Sinning deliberately with such urgency and insistence is a grave danger that drains spiritual vitality.
“Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;” (v.18) Here, the prophet Isaiah delivers a stern warning against those who are so entwined with sin that they pull it along with them wherever they go. In the culture of Isaiah’s time, dragging something with a rope implied a constant, deliberate effort to transport a burden. By using this metaphor, Isaiah highlights an active commitment to wrongdoing, making it clear that the people in question are not innocently stumbling into sin but are rather willfully contributing to it. This evokes a sobering image of people choosing to bear the weight of deceit, reminiscent of how Jesus spoke of spiritual bondage in John 8:34 (version), where sin similarly holds someone captive.
“Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;” (v.18) also underscores the deceitfulness of sin. The image of “cords of falsehood” (v.18) can be seen as a vivid depiction of twisted truth or rationalizations used to justify wrongdoing. Isaiah, who prophesied in the 8th century BC, warns his contemporaries—and future readers—that continually justifying immoral actions leads to deeper entanglement. This warning resonates throughout Scripture, pointing to the need for genuine repentance and reliance on God to break the chains of unrighteousness Romans 6:16), rather than allowing sin to become a yoke too heavy to cast off.
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Isaiah 5:18 meaning
“Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;” (v.18) Here, the prophet Isaiah delivers a stern warning against those who are so entwined with sin that they pull it along with them wherever they go. In the culture of Isaiah’s time, dragging something with a rope implied a constant, deliberate effort to transport a burden. By using this metaphor, Isaiah highlights an active commitment to wrongdoing, making it clear that the people in question are not innocently stumbling into sin but are rather willfully contributing to it. This evokes a sobering image of people choosing to bear the weight of deceit, reminiscent of how Jesus spoke of spiritual bondage in John 8:34 (version), where sin similarly holds someone captive.
“Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes;” (v.18) also underscores the deceitfulness of sin. The image of “cords of falsehood” (v.18) can be seen as a vivid depiction of twisted truth or rationalizations used to justify wrongdoing. Isaiah, who prophesied in the 8th century BC, warns his contemporaries—and future readers—that continually justifying immoral actions leads to deeper entanglement. This warning resonates throughout Scripture, pointing to the need for genuine repentance and reliance on God to break the chains of unrighteousness Romans 6:16), rather than allowing sin to become a yoke too heavy to cast off.