Isaiah 51:21
in Isaiah 51Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
KJV
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTherefore 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.
This site's exposition
hear now this, thou afflicted
on Isaiah 51:21-23
Hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine, addresses the same exhausted city and gives it the reversal the chapter has been moving toward: the Lord that pleadeth the cause of his people declares, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury, thou shalt no more drink it again. The cup is not emptied, it is transferred, and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee, the same measure of judgment turned back on the oppressors who made Zion lie down as the ground for them to walk over. Gill reads the transfer of the cup as the chapter's answer to its own opening question, the God who made a nation from Abraham alone remains strong enough to reverse a nation's whole judgment in one sentence.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 21 and following) Therefore, listen to these things, poor and drunken one, not from wine. This is what your Lord and your God says, who fought for his people: Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of slumber, the bottom of the cup of my indignation; you shall not add to drink it any further.
The Medieval Church1 voice
939. Therefore. Here he promises liberation; and concerning this, he sets out two things: first, their liberation: you that are drunk but not with wine, but with the bitterness of your punishments: he has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood (Lam …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"Thou art drunken, not as formerly with wine, not with the intoxicating cup of Babylon's whoredoms and idolatries, but with the cup of affliction. Know then, for thy comfort," 1. "That the Lord Jehovah is thy Lord and thy God, for all this." It is expressed emphatically (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The first three paragraphs of this chapter begin with, "Hearken unto me," and they are God's people that are all along called to hearken; for even when comforts are spoken to them sometimes they "hearken not, through anguish of spirit" ( Exod. vi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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. Hebrews p. 182. See his note on Job 30:38. The bold image of the cup of God’s wrath, often employed by the sacred writers, (see note 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. […]
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֛ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שִׁמְעִי־ | shimi- | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נָ֥א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| זֹ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| עֲנִיָּ֑ה | ʾaniyah | O afflicted [one] | H6041 → | 73 times |
| וּשְׁכֻרַ֖ת | ushekhurat | and O drunken [one] | H7937 → | 19 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִיָּֽיִן׃ ס | miyayin | from wine | H3196 → | 141 times |
לָכֵ֛ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
שִׁמְעִי־hear
shimi-H8085 →1159 times
נָ֥אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
זֹ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
עֲנִיָּ֑הO afflicted [one]
ʾaniyahH6041 →73 times
וּשְׁכֻרַ֖תand O drunken [one]
ushekhuratH7937 →19 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מִיָּֽיִן׃ סfrom wine
miyayinH3196 →141 times
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
Isaiah 54:11“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:4–6
As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
- Jeremiah 30:17
But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Acts 14:22
strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- Isaiah 54:6
For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
- 1 Chronicles 29:2
Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for…
- 1 Peter 2:4–6
Through
Isaiah 51:17Awake, 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…
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, 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.
- Revelation 14:10
he 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…
- Isaiah 52:1
Through
Isaiah 29:9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:21–22
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
- Isaiah 51:21–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Isaiah

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); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
