Commentary - Isaiah 51:17-23

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, Isaiah delivers a potent and visceral call to a Jerusalem that has been laid low by the judgment of God. The central metaphor is the cup of God's wrath, which the city has been forced to drink down to the last drop. The first section (vv. 17-20) details the horrific effects of this judgment: a drunken stupor, utter helplessness, complete abandonment, and the incapacitation of her people. Jerusalem is commanded to awaken, not to action, but to the full realization of her desolate condition.

Then, at the moment of absolute despair, the passage pivots dramatically (vv. 21-23). God Himself intervenes. He addresses His afflicted people, identifying their state as a drunkenness He induced. Then, as their covenant Lord and legal advocate, He declares that He is taking the cup of wrath away from them forever. But the cup is not simply discarded; in an act of perfect justice, it is handed over to Jerusalem's tormentors, those who reveled in her humiliation. The passage moves from the depths of deserved judgment to the heights of unmerited grace and vindication, providing a stark picture of the gospel logic.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This passage sits within the second major section of Isaiah (chapters 40-66), often called the "Book of Consolation." While the first part of Isaiah focuses heavily on the coming judgment for Judah's covenant unfaithfulness, this second part focuses on the restoration and comfort that will follow the exile. However, this comfort is not a cheap grace. Passages like this one make it clear that the comfort is offered to a people who have first been thoroughly humbled and disciplined by God's righteous anger.

The imagery of the cup of wrath connects to other prophetic warnings (e.g., Jer. 25:15-29) and finds its ultimate resonance in the New Testament. This section serves as a crucial hinge, reminding the exiles of the severity of the judgment they endured before turning to the glorious promise of its permanent removal.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

17 Awaken yourself! Awaken yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of His wrath; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

The command is sharp, a double imperative: "Awaken!" This is not a gentle word of comfort yet. It is a command to snap out of the stupor and take stock of the situation. Jerusalem is personified as a woman who has been knocked senseless. And by whom? Not fundamentally by Babylon, but "from the hand of Yahweh." God's sovereignty is asserted from the outset. This catastrophe was a divine sentence, a cup of judicial wrath administered by God Himself because of their sin. She did not just sip it; she drained it to the dregs. There was no drop of that judgment that she did not drink. The result is "reeling," a spiritual vertigo, a complete loss of stability and sense. This is the necessary first step: recognize the source and the totality of the judgment you are under.

18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne, Nor is there one to take hold of her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

Here is the fruit of this divine judgment: utter desolation and abandonment. All the resources she trusted in, represented by "all the sons she has borne," are useless. There is no political leader, no military strategist, no wise counselor who can lead her out of this mess. The covenant community has disintegrated. The bonds of family and society are broken. No one is there even to offer the simple stability of taking her by the hand. Sin atomizes. When a people drinks the cup of God's wrath, they are left utterly alone, with no human solution available.

19 These two things have befallen you; Who will console you? The devastation and destruction, famine and sword; How shall I comfort you?

The calamity is described in two pairs, emphasizing its comprehensive nature. "Devastation and destruction" speak of the external ruin of the city and the land. "Famine and sword" speak of the internal destruction of the people themselves. The rhetorical question "Who will console you?" has an obvious answer in this context: no one. The world has no comfort for those under God's judgment. Then God asks a question that is almost startling in its pathos: "How shall I comfort you?" This is not a question of inability, but of propriety. The judgment is so thorough, the sin so deep, that cheap comfort is impossible. The wound must be acknowledged before it can be healed. God is teaching His people that true comfort cannot begin until the reality of their condition is faced squarely.

20 Your sons have fainted; They lie helpless at the head of every street, Like an antelope in a net, Full of the wrath of Yahweh, The rebuke of your God.

The sons who could not guide their mother (v. 18) are now shown to be victims themselves. Their collapse is public and shameful, "at the head of every street." The simile is striking: "Like an antelope in a net." This is not a noble lion, but a creature of panic, thrashing about uselessly, only entangling itself further. This is what human strength looks like when it is caught in the net of divine judgment. And lest there be any mistake, the source is named again. They are not simply victims of geopolitics; they are "Full of the wrath of Yahweh, The rebuke of your God." The judgment is personal and covenantal. It is their God who is rebuking them.

