ישעיהו, פרק כ״ח, פסוק ז׳

A culture of intoxication and pleasure-seeking has a way of infecting even the most elevated layers of society. The prophetic rebuke shifts toward the leadership of Judah and Benjamin, revealing that the spiritual and political guides of the nation have become just as corrupted as the people they are meant to lead. Previously, warnings of destruction were directed at the neighboring kingdom of Ephraim, serving as a harsh moral lesson. Yet, the leaders of Judah ignored the warning and continued to chase their own physical desires [מלבי״ם, שד״ל, אברבנאל]. This moral decay reached the most distinguished members of the generation, infiltrating the ranks of judges, Torah scholars, and military commanders [רש״י, צאינה וראינה].

The descent into this compromised state happens in stages. Ordinary wine causes minor missteps, but aged, strong drink plunges a person into profound confusion and a complete loss of direction [מלבי״ם, מצודת ציון]. On a deeper, allegorical level, this intoxication represents improper Torah study. When scholars learn without a genuine reverence for God, their study fails to protect them, leaving them vulnerable to their darker inclinations and causing them to lose their spiritual way [חומת אנך].

The very individuals tasked with teaching the law and guiding the nation abandoned their sacred calling. Consumed by their indulgence, the priests and prophets developed clouded minds and corrupted their paths [שד״ל, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד]. The primary approach among commentators is that these prophets were actually false prophets who misled the public, endorsing a life of hedonism while falsely promising peace [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. However, another perspective suggests that these were indeed true prophets. Because of the nation's severe sins, receiving a prophetic vision became an agonizing and terrifying ordeal, leaving the prophet looking to the masses like a senseless, raving drunkard [אהבת יהונתן].

The ultimate failure of the leadership is divided between the prophets and the priests [אברבנאל, מלבי״ם]. The prophets suffered from a distortion of vision; their intoxicated minds conjured false sights and misinterpreted basic reality, leading them to make foolish errors that even a child would avoid [אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ, צאינה וראינה]. Alternatively, it was the people themselves who suffered from flawed vision. They either mocked the warnings of the true prophets [רש״י, אבן עזרא], or they foolishly chased superficial, worldly pleasures instead of focusing on hidden spiritual rewards [חומת אנך]. Meanwhile, the priests and judges stumbled terribly in their legal rulings. Weak-kneed and thoroughly confused, this judicial leadership corrupted the law, doubted the traditions, and completely failed to deliver true justice [רש״י, שד״ל, מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם].