Isaiah 5 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 5

The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

5:1   Let me sing for my beloved
    my love song concerning his vineyard:
  My beloved had a vineyard
    on a very fertile hill.
2   He dug it and cleared it of stones,
    and planted it with choice vines;
  he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
    and hewed out a wine vat in it;
  and he looked for it to yield grapes,
    but it yielded wild grapes.
3   And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
    and men of Judah,
  judge between me and my vineyard.
4   What more was there to do for my vineyard,
    that I have not done in it?
  When I looked for it to yield grapes,
    why did it yield wild grapes?
5   And now I will tell you
    what I will do to my vineyard.
  I will remove its hedge,
    and it shall be devoured;¹
  I will break down its wall,
    and it shall be trampled down.
6   I will make it a waste;
    it shall not be pruned or hoed,
    and briers and thorns shall grow up;
  I will also command the clouds
    that they rain no rain upon it.
7   For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
  and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
  and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;²
  for righteousness,
    but behold, an outcry!³

Woe to the Wicked

8   Woe to those who join house to house,
    who add field to field,
  until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
9   The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
  “Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10   For ten acres⁴ of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”⁵
11   Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
  who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
12   They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
  but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
    or see the work of his hands.
13   Therefore my people go into exile
    for lack of knowledge;⁶
  their honored men go hungry,⁷
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14   Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure,
  and the nobility of Jerusalem⁸ and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who exults in her.
15   Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty⁹ are brought low.
16   But the LORD of hosts is exalted¹⁰ in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17   Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
    and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
18   Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19   who say: “Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
  let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20   Woe 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!
21   Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22   Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23   who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!
24   Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
  so their root will be as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
  for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts,
    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25   Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and the mountains quaked;
  and their corpses were as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
  For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.
26   He will raise a signal for nations far away,
    and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
  and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27   None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
  not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
28   their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
  their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29   Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
  they growl and seize their prey;
    they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30   They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
  And if one looks to the land,
    behold, darkness and distress;
  and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Footnotes

[1] 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5
[2] 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike
[3] 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike
[4] 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day
[5] 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
[6] 5:13 Or without their knowledge
[7] 5:13 Or die of hunger
[8] 5:14 Hebrew her nobility
[9] 5:15 Hebrew high
[10] 5:16 Hebrew high

Commentary

v1: The song of God's vineyard, Judah.

There is a relationship of love, for the Lord God was deeply concerned for His people. The vineyard is "His," there is love, authority, and ownership; the Lord would never neglect His own.

The divine provision; a very fruitful hill, where the vineyard was planted. It had everything necessary. The people would see an echo of the provision of the land of Canaan, the best of all lands, well watered, fruitful.

v2: The land had been well prepared, by tilling, and stones removed. The best vines were planted. The expectation was "a crop of good grapes." This is only reasonable, given the preparation. Compare 1.21, where justice and righteousness were replaced by immorality and murder. Instead were bad grapes, wild, or poisonous grapes.

For us there is a clear application, see Matt 21.33-46;

the stones are cleared out; the law is no longer a curse for us;

the best vine, Jesus Christ the true vine;

the tower in the midst; Christ our protection;

the winepress; the place of testing and judgment; since there remains an expectation of fruit.

v3: The people were expected to consider what had happened; what Had God done for them? What had they done in response?

v4: What more could have been done? The divine vinedresser provided everything needed. Compare 2 Pet 1.3; He expects godly lives. Although the Lord asked the question "Why?" He did not wait for an answer, for there can be none. The question comes with sorrow rather than fury.

v5-6: Response in judgment; "I will," for judgment is certain, but may be delayed. Notice here that a lack of pruning is judgment, John 15.2. God's kindness and mercy bring pruning and discipline.

v7: Clear application, if any were needed; He looked for justice and righteousness, but found bloodshed and distress.

v8-23: Six woes, the excesses of Judah; they perhaps follow a sequence, as one thing led to another, more serious.

v8-10: Woe 1; covetousness and greed. This would be judged by poverty and famine, see 3.18-26; Amos 6.1-6.

v11-12: Woe 2; drunkenness and revelry. Their desire for physical pleasures, and neglect of spiritual things, led to an ignorance of the Lord. Any such desires in our hearts will harm our relationship with God.

v13-17: Judgment from God; captivity, thirst, Sheol, humiliation; none are exempt, men of rank, nobles, brawlers, revellers, and the masses. The Lord will be exalted, and mankind humbled, as in 2.9, 11, 17. Behind all these sins, the people were ignorant of the fact that they were accountable before God.

v18-19: Woe 3; sins of presumption. There was pretence and hypocrisy, covering their desire for sin, but holding no real love for God.

v20: Woe 4; undiscerning and morally corrupt. As men go deeper into sins, they become unable to distinguish good from evil.

v21: Woe 5; self conceit and pride. They think themselves wise and right.

v22-23: Woe 6; drunkards and unjust. Here is delight in sins; for they were mighty and valiant in wrong-doing; and will put others down for personal gain. Their lifestyle was driven by sin and selfishness.

v24: Judgment would fall upon Judah since they had rejected and despised what God had said.

v25: His hand is stretched out in judgment; the events that would soon be observed were not just chance, but the judgment of God on His rebellious people. His hand was upraised, for there was more judgment to come.

In v5-6, punishment was by neglect, as the Lord would abandon His people. Here the judgement comes through a mighty army summoned by God to attack His people; an altogether more severe judgment.

v26-30: The arrival of a mighty army, bringing fear and death to Judah; compare Hab 1.5-11.