In the midst thereof - בקרבם bekirbam ; so the Septuagint, and perhaps more correctly." - Secker. So likewise the Chaldee.
The Lord hath mingled - The word מסך mâsak “to mingle,” is used commonly to denote the act of mixing spices with wine to make it more intoxicating Proverbs 9:2, Proverbs 9:5; Isaiah 5:22. Here it means that Yahweh has poured out into the midst of them a spirit of giddiness; that is, has produced consternation among them. National commotions and calamities are often thus traced to the overruling providence of God (see the note at Isaiah 19:2; compare Isaiah 10:5-6).
A perverse spirit - Hebrew, ‹A spirit of perverseness.‘ The word rendered ‹perverse‘ is derived from עוה ‛âvâh “to be crooked or perverted.” Here it means, that their counsels were unwise, land such as tended to error and ruin.
To err as a drunken man - This is a very striking figure. The whole nation was reeling to and fro, and unsettled in their counsels, as a man is who is so intoxicated as to reel and to vomit. Nothing could more strikingly express, first, the “fact” of their perverted counsels and plans, and secondly, God‘s deep abhorrence of the course which they were pursuing.
All who in truth are friends of Christ will do the works of Christ. We are so inclined to bring unsanctified, unconverted traits of character into our family government and into the church, and these make our words, our manner, and our spirit, not only an offense in the home, but also to the church and to the whole heavenly universe. God calls it a perverse spirit. TDG 289.3
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