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 peculiarly addicted. After having handled the general doctrine, he found it necessary to come to particular vices; and the enumeration of those was more urgently needed, for there would have been no end of going through them all one by one. Having reproved covetousness, he now attacks drunkenness, which undoubtedly was also a prevailing vice; for the kinds of vices which he selects are not those which were found in one person or another, but those which universally prevailed; and indeed the vices are of such a kind as infect 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, whose chief care is to fill their belly and enjoy delicacies. This is contrary to the order of nature; for man, as David says, "riseth that he may go to his work, and may be engaged in business till the evening." (Psalms 104:23.) Now, if he lay aside his labors, and rise to partake of luxuries, and to follow drunkenness, this is monstrous. He adds -- And who continue till night. The meaning is, 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.

Wo unto them - The prophet, having denounced "avarice," proceeds now to another vice - that of "intemperance, or dissipation."
That rise up early - That rise "for this purpose," when nothing else would rouse them. It may illustrate this somewhat, to remark, that it was not common among the ancients to become intoxicated at an early hour of the day; see the note at Acts 2:15; compare 1-Thessalonians 5:7. It indicated then, as it does now, a confirmed and habitual state of intemperance when a man would do this early in the morning. 'The Persians, when they commit a debauch, arise betimes, and esteem the morning as the best time for beginning to drink wine, by which means they carry on their excess until night.' - "Morier."
That they may follow strong drink - - שׁכר shêkār, or sichar. This word is derived from a verb signifying to drink, to become intoxicated. All nations have found out some intoxicating drink. That which was used by the Hebrews was made from grain, fruit, honey, dates, etc., prepared by fermentation. The word sometimes means the same as wine Numbers 28:7, but more commonly it refers to a stronger drink, and is distinguished from it, as in the common phrase, 'wine and strong drink;' Leviticus 10:9; Numbers 6:3; Judges 13:4, Judges 13:7. Sometimes it may be used for "spiced wine" - a mixture of wine with spices, that would also speedily produce intoxication. The Chaldee renders the words עתיק חמר chămar ‛atı̂yq, 'old fermented liquor;' denoting the "mode" in which strong drink was usually prepared. It may be remarked here, that whatever may be the "form" in which intoxicating drink is prepared, it is substantially the same in all nations. Intoxication is caused by "alcohol," and that is produced by fermentation. It is never created or increased by distillation. The only effect of distillation is, to collect and preserve the alcohol which existed in the beer, the wine, or the cider. Consequently, the same substance produces intoxication when wine is drank, which does when brandy is drank; the same in cider or other fermented liquor, as in ardent spirits.
That continue until night - That drink all day. This shows that the "strong drink" intended here, did not produce "sudden," intoxication. This is an exact description of what occurs constantly in oriental nations. The custom of sitting long at the wine, when they have the means of indulgence, prevails everywhere. D'Ar-vieux says, that while he was staying among the Arabs on mount Carmel, a wreck took place on the coast, from which one of the emirs obtained two large casks of wine. He immediately sent to the neighboring emirs, inviting them to come and drink it. They gladly came, and continued drinking for two days and two nights, until not a drop of the wine was left. In like manner, Tavernier relates that the king of Persia sent for him early one morning to the palace, when, with other persons, he was obliged to sit all the day, and late at night, drinking wine with the shah; but at last, 'the king growing sleepy, gave us leave to depart, which we did very willingly, having had hard labor for seventeen hours together.'
Inflame them - Excite them; or stimulate them. We have the same phrase - denoting the "burning" tendency of strong drink. The American Indians appropriately call "fire-water."

Wo unto them that rise up early - There is a likeness between this and the following passage of the prophet Amos, Amos 6:3-6, who probably wrote before Isaiah. If the latter be the copier, he seems hardly to have equalled the elegance of the original: -
"Ye that put far away the evil day
And affect the seat of violence;
Who lie upon beds of ivory,
And stretch yourselves upon your couches;
And eat the lambs from the flock,
And calves from the midst of the stall;
Who chant to the sound of the viol,
And like David invent for yourselves instruments of music;
Who quaff wine in large bowls,
And are anointed with the choicest ointments:
But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph."
Kimchi says, "they consider not the heavens nor their hosts: they pray not the morning nor the evening prayer unto the Lord."
Follow strong drink - Theodoret and Chrysostom on this place, both Syrians, and unexceptionable witnesses in what belongs to their own country, inform us that שכר shechar (σικερα in the Greek of both Testaments, rendered by us by the general term strong drink) meant properly palm wine, or date wine, which was and is still much in use in the Eastern countries. Judea was famous for the abundance and excellence of its palm trees; and consequently had plenty of this wine. "Fiunt (vina) et e pomis; primumque e palmis, quo Parthi et Indi utun tur, et oriens totus: maturarum modio in aquae congiis tribus macerato expressoque." Plin. lib. 14:19. "Ab his cariotae [palmae] maxime celebrantur; et cibo quidem, sed et succo, uberrimae. Ex quibus praecipua vina orienti; iniqua capiti, unde porno nomen." Id. 13:9. Καρος signifies stupefaction: and in Hebrew likewise the wine has its name from its remarkably inebriating quality.

