19 Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 Heb “Who is he teaching knowledge? For whom is he explaining a message?” The translation assumes that the Lord is the subject of the verbs “teaching” and “explaining,” and that the prophet is asking the questions. See v. 12. According to some vv. 9–10 record the people’s sarcastic response to the Lord’s message through Isaiah.
21 Heb “from the breasts.” The words “their mother’s” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation assumes that this is the prophet’s answer to the questions asked in the first half of the verse. The Lord is trying to instruct people who are “infants” morally and ethically.
22 The meaning of this verse has been debated. The text has literally “indeed [or “for”] a little there, a little there” (כִּי צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו, ki tsav latsav, tsav latsav, qav laqav, qav laqav). The present translation assumes that the repetitive syllables are gibberish that resembles baby talk (cf v. 9b) and mimics what the people will hear when foreign invaders conquer the land (v. 11). In this case זְעֵיר (zé’er, “a little”) refers to the short syllabic structure of the babbling (cf. ). Some take צַו (tsav) as a derivative of צָוָה (tsavah, “command”) and translate the first part of the statement as “command after command, command after command.” Proponents of this position (followed by many English versions) also take קַו (qav) as a noun meaning “measuring line” (see v. 17), understood here in the abstract sense of “standard” or “rule.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“To whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message?

Those who are weaned from the milk,

those taken from the breast?

For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

here a little, there a little.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Who is it he is trying to teach?

To whom is he explaining his message?

To children weaned from their milk,

to those just taken from the breast?

For it is:

Do this, do that,

a rule for this, a rule for that;

a little here, a little there.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Who is he trying to teach?

Who is he trying to instruct?

Infants just weaned from milk?

Babies removed from the breast?

“Law after law, law after law,

line after line, line after line,

a little here, a little there.”

NLTNew Living Translation

“Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask.

“Why does he speak to us like this?

Are we little children,

just recently weaned?

He tells us everything over and over—

one line at a time,

a little here,

and a little there!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

To whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message?

Those who are weaned from milk,

those taken from the breast?

For it is blah-blah upon blah-blah,

blah-blah upon blah-blah,

gah-gah upon gah-gah,

a little here, a little there.

KJV 1900King James Version

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.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;

Line upon line, line upon line;

Here a little, and there a little:

Public Domain