They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity.

For they have eaten bread of wickedness, And wine of violence they drink.

The bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink.

They eat the bread of impiety, and they drink the wine of iniquity.

i. e., Bread and wine gained by unjust deeds. Compare Amos 2:8. A less probable interpretation is, "They eat wickedness as bread, and drink violence as wine." Compare Job 15:16; Job 34:7.

For they eat the bread of wickedness - By privately stealing.
And drink the wine of violence - By highway robbery.

For they eat the bread of (g) wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
(g) Gotten my wicked means and cruel oppression.

For they eat the bread of wickedness,.... Either that is gotten by wicked and unlawful means, or wickedness itself is bread unto them; it is that to their minds as bread is to their bodies; they feed upon it with as much eagerness, appetite, gust, and pleasure; it is a sweet morsel to them; it is meat, drink, sleep, and everything to them; they take the highest satisfaction and the utmost delight in it;
and drink the wine of violence: either that which is obtained by rapine and violence; or they as greedily commit such acts of oppression and injury as a man drinks a glass of wine; they do not drink up iniquity like water only, but even like wine, the most generous and delicious. Wherefore all society with such men should be avoided.

The second כּי introduces the reason of their bodily welfare being conditioned by evil-doing. If the poet meant: they live on bread which consists in wickedness, i.e., on wickedness as their bread, then in the parallel sentence he should have used the word חמס; the genitives are meant of the means of acquisition: they live on unrighteous gain, on bread and wine which they procure by wickedness and by all manner of violence or injustice. On the etymon of חמס (Arab. ḥamas, durum, asperum, vehementem esse), vid., Schultens; the plur. חמסים belongs to a more recent epoch (vid., under 2-Samuel 22:49 and Psalm 18:49). The change in the tense represents the idea that they having eaten such bread, set forth such wine, and therewith wash it down.

For - Wickedness is as pleasant to them as their bread.