Isaiah 51:17
in Isaiah 51Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of his wrath; thou hast drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
KJV
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnger, which is called "the cup in the hand of the Lord" and "the cup of falling that is drained," is in proportion to transgressions, even though he abates to all some of what is their due and dilutes with compassion the unmixed draught of his wrath. For he inclines from severity to indulgence toward those who accept chastisement with fear, and who after a slight affliction conceive and are in pain with conversion and bring forth the perfect spirit of salvation.
This site's exposition
Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem
on Isaiah 51:17-20
The cry that woke the arm of the LORD in verse 9 now wakes Jerusalem, “you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury”. No son is left to guide her, and her sons “lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net”, “full of the wrath of the LORD”. The city lies spent under the judgment foretold, the low point before the reversal of verses 21 to 23.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 17 seqq.) Lift up, lift up, arise, O Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath: you have drunk to the dregs the cup of sleep, and have drained it to the bottom. There is no one to support her among all the sons she has borne, and there is no one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. There are two things that have befallen you; who will grieve over you? devastation and destruction, famine and sword: who will comfort you? Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury. For thou hast drunken the cup of ruin and the dregs of the cup of fury: thou hast utterly drained it. And there is none to comfort thee among all the sons whom thou hast brought forth; neither is there any that taketh hold of thy hand, of all the sons that thou hast raised up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: who shall comfort thee? I often taught that Jerusalem and Zion are synonymous: of which Zion, which is interpreted as a watchtower, is called a fortress because it is located on a mountain: but the rest of the city, Jerusalem, which was previously called Jebus and Salem: which now the Prophet exhorts to rise, which previously fell into denial, saying in the Passion of the Lord: Crucify, crucify such [a man]: we have no king but Caesar (John 19:15): and let her repent, and feel the evils of captivity, why she offended her Creator. Doctors usually provide the most bitter antidote, which is named from its taste, to a nauseous stomach, so that it may expel harmful substances and be able to pass through the cooked and digested foods into the intestine, which the quantity of phlegm did not allow to be digested. […]
He calls chastisement "the cup," because it is stupefying like drunkenness. Of this cup, the blessed David has likewise made mention in the following terms: "For there is a cup in the hand of the Lord, full strength, full of a mixture [of aromatics]; and …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he promises liberation from punishments: arise; and concerning this, he does two things: first, he shows their past affliction; second, he promises liberation. 936. Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he shows the sum of their punishment: you have drunk even to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem,....
God calls upon them to awake and help themselves. Encouragement to the Disconsolate. 1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the L ORD : look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Awake, awake - (See the notes at Isa 51:9). This verse commences an address to Jerusalem under a new figure or image. The figure employed is that of a man who has been overcome by the cup of the wrath of Yahweh, that had produced the same effect as inebriation. Jerusalem had reeled and fallen prostrate. There had been none to sustain her, and she had sunk to the dust. Calamities of the most appalling kind had come upon her, and she is now called on to arouse from this condition, and to recover her former splendor and power.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, &c.-- (Isa 52:1). drunk--Jehovah's wrath is compared to an intoxicating draught because it confounds the sufferer under it, and makes him fall (Job 21:20;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The cup of trembling - כוס התרעלה cos hattarelah, “the cup of mortal poison,” veneni mortiferi. - Montan. This may also allude to the ancient custom of taking off criminals by a cup of poison. Socrates is well known to have been sentenced by the Areopagus to drink a cup of the juice of hemlock, which occasioned his death. See the note on Heb 2:9, and see also Bishop Lowth’s note on Isa 51:21.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִתְעוֹרְרִ֣י | hitori | rouse yourself | H5782 → | 80 times |
| הִֽתְעוֹרְרִ֗י | hitori | rouse yourself | H5782 → | 80 times |
| ק֚וּמִי | kumi | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | O Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁתִ֛ית | shatit | you have drunk | H8354 → | 217 times |
| מִיַּ֥ד | miyad | from [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כּ֣וֹס | kos | [the] cup of | H3563 → | 34 times |
| חֲמָת֑וֹ | chamato | anger his | H2534 → | 125 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קֻבַּ֜עַת | kubaat | [the] bowl of | H6907 → | |
| כּ֧וֹס | kos | [the] cup of | H3563 → | 34 times |
| הַתַּרְעֵלָ֛ה | hatarelah | <the> staggering | H8653 → | |
| שָׁתִ֖ית | shatit | you have drunk | H8354 → | 217 times |
| מָצִֽית׃ | matzit | you have drained | H4680 → |
הִתְעוֹרְרִ֣יrouse yourself
hitoriH5782 →80 times
הִֽתְעוֹרְרִ֗יrouse yourself
hitoriH5782 →80 times
ק֚וּמִיarise
kumiH6965 →628 times
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םO Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
שָׁתִ֛יתyou have drunk
shatitH8354 →217 times
מִיַּ֥דfrom [the] hand of
miyadH3027 →1618 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כּ֣וֹס[the] cup of
kosH3563 →34 times
חֲמָת֑וֹanger his
chamatoH2534 →125 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קֻבַּ֜עַת[the] bowl of
kubaatH6907 →
כּ֧וֹס[the] cup of
kosH3563 →34 times
הַתַּרְעֵלָ֛ה<the> staggering
hatarelahH8653 →
שָׁתִ֖יתyou have drunk
shatitH8354 →217 times
מָצִֽית׃you have drained
matzitH4680 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 14:10he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and…
it leads to
- Psalms 75:8
For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 75:8
Through
1 Corinthians 15:34Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:5
I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers?
- Romans 13:11
And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
- Hebrews 5:11–12
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.
- Joel 1:5
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
- 1 Corinthians 6:5
Through
Isaiah 52:1Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:27
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- Zechariah 3:4
So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”
- Revelation 21:27
Through
Isaiah 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
it leads to
- Psalms 74:13–14
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
- Psalms 74:13–14
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory of Nazianzus, ON HIS FATHER'S SILENCE, ORATION 16:4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:51.18 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.