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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJohn Calvin Complete Commentary - Isaiah 5:11 - 5:11
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11.Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink The Prophet does not aim at an enumeration of all the vices which then prevailed, but only points out some particular kinds of them, to which they were peculiarly addicted. After having handled the general doctrine, he found it necessary to come to particular vices; and the enumeration of those was more urgently needed, for there would have been no end of going through them all one by one. Having reproved covetousness, he now attacks drunkenness, which undoubtedly was also a prevailing vice; for the kinds of vices which he selects are not those which were found in one person or another, but those which universally prevailed; and indeed the vices are of such a kind as infect the whole body by their contagion.
To rise early means to be earnestly employed in doing anything; as when Solomon says,
Woe to the nation whose princes eat in the morning,
(Ecc_10:16;)
that is, whose chief care is to fill their belly and enjoy delicacies. This is contrary to the order of nature; for man, as David says,
“ that he may go to his work, and may be engaged in business till the evening.” (Psa_104:23.)
Now, if he lay aside his labors, and rise to partake of luxuries, and to follow drunkenness, this is monstrous. He adds —
And who continue till night. The meaning is, that from the dawn of the morning to the twilight of the evening they continue their drunken carousals, and are never weary of drinking. Abundance and luxury are closely joined together; for when men enjoy abundance, they become luxurious, and abuse it by intemperance.