The Divine Lamp

Isaiah 5:8-25 is the second section of a broader literary unit which may be divided into three units as follows: (1) The Song or Parable of the Vineyard, verses 1-7; (2) woes condemning social injustice, verses 8-25; (3) the consequences of Judah’s complacency and sin, verses 26-30. Due to time constraints I decided to post the current section in two parts; the previous part, consisting of verses 8-17 can be read HERE. Today we will examine verse 18-25 and, briefly, 26-30

5:18 Woe upon those who drag along iniquity with cords of vanity, and (drag along) sin as if with a cart rope;
5:19 that say, “Let him (God) make speed and hasten to his work, so we can see it; let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw close and come about, that we may know it!”  (Unless otherwise noted, translations are mine)
Some scholars suggest that “cords of vanity” ought to read “bullock ropes,” since the Hebrew words for vanity and bullock are very nearly identical. “Bullock ropes,” so the argument goes, would better parallel “cart ropes” in the second part of the verse. This however ignores the use of “as if” to introduce the image of the cart rope. Cords of vanity makes good sense to me. Their pride and arrogance (”vanity”) is what has fastened iniquity to them. Notice the parallel and the use of “as if” in the second part:

Iniquity with cords of vanity
sin as if with cart ropes.

Verse 19 shows that the people being described are not merely unbelieving, but mocking as well. In fact, the words of vs. 19 remind me of the taunt Our Blessed Lord endured on the cross:

Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, cb(15,30); 15:30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” Likewise, also the chief priests mocking among themselves with the scribes said, “He saved others. He can’t save himself. cb(15,32); 15:32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him.” Those who were crucified with him insulted him. (Mark 15:29-32 WEB Bible)

5:20 Woe upon those who call evil good, and good evil; that declare the darkness to be light, and the light to be darkness; who turn that which is bitter into sweetness, and sweetness into something bitter.

Verse 18 had condemned those who were attached to “iniquity,”-‘avon in Hebrew; a word which has the basic meaning of “to bend backward.” To declare something which is good to be evil, or, conversely, to call something evil, which is good, is a distortion or perversion which God cannot stand. It is moral perversion at its worst. Just such a thing seems to be behind the Prophet Amos’ first woe int 5:7 of his book: “Woe upon those who turn justice into wormwood…” and behind his exhortation to “seek good and not evil…hate evil and love good…” (5:14-15)

5:21 Woe upon those who are wise men in their own eyes, and discerning in their own sight.

Self-deceit born of self-conceit is here condemned. The word used here for wise men is chakam, which can refer to one who gives counsel. These were among the class of leaders God said he would restore to the people if they repented (1:26), but of course, these would be true wise men, rather than the delusional “wise men” condemned here. No doubt these conceited wise men (one could say, men of counsel), who are so wise in their own sight, were the ones in verse 19 who mockingly called for God’s work to be seen, and his purpose (counsel, wise plan) to be made known. (see Prov 3:7; Rom 11:25 and 12:16)

5:22 Woe upon those who are strong men when it comes to drinking wine, and are valiant when it comes to mixing strong drink;
5:23 who for a bribe declare the wicked man just and the righteous man unrighteous.

Heroes in their drinking abilities but moral cowards when it comes to doing the right thing. Verse 23 reminds one of the condemnation earlier upon those who declare good to be evil, and evil to be good (see vs. 20).

5:24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire consumes the stubble, and the dry grass withers in the flame, so their root will become rotted, and their blossoms shall be gone like dust upon the wind; because they have forsaken the law of the Lord of Hosts, scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
5:25 Therefore, the wrath of the Lord burns against his people, his hand is outstretched against them, and he strikes them down. The mountains trembled, their bodies fell like garbage in the street. Yet, in spite of all this, his wrath is not turned back, and his arm is still outstretched.

In spite of all the punishment they have received (see 1:5-9), they are still rebellious and in need of further punishment.

Read 5:26-30 by clicking here.

The impending punishment is now announced.  In keeping with the covenant curses laid down in Deuteronomy 28:49-57, some of which we looked at in the notes on chapter 1, the prophet announces a military invasion.  This is almost certainly a reference to the Assyrian invasion which we spoke of in our post on chapter 1:2-9.  Assyria was the first real military empire in history and, not without reason, is it often compared to the Nazi empire for the speed of its army and its brutality in war:

 Assyria was a military kingdom which, like the Northern Kingdom of Israel, had established itself by a successful revolt from Babylonia. In contradistinction to Babylonia, which was a theocratic state, the king being subordinate to the priest, the Assyrian king was supreme. Whereas in Babylonia the temple was the chief public building, in Assyria the royal palace dominated everything, the temple being merely a royal chapel attached to the palace. The king, in fact, was the commander of an aromy, and this aromy was the Assyrian people. How far the whole male population was liable to conscription is still uncertain; but the fact that the wars of Assur-bani-pal so exhausted the fighting strength of the nation as to render it unable to resist the invaders from the North shows that the majority of the males must have been soldiers. Hence the constant wars partly to occupy the aromy and prevent revolts, partly for the sake of booty with which to pay it. Hence too, the military revolutions, which, as in the kingdom of Israel, resulted in changes of dynasty and the seizure of the throne by successful generals. The turtannu or commander-in-chief, who took the place of the king when the latter was unable or unwilling to lead his forces, ranked next to the sovereign. From the reign of Tiglath-pileser IV onward, however, the autocracy was tempered by a centralized bureaucracy, and in the provinces a civil governor was appointed by the side of the military commander. Among the high officials at court were the rab-saki or “vizier,” and the rab-sa-risi or “controller,” the rabhcaric (RAB-SARIS (which see)) of the Old Testament.

The aromy consisted of cavalry, infantry, bowmen and slingers, as well as of a corps of charioteers. After the rise of the Second Empire the cavalry were increased at the expense of the chariotry, and were provided with saddles and boots, while the unaromed groom who had run by the side of the horse became a mounted archer. Sennacherib further clothed the horseman in a coat of mail. The infantry were about ten times as Numerous as the calvary, and under Sargon were divided into bowmen and spearomen, the bowmen again being subdivided into heavy-aromed and light-aromed, the latter being apparently of foreign origin. Sennacherib introduced a corps of slingers, clad in helmet and cuirass, leather drawers and boots. He also deprived the heavy-aromed bowmen of the long robes they used to wear, and established a body of pioneers with double-headed axes, helmets and buskins. Shields were also worn by all classes of soldiers, and the aromy carried with it standards, tents, battering-rams and baggage-carts. The royal sleeping-tent was accompanied by tents for cooking and dining. No pains, in fact, were spared to make the aromy both in equipment and discipline an irresistible engine of war. The terror it excited in western Asia is therefore easily intelligible (Is 10,5-14 Nah Is 2,11-13 Is 3,1-4). -excerpted from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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