Isaiah 5:18

Isaiah 5:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
• New International Version (NIV)Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
• English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;

Context of Isaiah 5:18

16But the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. 17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy. Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; 19Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!” 20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:18 word by word

ה֛וֹי מֹשְׁכֵ֥י הֶֽעָוֹ֖ן בְּחַבְלֵ֣י הַשָּׁ֑וְא וְכַעֲב֥וֹת הָעֲגָלָ֖ה חַטָּאָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
• to those who dragמָשַׁךְmâshak · to drawH4900
• iniquityעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
• with the cordsחֶ֫בֶלchebel chêbel · cordH2256
• falsehoodשָׁוְאshâv' shav · vanity: falseH7723
• And sinחַטָּאָהchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403
• as if with cartעֲגָלָה‛ăgâlâh · cartH5699
• ropesעֲבֹת‛ăbôth ‛ăbôth ‛ăbôthâh · cordH5688

Cross-references for Isaiah 5:18

• Isaiah 28:15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
• Judges 17:5And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest.
• 2 Samuel 16:20Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your advice. What shall we do?”
• Psalms 10:11He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
• Psalms 14:1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.
• Psalms 36:2For it flatters him in his own eyes Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
• Psalms 94:5They crush Your people, O Lord, And afflict Your heritage.
• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?
• Jeremiah 8:5Why then has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return.
• Jeremiah 23:10For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil And their might is not right.
• Jeremiah 28:15Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.
• Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,
• Ezekiel 13:10It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;
• Zephaniah 1:12It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good or evil!’
• John 16:2They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
• Acts 26:9“So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Commentaries on Isaiah 5:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18With a cart-rope "As a long cable" - The Septuagint, Aquila, Sym., and Theod., for בחבלי bechabley, read כחבלי kechahley, ̔ ͅ, or ; and the Septuagint, instead of שוא shau, read some other word signifying long; ̔ ͅ ͅ ; 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Wo unto them … - This is a new denunciation. It introduces another form of sin, and threatens its appropriate punishment. That draw iniquity with cords of vanity - The general idea in this verse and the next, is, doubtless, that of plunging deeper and deeper into sin. The word “sin” here, has been sometimes supposed to mean “the punishment” for sin. The word has that meaning sometimes, but it seems here to be taken in its usual sense. The word “cords”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-23Verses 8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18God's ropes were "cords of kindness, with ropes of love" for Israel (Hosea 11:4).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Third Woe--against obstinate perseverance in sin, as if they wished to provoke divine judgments. iniquity--guilt, incurring punishment [Maurer]. cords, &c.--cart-rope--Rabbins say, "An evil inclination is at first like a fine hair-string, but the finishing like a cart-rope." The antithesis is between the slender cords of sophistry, like the spider's web (Is 59:5; Job 8:14), with which one sin draws on another, until they at last bind themselves with…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 5:18

• Backsliders
• Infidelity
• Isaiah
• Presumption
• Scoffing
• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Cart
• Cast
• Cord
• Cry
• Dry
• Ensign
• Join
• Lay
• Mighty
• Regard

Commentaries on Isaiah 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings