Bible Strands
Isaiah 28:20
Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Isaiah delivers this oracle to Judah and Jerusalem amid political maneuvering and spiritual complacency. The warning follows a description of relentless judgment that will sweep through the people morning after morning.
The words — The Hebrew קָצַר (qatsar) means "to be short" or "to cut off," describing a bed too small for rest, while צָרָה (tsarah) means "narrow" or "constricted," applied to a blanket unable to provide cover. These terms literally depict inadequate provisions for comfort and security.
The thread — The theme of inadequate human righteousness appears in Isaiah 64:6, where faithful acts are compared to filthy rags, and in Romans 9:30, which contrasts Gentile righteousness with human striving. The contrast between human insufficiency and divine action also echoes 1 Corinthians 1:18.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that self-reliance and political or moral shortcuts cannot provide true security. It requires the reader to abandon reliance on insufficient protections and acknowledge the necessity of divine intervention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 64:6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Romans 9:30 What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
- Isaiah 57:12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not profit you.
- Isaiah 59:5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
- Isaiah 66:3 Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.
- Jeremiah 7:8 But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.