Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink,
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
- KJV Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
- NKJV Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
- NASB Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink,
- NLT What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A woe falls on those who pride themselves as champions at drinking and mixing strong drink. It mocks a society that boasts in indulgence rather than righteousness.
Overview
Calling drunkards 'mighty' and 'champions' bitterly satirizes a culture that celebrates what should shame it. This excess is not merely personal vice but, as the next verse shows, fuels the corruption of justice. The woe ties self-indulgence to the perversion of the courts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 5:11Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- Hab 2:15Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
- Isa 28:7These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.
- Isa 56:12“Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
- Prov 23:19–20Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.
- Isa 28:1–3Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 5:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.