1Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isaiah begins chapter 5 with a poetic parable. He says that he will sing a song for his beloved. In Psalm 108:6, the psalmist pleaded, “That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.” The psalmist referred to Israel as God’s “beloved.” Isaiah calls the LORD his beloved, as Israel should have done. Isaiah says that the LORD has a vineyard “in a very fruitful hill;” that hill surely is Mount Zion.
The people of Israel were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and were thus by natural birth the heirs of God’s promises. They were “the choicest vine.” They were given the land of Canaan and, under David’s leadership, the city of Jerusalem. During the reigns of David and Solomon, the nation prospered greatly. God expected that Jerusalem would act in a way fitting to its place as the beloved of the LORD. Instead, the city produced fruit that had no value.
3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
The LORD calls the people of Jerusalem and Judah to stand as third-person observers and to judge the situation, though they are the ones who brought forth wild grapes. God declares that He will remove from the vineyard the defenses that He had put into place and that He would lay it waste.
The expression “briers and thorns” used in verse 6 is unique to the book of Isaiah and is a repeated theme also found in chapters 7,9,10, and 27. God will lay Jerusalem open to the attack of the Babylonians, and the land will become full of briers and thorns. But, in 27:2-4, we read that He will also afterward restore the vineyard and will not allow the briers and thorns of other nations to harm Israel again:
“In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.”
The expression “in that day” in 27:2 looks ahead to the future earthly reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
Isaiah succinctly summarizes the message of the metaphor of the vineyard: the LORD’s vineyard is Israel. The fruit that the LORD wanted from His vineyard was lawful judgment and righteousness. Instead of bearing the good fruit of just judgment, Israel was guilty of oppression and bloodshed. Instead of there being righteousness in the land, there was an outcry of those being treated wrongly.
This verse contains two sets of Hebrew words that sound alike: “he looked for mishpat but behold mishpakh; for ts’dakah, but behold ts’-aqah.” Isaiah’s use of these sound-alikes parallels the metaphor of wild grapes instead of good grapes. The following verses will detail the situation in Judah that necessitated the judgment of the Babylonian captivity.
8Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! 9In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. 10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
There are six statements of “woe” in this chapter. The first of these statements concerns covetousness in the ownership of houses and land. The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Hezekiah who prophesied to both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah (Micah 1:1). Micah also pronounced a “woe” on those who scheme to carry out evil. He said, “And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage” (Micah 2:2). People in Israel were carrying out schemes to take the property and homes of others in order to aggrandize their own estates. God said that He would empty the big houses and make the vineyards and fields not to bear.
According to Ezekiel 45:11, “The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.” The size of the area translated “acre” in verse 10 is not known with certainty, but we understand from the second clause of verse 10 that the yield of a crop of grain would be only a tenth of the seed that was planted. Likewise, then, the yield of a vineyard would be far less than what would be expected from its size.
11Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 12And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
The second woe concerns people in Judah who were spending days in the consumption of alcohol. The description in verse 17 of feasts with a variety of music to entertain them while they ate and drank indicates an atmosphere of wealth. Thus, the time is probably the early part of the reign of Manasseh, in which Judah still enjoyed the blessings of the reign of Hezekiah. God says that the same people “regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.” A casual acknowledgment that God exists is not enough. God expected them to look at and see His great works and give Him glory accordingly. This statement of “woe” anticipates His impending judgment.
13Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 14Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Verses 13 and 14 each begin with the word “therefore” – “Therefore my people are gone into captivity”....“Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure.” The reasons for this judgment were cited in the preceding two statements of woe: (1) covetousness and (2) a preoccupation with alcohol and extravagant indulgence. While many in Judah were still actively seeking to amass wealth and to find pleasure in drinking-bouts, God said that they were already “gone into captivity,” “famished,” and “dried up with thirst.” The judgment that was coming upon them was so sure that God said it was already done.
The word translated “hell” in verse 14 is the word “Sheol,” the place of the dead. God said that the throng of people living in indulgence, the popular figures they gloried in, the noise of revelling, and everyone who delighted in that atmosphere would be swallowed up by death.
Verse 13 says, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge....” It is striking that even in this context, the LORD still referred to the people of Israel as “my people.” He will judge them, but He will never abandon them as a people. The first words of verse 13 are like the words in the opening of the book: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider” (1:3).
15And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: 16but the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. 17Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
Verse 15 begins with the words, “And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled....” The Hebrew text of these words is exactly the same as the Hebrew text found in 2:9: “Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: and the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.” (Isaiah 2:8-9) Chapter 5:15 speaks of God’s judgment on the small and the great in Judah who have bowed down to idols. Because they have bowed to idols, they will be bowed down in judgment. God will be exalted and treated as holy through the righteous judgment that He executes against them. The “lambs” (the humble remnant of Judah) will graze undisturbed, but the land belonging to “the fat ones” (those of Judah who are proud and disobedient) will become waste places devoured by strangers.
18Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: 19that say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
God pronounces the third woe on those who sin brazenly. They make empty, false claims to legitimize iniquity, and they bring sin along with them wherever they go like baggage on a pull-cart. The same people mock God and dare Him to hurry up and prove that He’s going to judge them.
20Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
The fourth woe is against those who use their words and influence to seek to reverse God’s standards of right and wrong. Clearly, this “woe” of impending judgment could have been directed to societies in our world today. In many communities today, both local and national, various lifestyles of sexual sin are being touted as “diversity.” The killing of unborn children is justified as “reproductive freedom.” Godly bias against sinful behavior is branded as “hate.” Isaiah’s prophecy warned the people of Judah then and warns the world today that God will judge those who seek to reverse His standards of right and wrong.
21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
The fifth statement of woe is against those who consider themselves to be wise and discerning but without regard for God’s word (verse 24). In God’s sight, a person who esteems his or her own thoughts above His word is not wise or discerning but rather guilty of sinful pride.
22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: 23which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
The sixth statement of woe is against those who are proud of their ability to consume alcohol. In Judah, the same people were weak morally, using their positions of authority to enrich themselves by taking bribes. They were unconcerned that innocent people were being treated as guilty because the judges had been bought off. Sadly, today also, such injustice is taking place in courtrooms, businesses, and even in classrooms.
24Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
As in verses 13 and 14, verses 24 and 25 each begin with “therefore.” The offenses referred to were specified in verses 18-23 in four statements of “woe” : brazen sin accompanied by mockery of God (vv 18-19), an attempt to reverse God’s standards of right and wrong (v 20), esteem for human reasoning rather than esteem for God’s word (v 21), and pride in consumption of alcohol, accompanied by taking of bribes to impose injustice (vv 22-23). God says that because the people of Judah have thus rejected His law and despised His word, they will be consumed as by fire and will decay like a plant that is rotten from the root.
Verse 25 puts the judgment in the past tense. It says that God has smitten His people. Their carcasses lay like dung in the streets. A partial fulfillment of this judgment would take place in the attack on Judah by Babylon. At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy that judgment was still in the future, but in God’s reckoning it was settled and done. This verse concludes with the statement, “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” Some explanation of that statement is found in the coming verses. Exactly the same words are used in Isaiah 9:12,17,21; and 10:4 with reference to the northern kingdom of Israel.
26And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: 27none shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: 28whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. 29Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 30And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
These verses are probably to be understood as explanation concerning the statement at the end of verse 25, “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” What other judgment will there be for Judah after the Babylonian captivity?
In verse 26, God says that He will give a signal to summon nations that are far off. In the rest of this verse, the Hebrew pronouns are singular: “and will hiss unto him from the end of the earth: and, behold, he shall come with speed swiftly....” This switch from the plural (“nations”) to the singular (“him,” “he”) is probably because the nations will come under a single leader.
The description in verse 27 of the unflagging, unimpeded approach of these attackers is similar to that found in Joel 2:7-8:
“They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.”
Joel described this attack as part of “the day of the LORD” (Joel 2:1). Verse 30 of Isaiah 5 also uses the expression “in that day.”
Isaiah’s descriptions in verses 28-29 of “wheels like a whirlwind” and of “roaring like a lion” are also similar to the words of Joel:
“Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap....” (Joel 2:5) “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.” (Joel 1:6)
The descriptions in Joel 1-2 and in these verses of Isaiah are of an attack on Judah that will occur in “the day of the LORD.” That attack will occur during the period of Tribulation which will precede the return of Christ to reign. This prophecy of that attack explains the words at the end of verse 25: “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” Isaiah and Joel were speaking of yet another attack and captivity for Israel in the future. Chapter 5 of Isaiah ends with the land of Israel in “darkness” and “sorrow.”
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.