Isaiah 5:18

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

ה֛וֹי מֹשְׁכֵ֥י הֶֽעָוֺ֖ן בְּחַבְלֵ֣י הַשָּׁ֑וְא וְכַעֲב֥וֹת הָעֲגָלָ֖ה חַטָּאָֽה׃

Transliteration

hôy those who mōškê the heʿāwōn with bəḥablê the haššāwʾ, and like wəkaʿăbôt the hāʿăgālâ ḥaṭṭāʾâ.

Grammar Details

• *hôy*: interjection - woe
• *mōškê*: qal participle masculine plural construct - drawing/pulling
• *heʿāwōn*: definite article with masculine singular noun - the iniquity
• *bəḥablê*: preposition with masculine plural construct - with cords of
• *haššāwʾ*: definite article with masculine singular noun - the falsehood/emptiness
• *wə*: conjunction - and
• *kaʿăbôt*: preposition with feminine plural construct - like cart ropes of
• *hāʿăgālâ*: definite article with feminine singular noun - the cart/wagon
• *ḥaṭṭāʾâ*: feminine singular noun - sin

Word Meanings

• *mōškê*: drawing/pulling/dragging
• *ʿāwōn*: iniquity/guilt/punishment
• *ḥablê*: cords/ropes/snares
• *šāwʾ*: falsehood/emptiness/worthlessness
• *ʿăbôt*: cart ropes/thick cords/wagon traces

Referenced Verses

• Jer 23:14 : 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
• Jer 23:10 : 10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
• Jer 23:24 : 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
• Jer 28:15-16 : 15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
• Jer 44:15-19 : 15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. 17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
• Ezek 13:10-11 : 10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter: 11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
• Ezek 13:22 : 22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
• Zeph 1:12 : 12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
• John 16:2 : 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
• Acts 26:9 : 9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
• Judg 17:5 : 5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
• Judg 17:13 : 13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
• 2 Sam 16:20-23 : 20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. 21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. 22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
• Ps 10:11 : 11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
• Ps 14:1 : 1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
• Ps 36:2 : 2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found{H8800)} to be hateful{H8800)}.
• Ps 94:5-9 : 5 They break in pieces{H8762)} thy people, O LORD, and afflict{H8762)} thine heritage. 6 They slay{H8799)} the widow and the stranger, and murder{H8762)} the fatherless. 7 Yet they say{H8799)}, The LORD shall not see{H8799)}, neither shall the God of Jacob regard{H8799)} it. 8 Understand{H8798)}, ye brutish{H8802)} among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise{H8686)}? 9 He that planted{H8802)} the ear, shall he not hear{H8799)}? he that formed{H8802)} the eye, shall he not see{H8686)}? 10 He that chastiseth{H8802)} the heathen, shall not he correct{H8686)}? he that teacheth{H8764)} man knowledge, shall not he know? 11 The LORD knoweth{H8802)} the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
• Isa 28:15 : 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
• Isa 59:4-8 : 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
• Jer 5:31 : 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
• Jer 8:5-9 : 5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. 6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. 7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. 8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. 9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?