Bible Commentary

Isaiah 51:17

Isaiah 51:17

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public Domain

Awake, awake (comp. and ). Isaiah marks the breaks in his prophecy, sometimes by a repetition of terminal clauses, which have the effect of a refrain (; , , ; ; and ; ); sometimes by a repetition of initial clauses of a striking character (, , ; ; ; ; ; ,; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , , ; , , , etc.

). Here we have thrice over "Awake, awake"—not, however, an exact repetition in the Hebrew, but a near approach to it each summons forming the commencement of a new paragraph or subsection. Which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury.

The cup of God's fury was poured out on Jerusalem when the city was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, the temple, the royal palace, and the houses of the nobles burnt (2 Kings 25:9), the walls broken down (2 Kings 25:10), and the bulk of the inhabitants carried away captive to Babylon.

"The cup of God's fury" is an expression used by Jeremiah (). The dregs of the cup; rather, perhaps, the goblet-cup (Cheyne), or the out-swollen cup. It is the fulness of the measure of Jerusalem's punishment, not its character, which is pointed at.

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