Isaiah 5:18

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity,.... The prophet returns to the wicked again, and goes on with the account of their sin and punishment; and here describes such, not that are

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: Woe unto them that draw iniquity - guilt, incurring punishment.

That draw iniquity; that are not only drawn to sin by the allurements of the world, or by the persuasions of wicked men, being surprised and overtaken by sin, as sometimes good men are, , but are active and industrious in drawing sin to themselves, or themselves to sin; that greedily and steadily pursue sill, and the occasions of it, and are not at rest till they have overtaken it; that sin wilfully, and resolvedly, and industriously. With cords of vanity; or, with cords of lying, as the last word frequently signifies, i.e. with vain and deceitful arguments and pretences, whereby sinners generally draw themselves to sin; among which, one follows in the next verse, to wit, the impunity which they promise to themselves. Or these cords may note the means which they use to accomplish that iniquity which they have devised. With a cart rope; with all their might, as beasts commonly do that draw carts with ropes.

Isaiah 5:18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:Ver. 18. Woe unto them that draw iniquity.] That draw sin to them, as a beast draweth a cart after it. Here the prophet reproveth and threateneth such, saith an interpreter, as sin without any strong temptation or occasion drawing them thereunto; yea, they draw sin to themselves as with ropes, et quodammodo velut invitum et repugnans cogunt, not remembering that sin haleth hell at the heels of it. Let such get from under sin’ s cart as soon as they can, otherwise they shall be "holden with the cords (punishments) of their iniquity; they shall die without instruction," &c. The devils, as they sinned without a tempter, so they perish without a Saviour. Cavete. Beware! Nihil agitantes nisi malum omni studio suo. - Jun. Qui data opera peccant. - Scultet,

(18) That draw iniquity with cords of vanity.—The phrase is boldly figurative. Evil-doers are thought of as harnessing themselves as to the chariot of sin. The “cords of vanity”—i.e., of emptiness or ungodliness—are the habits by which they are thus bound. The “cart ropes,” thicker and stronger than the “cords,” represent the extreme stage, when such habits become irresistibly dominant. Probably the words may point to some idolatrous procession, in which the chariot of Baal or Ashtaroth was thus drawn by their worshippers, like that of Demêter or Cybele in Greece, or Juggernâth in India.

Verse 18. With a cart-rope - "As a long cable"] The Septuagint, Aquila, Sym., and Theod., for בחבלי bechabley, read כחבלי kechahley, ωςσχοινιω, or σχοινιοις; and the Septuagint, instead of שוא shau, read some other word signifying long; ωςσχοινιωμακρω; and so likewise the Syriac, אריכא arecha. Houbigant conjectures that the word which the Septuagint had in their copies was שרוע sarua, which is used Leviticus 21:18; Leviticus 22:23, for something in an animal body superfluous, lengthened beyond its natural measure. And he explains it of sin added to sin, and one sin drawing on another, till the whole comes to an enormous length and magnitude; compared to the work of a rope-maker still increasing and lengthening his rope, with the continued addition of new materials. "Eos propheta similes facit homini restiario, qui funem torquet, cannabe addita et contorta, eadem iterans, donec funem in longum duxerit, neque eum liceat protrahi longius." "An evil inclination," says Kimchi on this place, from the ancient rabbins, "is at the beginning like a fine hair-string, but at the finishing like a thick cart-rope." By a long progression in iniquity, and a continued accumulation of sin, men arrive at length to the highest degree of wickedness; bidding open defiance to God, and scoffing at his threatened judgments, as it is finely expressed in the next verse. The Chaldee paraphrast explains it in the same manner, of wickedness increasing from small beginnings, till it arrives to a great magnitude. - L. I believe neither the rabbins nor Bishop Lowth have hit on the true meaning of this place, the prophet seems to refer to idol sacrifices. The victims they offered were splendidly decked out for the sacrifice. Their horns and hoofs were often gilded, and their heads dressed out with fillets and garlands. The cords of vanity may refer to the silken strings by which they were led to the altar, some of which were unusually thick. The offering for iniquity was adorned with fillets and garlands; the sin-offering with silken cords, like unto cart-ropes. Pride, in their acts of humiliation, had the upper hand.

8–24. Denunciation of the Social Evils which call down God’s Judgment on the NationThe indictment contains six counts, each introduced by the word “Woe,” and is addressed exclusively to the upper classes, although the punishment of their sin falls on the nation as a whole. The prophet sets before us a vivid picture of a debased aristocracy, in whom public virtue has been eaten out by avarice and sensuality; and he traces with remarkable insight the effect of these sins in the religious insensibility and perversion of the moral sentiments which characterised the nobles of Judah at this time.

Wo unto them ... - This is a new denunciation. It introduces another form of sin, and threatens its appropriate punishment.

18. Draw iniquity — [The truly muscular sinners, who put their pluck and power into the business of sin: so that they are like very stout pullers who draw the greatest cartloads with the strongest of ropes.