John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 5:18

"Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope;" — Isaiah 5:18 (ASV)

Woe to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity! After inserting a short consolation to lessen the bitterness of punishments concerning the godly, he returns to threats, and proceeds to launch those thunderbolts of words which are suited to awaken some degree of alarm.

By cords he means nothing else than the allurements by which men allow themselves to be deceived and harden their hearts in crimes; for they either ridicule the judgment of God, or they contrive vain excuses and plead necessity. Any concealment, therefore, which they employ, he calls cords. For whenever men are prompted to sin by the lust of the flesh, they initially pause and feel an inner check. This check would certainly hold them back if they did not rush forward with opposing force and break through all resistance.

When any man is tempted to do what is sinful, his conscience secretly asks him, "What are you doing?" And sin never advances so freely as not to feel this check; for God intended in this manner to provide for the good of mankind, lest all break out into unbridled licentiousness.

How is it, then, that men are so obstinate in doing what is sinful? Surely they allow themselves to be deceived by allurements and stupefy their minds, so that they despise the judgment of God and thus have some freedom to commit sin. They flatter themselves by imagining that what is sin is not sin, or by some excuse or idle pretense they lessen its enormity. These, then, are cords, wicked ropes, by which they draw iniquity. Thus, it is evident that the Lord has good reason for threatening them, for they sin not only willingly, but perversely and obstinately; in short, they bind themselves to sin, so that they are without excuse.