VW-Edition Bible (2010)

1Now I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard. My Beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2And He fenced it, and cleared out its stones, and planted it with choice vines, and built a tower in its midst, and hewed out a winepress in it; and He looked for it to produce grapes, but it produced rotten grapes. 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, please judge between Me and My vineyard. 4What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield rotten grapes? 5And now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard; I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down; 6and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor dug; but briers and thorns shall come up. And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold an outcry! 8Woe to those who join house to house, laying field to field, until there is no more space for you to dwell alone in the midst of the earth! 9Jehovah of Hosts said in my ears, Truly many big and pleasant houses shall be laid waste, without inhabitant. 10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah. 11Woe to those who rise up early in the morning to pursue strong drink; remaining until the evening while wine inflames them! 12And the lute, and the harp, the tambourine, and pipe, and wine, are at their feasts; but they do not regard the work of Jehovah, neither do they give attention to the work of His hands. 13For this My people have gone into captivity without knowledge, and their honorable men into famine, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 14Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their tumult, and he who exults, shall go down into it. 15And people are prostrated, and great men are brought low and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.  16But Jehovah of Hosts is exalted in justice, and the Mighty God, the Holy One, is sanctified in righteousness. 17Then shall the lambs feed in their pastures, and the waste places of the fat ones shall sojourners eat. 18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin with cart ropes; 19who say, Let Him hurry and hasten His work, so that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so that we may know it! 20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and understanding in their own sight! 22Woe to those mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mix strong drink; 23who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous! 24Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be like rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up like dust, because they have cast away the Law of Jehovah of Hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel. 25Therefore the anger of Jehovah is kindled against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has stricken them; and the hills trembled, and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. In all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. 26And He will lift up a banner to distant nations, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed, swiftly. 27No one shall be weary nor stumble among them; no one shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the waistband of their loins be loosened, nor the thong of their sandals be broken; 28whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hooves seem like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. 29Their roaring shall be like a lion; they shall roar like young lions; and they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, and no one shall deliver it. 30And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if one looks to the land, behold darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by clouds.


Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary
 1   PARABLE OF JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD. (Isa. 5:1-30)
to--rather, "concerning" [GESENIUS], that is, in the person of My beloved, as His representative [VITRINGA]. Isaiah gives a hint of the distinction and yet unity of the Divine Persons (compare He with I, Isa 5:2-Isa 5:3).
of my beloved--inspired by Him; or else, a tender song [CASTALIO]. By a slight change of reading "a song of His love" [HOUBIGANT]. "The Beloved" is Jehovah, the Second Person, the "Angel" of God the Father, not in His character as incarnate Messiah, but as God of the Jews (Exod 23:20-Exod 23:21; Exod 32:34; Exod 33:14).
vineyard-- (Isa 3:14; Ps 80:8, &c.). The Jewish covenant-people, separated from the nations for His glory, as the object of His peculiar care (Matt 20:1; Matt 21:33). Jesus Christ in the "vineyard" of the New Testament Church is the same as the Old Testament Angel of the Jewish covenant.
fruitful hill--literally, "a horn" ("peak," as the Swiss shreckhorn) of the son of oil; poetically, for very fruitful. Suggestive of isolation, security, and a sunny aspect. Isaiah alludes plainly to the Song of Solomon (Song 6:3; Song 8:11-Song 8:12), in the words "His vineyard" and "my Beloved" (compare Isa 26:20; Isa 61:10, with Song 1:4; Song 4:10). The transition from "branch" (Isa 4:2) to "vineyard" here is not unnatural.

