts 2:11). Whereas Isaiah 28 portrays alien speech as covenant curse, Pentecost flips the script: Spirit-given tongues become a covenant blessing, uniting nations under the risen Messiah rather than scattering them in judgment (echoing Genesis 11 vs. Acts 2). Archaeological Corroboration • The Taylor Prism lists Sennacherib’s siege of 46 fortified Judean cities, matching Isaiah 36–37. • Ostraca from Lachish record Judean soldiers anxiously watching for Egyptian allies, paralleling Isaiah’s condemnation of trusting Egypt (Isaiah 30:1-5). • Reliefs in Nineveh depict Assyrian troops shouting commands—visual testimony to the “foreign lips” Judah would hear. Theological Themes 1. Clarity of Revelation: God first speaks plainly; judgment comes only after persistent rejection. 2. Sovereignty: Yahweh wields even pagan languages as instruments of His purpose. 3. Covenant Faithfulness: Blessing or curse hinges on Israel’s response to God’s word. 4. Universality: Ultimately, all tongues will confess Jesus as Lord (Philippians 2:11), reversing the isolation of Isaiah 28. Practical Application • Heed the plain teaching of Scripture now; don’t force God to get your attention through harsher means. • Evaluate spiritual experiences (e.g., tongues) against the pattern of edification and interpretation laid out in 1 Corinthians 14. • Trust God alone, not political alliances or cultural sophistication, for security and wisdom. Summary “Foreign lips and strange tongues” in Isaiah 28:11 foretells the Assyrian language of invading armies—a covenant curse for leaders who dismissed God’s clear Hebrew instruction. The New Testament reaffirms the text’s judgment function while revealing, through Pentecost, that God also redeems language diversity to spread the gospel. Manuscript fidelity, historical records, and archaeological artifacts converge to validate Isaiah’s prophecy, demonstrating once again that every word of Scripture proves true. |
    |