Logos Bible Study

Isaiah 5:11–15

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5:11Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead,26

those who keep drinking long after dark

until they are intoxicated with wine.27

5:12They have stringed instruments,28 tambourines, flutes,

and wine at their parties.

So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,

they do not perceive what he is bringing about.29

5:13Therefore my30 people will be deported31

because of their lack of understanding.

Their32 leaders will have nothing to eat,33

their34 masses will have nothing to drink.35

5:14So Death36 will open up its throat,

and open wide its mouth;37

Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it,

including those who revel and celebrate within her.38

5:15Men will be humiliated,

they will be brought low;

the proud will be brought low.39

Read in Logos
Isaiah 5:15–16: Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.

Footnotes

  1. 26 Heb “Woe [to] those who arise early in the morning, [who] chase beer.”
  2. 27 Heb “[who] delay until dark, [until] wine enflames them.” This verse does not condemn drinking per se, but refers to the carousing lifestyle of the rich bureaucrats, made possible by wealth taken from the poor. Their carousing is not the fundamental problem, but a disgusting symptom of the real disease—their social injustice.
  3. 28 Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
  4. 29 Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).
  5. 30 It is not certain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking at this point.
  6. 31 The suffixed (perfect) form of the verb is used; in this way the coming event is described for rhetorical effect as occurring or as already completed.
  7. 32 The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”
  8. 33 Heb “Their glory will be men of hunger.” כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) is in opposition to הָמוֹן (hamon, “masses”) and refers here to the rich and prominent members of the nation. Some prefer to repoint מְתֵי (métey, “men of”) as מִתֵי (mitey, “dead ones of”).
  9. 34 The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”
  10. 35 Heb “and their masses will be parched [by] thirst.”
  11. 36 Heb “Sheol” (so , , ); the underworld, the land of the dead, according to the OT world view. Cf. “the nether world”; , “the world of the dead”; “the grave.”
  12. 37 Heb “so Sheol will make wide its throat, and open its mouth without limit.” Death is portrayed in both the OT (Prov 1:12; Hab 2:5) and Canaanite myth as voraciously swallowing up its prey. In the myths Death is portrayed as having “a lip to the earth, a lip to the heavens … and a tongue to the stars.” (G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 69, text 5 ii 2–3.) Death describes his own appetite as follows: “But my appetite is the appetite of lions in the waste … If it is in very truth my desire to consume ‘clay’ [a reference to his human victims], then in truth by the handfuls I must eat it, whether my seven portions [indicating fullness and completeness] are already in the bowl or whether Nahar [the god of the river responsible for ferrying victims from the land of the living to the land of the dead] has to mix the cup.” (Driver, 68–69, text 5 i 14–22).
  13. 38 Heb “and her splendor and her masses will go down, and her tumult and the one who exults in her.” The antecedent of the four feminine singular pronominal suffixes used in v. 14b is unclear. The likely referent is personified Zion/Jerusalem (see 3:25–26; 4:4–5).
  14. 39 Heb “men are brought down, men are brought low, the eyes of pride are brought low.”

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Woe to those who rise early in the morning,

that they may run after strong drink,

who tarry late into the evening

as wine inflames them!

They have lyre and harp,

tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,

but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,

or see the work of his hands.

Therefore my people go into exile

for lack of knowledge;

their honored men go hungry,

and their multitude is parched with thirst.

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite

and opened its mouth beyond measure,

and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,

her revelers and he who exults in her.

Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,

and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Woe to those who rise early in the morning

to run after their drinks,

who stay up late at night

till they are inflamed with wine.

They have harps and lyres at their banquets,

pipes and timbrels and wine,

but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord,

no respect for the work of his hands.

Therefore my people will go into exile

for lack of understanding;

those of high rank will die of hunger

and the common people will be parched with thirst.

Therefore Death expands its jaws,

opening wide its mouth;

into it will descend their nobles and masses

with all their brawlers and revelers.

So people will be brought low

and everyone humbled,

the eyes of the arrogant humbled.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Woe to those who rise early in the morning

in pursuit of beer,

who linger into the evening,

inflamed by wine.

At their feasts they have lyre, harp,

tambourine, flute, and wine.

They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,

and they do not see the work of his hands.

Therefore my people will go into exile

because they lack knowledge;

her dignitaries are starving,

and her masses are parched with thirst.

Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat

and opens wide its enormous jaws,

and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,

her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!

Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,

and haughty eyes are humbled.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning

looking for a drink of alcohol

and spend long evenings drinking wine

to make themselves flaming drunk.

They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties—

lyre and harp, tambourine and flute—

but they never think about the Lord

or notice what he is doing.

So my people will go into exile far away

because they do not know me.

Those who are great and honored will starve,

and the common people will die of thirst.

The grave is licking its lips in anticipation,

opening its mouth wide.

The great and the lowly

and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.

Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down;

even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Ah! Those who rise early in the morning,

they pursue strong drink.

Those who linger in the evening,

wine inflames them.

And there will be lyre and harp,

tambourine and flute,

and wine at their feasts,

but they do not look at the deeds of Yahweh,

and they do not see the work of his hands.

Therefore my people will go into exile without knowledge,

and their nobles will be men of hunger,

and their multitude is parched with thirst.

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat,

and it has opened wide its mouth without limit,

and her nobles will go down, and her multitude,

her tumult and those who revel in her.

And humankind is bowed down,

and man is brought low,

and the eyes of the haughty are humiliated.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink;

That continue until night, till wine inflame them!

And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe,

And wine, are in their feasts:

But they regard not the work of the Lord,

Neither consider the operation of his hands.

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge:

And their honourable men are famished,

And their multitude dried up with thirst.

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself,

And opened her mouth without measure:

And their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp,

And he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

And the mean man shall be brought down,

And the mighty man shall be humbled,

And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

Public Domain