Isaiah 28:11
ESV
For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people,
NIV
Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,
NASB
Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
CSB
For he will speak to this people with stammering speech and in a foreign language.
NLT
So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!
KJV
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
NKJV
For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
What does Isaiah 28:11 mean?
Isaiah has described the drunkenness of the religious leaders of Israel (Isaiah 28:7). He also recorded mockery of his message from the Lord: judgment is coming against Samaria and Israel (Isaiah 28:2–4). Priests and prophets have rejected his teaching, claiming Isaiah is lecturing them like little children (Isaiah 28:9–10).Now Isaiah responds with a dismissive comment of his own. In essence, his words mean, "okay then" or "indeed." In modern English, this would be like someone responding with the single word, "fine." If these men would not take the message from Isaiah, they will receive it from a people whose language they will not understand. By this, Isaiah means the Assyrians, who will soon conquer Israel (2 Kings 17:5–6). They will deliver the Lord's message of judgment in the form of military defeat, exile, and harsh treatment. These religious leaders will not be mocking then. Scholars say that the language of the Assyrians, though of the same region, would have sounded strange and foreign to Hebrew ears.
This passage is not about speaking in tongues, but Paul quoted it in 1 Corinthians 14:21–22 to make a point. Just as the unknown language of the Assyrians was a sign of judgment for Israel, an unbeliever hearing uninterpreted tongues spoken in a church service might also experience a form of "judgment;" they might conclude that the believers had lost their minds and that Christianity had nothing to offer. The unintelligible words would result in a lost opportunity to receive the gospel.
