Isaiah 24:9 · Bible study
Isaiah 24:9 Commentary: Study: Joy Silenced, Wine Bitter in Judgment
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does judgment turn wine bitter and silence song? Commentators examine Isaiah 24:9: sin's cost, the loss of joy, and what it reveals about God's character.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The removal of joy and sweetness from daily life as part of God’s judgment on sin.
- Key words: yayin (wine), shekar (strong drink), marar (to be bitter), shir (song), shatah (to drink).
- Main debate: None significant; the verse’s meaning is clear across traditions, though some debate the tense (past or future) and whether the bitterness is physical or emotional.
- Theological theme: Sin’s consequence is the loss of joy; God’s judgment touches even good gifts when they are pursued apart from Him.
- Best use: Preaching on the consequences of sin, Lenten reflection, or teaching on the relationship between blessing and judgment.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.
WEB World English Bible 2000
They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.
KJV King James Version 1769
They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
With a song they drink not wine, Bitter is strong drink to those drinking it.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
No beberán vino con cantar: la bebida será amarga á los que la bebieren.
Não beberão vinho com canções; a bebida alcoólica será amarga aos que a beberem.
On ne boit plus de vin en chantant;
Man singt nicht mehr beim Weintrinken, und gutes Getränk ist bitter denen, die es trinken.
Zij zullen geen wijn drinken met gezang; de sterke drank zal bitter zijn dengenen, die hem drinken.
Non si beve più vino in mezzo ai canti, la bevanda alcoolica è amara ai bevitori.
Nie będą pić wina z śpiewaniem; gorzki będzie napój mocny pijącym go.
уже не пьют вина с песнями; горька сикера для пьющих ее.
人必不得 飲 酒 唱歌；喝 濃酒的，必以為苦。
There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 24:9
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators consistently interpret this verse as depicting the cessation of joy during divine judgment. Calvin notes that wine itself is not evil, but its abuse through drunkenness and revelry leads God to withdraw pleasure even from legitimate gifts. Barnes and Gill point out that in ancient feasts, drinking wine was typically accompanied by songs, a sign of celebration. The judgment removes both: songs are silenced and wine becomes bitter. Matthew Henry places this in a “very dark and melancholy scene” where every source of gladness is gone. Wesley adds that bitterness comes from “the fears and miseries” mixed into the drink. The picture is of a world under curse, where even God’s good gifts lose their savour because of human sin.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God’s judgment removes the joy of wine and song, demonstrating that sin leads to the loss of even legitimate pleasures that are abused or enjoyed apart from the Giver.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Tense of the verbs | The verse describes a scene of judgment where wine and song are absent or bitter. | Some commentators prefer a present-tense rendering (Cambridge Bible), others treat it as a future prophecy. Both readings fit the context of judgment. |
| Nature of the bitterness | The wine becomes unpleasant, mixed with sorrow and calamity. | Whether this is a physical bitterness (spoiled wine) or an emotional bitterness (grief making the drink taste bitter), both are supported by commentators (Barnes, Gill, Wesley). |
| Scope of the judgment | This is part of God’s judgment for covenant breaking. | Some see it as a vision of worldwide, universal judgment (Keil & Delitzsch, Matthew Henry), while others treat it as a type for judgment that could apply locally to Israel, but also extends to all who sin. |
| Identity of the drinkers | Those who suffer the bitterness are part of the general population under judgment. | Calvin and Gill focus on drunkards who abused wine; the immediate context (vv. 4-6) suggests the judgment falls on all inhabitants, not only the vicious. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 24 opens a vision of worldwide judgment. The earth is polluted because its inhabitants “transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant” (v.5). The curse devours, the vine languishes, and all joy darkens (vv.6, 11). Into this collapse comes verse 9. Wine and song were inseparable in Israelite celebrations. Feasts, weddings, and harvest festivals were filled with singing, stringed instruments, and wine, gifts expressing God’s goodness. The Hebrew yayin (wine) and shir (song) belong together.
The second term, shekar (“strong drink”), could refer to date wine or palm wine, a stronger beverage (Clarke). The bitterness described is not simply spoiled taste but the emotional and physical result of living under siege, disease, and loss. Barnes observes that national calamities rob the drink of its usual pleasure. Gill adds that bodily suffering or grief over the nation’s ruin makes the wine bitter.
The verse shows judgment inverting creation’s patterns. Where wine once gladdened the heart, it now causes a bitter reaction. Where songs once accompanied drinking, now there is silence. The punishment fits the crime: those who sought joy in excess, ignoring God, find that joy itself disappears.
Textual Notes
The consulted commentators do not note any significant textual variants for Isaiah 24:9. The verse is consistent across the Hebrew manuscripts and the ancient versions. No textual difficulty affects interpretation.
Reception History
Throughout church history, this verse has been read as a pungent image of sin’s cost. It has been used in penitential homilies, especially during seasons of reflection such as Lent, warning against misplaced trust in worldly pleasures. The image of wine turning bitter resonated with readers who saw it as a symbol of how sin sours God’s gifts. In Reformation tradition, Calvin used the verse to illustrate how judgment reaches even the common joys of life, not merely catastrophic events. The verse remains a vivid reminder that the curse announced in Genesis 3 extends its shadow over every corner of human experience.
Preaching This Verse
The verse strips away the mask of happiness that sin wears. Three points can guide a sermon.
Three-point outline
- Joy is a gift, not a right. Wine and song come from God. They are good, but they are not the source of goodness. When the Giver is ignored, the gift loses its taste.
- Sin brings a famine of joy. Even while wine remains available, the capacity to enjoy it is taken away. God’s judgment often works by letting created things fail to satisfy.
- Only the new creation restores lasting joy. The reversal of judgment begins with repentance, but its full healing awaits the day when sorrow and sighing flee away (Isaiah 35:10).
Five-point outline
- Wine and song in the Bible, gifts of celebration and community.
- The abuse of these gifts, drunkards who ignore God.
- God’s response, withdrawal of the blessing, making the gift itself a reminder of loss.
- The emotional weight, “bitter” as grief, fear, and regret.
- The gospel reversal, Christ turns water into wine at Cana; at the wedding supper of the Lamb, joy will be full.
Illustration hooks
- A favourite meal that tastes like ash when you are grieving. The food hasn’t changed, but your heart has.
- A party where the music suddenly stops because of bad news. The room goes silent, the joy evaporates.
- Someone drinking to forget, but the alcohol only deepens the emptiness. The very thing meant to help becomes bitter.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God let good things turn sour in my life?
- Is it wrong to enjoy wine, music, or celebration?
- How can I tell if I am trusting God or trusting his gifts?
Leading a Discussion
This verse shows a sobering reality: sin has consequences that reach even our capacity to enjoy good gifts. As you read Isaiah 24:9 together, let the stillness of the verse sink in. There is no music, no taste, only emptiness.
Discussion questions
- What does the verse actually describe? Put it in your own words.
- Why do you think wine and song are mentioned together? What do they represent in everyday life?
- Read the surrounding verses (Isaiah 24:5, 8, 10, 13). What has caused this desolation?
- Calvin says wine is not evil, but its abuse leads to God removing the enjoyment. How does that help you understand God’s heart in judgment?
- Have you ever experienced a time when a legitimate pleasure felt hollow or bitter? What contributed to that feeling?
- What does this passage teach about the connection between sin and loss of joy? What does it teach about God’s character?
- How does the gospel promise of future joy (see Isaiah 25:6, 9, Revelation 21:1, 4) speak into the picture in this verse?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 69:12 | Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards. |
| Ecclesiastes 9:7 | Go your way—eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. |
| Isaiah 5:11 | Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them! |
| Isaiah 5:12 | The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh, neither have they considered the operation of his hands. |
| Isaiah 5:20 | Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! |
| Isaiah 5:22 | Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink; |
| Amos 6:5 | who strum on the strings of a harp, who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; |
| Amos 6:7 | Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive. The feasting and lounging will end. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke identifies the Hebrew word for strong drink as specifically meaning palm wine, not just any alcoholic beverage. He stresses that this particular drink, which was once sweet, will become bitter as all enjoyment comes to an end.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that drinking wine with a song was the standard festive practice in their feasts. His distinctive point is that the strong drink turns bitter not from a change in the beverage itself, but because the nation's overwhelming calamities have stripped it of all pleasure.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin distinguishes the lawful use of wine from the drunken, licentious banquets the prophet condemns. The judgment is that God will give them such bitterness of sorrow that even abundant drink will lose all taste and pleasure. Their abuse of God's good gifts brings about its own ruin.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible Schools commentary stresses that the verbs describing the loss of joy should be read in the present tense, making the desolation immediate and ongoing. Even the music that once accompanied wine at feasts has fallen silent.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The point is about divine judgment stripping joy from everyday pleasures. Wine, normally a source of gladness, will no longer bring mirth. Strong drink itself will taste bitter to those who drink it, showing that God can turn even the most ordinary comforts into sorrow.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights a coming reversal: even wine and strong drink will lose their pleasure. Songs once sung during merry drinking will cease, and the drink itself will turn bitter, either through personal affliction or national disaster. This fate is especially fitting for those who boast that they will never see sorrow.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that songs normally accompanied feasts, and the strong drink mentioned here is date wine. The bitterness in the passage reflects the nation's calamities.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch stresses that the earth itself shares in the curse because it became wicked through human sin. They see the earth mourning like a withered plant, and the curse devours it like fire. The divine law broken here includes the universal covenant with Noah, not just Israel's law, so all humanity is guilty.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes that God's judgment falls without distinction on every rank and station, making the devastation complete. He notes the prophecy piles up image after image to drive home one point: human sin has defiled the earth itself, and the curse consumes everything, leaving only a few survivors.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley explains that the bitterness in view comes from the fears and miseries interwoven with it. The experience is not simply unpleasant in itself but is compounded by anxiety and suffering that are inseparable from it.