Isaiah 5:11

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,.... To rise up early in the morning is healthful, and to rise to do business is commendable; but to spend the day in drunkenness and intemperance is

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

That rise up early in the morning; which was unusual, and scandalous in that case, . They made drinking their daily trade and business. That continue until night; thereby wasting both precious time, and God’ s good creatures, and the health of their bodies, as well as of their souls. He useth this word partly to show their folly and misery, because the wine was so far from quenching and satisfying their appetites, that it did indeed inflame and increase them; and partly to prevent the vain excuse of them, who thought themselves innocent because they did not drink to drunkenness, although they cast themselves into an intemperate heat through their excess.

Isaiah 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, [that] they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, [till] wine inflame them!Ver. 11. Woe unto them that rise up early.] Heb., The early risers, but for an ill purpose. O intolerandum flagitium, saith one, homines inertiae, somnique plenissimos, &c.; O intolerable wickedness, that men so lazy, and more sleepy than dormice, should be up and at it so very early - they rise early to corrupt their actions, saith another prophet - and should have their brains crowing before day. Neither are they so soon up alone, but they call up others (as the Hebrew word here signifieth) to serve them, and sit with them on their ale bench; for they are good fellows, they say, and must have company. That they may follow strong drink.] Pursue it eagerly, as the worldling doth his gain, the hunter his game. Their motto is, Take away our liquor, ye take away our life. By strong drink, here understand any inebriating liquor, whereof, besides wine, the Italians have twenty distinct kinds, to please the gusto. Pliny cries out, Hei mira vitiorum solertia inventum est quemadmodum aqua quoque inebriaret! Portentosum sane potionis genus, &c. That continue unto night.] All the life long days these ale stakes stick to it, quaffing and carousing. Diem noctemque continuare potando nulli probrum, saith Tacitus of the old Germans. To drink whole days together is among them no disgrace, neither is it among many of their posterity to this day. About the midst of Queen Elizabeth’ s reign that cursed sin was first brought over into England, say some, out of the Low Countries; before which time there was neither general practice nor legal punishment of that vice in this kingdom. Till wine inflame them.] By which expression, Omnem ebriorum insanium intelligit, saith Oecolampadius, he meaneth all the drunkard’ s mad pranks, when heated with wine, and yet more with lusts and passions; see Proverbs 23:29-34. Tyrone the rebel, 1567, was such a drunkard, that to cool his body when it was immoderately inflamed with wine and whisky, he would many times be buried in the earth up to the chin. Osor. in loc. Studium ebrietatis illis obiecit, Lib. xiv. cap. ult. Fuller’ s Church History, p. 61. Camden’ s Elisabeth, p. 89.

(11) Woe unto them that rise up early.—The same class as in Isaiah 5:8 meets us under another aspect. In Judah, as elsewhere, the oppressors were conspicuous for their luxury (Amos 6:5-6). They shocked public feeling by morning banquets (Ecclesiastes 10:16-17; Acts 2:14). Not wine only, but the “strong drink” made from honey and from dates and other fruits (possibly including, as a generic term, the beer for which Egypt was famous) was seen on their tables. The morning feast was followed, perhaps with hardly a break, by an evening revel. (Comp. Isaiah 22:13; Isaiah 28:7.)

Verse 11. Wo unto them that rise up early] There is a likeness between this and the following passage of the prophet Amos, Amos 6:3-6, who probably wrote before Isaiah. If the latter be the copier, he seems hardly to have equalled the elegance of the original: - "Ye that put far away the evil day And affect the seat of violence; Who lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch yourselves upon your couches; And eat the lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall; Who chant to the sound of the viol, And like David invent for yourselves instruments of music; Who quaff wine in large bowls, And are anointed with the choicest ointments: But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Kimchi says, "they consider not the heavens nor their hosts: they pray not the morning nor the evening prayer unto the Lord." Follow strong drink] Theodoret and Chrysostom on this place, both Syrians, and unexceptionable witnesses in what belongs to their own country, inform us that שכר shechar (σικερα in the Greek of both Testaments, rendered by us by the general term strong drink) meant properly palm wine, or date wine, which was and is still much in use in the Eastern countries. Judea was famous for the abundance and excellence of its palm trees; and consequently had plenty of this wine. "Fiunt (vina) et e pomis; primumque e palmis, quo Parthi et Indi utun tur, et oriens totus: maturarum modio in aquae congiis tribus macerato expressoque." Plin. lib. xiv. 19. "Ab his cariotae [palmae] maxime celebrantur; et cibo quidem, sed et succo, uberrimae. Ex quibus praecipua vina orienti; iniqua capiti, unde porno nomen." Id. xiii. 9. Καρος signifies stupefaction: and in Hebrew likewise the wine has its name from its remarkably inebriating quality.

8–24. Denunciation of the Social Evils which call down God’s Judgment on the NationThe indictment contains six counts, each introduced by the word “Woe,” and is addressed exclusively to the upper classes, although the punishment of their sin falls on the nation as a whole. The prophet sets before us a vivid picture of a debased aristocracy, in whom public virtue has been eaten out by avarice and sensuality; and he traces with remarkable insight the effect of these sins in the religious insensibility and perversion of the moral sentiments which characterised the nobles of Judah at this time.

Wo unto them - The prophet, having denounced “avarice,” proceeds now to another vice - that of “intemperance, or dissipation.” That rise up early ... - That rise “for this purpose,” when nothing else would rouse them.

Second woe — on high-living and revelry, Isaiah 5:11-12.In the train of the luxury of the times, drunkenness follows.