 2   fenced--rather, "digged and trenched" the ground to prepare it for planting the vines [MAURER].
choicest vine--Hebrew, sorek; called still in Morocco, serki; the grapes had scarcely perceptible seeds; the Persian kishmish or bedana, that is, "without seed" (Gen 49:11).
tower--to watch the vineyard against the depredations of man or beast, and for the use of the owner (Matt 21:33).
wine-press--including the wine-fat; both hewn, for coolness, out of the rocky undersoil of the vineyard.
wild grapes--The Hebrew expresses offensive putrefaction, answering to the corrupt state of the Jews. Fetid fruit of the wild vine [MAURER], instead of "choicest" grapes. Of the poisonous monk's hood [GESENIUS]. The Arabs call the fruit of the nightshade "wolf grapes" (Deut 32:32-Deut 32:33; 2Kgs 4:39-41). JEROME tries to specify the details of the parable; the "fence," angels; the "stones gathered out," idols; the "tower," the "temple in the midst" of Judea; the "wine-press," the altar.

 3   And now, &c.--appeal of God to themselves, as in Isa 1:18; Mic 6:3. So Jesus Christ, in Matt 21:40-Matt 21:41, alluding in the very form of expression to this, makes them pass sentence on themselves. God condemns sinners "out of their own mouth" (Deut 32:6; Job 15:6; Luke 19:22; Rom 3:4).

 4   God has done all that could be done for the salvation of sinners, consistently with His justice and goodness. The God of nature is, as it were, amazed at the unnatural fruit of so well-cared a vineyard.

 5   go to--that is, attend to me.
hedge . . . wall--It had both; a proof of the care of the owner. But now it shall be trodden down by wild beasts (enemies) (Ps 80:12-Ps 80:13).

 6   I will . . . command--The parable is partly dropped and Jehovah, as in Isa 5:7, is implied to be the Owner: for He alone, not an ordinary husbandman (Matt 21:43; Luke 17:22), could give such a "command."
no rain--antitypically, the heaven-sent teachings of the prophets (Amos 8:11). Not accomplished in the Babylonish captivity; for Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah prophesied during or after it. But in gospel times.

 7   Isaiah here applies the parable. It is no mere human owner, nor a literal vineyard that is meant.
vineyard of the Lord--His only one (Exod 19:5; Amos 3:2).
pleasant--"the plant of his delight"; just as the husbandman was at pains to select the sorek, or "choicest vine" (Isa 5:2); so God's election of the Jews.
judgment--justice. The play upon words is striking in the Hebrew, He looked for mishpat, but behold mispat ("bloodshed"); for tsedaqua, but behold tseaqua (the cry that attends anarchy, covetousness, and dissipation, Isa 5:8, Isa 5:11-Isa 5:12; compare the cry of the rabble by which justice was overborne in the case of Jesus Christ, Matt 27:23-Matt 27:24).

 8   SIX DISTINCT WOES AGAINST CRIMES. (Isa. 5:8-23)
(Lev 25:13; Mic 2:2). The jubilee restoration of possessions was intended as a guard against avarice.
till there be no place--left for any one else.
that they may be--rather, and ye be.
the earth--the land.

 9   In mine ears . . . the Lord--namely, has revealed it, as in Isa 22:14.
desolate--literally, "a desolation," namely, on account of the national sins.
great and fair--houses.

 10   acres--literally, "yokes"; as much as one yoke of oxen could plow in a day.
one--only.
bath--of wine; seven and a half gallons.
homer . . . ephah--Eight bushels of seed would yield only three pecks of produce (Ezek 45:11). The ephah and bath, one-tenth of an homer.

 11   Second Woe--against intemperance.
early--when it was regarded especially shameful to drink (Acts 2:15; 1Thess 5:7). Banquets for revelry began earlier than usual (Eccl 10:16-Eccl 10:17).
strong drink--Hebrew, sichar, implying intoxication.
continue--drinking all day till evening.

 12   Music was common at ancient feasts (Isa 24:8-Isa 24:9; Amos 6:5-Amos 6:6).
viol--an instrument with twelve strings [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8.10].
tabret--Hebrew, toph, from the use of which in drowning the cries of children sacrificed to Moloch, Tophet received its name. Arabic, duf. A kettle drum, or tambourine.
pipe--flute or flageolet: from a Hebrew root "to bore through"; or else, "to dance" (compare Job 21:11-Job 21:15).
regard not . . . Lord--a frequent effect of feasting (Job 1:5; Ps 28:5).
work . . . operation--in punishing the guilty (Isa 5:19; Isa 10:12).

