John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 5:11

"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!" — Isaiah 5:11 (ASV)

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink. The Prophet does not aim at an enumeration of all the vices which then prevailed, but only points out some particular kinds of them, to which they were particularly addicted. After having handled the general doctrine, he found it necessary to come to particular vices, and the enumeration of these was more urgently needed, for there would have been no end to going through them all one by one.

Having reproved covetousness, he now attacks drunkenness, which undoubtedly was also a prevailing vice. This is because the kinds of vices he selects are not those found in only one person or another, but those which universally prevailed. Indeed, these vices are of a kind that infects the whole body by their contagion.

To rise early means to be earnestly employed in doing anything, as when Solomon says:

Woe to the nation whose princes eat in the morning,
(Ecclesiastes 10:16)

That is, their chief care is to fill their belly and enjoy delicacies. This is contrary to the order of nature, for man, as David says:

rises so that he may go to his work, and may be engaged in business until the evening. (Psalms 104:23)

Now, if a man lays aside his labors, and rises to partake of luxuries and to follow drunkenness, this is monstrous. The Prophet adds—

And who continue until night. This means that from the dawn of the morning to the twilight of the evening they continue their drunken carousals and are never weary of drinking. Abundance and luxury are closely joined together, for when men enjoy abundance, they become luxurious and abuse it by intemperance.