Isaiah 5:22

Isa 5:22 Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

Ver. 22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine.] Iterate taxat hoc vitium, eo quod invaluerat. The prophet inveigheth against this vice a second time, because it was grown so common. Drunkards also are a sottish kind of creatures, and had therefore more than need to be double dealt with; like as physicians use to give double quantities to such as have palsies or epilepsies, so to awaken their dull, drowsy senses. Many of these sots take it for a great glory that they are mighty to drink wine; as did Darius King of Persia, who caused it to be written upon his tomb, I was a great hunter; I could also drink much wine, and bear it bravely. {a} This was, as one well saith, to glory in his shame; it being rather the commendation of a tun {b} than of a man, for a beast will scarce abide it, to be able to take in and contain much liquor. When Bonosus the drunken Roman had hanged himself, it went for a by-word Amphoram pendere non hominem, {c} that a tun or tankard hung there, and not a man. And when one was commended to King Alphonsus for a great drinker, and able to bear it, he answered that that was a good praise in a sponge, but not in a prince. {d} This, if Alexander the Great and Tiberius the Emperor - those great drinkers and encouragers of others to that vice - had well remembered, they would not have been so infamous as they are and will be to all posterity.

And men of strength.] Or, Valour. But to do what? Pινειν και βινειν μονον, {e} as the comedian hath it: To drink and do worse only. A goodly prize surely, a fair commendation. {e} Fortes esse et strenuos non contra hostes, sed ad exhauriendos calices; gigantes esse non ad bellandum, sed ad potandum. To be carpet knights, not of Mars, but of Bacchus, and fitter for a canopy than a camp.

To mingle.] Or, To pour in. Whether into their own wide gullets, or into the cup to make others drunk; for preventing whereof Minos, King of Crete, made a law that men should not drink one to another, εις μεθην, to drunkenness. So did Lycurgus at Lacedemon. And our King Edgar made an ordinance for putting pins in cups that none should quaff whole ones, or cause others to do so.

{a} Kυνηγειν εκρατουν, οινον πολυν πινειν εδυναμην και τουτον φερειν καλως. - Athen.

{b} A large cask or barrel, usually for liquids, esp. wine, ale, or beer, or for various provisions. Now less common than cask.

{c} Vopsic. in Bonoso.

{d} Gentiles ipsi risere tales athletas.

{e} Arist, in Ranis.

{f} Civilis est irrisio non carens sale. - Oecolamp.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_5:22-23

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine . . . which justify the wicked for reward

Wine-loving lawyers and judges

Among the men whom Isaiah denounces as the corrupters and destroyers of the society of which they are the leaders, are the unjust lawyers and judges: he mentions as characteristic of them, that they are heroes at drinking, and spice their wine to make it stronger; by which, perhaps, we are to understand, not that their heads and senses were overcome with wine like the drunkards spoken of above, but that the effect on their hearts and consciences was such as to harden them in their criminal perversion of the law.

Perhaps the passage might be illustrated by instances of the professional character of hard-drinking but strong-headed judges of other times. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)

Aromatites

The Romans called this spiced wine Aromatites. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)

Drunkenness

The woe denounced in the text against those notorious for drunkenness is made up of the unavoidable effects it produces, and these effects are too dear a price to be paid by a reasonable creature for all the sensual pleasures of this life, did they even accompany this single sin.

I. THE DRUNKARDS EXCUSES.

1. His first excuse is charged to the account of good fellowship. But surely, friendship can never be founded on anything else than an amiable and affectionate disposition, a likeness of temper, and true honesty of heart on both sides. Will strong drink bestow these on us? Can mutual love and confidence be built on vice? And how doth drunkenness pro mote the gaiety of conversation? Does it not rather destroy all conversation, for what is conversation, but the communication of rational and agreeable thoughts?

2. The next excuse for drinking to excess is, that it stupefies the cares and troubles of the drunkard, which arise from three different quarters,--his ill state of health, the unfortunate posture of his worldly affairs, or the stings of his guilty conscience.

3. The drunkard hath other more common and accidental excuses for his vice. He says he is so exposed to company and business, that it is impossible for him to avoid drinking to excess. Then, he is of so easy and flexible a temper, that he cannot resist the importunities of his friends, as he calls them. Thus, he is for softening his vice into a sort of virtue, and calling that mere good nature, which his creditor calls villainy, and his family cruelty.

