Bible Strands
Isaiah 51:21
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses Jerusalem, identified as an afflicted and drunken woman, immediately after describing her sons fainting in the streets from divine wrath. The declaration occurs as God prepares to remove the cup of staggering from her hand.
The words — שִׁמְעִי (shim‘î) means "hear" and עֲנִיָּה ('anîyyâ) means "afflicted one," directly naming the recipient's condition before the command to listen. וּ/שְׁכֻרַ֖ת (wəšəḵûrâ) translates to "and drunken," paired with מִ/יָּֽיִן (mîyayin) for "not from wine" to specify the cause of her stupor.
The thread — This paradoxical image of drunkenness without wine echoes Isaiah 29:9 and contrasts with the literal cup of God's fury in Isaiah 51:17 and 51:22. The title "afflicted one" also connects to the description of Jerusalem in Isaiah 54:11.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the people's paralysis stems from divine judgment rather than physical intoxication. It requires the reader to accept that God's rebuke has caused their helplessness before announcing His intervention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
- Isaiah 54:11 “O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.