Isaiah 5:18

18. Third Woe—against obstinate perseverance in sin, as if they wished to provoke divine judgments.

iniquity—guilt, incurring punishment [MAURER].

cords, c.—cart-rope—Rabbins say, "An evil inclination is at first like a fine hair-string, but the finishing like a cart-rope." The antithesis is between the slender cords of sophistry, like the spider's web (Isaiah 59:5 Job 8:14), with which one sin draws on another, until they at last bind themselves with great guilt as with a cart-rope. They strain every nerve in sin.

vanity—wickedness.

sin—substantive, not a verb: they draw on themselves "sin" and its penalty recklessly.