Isaiah 28:17 - Exposition

Judgment also will I lay to the line, said righteousness to the plummet ; rather, justice also will I set for my rule , and righteousness for my plumb-line ; i.e. I will execute justice and judgment on the earth with all strictness and exactness. The scorners had implied that, by their clever devices, they would escape the judgment of God ( Isaiah 28:15 ). The hail (comp. Isaiah 28:2 ). The storm of Assyrian invasion will overwhelm Egypt, which is a "refuge of lies," false and untrustworthy (see the comment on Isaiah 28:15 ). The hiding-place . Mr. Cheyne adds, "of falsehood," supposing a word to have fallen out of the text. Such an addition seems almost required to complete the parallelism of the two clauses, and also for the balance between this verse and Isaiah 28:15 .