Isaiah 5:11 - Exposition

Woe unto them that … follow strong drink . We have here the second woe . It is pronounced on drunkenness and revelry. Drunkenness is an infrequent Oriental vice; but it seems to have been one whereto many among the Jews were at all times prone (see Proverbs 20:1 ; Proverbs 23:29-32 ; Ecclesiastes 10:17 ; Hosea 4:11 ; Isaiah 28:7 , etc.). Even the priests and the soi-disant prophets erred through strong drink and were swallowed up of wine" ( Isaiah 28:7 ). That rise up early in the morning. Great banquets were held by the "princes" and "nobles," beginning at an early hour ( Ecclesiastes 10:10 ), and accompanied by music of an exciting kind ( Amos 6:5 , Amos 6:6 ), which were " continued until night ," or rather, "into the night" (Revised Version), and terminated in general drunkenness, perhaps in general licentiousness. (See Proverbs 23:27-30 and Hosea 4:11 for the connection of inebriety with whoredom.) Two kinds of intoxicating liquor seem to have been consumed at these banquets, viz. ordinary grape wine, and a much stronger drink, which is said to have been "made of dates, pomegranates, apples, honey, barley, and other ingredients," which was known as shekar (Greek, σίκερα ), and is called "strong drink" in the Authorized Version. Till wine inflame them ; or, the wine inflaming them .