Isaiah 5:23

Isa 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Ver. 23. Which justify the wicked for reward,] q.d., Woe to such also, for even they both are abomination to the Lord {Pro 17:15 Isa 1:23} {See Trapp on "Pro 17:15"}

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.

Verse 23. The righteous] צדיק tsaddik, singular, Sept. Vulg., and two editions.

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

23. These valiant drinkers are weak enough in their official capacity; they acquit the guilty and condemn the innocent. justify the wicked] “wicked” and “righteous” are here used in their forensic sense: “he who is in the wrong” and “he who is in the right” (cf. Exo_9:27). So “take away the righteousness” means “declare guilty”—the opposite of “justify.”

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.

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, Deu 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, Mat 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 righteousness itself could not be taken away, it being an everlasting one.

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

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 Isa 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.

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

Justice. Declaring the righteous guilty, ver. 20. (Haydock)

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).

Justify the wicked for reward; not by mistake or incogitancy, but wilfully for bribes.

Take away the righteousness of the righteous from him, to wit, juridically; they pronounce sentence against him, as if he and his cause were unjust.

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

Justify the wicked; i.e. "decide his cause in his favor," declare him to be right, and his adversary wrong. For reward; or, for a bribe. Take away the righteousness of the righteous; i.e. "declare him to be in the wrong by deciding his cause against him."

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

Take away - Pronounce sentence against him.

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

The absence of the interjection shows that this is a continuation of the woe begun in the preceding verse, and thus explains the Prophet’s recurrence to a sin which he had denounced already (vs. 11, 12) as productive of general inconsideration, but which he now describes as leading to injustice, and therefore as a vice peculiarly disgraceful in a magistrate. The effect here ascribed to drunkenness is not merely that of incapacitating judges for the discharge of their official functions, but that of tempting them to make a trade of justice, with a view to the indulgence of this appetite. “Justifying (i.e., acquitting, clearing, a forensic term) the guilty (not simply the wicked in a general sense, but the wrong-doer in a judicial sense) for the sake (literally as the result) of a bribe, and the righteousness of the righteous (i.e., the right of the innocent or injured party, or his character as such) they will take from him” (i.e., they do and will do so still).

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

and the innocence of the innocent who are fit to be exonerated in court, they take away from him, and find him guilty in his suit, and rob him of his money.

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.

Which justify the wicked, etc. Wine deprives them of understanding, so does a bribe.

עקב For, the reward that comes generally at the end; comp. עקבו Its rear (Jos. 8:13).

וצדקת צדיקים יסירו ממנו And the righteousness of each of the righteous they take away from him; comp. בנות צעדה (Gen. 49:20).

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.