Isaiah 51:21

Isa 51:21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

Ver. 21. Thou afflicted and drunken.] With a dry drunkenness, which thou canst not so easily sleep out. {Isa 51:17}

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 51:21-23. Hear, thou drunken, but not with wine — But with the cup of God’s fury, mentioned Isa 51:17. Thus saith the Lord — That is, Jehovah; he that is able to help thee, and hath wherewithal to relieve thee; thy Lord — That hath an incontestable right to thee, and will not alienate it; thy God — In covenant with thee, and that hath undertaken to make thee happy; that pleadeth the cause of his people — As their patron and protector, who, though he hath been angry with, and hath chastised thee, is now reconciled to thee, and will maintain thy cause against all thine enemies. I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling — The bitter, intoxicating cup of my wrath; thou shalt no more drink it again — No more lie under such judgments after thy prosperity in the latter days, Isa 52:1. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee — Compare Isa 49:26; Jer 25:29; Rev 18:6. Which have said to thy soul, Bow down, &c. — Lie down upon the ground, that we may trample upon thee. “A very strong and most expressive description of the insolent pride of eastern conquerors, which, though it may seem greatly exaggerated, yet hardly exceeds the strict truth. See Jos 10:24; Jdg 1:7. The Emperor Valerianus, being, through treachery, taken prisoner by Sapor, king of Persia, was treated by him as the basest and most abject slave: for the Persian monarch commanded the unhappy Roman to bow himself down, and offer his back, on which he set his foot, in order to mount his chariot or horse, whenever he had occasion.” — Bishop Lowth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But with trouble and fear.

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

drunken . . . not with wine-- (Isa 29:9; compare Isa 51:17, Isa 51:20, here; Lam 3:15).

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 21. Drunken, but not with wine] AEschylus has the same expression: -

Αοινοις εμμανεις θυμωμασι· Eumen. 863.

Intoxicated with passion, not with wine.

Schultens thinks that this circumlocution, as he calls it, gradum adfert incomparabiliter majorem; and that it means, not simply without wine, but much more than with wine. Gram. Heb. p. 182.

The bold image of the cup of God's wrath, often employed by the sacred writers, (See Clarke on Isa 1:22,) is nowhere handled with greater force and sublimity than in this passage of Isaiah, Isa 51:17-23. Jerusalem is represented in person as staggering under the effects of it, destitute of that assistance which she might expect from her children; not one of them being able to support or to lead her. They, abject and amazed, lie at the head of every street, overwhelmed with the greatness of their distress; like the oryx entangled in a net, in vain struggling to rend it, and extricate himself. This is poetry of the first order, sublimity of the highest character.

Plato had an idea something like this: "Suppose," says he, "God had given to men a medicating potion inducing fear, so that the more any one should drink of it, so much the more miserable he should find himself at every draught, and become fearful of every thing both present and future; and at last, though the most courageous of men, should be totally possessed by fear: and afterwards, having slept off the effects of it, should become himself again." De Leg. i., near the end. He pursues at large this hypothesis, applying it to his own purpose, which has no relation to the present subject. Homer places two vessels at the disposal of Jupiter, one of good, the other of evil. He gives to some a potion mixed of both; to others from the evil vessel only: these are completely miserable. Iliad xxiv. 527-533.

Δοιοι γαρ τε πιθοι κατακειαται εν Διος ουδει

Δωρων, οἱα διδωσι, κακων, ἑτερος δε εαων,

Ὡ μεν καμμιξας δῳη Ζευς τερπικεραυνος,

Αλλοτε μεν τε κακῳ ὁγε κυρεται, αλλοτε δ' εσθλῳ·

Ὡ δε κε των λυγρων δῳη, λωβητον εθηκε.

Και ἑ κακη βουβρωστις επι χθονα διαν ελαυνει·

Φοιτᾳ δ' ουτε θεοισι τετιμενος, ουτι βροτοισιν.

"Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood,

The source of evil one, and one of good;

From thence the cup of mortal man he fills,

Blessings to these, to those distributes ills;

To most he mingles both: the wretch decreed

To taste the bad unmixed, is cursed indeed:

Pursued by wrongs, by meagre famine driven,

He wanders outcast both of earth and heaven."

POPE.

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

(21) Drunken, but not with wine . . .—Same phrase as in Isa_29:9.

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

21. hear now this] see ch. Isa_47:8.

drunken, but not with wine] Cf. ch. Isa_29:9.

21–23. The message of comfort.

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.

Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted,.... By Babylon, by antichrist and his followers; hear, for thy comfort, the following prophecy:

and drunken, but not with wine; not with wine in a literal sense; nor with the wine of the fornication of the whore of Rome; nor with idolatry, as the kings of the earth are said to be, Rev 17:2 but, as the Targum expresses it, with tribulation; with afflictions at the hand of God, and persecutions from men.

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

And drunken, but not with wine - Overcome and prostrate, but not under the influence of intoxicating drink. They were prostrate by the wrath of God.

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

But with the cup of God’s fury, mentioned Isa 51:17

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

21-23. Hear now this — It is the same speaker still, but the address turns from the picture of suffering to that of hope and promise.

Drunken, but not with wine — Because she has drunken of the full cup of wrath she is now to hear what Jehovah in mercy purposes to do. God takes from her hand the goblet of reeling, the cup of suffering with which she has been drunken, and of this she is to drink no more. The oppressors of Jerusalem are now to have their turn at the cup. Jerusalem has had her deserts. Her subjects have long been captives under tyranny, both at home as vassals, and abroad in bitter exile. The time now is come for a change; she is to be delivered, and her tormentors to be punished.

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

Drunken, but not with wine. (comp. Isa_29:9; and see above, ver. 17, which shows that the appearance of drunkenness had been produced by Jerusalem drinking the cup of God"s wrath)

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

Not with wine - But with the cup of God's fury.

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

“Therefore pray hear this, thou suffering one and drunken but not with wine.” The antithesis in the last clause is to be completed from the context. Not with wine, but with the wrath of God, which had already been described as a cup of reeling or intoxication. The same negative expression is employed in Isa 29:9.

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

General Information:

Isaiah continues speaking to the people of Israel.

you oppressed one and drunken one

Yahweh uses the word "one" here to refer to all of the oppressed people. AT: "you oppressed people and drunken people" (See: Synecdoche)

drunken one, but not drunk with wine

This speaks of the people acting drunk because they are suffering as if they have become drunk from being forced to drink the bowl of Yahweh's anger. AT: "you who are drunk from drinking the wine of the bowl of Yahweh's anger" or "you who act drunk, because you have suffered greatly" (See: Metaphor and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

See, I have taken the cup of staggering from your hand—the bowl, which is the cup of my anger—so that

This speaks of Yahweh no longer being angry with his people as if his anger were the contents of a cup that he was taking away from them. AT: "I will no longer be angry with you. See, it is like I have taken away from you the cup that made you stagger, that is, the cup that was full of my anger, so that" (See: Metaphor)

See

This is used to draw the listeners' attention to what is said next. AT: "Listen"

the cup of staggering

The word "cup" refers to what is in the cup. See how you translated a similar phrase in Isaiah 51:17. AT: "the cup of the wine that makes people stagger" (See: Metonymy)

the bowl, which is the cup of my anger

Yahweh speaks of having punished people as if he had forced them to drink from a bowl that was filled with his anger. See how you translated a similar phrase in Isaiah 51:17. AT: "the bowl which is filled with my anger" or "the cup which is filled with my anger" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

oppress

drunk

wine

Lord Yahweh

people of God

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

and who is drunk but not from wine Drunk from something else other than wine.

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.

Hear now, the prophecy which follows in the next verses.

ושכורת And drunken with. Supply חמה anger, אף wrath, or רעות evils.

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.