Isaiah 51:21

21 So listen to me, you suffering people of Jerusalem. You have been made drunk, but not by drinking wine.

Isaiah 51:21 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:21

Therefore 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, ( Revelation 17:2 ) ( 18:3 ) but, as the Targum expresses it, with tribulation; with afflictions at the hand of God, and persecutions from men.

Isaiah 51:21 In-Context

19 Nothing but trouble has come to you. You have been wiped out and destroyed. And you have suffered hunger and war. No one feels sorry for you. No one can comfort you.

20 Your children have fainted. They lie helpless at every street corner. They are like antelope that have been caught in a net. They have felt the full force of the LORD's burning anger. Jerusalem, your God had to warn them strongly.

21 So listen to me, you suffering people of Jerusalem. You have been made drunk, but not by drinking wine.

22 Your LORD and King speaks. He is your God. He stands up for his people. He says, "I have taken from you the cup of my burning anger. It made you unsteady on your feet. But you will never drink from that cup again.

23 Instead, I will give it to those who made you suffer. They said to you, 'Fall down flat on the ground. Then we can walk all over you.' And that is exactly what you did. You made your back like a street to be walked on."