John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 5:22

"Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink;" — Isaiah 5:22 (ASV)

Wo to them that are mighty to drink wine! Isaiah now censures another vice, namely, drunkenness and excess in eating, of which he had spoken before. It is probable, therefore, that this chapter is collected from various sermons, and only the leading topics are briefly touched. For when the Prophet saw no repentance, he was forced to repeat and frequently instill the same instructions. He therefore returns to the same reproofs which he had previously addressed, for he again discusses drunkenness, luxury, covetousness, and other corruptions.

From this we should conclude that when warnings produce no good effect, we should employ greater earnestness in addressing the obstinate and disobedient. We must not be afraid of causing offense by our eagerness, but must frequently repeat the reproofs until they either yield or manifest incurable malice.

By calling them strong or powerful to drink, he wittily accuses them of wasting their strength in bacchanalian warfare. It is a disgraceful and beastly ambition when a man of vigorous health makes a display of his strength by drinking heavily.

Employing a figure of speech (synecdoche) which is common in the Prophets, and indeed in the whole of Scripture, he takes a part for the whole, as if he had said, “Woe to gluttony; Woe to intemperance.” But he purposely mentioned that which was disgraceful in the highest degree, in order to make that vice generally hated and abhorred.

For, as we have said, nothing is more base or disgraceful than for a man to test his strength in swallowing food or in guzzling wine, thus struggling with himself to cram down as much as his belly can hold. Such men follow no rule of life and do not know why God gives them nourishment.

We eat and drink to support the body, not to destroy it. We live so that we may offer worship and obedience to God, and so that we may give assistance to our neighbors. When men act not to maintain their strength, but to destroy it by testing how much food and wine they can bear, they are most certainly worse than beasts.