Isaiah 51:17-23

The Cup of the LORD’s Wrath

17 Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORDthe cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.
18 Among all the children she bore there was none to guide her; among all the children she reared there was none to take her by the hand.
19 These double calamities have come upon you— who can comfort you?— ruin and destruction, famine and sword— who can[a] console you?
20 Your children have fainted; they lie at every street corner, like antelope caught in a net. They are filled with the wrath of the LORD, with the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, ‘Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.’ And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked on.”

Isaiah 51:17-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 51

This chapter gives the church and people of God reason to expect comfortable times and certain salvation, though they had many enemies. They are directed to look to Abraham and Sarah, signified by the rock and hole of the pit, and observe how he was called alone, blessed and increased; which should be improved as an argument to strengthen their faith, that God could and would bless and increase his church, though in a low estate, and bring it into a flourishing one, Isa 51:1-3. They are assured of the publication of the Gospel, expressed by the law, doctrine, and judgment of the Lord; by which means the righteousness and salvation of Christ should be brought nigh to them, as the object of their trust and confidence, Isa 51:4,5, and also of the perpetuity of his righteousness and salvation, when the heavens, and the earth, and the inhabitants of it, should decay, even their revilers and persecutors, and therefore they need not fear their reproaches and revilings, Isa 51:6-8, upon which follows a prayer of faith, that the Lord would exert his power as in former times, when he destroyed the Egyptians, and dried up the Red sea for Israel to pass through, the ransomed of the Lord; from whence it might be concluded, that the redeemed of the Lord would be brought into a very comfortable condition again, Isa 51:9-11 wherefore they had no reason to be afraid of men, since the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, would deliver, comfort, and establish them, of which he assured them by his prophet, Isa 51:12-16, and though Jerusalem and her sons were, or would be, in a very distressed condition, through the sword and famine, which is described, Isa 51:17-20, yet they should be delivered out of it, and their persecutors should be brought into the same, Isa 51:21-23.

Cross References 25

  • 1. S Judges 5:12; Isaiah 52:1
  • 2. S ver 22; S Psalms 16:5; S Matthew 20:22
  • 3. ver 20; Job 21:20; Isaiah 42:25; Isaiah 66:15; Revelation 14:10; Revelation 16:19
  • 4. S Psalms 75:8
  • 5. S ver 23; S Psalms 60:3
  • 6. Psalms 88:18
  • 7. S Job 31:18; S Isaiah 49:21
  • 8. S Isaiah 41:13
  • 9. S Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 47:9
  • 10. Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 54:11; Jeremiah 15:5; Nahum 3:7
  • 11. Isaiah 60:18; Isaiah 62:4; Jeremiah 48:3; Lamentations 3:47
  • 12. S Isaiah 14:30
  • 13. Jeremiah 14:12; Jeremiah 24:10
  • 14. Isaiah 5:25; Jeremiah 14:16; Lamentations 2:19
  • 15. S Job 18:10
  • 16. S ver 17; S Job 40:11; Jeremiah 44:6
  • 17. S Deuteronomy 28:20
  • 18. S Isaiah 14:32
  • 19. ver 17; S Isaiah 29:9
  • 20. S Isaiah 49:25
  • 21. S ver 17; Jeremiah 25:15; Jeremiah 51:7; Habakkuk 2:16; S Matthew 20:22
  • 22. Isaiah 14:4; Isaiah 49:26; Jer 25:15-17,26,28; Jeremiah 49:12
  • 23. ver 17; Zechariah 12:2
  • 24. S Joshua 10:24
  • 25. Psalms 66:12; Micah 7:10

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text "/ how can I"
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