Isaiah 5:23

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: WOE UNTO (THEM THAT ARE) MIGHTY TO DRINK WINE ... WHICH JUSTIFY THE WICKED FOR REWARD. Sixth woe against corrupt judges, who, "mighty" in drinking "wine" (a boast still not uncommon), if not in defending their country, obtain the means of self-indulgence by taking bribes ("reward"). The two verses are closely joined. AND MEN OF STRENGTH TO MINGLE STRONG DRINK - not with water, but spices, to make it intoxicating (; ; ). Verse 23. WHICH ... TAKE AWAY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS FROM HIM - set aside the just claims of those having a righteous cause....

23._Who justify the wicked for a reward. _He censures a corruption which at that time abounded in judgment-seats, and points out the reason why there is no room for justice in these places, namely, that they are under the influence of _gifts_. For covetousness _blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth _all regard to what is good and just, even among those who would otherwise be disposed to follow what is right. (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19.) It may be objected that there are other methods, and that it is not by _gifts _only that judgments are perverted; for favor, hatred, friendship, and other sinful passions, often blind the understanding. This is undoubtedly true; but the Prophet had in his eye what happens for the most part, ( ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ,) and at the same tim

8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts upon the world, will justly be disappointed. Here is woe to those who dote upon the pleasures and the delights of sense. The use of music is lawful; but when it draws away the heart from God, then it becomes a sin to us. God's judgments have seized them, but they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures. The judgments are declared. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower. The fruit of t...

Verse Isaiah 5:23. _THE RIGHTEOUS_] צדיק _tsaddik_, singular, _Sept._ _Vulg_., and two editions....

WHICH JUSTIFY - This refers, doubtless, to magistrates. They gave unjust decisions. FOR REWARD - For bribes. AND TAKE AWAY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS - That is, they do not decide the cause in favor of those who have just claims, but are determined by a bribe; see the note at Isaiah 1:23. It is remarkable, that this is introduced in immediate connection with their being mighty to mingle strong drink. One effect of intemperance is to make a man ready to be “bribed.” Its effect is seen as clearly in courts of justice, and in the decisions of such courts, as any where. A man that is intemperate, or that indulges in strong drink, is not qualified to be a judge....

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 5:1 ISRAEL REBUKED BY THE PARABLE OF A VINEYARD. This chapter stands in a certain sense alone, neither closely connected with what precedes nor with what follows, excepting that it breathes throughout a tone of denunciation. There is also a want of connection between its parts, the allegory of the first section being succeeded by a series of rebukes for sins, expressed in the plainest language, and the rebukes being followed by a threat of punishment, also expressed with plainness. The resemblance of the parable with which the chapter opens to one of those delivered by our Lord, and recorded in the three synoptic Gospels, has been frequently noticed....

WHICH JUSTIFY THE WICKED FOR REWARD,.... This is either spoken of judges, and civil magistrates, who gave the cause in favour of the wicked, that bribed them, contrary to law, Deuteronomy 16:19 or rather of the Scribes and Pharisees, who pronounced the wicked righteous men, provided they kept the traditions of the elders, and paid tithes of all they possessed, and gave them money for their long prayers, Matthew 23:14: AND TAKE AWAY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS FROM HIM; by condemning them as unrighteous persons: so the Jews did Christ and his apostles; they pronounced them wicked, and condemned them to death; and as much as in them lay took away their righteousness from them, by taking away their character from them as righteous persons among men; though their righteousn

CHAPTER 5 The Song of the Vineyard and the Six Woes 1. _The song of the vineyard and Jehovah's lament (Isaiah 5:1)_ 2. _The judgment upon the vineyard (Isaiah 5:5)_ 3. _The wild grapes (Isaiah 5:8)_ 4. _First woe against covetousness (Isaiah 5:8)_ 5. _Second woe against fleshly lusts (Isaiah 5:11)_ 6. _Third woe against mockers (Isaiah 5:18)_ 7. Fourth woe against moral insensibility ...

A SERIES OF DENUNCIATIONS ON VARIOUS OFFENDERS. This section contains a collection of Woes, originally independent and even now not woven into a single symmetrical address. Whether they come from different periods of Isaiah's ministry is not so clear; no confidence can be felt in the attempts to date them. The text has not been very well preserved. ISAIAH 5:8. Woe to the grasping land-holders who drive the old possessors from their ancestral homesteads that they may have large estates all to themselves. Soon there will be a loneliness they will not desire, the solitude of desolation, and their lands will yield a harvest far less than the seed. With their land the dispossessed would lose their civil rights, to which the Hebrews hung tenaciously, as we see from the story of Naboth (1 Kings 21). Isa

THE WICKED. a lawless one. Hebrew. _rasha'._ REWARD. a bribe, THE RIGHTEOUS. righteous ones. HIM. them....