For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there. – Isaiah 28:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 24, 2020): Isaiah 28

It is an English nursery rhyme; “Cowzy tweet and sowzy tweet and liddle sharksy doister.” I have to admit that I have been on twitter for several years, and I have no idea what a cowzy or a sowzy tweet might be. If you’re struggling with the meaning of the rhyme, maybe this will help. It forms the basis for another, possibly more popular verse. “Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey. A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you.” Of course, if you know the World War II-era song, you have within you the tools to find the answer to the puzzle “Mares eat oats and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy.” The second part of the riddle, not revealed in the song, is, “A kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you.” Applying the same system back on the first nursery rhyme and we get “Cows eat wheat and sows eat wheat and little sharks eat oyster.”  Or maybe it is meant to be about cowzy and sowzy tweets.

The human mind is a wonderful thing, but we don’t really like nonsense. We want to put meaning to everything. And it helps us remember things. It is actually easier to remember “mares eat oats and does eat oats” than it is to try to remember “mairzy doats and dozy doats” because the translation is made up of real words with real meaning. No one can define a “mairzy” for me because the word is made up, along with sowzy and cowzy. Our brains struggle to find meaning in everything.

Including the Bible. Consider this verse. Scholars struggle with its translation. Most translators give us something like what we have in the NIV; “For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.” The King James Version reveals for us; “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” The meaning behind the words is that they are meant to reflect the sarcastic response of the national leaders to Isaiah’s commands and prophecies. They don’t want to hear from Isaiah, because then they will have to change their behavior if they begin to listen to him. It happens to most spiritual leaders. We can give you advice on how to move forward spiritually in your life, but that advice might mean that you need to do something differently. And so they complain that Isaiah is always picking at them, “do this and do that.” Nothing that they do seems to be enough. (I have to admit that there have been times when I have felt that way with some of the people in my life.) It makes sense.

But the nagging question of this verse is this; is it supposed to make sense. The literal translation of the words, in Hebrew this verse uses three words repeated for a total of ten words, revealing this; “Command command command command line line line line little little.” Out of that mess, we have created “Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there” because of our drive to find meaning in Isaiah’s words. We want it to make sense. But is it really supposed to mean something? What if the verse was intended to be nonsense, reflecting the nonsense complaints of the Jewish leaders. And what if “Cowzy tweet” means just that, even though we have no idea what a cowzy might be.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 29