“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 28:9 Mean?
Isaiah asks a frustrated rhetorical question: who can be taught? Who is ready to receive instruction? His answer: people who have been weaned—those who have matured past infancy. The imagery of weaning suggests that spiritual teaching requires a certain level of maturity. You can't teach solid food to someone still on milk.
The context is important: the people of Judah have been rejecting Isaiah's message, and he's essentially saying, "Who can I even talk to? You're all still spiritual infants." The weaning metaphor isn't gentle encouragement—it's frustrated indictment. The people's inability to receive doctrine isn't because the teaching is too complex. It's because they're too immature.
The author of Hebrews picks up this theme (Hebrews 5:12-14), lamenting that his audience should be teachers by now but still need milk. Spiritual maturity is progressive: milk first, then solid food. But some people stay on milk indefinitely—not because they can't mature, but because they won't. The problem isn't capacity. It's willingness.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you still on spiritual 'milk,' or have you been weaned and moved to solid food? How can you tell?
- 2.What 'harder truths' have you been avoiding because they're uncomfortable or challenging?
- 3.Isaiah was frustrated that no one was mature enough to receive his teaching. Do you create an environment where hard truth can be spoken to you?
- 4.What would spiritual 'growing up' look like practically in your life this year?
Devotional
"Whom shall he teach knowledge?" Isaiah's frustration is palpable. He has truth to share, doctrine to explain, knowledge to impart—and no one is mature enough to receive it. They're still on spiritual milk. They haven't been weaned. And you can't feed steak to an infant.
This verse challenges you to assess your own spiritual maturity honestly. Are you ready for solid food? Not just in what you want to hear, but in what you can actually digest? The difference between milk and meat in spiritual terms isn't complexity—it's depth. Milk is the basics: God loves you, Jesus saves, prayer works. Meat is the harder stuff: sovereignty and suffering, holiness and its costs, the parts of Scripture that make you uncomfortable.
Isaiah's frustration reveals that spiritual immaturity isn't just a personal problem—it's a communal one. When no one in the community is ready for deeper truth, the prophet has no audience. The collective refusal to grow beyond the basics creates a culture where hard truth can't be spoken because no one can handle it.
If you've been on spiritual milk for years—if your faith hasn't deepened, your understanding hasn't grown, and the same basic truths are the extent of your theology—this verse is a gentle (okay, not that gentle) challenge. It's time to be weaned. Not because milk is bad, but because you were designed for more. God has knowledge to teach you. But first you have to grow up enough to receive it.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,.... Signifying, that they must be dealt with as children were,…
whom shall he teach knowledge? - This verse commences a statement respecting another form of sin that prevailed among…
The prophet here complains of the wretched stupidity of this people, that they were unteachable and made no improvement…
The occasion of this remarkable encounter was probably a feast held to celebrate the renunciation of allegiance to…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture