Isaiah 5
5
The Song of the Vineyard#Vineyard: although the term is sometimes used in an erotic context (Sg 1:6; 8:12), “vineyard” or “vine” is used more frequently as a metaphor for God’s people (27:2; Ps 80:9, 14, 15; Jer 2:21; 12:10; Ez 17:7; Hos 10:1; Na 2:2). The terms translated “friend” (yadid) and “beloved” (dod) suggest the Lord’s favor (Dt 33:12; 2 Sm 12:25; Ps 127:2) and familial background rather than introducing the piece as a “love song,” as is sometimes suggested. The prophet disguises the real theme (the people’s infidelity) so that the hearers will participate in the unfavorable judgment called for (vv. 3–4). Cf. the reversal of this parable in 27:2–6.
1Now let me sing of my friend,
my beloved’s song about his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;
2He spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
Within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he waited for the crop of grapes,
but it yielded rotten grapes.#Dt 32:32.
3Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
4What more could be done for my vineyard
that I did not do?#Mi 6:3–5.
Why, when I waited for the crop of grapes,
did it yield rotten grapes?
5Now, I will let you know
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
Take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!#Trampled…thorns and briers: this judgment is echoed in the description of the devastated land in 7:23–25.
6Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but will be overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to rain upon it.
7The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
the people of Judah, his cherished plant;
He waited for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!#Judgment…bloodshed…justice…outcry: in Hebrew there is an impressive play on words: mishpat parallels mispah, sedaqah parallels se‘aqah. See also the threefold “waited for” in vv. 2, 4, 7.
Oracles of Reproach#These verses contain a series of short oracles introduced by the Hebrew particle hoy (“Ah!”), an emphatic exclamation, sometimes translated “Woe!”
8#An oracle against land-grabbers (v. 8); they will be impoverished instead of enriched (vv. 9–10). Ah! Those who join house to house,
who connect field with field,
Until no space remains, and you alone dwell
in the midst of the land!#Mi 2:1–3.
9In my hearing the Lord of hosts has sworn:#Is 22:14.
Many houses shall be in ruins,
houses large and fine, with nobody living there.#Is 6:12.
10Ten acres of vineyard
shall yield but one bath,#Ten acres: a field with ten times the surface area a yoke of oxen could plow in one day. Bath: a liquid measure equal to about twelve gallons. Homer: a dry measure equal to what a donkey can carry, calculated to be about ten bushels. Ephah: a dry measure of about one bushel. So small a harvest is the fruit of the land-grabbers’ greed.
And a homer of seed
shall yield but an ephah.
11#An oracle against debauchery and indifference. Strong drink: the Hebrew word shekar means either beer or a type of wine, perhaps date wine, not distilled liquor. Ah! Those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
lingering late
inflamed by wine,
12Banqueting on wine with harp and lyre,
timbrel and flute,#Is 5:22; Am 6:1–7.
But the deed of the Lord they do not regard,
the work of his hands they do not see!#Is 5:19; 10:12; 14:24–27; 19:12, 17; 23:9; 28:21; 30:1.
13Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of understanding,#Hos 4:6.
Its nobles starving,
its masses parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens its mouth beyond measure;#Hb 2:5.
Down into it go nobility and masses,
tumult and revelry.
15All shall be abased, each one brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty lowered,#Is 2:9, 11, 17.
16But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted by judgment,
by justice the Holy God shown holy.#Is 1:27.
17Lambs shall graze as at pasture,
young goats shall eat in the ruins of the rich.
18Ah! Those who tug at guilt with cords of perversity,
and at sin as if with cart ropes!
19#An indication that some, presumably of the ruling class, scoff at Isaiah’s teaching on the Lord’s “plan” and “work” (cf. v. 12; 14:26–27; 28:9–14; 30:10–11). Who say, “Let him make haste,
let him speed his work, that we may see it;
On with the plan of the Holy One of Israel!
let it come to pass, that we may know it!”#Jer 17:15; 2 Pt 3:3–4.
20Ah! Those who call evil good, and good evil,
who change darkness to light, and light into darkness,
who change bitter to sweet, and sweet into bitter!#Is 32:4–5.
21Ah! Those who are wise in their own eyes,
prudent in their own view!#Prv 3:7; 26:12; Rom 11:25; 12:16.
22Ah! Those who are champions at drinking wine,
masters at mixing drink!
23Those who acquit the guilty for bribes,
and deprive the innocent of justice!#Ex 23:8; Prv 17:15.
24Therefore, as the tongue of fire licks up stubble,
as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
Their root shall rot
and their blossom scatter like dust;
For they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts,
and scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25#These verses do not suit their present context. Apparently v. 25 was originally the conclusion of the poem of 9:7–20 directed against the Northern Kingdom; cf. the refrain that occurs here and in 9:11, 16, and 20. Verses 26–30 look to an invasion by Assyria and might originally have come immediately after the poem of 9:1–20 plus 5:25. The insertion of chaps. 6–8 may have occasioned the dislocation, as well as that of 10:1–4a, which may have originally belonged with the “reproach” oracles of 5:8–23. Therefore the wrath of the Lord blazes against his people,
he stretches out his hand to strike them;
The mountains quake,#Am 1:1; Zec 14:5; cf. Is 9:18a.
their corpses shall be like refuse in the streets.
For all this, his wrath is not turned back,
his hand is still outstretched.
Invasion#This oracle threatens a future judgment, an invasion of the Assyrian army, God’s instrument for punishing Judah (10:5, 15).
26He will raise a signal to a far-off nation,
and whistle for it from the ends of the earth.#Is 7:18; 11:12; Jer 4:6; 50:2.
Then speedily and promptly they will come.
27None among them is weary, none stumbles,
none will slumber, none will sleep.
None with waist belt loose,
none with sandal thong broken.
28Their arrows are sharp,
and all their bows are bent,
The hooves of their horses like flint,
and their chariot wheels like the whirlwind.
29They roar like the lion,
like young lions, they roar;
They growl and seize the prey,
they carry it off and none can rescue.
30They will growl over it, on that day,
like the growling of the sea,
Look to the land—
darkness closing in,
the light dark with clouds!#Is 8:22.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 5
5
Song of the Vineyard
1I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one’s vineyard:#Ps 80:8; Jr 12:10; Mt 21:33; Lk 20:9
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.#Jr 2:21
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected#Is 40:31 it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.#Mt 21:19; Mk 11:13; Lk 13:6
3So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between me
and my vineyard.
4What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I did?#Mc 6:3–4; Mt 23:37
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,#Ps 89:40; Jr 5:10
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,#Ps 80:12
and it will be trampled.
6I will make it a wasteland.#2Ch 36:19–21; Is 7:19–25; 24:1,3; 27:2–6; Jr 25:11
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.#Gn 3:18; Is 7:23–25; 9:18; 10:17; 27:4; 32:13
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies
is the house of Israel,#Ps 80:8–11
and the men#5:7 Lit man of Judah,
the plant he delighted in.
He expected justice
but saw injustice;
he expected righteousness
but heard cries of despair.
Judah’s Sins Denounced
8Woe to those who add house to house#Jr 22:13–17; Mc 2:2; Hab 2:9–12
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9I heard the Lord of Armies say:
Indeed, many houses#Am 3:10,15 will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10For a ten-acre#5:10 Lit ten-yoke vineyard will yield
only six gallons of wine,#5:10 Lit one bath
and ten bushels#5:10 Lit one homer of seed will yield
only one bushel of grain.#5:10 Lit yield an ephah
11Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,#Lv 10:9; Nm 6:3; Dt 29:6; Jdg 13:4; Is 5:22; 24:9; 28:7; 56:12
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord’s actions,#Dt 32:4; Jb 34:27; 36:24; Ps 28:5; 44:1; 64:9–10
and they do not see the work of his hands.#Ex 32:16; 34:10; Ps 8:3,6; 19:1; 92:4–5; Is 10:12; 29:23
13Therefore my people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;#Is 1:3; 27:11; Hs 4:6; Lk 11:52; 19:42; 1Tm 1:13
her#5:13 Lit its dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,#Pr 30:16; Hab 2:5
and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.#Is 2:9,11,17; 10:33
16But the Lord of Armies is exalted by his justice,#Is 33:5,10
and the holy God#Is 6:3 demonstrates his holiness through his righteousness.#Is 8:13; 29:23; 1Pt 3:15
17Lambs will graze
as if in#5:17 Syr reads graze in their own pastures,#Mc 2:12
and resident aliens#5:17 LXX reads sheep will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who drag iniquity
with cords of deceit#Pr 5:22; Is 59:4–8; Jr 23:10–14
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19to those who say,
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan#Jb 38:2; 42:3; Ps 33:11; 106:13; 107:11; Pr 19:21; Is 14:26; 19:17; 46:10–11 of the Holy One of Israel#Is 1:4 take place
so that we can know it!”
20Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,#Pr 17:15; Am 5:7; Mal 2:17
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21Woe to those who consider themselves wise
and judge themselves clever.#5:21 Lit and clever before their face#Pr 3:7; Rm 12:16; 1Co 3:18
22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at pouring beer,#Is 5:11
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe#Ex 23:8; Pr 17:15; Is 1:23; 33:15
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected#Is 8:6; 30:9,12; Am 2:4; Ac 13:41
the instruction of the Lord of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.#Is 5:19; Jr 51:5
25Therefore the Lord’s anger burned#Nm 11:10,33; 32:10–13; Dt 6:15; Jos 7:1; 23:16; 2Kg 13:3; Ps 106:40 against his people.
He raised his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,#Am 1:1; Zch 14:5
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.#Is 9:12,17,21; 10:4; 14:27
26He raises a signal flag for the distant nations#Is 10:5; 11:10,12; 13:2; 18:3
and whistles#Is 7:18; Zch 10:8 for them from the ends of the earth.
Look — how quickly and swiftly they come!
27None of them grows weary or stumbles;#1Jn 2:10
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like a lion’s;#Jdg 14:5; Hs 13:8; Jl 1:6; Nah 2:12–13
they roar like young lions;#Rv 9:17
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.#5:30 Lit its clouds
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