II. THE WOE DENOUNCED BY ALMIGHTY GOD; or, in other words, the miserable effects, as well temporal as spiritual, of his favourite vice.

1. Poverty.

2. Universal contempt.

3. Ill health and an untimely death.

4. These evils are as nothing compared to the spiritual evils that spring from drunkenness. In destroying his health he shortens his life, and so far is guilty of self-murder. In impairing his reason he makes his life useless and burdensome to the world. (J. Skelton.)

Mighty to drink wine

Strength is a great blessing, but if it is used in the service of sin it becomes a curse.

I. THE GREAT DRINKERS of that day were just the same sort of men as they are now here in our country.

1. They are grasping and selfish (Isa_5:8). They are often willing to take bribes if they are magistrates (Isa_5:23), and to condemn the innocent rather than lose their money or credit.

2. They are dull of understanding of the things of God (Isa_5:12).

3. They are greedy of sire Drink makes men pull destruction upon themselves (Isa_5:18).

4. They are liars (Isa_5:20). It would be difficult to find one lover of drink who was truthful. However kind and generous a sot may be, his word can never be depended upon. Deceiving and being deceived is his exact portrait.

5. Clever in their own eyes (Isa_5:21).

II. THE WOES the prophet declares are sure to come on these men mighty to drink wine.

1. Poverty (Isa_5:9-10). The great and beautiful houses will soon be vacant, and the neglected fields will soon be like the sluggards garden. More than half the empty houses and the farms that are given up in this country represent the doings of drink.

2. Degradation (Isa_5:13). Captivity to a Jew meant more than poverty--loss of honour, of position, of hope, grinding toil, pollution, horrid slavery. What can degrade body and mind like drink? (Isa_5:15.)

3. Death (Isa_5:14). There is a sin unto death. More than 60,000 drunkards go down to their dishonoured graves every year in Britain. Think of death and hell gaping to take in these hosts of slain. (Josiah Mee.)

The bane and antidote

(with Hab_2:15):--

I. THE EVIL.

1. As affecting the individual. It is no trivial result to demoralise the human spirit.

2. As it ramifies itself throughout the framework of society.

(1) As respects the family.

(2) The wider circle of the general community.

II. THE CURE.

1. Total abstinence.

2. Legislative prohibition. (J. Guthrie, M. A.)

The unworthy glorying of the intemperate

They gloried in it as a great accomplishment, that they were able to bear a great deal of strong liquor, without being overcome by it. Let drunkards know from this Scripture that--

1. They ungratefully abuse their bodily strength, which God hath given them for good purposes, and by degrees cannot but weaken it.

2. It will not excuse them from the guilt of drunkenness that they can drink hard, and yet keep their feet.

3. Those that boast of their drinking down others glory in their shame.

4. How light soever men make of their drunkenness, it is a sin which will certainly lay them open to the wrath and curse of God. (M. Henry.)

Intemperance a fine art

Cyrus, writing the Lacedaemonians for assistance, spoke in very high terms of himself, telling them he had a greater and more prince y heart than his brother; that he was the better philosopher, being instructed in the doctrines of the Magi, and that he could drink and bear more wine than his brother. (Plutarchs Artaxerxes.)

Mighty to drink wine

When Bonosus the drunken Roman had hanged himself, it went for a byword that a tun or tankard hung there and not a man. And when one was commended to King Alphonsus for a great drinker, and able to bear it, he answered that that was a good praise in a sponge but not in a prince. (J. Trapp.)

Darius, King of Persia, caused it to be engraved upon his tomb, I could drink much wine, and bear it bravely. Perhaps he was proud of it, but it was his shame. (J. Mee.)

Intemperance destroys character

The title of Rois faineants--do-nothing kings--expresses very aptly the character of the last descendants of the house of Clovis. At the moment when circumstances demanded from the occupants of the Frankish throne a more than ordinary share of talent and force of character, they lapsed into a state of imbecility and insignificance, both bodily and mental. Intemperance and debauchery entailed on them premature decrepitude; few attained the mature age of manhood; they rarely appeared in public, except at the annual pageant of the Champ de Mars. (Students France.)

A Japanese proverb

The Japanese have a true proverb which describes millions of sad cases: A man took a drink, then the drink took a drink, then the drink took the man. Effects of wine drinking:--Whilst the drunkard swallows wine, wine swallows him. God disregards him, angels despise him; men deride him, virtue declines him, the devil destroys him. (Augustine.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Sixth woe — on public dissoluteness, Isa_5:22-23.

Drunkards, too, again receive their woe; (see Isa_5:11;) where the people indulge in thoughtless, rollicking dissoluteness.

22, 23. Drink wine… strong drink — Here the terrible evil is contemplated as affecting those intrusted with the administrative interests of the nation. How can magistrates with reeling brain and besotted soul adjudge the rights of the poor and the weak?

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE WOE OF THE DRUNKARD

Isa_5:22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.

There are certain vices which the customs of certain countries seem to place only in the number of human infirmities; and yet, if we look at their effects, we shall see that really they are as black as those sins which God and man visits with the severest punishments.

I. The Drunkard’s excuses, by which he endeavours to defend or palliate his crime.

1. Good fellowship. But can friendship be founded on vice? especially on a vice which notoriously impairs the memory and the sense of obligation, leads to the betrayal of secrets, and stirs up strife and contention? Instead of promoting conversation it destroys it by destroying the very capability of communicating rational and agreeable thoughts. The drunkard may make his company merry, but they laugh at, not with, him, and merely because they are delighted with the sight of one even sillier than themselves.

2. “It drowns care.” But the drunkard’s care must arise either from his ill state of health, the unfortunate posture of his worldly affairs, or the stings of his guilty conscience; and, in either case, his temporary oblivion is purchased at the cost of an aggravation of the evils which cause him to desire it. To drink to drown remorse is especially absurd, for all that the drunkard can expect from this course is the benefit of travelling some part of the road to eternal misery with his eyes covered.

3. The drunkard has other excuses: he says that he is so exposed to company and business, that he cannot avoid drinking to excess, or that he is of so easy and flexible a temper, that he cannot resist the importunities of his friends, as he calls them. Thus he is for softening his vice into a sort of virtue, and calling that good nature, which his creditor calls villany, and his family cruelty.

II. The drunkard’s woe. This is made up of the miserable effects, as well temporal as spiritual, of his favourite vice.

1. Poverty.

2. Contempt.

3. Ill-health.

4. An untimely death. Consider, too, the spiritual evils that spring from and punish the vice of drunkenness.

1. The understanding is depraved and darkened.

2. The will is enfeebled and dethroned.

3. The passions are inflamed and rendered ungovernable.

4. Regard for men and reverence for God are destroyed. Drunkenness travels with a whole train of other vices, and requires the whole width of the broad way to give it room. Where its journey is to end, we know; so that if the guilt and misery which attend it here, be not enough, there, at least, the drunkard, having opened his eyes and recovered the use of his reason, will perceive the truth of the text.—Skelton, in Clapham’s Selected Sermons, ii. 384–392.

THE WOE OF THE DRUNKARD

Isa_5:22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.

Woe to the drunkard. I. To his reputation [673] II. To his interests. III. To his health. IV. To his family. V. To his soul [676]J. Lyth, D.D.

[673] Some of you glory in your shame, that you have drunk down your companions, and carried it away,—the honour of a sponge or a tub, which can drink up or hold liquor as well as you.—Baxter, 1615–1691.

[676] We commend wine for the excellency of it; but if it could speak, as it can take away speech, it would complain, that by our abuse both the excellencies are lost; for the excellent man doth so spoil the excellent wine, until the excellent wine hath spoiled the excellent man. Oh, that a man should take pleasure in that which makes him no man; that he should let a thief in at his mouth to steal away his wit; that for a little throat-indulgence, he should kill in himself both the first Adam, his reason, and even the second Adam, his regeneration, and so commit two murders at once.—Adams, 1653.

How base a price dost thou set upon thy Saviour and salvation, that will not forbear so much as a cup of drink for them? The smallness of the thing showeth the smallness of thy love to God, and the smallness of thy regard to His Word and to thy soul. Is that loving God as God, when thou lovest a cup of drink better? Art thou not ashamed of thy hypocrisy, when thou sayest thou lovest God above all, when thou lovest Him not so well as thy wine and ale? Surely he that loveth Him not above ale, loveth Him not above all! Thy choice showeth what thou lovest best, more certainly than thy tongue doth. It is the dish that a man greedily eateth of that he loveth, and not that which he commendeth but will not meddle with. God trieth men’s love to Him, by their keeping His commandments. It was the aggravation of the first sin, that they would not deny so small a thing as the forbidden fruit, in obedience to God! And so it is of thine, that wilt not leave a forbidden cup for Him! O miserable wretch! dost thou not know thou canst not be Christ’s disciple, if thou forsake not all for Him, and hate not even thy life in comparison of Him, and wouldst not rather die than forsake Him! And art thou like to lay down thy life for Him that wilt not leave a cup of drink for Him? Canst thou burn at a stake for Him, that canst not leave an alehouse, or vain company, or excess for Him? What a sentence of condemnation dost thou pass upon thyself!—Baxter, 1615–1691.

DRINK AND ITS WOES

Isa_5:22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.

Human depravity and iniquity have existed in all ages and countries. The vices flowing therefrom have been much the same—selfishness, pride, sensualism, oppression, drunkenness. Alcohol acting directly on the brain, the seat of the mind, tends not only to derange, but to enfeeble and pervert, and produces moral obliquity, moral infatuation, and intensified delusion. All sorts of deceits are the consequence. Observe—I. THE CHARACTERS INTRODUCED (Isa_5:22). Observe also Isa_5:11-12. In the last verses there is reference to confirmed drunkards, daily, early, and late; the sensual debauchees—their ignorance, want of thought and reflection. In the text, notorious drinkers, bold, impudent wager-layers, boasters, &c., and those who have got the victory over the usual drinks, and now make them stronger to meet the cravings of appetite and to keep up the excitement. Observe, this is the great peril of moderate drinking. It creates the appetite, it increases the appetite; last of all, it gives the appetite the control, and the man or woman becomes the slave and then the victim.

II. THE INFATUATION PORTRAYED—by

1. Giving false names to things (Isa_5:20). Call

(1) evil good: drinks (poisons) are called beverages; evil things made by men are called God’s good creatures. And so they call

(2) good evil; despise the really good and safe; pour contempt on water and safe fluids, and treat them as evil or worthless. How drinks have secured the most alluring titles—strong cordials, dew, &c., generous. Not only false names, but

2. False qualities (Isa_5:20), “Bitter for sweet.” Now intoxicating drinks are not sweet or palatable to the natural taste; they blister the mouth of children; do burn the delicate nerves of the stomach; the tongue and lips have to be trained, drilled, hardened. Observe, they call sweet bitter; things really so are treated as insipid. Ask the spirit-drinker to take milk or tea, or water, and see how his poisoned taste revolts, &c.

Then there is presented to us—

3. Infatuated results. Put darkness for light; men plead and say these drinks—

(1) Brighten the intellect. How false! See the bloated faces, the diseased eyes, the sensual expression, the stupid look, the stupor. The light is artificial, momentary, false—no better than the effects of certain gases or deadly stimulants, as opium, Indian hemp, &c. But they refer to men, to Burns, Pitt, Sheridan, and other drinking wits. But they were intellectually great in spite, &c. Look at Milton, Sir Isaac Newton; look at the inspired prophets—the seraphic Isaiah, the writer of the text.

(2) They who drink say their drinks lighten the heart, give social joyousness. Right; but is it not sensual, spurious, evanescent, ends in darkness? So they put light for darkness. The calm, equable sobriety of soul they called dulness, darkness. But this is real, abiding, and rational. So, both in name and quality, and in effects, they call “evil good,” &c.

III. THE WOES DENOUNCED.

1. There is the woe of physical consequences. The seed and the harvest, the poisons and their effects, fire, deranged stomach, plague, diseased liver, excited heart, fevered brain, all tending to a host of maladies, shortened life, and an early grave. There is—

2. Woe of a distracted mind. Reason beclouded; reflection, perception, all marred. The guiding star eclipsed, the light obscured with darkness. There is the—

3. Woe of moral defects. The man is vitiated, made worse and worse; his affections, his desires, his conscience, his heart, the whole soul. There is—

4. The woe of perverted powers. Gifts, talents, &c., all poisoned; influence deadly; the man a curse—a curse to all.

5. The woe of God’s malediction. God’s woe, His displeasure, His threatening, His curse; this is written in both volumes of the Scriptures—in frightful representation, in declared eternal condemnation.

APPLICATION.—Learn—

1. The horrors associated with strong drink;

2. The advantages of absolute temperance;

3. The value of these associations;

4. The encouragement for labours—staying curses, bringing down blessings; The necessity of immediate decision; The solemn importance of earnest prayer for the Divine benediction;

7. Let us avoid exaggerated conclusions. This is not the only evil; temperance not the only good. To all we say, “One thing is needful;” “Except ye be converted,” &c.—Jabez Burns, D.D., L.L.D., Sketches of Temperance Sermons.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sixth woe: "Woe to those who are heroes to drink wine, and brave men to mix strong drink; who acquit criminals for a bribe, and take away from every one the righteousness of the righteous." We see from Isa 5:23 that the drinkers in Isa 5:22 are unjust judges. The threat denounced against these is Isaiah's universal ceterum censeo; and accordingly it forms, in this instance also, the substance of his sixth and last woe. They are heroes; not, however, in avenging wrong, but in drinking wine; they are men of renown, though not for deciding between guilt and innocence, but for mixing up the ingredients of strong artistic wines. For the terms applied to such mixed wines, see Psa 75:9; Pro 23:30, Sol 7:3. It must be borne in mind, however, that what is here called shecâr was not, properly speaking, wine, but an artificial mixture, like date wine and cider. For such things as these they were noteworthy and strong; whereas they judged unjustly, and took bribes that they might consume the reward of their injustice in drink and debauchery (Isa 28:7-8; Pro 31:5). "For reward:" ēkeb (Arab. ‛ukb; different from âkēb, a heel, = ‛akib) is an adverbial accusative, "in recompense," or "for pay." "From him" (mimmennu) is distributive, and refers back to tsaddikim (the righteous); as, for example, in Hos 4:8.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

5:22-24 What sorrow: The sixth threat of judgment was against the indulgent lifestyle of the wicked.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which are never weary, but show their strength, and brag in gluttony and drunkenness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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 [MAURER].

mingle strong drink--not with water, but spices to make it intoxicating (Pro 9:2, Pro 9:5; Sol 8:2).

take away the righteousness--set aside the just claims of those having a righteous cause.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. Mighty to drink wine] "They show not," says Kimchi, "their strength in combating their enemies, but in drunkenness and debauchery."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) Woe unto them that are mighty to drink. . . . strong drink.—The words in part reproduce the “woe” of Isa_5:11-12, but with the distinctive feature that there the revellers were simply of the careless self-indulgent type, while here they are identified with the unjust and corrupt rulers. They were heroes and valiant men only in and for their cups. To such men it seemed a light matter to acquit the guilty and condemn the guiltless. The prophet dwells on the familiar truth, Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur. The Targum, it may be noticed, has “the mammon of falsehood” (comp. Luke xvi, 9), for the “reward” of the Hebrew.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. them that are mighty] heroes.

to mingle strong drink] This was a delicate operation, almost a fine art, demanding a refined taste and much experience (Pro_23:30). The phrase does not mean to dilute with water, which was common among Greeks and Romans, but rather to enhance by the addition of aromatic herbs (cf. “spiced wine” in Son_8:2).

22, 23. The sixth woe, against dissolute and corrupt judges. In Isa_5:11 f. drunkenness was denounced as destructive of all serious thought; here it is spoken of as the parent of injustice on the bench. Cf. Pro_31:4 f.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine,.... That can bear a great deal, and not be overcome and intoxicated with it; that try their strength this way with others, and get the mastery and glory in it: not mighty to fight their enemies, as Kimchi observes, and defend their country, but to drink wine; by which their strength was weakened: wherefore some think soldiers are particularly designed, given to drinking, who are derided and mocked, as being valiant in the warfare of Bacchus, and not of Mars:

and men of strength, to mingle strong drink; in the cup, and then drink it: or "men of war"; the same with "mighty" before. The Targum interprets it, "men of riches": who can afford to drink wine and strong drink; which carries the sense not to the strength of their bodies, but of their purses: the former sense seems best. The Scribes and Pharisees loved the cup and the platter, and to be at feasts, and to have the uppermost seats there, Mat 23:6 and that those that sat in Moses's chair are intended appears from the following words.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Wo unto them that are mighty ... - This is the sixth specification of crime. He had already denounced the intemperate in Isa 5:11. But probably this was a prevailing sin. Perhaps there was no evidence of reform; and it was needful to “repeat” the admonition, in order that people might be brought to regard it. The prophet repeats a similar denunciation in Isa 56:12.

Mighty - Perhaps those who prided themselves on their ability to drink “much” without becoming intoxicated; who had been so accustomed to it, that they defied its effects, and boasted of their power to resist its usual influence. A similar idea is expressed in Isa 56:12.

Men of strength - The Chaldee understands this of “rich” men; but, probably, the reference is to those who boasted that they were able to bear “much” strong drink.

To mingle - To mix wine with spices, dates, drugs, etc., to make it more intoxicating; Pro 9:2, Pro 9:5. They boasted that they were able to drink, without injury, liquor of extraordinary intoxicating qualities.

Strong drink - Note, Isa 5:11. On the subject of the strong drink used in the East, “see Harmer’s Observations,” vol. ii. pp. 140-148. Ed. Lond. 1808.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Drink. Hebrew, "mix shecar." People generally mixed wine and water. They also strove who could drink most, and the Greeks had a feast for this purpose, (Calmet) which they styled Choas, for the measure which was to be swallowed down. (Aristophanes, Acharn. act. iv. 4. and 5. ultra) --- Cyrus the younger boasted to the Greek ambassadors, that "he could drink and bear more wine than his brother." (Plut.[Plutarch?] in Artax.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

That are mighty to drink wine; that can drink much without intoxication, in which they gloried, as too many do at this day.

To mingle, i.e. to drink; the antecedent being put for the consequent, which is usual; for they mingled it in order to drinking.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine. The sixth woe seems at first sight a repetition of the second. But there is this difference, that the drinkers in the present verse do not succumb to their liquor, or remain at the banquet all day, but proceed to the business of their lives, attend courts and judge causes, but with brain obfuscated and moral vision bedimmed, so that they are easily induced to pervert justice on receipt of a bribe. The sixth woe may be considered to be pronounced rather upon their corruption than upon their drinking, and so to be really quite distinct from the second. (comp. Pro_31:4, Pro_31:5)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To mingle - To drink: the antecedent being put for the consequent: for they mingled it in order to drinking.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The sixth woe, like the second, is directed against drunkards, but with special reference to drunken judges (vs. 22, 23). The tone of this verse is sarcastic, from its using terms which commonly express not only strength but courage and heroic spirit, in application to exploits of drunkenness. There may indeed be a particular allusion to a species of fool-hardiness and brutal ambition not uncommon in our own times; leading men to show the vigor of their frames by mad excess, and to seek eminence in this way no less eagerly than superior spirits seek true glory. Of such it may indeed be said, their god is their belly and they glory in their shame. “Woe to the mighty men or heroes (who are heroes only) to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink,” (i.e., according to the usual interpretation, to mix wine with spices, thereby making it more stimulating and exciting), a practice spoken of by Pliny and other ancient writers. Some understand the Prophet as referring to the mixture of wine with water. In either case the mixing is here mentioned only as a customary act in the offering or drinking of liquors, just as making tea might be mentioned as a common act of modern hospitality, whatever part of the preparatory process the phrase may properly denote.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

who acquit the wicked for payment

This passage is speaking about corrupt judges in courts of law.

acquit the wicked

"declare guilty people innocent"

deprive the innocent of his rights

"do not treat innocent people fairly"

translationWords

woe

wine

strong drink

acquit

evil

innocent

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

to mix strong wine Heb. לִמְסֹךְ. To mix (לִמְזֹג) strong wine. Preparation [of the beverage] is called מֶסֶךְ.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, etc. They lose their reason through drunkenness.

לנסוך ═ למסוך To pour out, though these words have different roots, נסך and מסך. Comp. מסכה she poured (Prov. 9:2)

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.