Woe to them that (p) rise early in the morning, [that] they may follow strong drink; that continue until (q) night, [till] wine inflames them!
(p) Who spare no pain nor diligence to follow their lusts.
(q) Who are never weary of their rioting and excessive pleasures but use all means to provoke to the same.

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,.... To rise up early in the morning is healthful, and to rise to do business is commendable; but to spend the day in drunkenness and intemperance is very criminal, which is here meant:
that they may follow, strong drink; not only drink it, but follow on to drink; diligently seek after it, where the best is to be had; go from house to house till they have found it; closely follow the drinking of it, till inebriated with it:
that continue until night; at their pots, with their drinking companions, even all the day till night comes, the twilight either of the evening or of the morning:
till wine inflame them; their bodies with heat, and their souls with lust.

Second Woe--against intemperance.
early--when it was regarded especially shameful to drink (Acts 2:15; 1-Thessalonians 5:7). Banquets for revelry began earlier than usual (Ecclesiastes 10:16-17).
strong drink--Hebrew, sichar, implying intoxication.
continue--drinking all day till evening.

The second woe, for which the curse about to fall upon vinedressing (Isaiah 5:10) prepared the way by the simple association of ideas, is directed against the debauchees, who in their carnal security carried on their excesses even in the daylight. "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to run after strong drink; who continue till late at night with wine inflaming them!" Boker (from bâkar, bakara, to slit, to tear up, or split) is the break of day; and nesheph (from nâshaph, to blow) the cool of the evening, including the night (Isaiah 21:4; Isaiah 59:10); 'ichr, to continue till late, as in Proverbs 23:30 : the construct state before words with a preposition, as in Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 28:9, and many other passages (Ges. 116, 1). Shēcâr, in connection with yayin, is the general name for every other kind of strong drink, more especially for wines made artificially from fruit, honey, raisins, dates, etc., including barley-wine (οἶνος κρίθινος) or beer (ἐκ κριθῶν μέθυ in Aeschylus, also called βρῦτον βρυτόν ζῦθος ζύθος, and by many other names), a beverage known in Egypt, which was half a wine country and half a beer country, from as far back as the time of the Pharaohs. The form shēcâr is composed, like ענב (with the fore-tone tsere), from shâcar, to intoxicate; according to the Arabic, literally to close by stopping up, i.e., to stupefy.
(Note: It is a question, therefore, whether the name of sugar is related to it or not. The Arabic sakar corresponds to the Hebrew shecâr; but sugar is called sukkar, Pers. 'sakkar, 'sakar, no doubt equivalent to σἀκχαρι (Arrian in Periplus, μἐλι τὸ καλἀμινον τὸ λεγὀμενου σἀκχαρι), saccharum, an Indian word, which is pronounced Carkarâ in Sanscrit and sakkara in Prakrit, and signifies "forming broken pieces," i.e., sugar in grains or small lumps (brown sugar). The art of boiling sugar from the cane was an Indian invention (see Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, i. 269ff.). The early Egyptian name for beer is hek (Brugsch, Recueil, p. 118); the demotic and hieratic name henk, the Coptic henke. The word ζῦθος ζὐθος) is also old Egyptian. In the Book of the Dead (79, 8) the deceased says, "I have taken sacrificial cakes from the table, I have drunk seth-t in the evening." Moses Stuart wrote an Essay upon the Wines and Strong Drinks of the Ancient Hebrews, which was published in London (1831), with a preface by J. Pye Smith.)
The clauses after the two participles are circumstantial clauses (Ewald, 341, b), indicating the circumstances under which they ran out so early, and sat till long after dark: they hunted after mead, they heated themselves with wine, namely, to drown the consciousness of their deeds of darkness.