21 Therefore, now, listen to this, you afflicted, Who are drunk, but not with wine:

Here is the turn. The "Therefore" signals a shift from diagnosis to prescription. Having laid out the grim reality, God now commands them to listen. He addresses them in their true condition: "you afflicted." He acknowledges their state of drunkenness, but clarifies its source. It is not from the vineyard, but from the cup of His wrath. They are in a divinely induced state of helplessness. And it is precisely into this state of helplessness that the word of grace now comes.

22 Thus says your Lord, Yahweh, even your God Who contends for His people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling, The chalice of My wrath; You will never drink it again.”

Everything hangs on who is speaking. It is "your Lord, Yahweh," the sovereign Master and the covenant-keeping God. More than that, He is "your God Who contends for His people." He is their advocate, their champion, their defense attorney. And what is the verdict He pronounces? "Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup." This is a unilateral, sovereign act of pure grace. He who gave the cup is the only one who can take it away. And the promise is absolute and eternal: "You will never drink it again." Why? Because this cup of God's wrath against His people would one day be handed to another. The Lord Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, would ask if this cup could pass from Him, but would ultimately drink it to its dregs on the cross, so that His people would never have to.

23 I will set it into the hand of those who cause you grief, Who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’ You have even set your back down like the ground And like the street for those who walk over it.”

God's justice is not abstract. The cup of wrath is not vaporized; it is transferred. It is given to Jerusalem's tormentors. The Babylonians were God's instrument of judgment, but they carried out their task with prideful cruelty and malice. They were not seeking to honor God; they were seeking to glorify themselves. Their arrogant command, "Lie down that we may walk over you," reveals their heart. They sought to utterly dominate and humiliate God's people. Jerusalem's submission was total; she became like the dirt on the street. God permitted this deep humiliation, but He did not ignore the sin of the oppressors. Now, they will be made to drink the very judgment they so delighted in administering. God will vindicate His people, and He will repay their enemies.

Key Words

The Cup of God's Wrath

This is a significant biblical metaphor for the execution of God's righteous judgment against sin. It appears in the Psalms (Ps. 75:8), the prophets (Jer. 25:15), and culminates in Revelation (Rev. 14:10). The cup contains the full measure of God's holy fury against rebellion. For Jerusalem, it meant temporal judgment in the exile. The ultimate expression of this concept is found in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ speaks of the cup He must drink (Matt. 26:39). He drank the cup of eternal wrath so that all who are in Him are delivered from it forever.

Reeling

The Hebrew word conveys the idea of staggering, shaking, or trembling. It is the physical manifestation of being utterly overwhelmed and disoriented. This is what God's judgment does. It removes all human confidence, stability, and ability to navigate. It is a spiritual vertigo that leaves a person or a nation completely helpless, which is the necessary precursor to a complete reliance on God for deliverance.

Who Contends for His People

The Hebrew word for "contends" (rib) is a legal term. It refers to pleading a case in court. God is not just a king; He is also the advocate and defender of His people. When they are accused and have no defense, He steps in to plead their case. Here, He pleads their case against their oppressors. In the court of heaven, Christ is our ultimate advocate (1 John 2:1), who pleads His own blood on our behalf.

Application

The logic of this passage is the logic of the gospel. First, we must be awakened to the reality of our sin and its consequences. We, like Jerusalem, have drunk from a cup of rebellion and are in a state of spiritual stupor, helpless and unable to save ourselves. We must not try to comfort ourselves with cheap grace before we have acknowledged the depth of our predicament.

Second, our hope is not found in our own sons, our own resources, or our own strength. Our hope is found only in a word from outside ourselves, a declaration from our sovereign God. We must stop our frantic thrashing, like an antelope in a net, and listen to what God has said.

And what He has said is this: the cup of wrath has been taken away. For the believer in Jesus Christ, the sentence has been served. The Lord Jesus saw that cup in the Garden, filled with the undiluted wrath of God that we deserved, and He drank all of it. He drank it to the dregs. Because He did, God says to us, "You will never drink it again." This is the heart of our assurance. Our salvation is not tentative. The cup has been removed from our hand, permanently. Therefore, we can stand, not in a drunken reel, but in the settled peace of those whose Advocate has won their case.