 13   are gone--The prophet sees the future as if it were before his eyes.
no knowledge--because of their foolish recklessness (Isa 5:12; Isa 1:3; Hos 4:6; Luke 19:44).
famished--awful contrast to their luxurious feasts (Isa 5:11-Isa 5:12).
multitude--plebeians in contradistinction to the "honorable men," or nobles.
thirst-- (Ps 107:4-Ps 107:5). Contrast to their drinking (Isa 5:11). In their deportation and exile, they shall hunger and thirst.

 14   hell--the grave; Hebrew, sheol; Greek, hades; "the unseen world of spirits." Not here, "the place of torment." Poetically, it is represented as enlarging itself immensely, in order to receive the countless hosts of Jews, which should perish (Num 16:30).
their--that is, of the Jewish people.
he that rejoiceth--the drunken reveller in Jerusalem.

 15   (Compare Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, Isa 2:17). All ranks, "mean" and "mighty" alike; so "honorable" and "multitude" (Isa 5:13).

 16   God shall be "exalted" in man's view, because of His manifestation of His "justice" in punishing the guilty.
sanctified--regarded as holy by reason of His "righteous" dealings.

 17   after their manner--literally, "according to their own word," that is, at will. Otherwise, as in their own pasture [GESENIUS]: so the Hebrew in Mic 2:12. The lands of the Scenite tent dwellers (Jer 35:7). Arab shepherds in the neighborhood shall roam at large, the whole of Judea being so desolate as to become a vast pasturage.
waste . . . fat ones--the deserted lands of the rich ("fat," Ps 22:29), then gone into captivity; "strangers," that is, nomad tribes shall make their flocks to feed on [MAURER]. Figuratively, "the lambs" are the pious, "the fat ones" the impious. So tender disciples of Jesus Christ (John 21:15) are called "lambs"; being meek, harmless, poor, and persecuted. Compare Ezek 39:18, where the fatlings are the rich and great (1Cor 1:26-27). The "strangers" are in this view the "other sheep not of the" the Jewish "fold" (John 10:16), the Gentiles whom Jesus Christ shall "bring" to be partakers of the rich privileges (Rom 11:17) which the Jews ("fat ones," Ezek 34:16) fell from. Thus "after their (own) manner" will express that the Christian Church should worship God in freedom, released from legal bondage (John 4:23; Gal 5:1).

 18   Third Woe--against obstinate perseverance in sin, as if they wished to provoke divine judgments.
iniquity--guilt, incurring punishment [MAURER].
cords, &c.--cart-rope--Rabbins say, "An evil inclination is at first like a fine hair-string, but the finishing like a cart-rope." The antithesis is between the slender cords of sophistry, like the spider's web (Isa 59:5; Job 8:14), with which one sin draws on another, until they at last bind themselves with great guilt as with a cart-rope. They strain every nerve in sin.
vanity--wickedness.
sin--substantive, not a verb: they draw on themselves "sin" and its penalty recklessly.

 19   work--vengeance (Isa 5:12). Language of defiance to God. So Lamech's boast of impunity (Gen 4:23-Gen 4:24; compare Jer 17:15; 2Pet 3:3-4).
counsel--God's threatened purpose to punish.

 20   Fourth Woe--against those who confound the distinctions of right and wrong (compare Rom 1:28), "reprobate," Greek, "undiscriminating: the moral perception darkened."
bitter . . . sweet--sin is bitter (Jer 2:19; Jer 4:18; Acts 8:23; Heb 12:15); though it seem sweet for a time (Pro 9:17-Pro 9:18). Religion is sweet (Ps 119:103).

 21   Fifth Woe--against those who were so "wise in their own eyes" as to think they knew better than the prophet, and therefore rejected his warnings (Isa 29:14-Isa 29:15).

 22   Sixth Woe--against corrupt judges, who, "mighty" in drinking "wine" (a boast still not uncommon), if not in defending their country, obtain the means of self-indulgence by taking bribes ("reward"). The two verses are closely joined [MAURER].
mingle strong drink--not with water, but spices to make it intoxicating (Pro 9:2, Pro 9:5; Song 8:2).
take away the righteousness--set aside the just claims of those having a righteous cause.

 24   Literally, "tongue of fire eateth" (Acts 2:3).
flame consumeth the chaff--rather, withered grass falleth before the flame (Matt 3:12).
root . . . blossom--entire decay, both the hidden source and outward manifestations of prosperity, perishing (Job 18:16; Mal 4:1).
cast away . . . law--in its spirit, while retaining the letter.

 25   anger . . . kindled-- (2Kgs 22:13, 2Kgs 22:17).
hills . . . tremble--This probably fixes the date of this chapter, as it refers to the earthquake in the days of Uzziah (Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5). The earth trembled as if conscious of the presence of God (Jer 4:24; Hab 3:6).
torn--rather, were as dung (Ps 83:10).
For all this, &c.--This burden of the prophet's strains, with dirge-like monotony, is repeated at Isa 9:12, Isa 9:17, Isa 9:21; Isa 10:4. With all the past calamities, still heavier judgments are impending; which he specifies in the rest of the chapter (Lev 26:14, &c.).

 26   lift . . . ensign--to call together the hostile nations to execute His judgments on Judea (Isa 10:5-Isa 10:7; Isa 45:1). But for mercy to it, in Isa 11:12; Isa 18:3.
hiss-- (Isa 7:18). Bees were drawn out of their hives by the sound of a flute, or hissing, or whistling (Zech 10:8). God will collect the nations round Judea like bees (Deut 1:44; Ps 118:12).
end of the earth--the widely distant subject races of which the Assyrian army was made up (Isa 22:6). The ulterior fulfilment took place in the siege under Roman Titus. Compare "end of the earth" (Deut 28:49, &c.). So the pronoun is singular in the Hebrew, for "them," "their," "whose" (him, his, &c.), Isa 5:26-Isa 5:29; referring to some particular nation and person [HORSLEY].

 27   weary--with long marches (Deut 25:18).
none . . . slumber--requiring no rest.
girdle--with which the ancient loose robes used to be girded for action. Ever ready for march or battle.
nor the latchet . . . broken--The soles were attached to the feet, not by upper leather as with us, but by straps. So securely clad that not even a strap of their sandals gives way, so as to impede their march.

 28   bent--ready for battle.
hoofs . . . flint--The ancients did not shoe their horses: hence the value of hard hoofs for long marches.
wheels--of their chariots. The Assyrian army abounded in cavalry and chariots (Isa 22:6-Isa 22:7; Isa 36:8).

 29   roaring--their battle cry.

 30   sorrow, and the light is darkened--Otherwise, distress and light (that is, hope and fear) alternately succeed (as usually occurs in an unsettled state of things), and darkness arises in, &c. [MAURER].
heavens--literally, "clouds," that is, its sky is rather "clouds" than sky. Otherwise from a different Hebrew root, "in its destruction" or ruins. HORSLEY takes "sea . . . look unto the land" as a new image taken from mariners in a coasting vessel (such as all ancient vessels were), looking for the nearest land, which the darkness of the storm conceals, so that darkness and distress alone may be said to be visible.
Isaiah is outside, near the altar in front of the temple. The doors are supposed to open, and the veil hiding the Holy of Holies to be withdrawn, unfolding to his view a vision of God represented as an Eastern monarch, attended by seraphim as His ministers of state (1Kgs 22:19), and with a robe and flowing train (a badge of dignity in the East), which filled the temple. This assertion that he had seen God was, according to tradition (not sanctioned by Isa 1:1; see Introduction), the pretext for sawing him asunder in Manasseh's reign (Heb 11:37). Visions often occur in the other prophets: in Isaiah there is only this one, and it is marked by characteristic clearness and simplicity.