Isa 5:1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
Isa 5:2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
Isa 5:3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
Isa 5:4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
Isa 5:5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
Isa 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
Isa 5:7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Woe to the Wicked
Isa 5:8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
Isa 5:9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
Isa 5:10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”
Isa 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.
Isa 5:12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.
Isa 5:13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst.
Isa 5:14 Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers.
Isa 5:15 So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
Isa 5:16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
Isa 5:17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.
Isa 5:18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
Isa 5:19 to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.”
Isa 5:20 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.
Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Isa 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
Isa 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
Isa 5:24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 5:25 Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
Isa 5:26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!
Isa 5:27 Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal strap is broken.
Isa 5:28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses’ hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
Isa 5:29 Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue.
Isa 5:30 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds.
1 Under the parable of a vineyard God excuseth his severe judgement. 8 His judgments upon covetousness, 11 upon lasciviousness, 13 upon impiety, 20 and upon injustice. 26 The executioners of God’s judgments.
Isa 5:1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
Now will I sing. Isaiah is at times a prophet of doom, and at times a prophet of hope. He speaks in kindly, endearing terms, and then in indignant words of anger and fury. In ch. 1:10 he addressed the leaders of Jerusalem as “rulers of Sodom” and the people as “people of Gomorrah.”
Now he presents himself to Israel as a minstrel, singing a patriotic theme that would delight his people. Compare many of the psalms of David and the Song of Solomon (see Amos 6:5).
A song of my beloved. Like some of his fellow prophets, Isaiah was a skilled poet and presented many of his messages in the form of poetry and song (chs. 6:10–13; 9:2–21; 10:1–11, 13–19, 28–34; 11:1–9, 12–16; 12; 13:2–22; 14:4–21, 24–32; 15; 16:1–11; 17:1–6, 10–14; 18; 19:1–15; 21:1–15; 22:1–8; etc.).
My loved one who had the vineyard was God. The vineyard was the nation of Israel (see Ps. 80:8–16; Matt. 21:33–41).
Fertile hillside. The land of Canaan, possibly with reference to Jerusalem.
My loved one who had the vineyard was God. The vineyard was the nation of Israel (see Ps. 80:8–16; Matt. 21:33–41).
Fertile hillside. The land of Canaan, possibly with reference to Jerusalem.
Isa 5:2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
The context makes clear, however, that the vineyard did have a fence, or “wall,” about it (Isa. 5:5; cf. Matt. 21:33). God set a protecting hedge about His people to safeguard them. Their location on the central highlands of Palestine, away from immediate contact with the nations about, was a safeguard. God’s law and His messages sent by the prophets were valuable safeguards designed to keep their steps from evil.
Cleared it of stones.
These, perhaps, represent the native peoples of the land, with their idolatrous religion and wicked customs.
The choicest vine. This represents the people of Israel, carefully selected by God Himself (see v. 7).
A watch tower. Represented the Temple (DA 596).
A winepress. This may be thought of as representing institutions like the schools of the prophets, which were God’s appointed means for impressing, inculcating such virtues and graces as righteousness, justice, honesty, and purity.
Grapes. The vineyard was planted for the purpose of bringing forth fruit, as was the fig tree in the parable of Luke 13:6–9 (see Matt. 21:19, 34). The grapes represent the fruitage of character, a reflection of the divine character Israel was to exhibit before the world.
Bad fruit. Instead of producing the fruits of the Spirit, Israel brought forth fruits of the flesh (see Gal. 5:19–23). Deeds of cruelty and injustice, dishonesty and deception, intemperance and immorality, a disregard for the rights of the poor and distressed, the taking advantage of widows and orphans—these were the evils the prophets constantly rebuked; these are the “bad fruit” here mentioned.
Isa 5:3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
People of Judah. Isaiah continues to address the men of Judah and Jerusalem (see chs. 1:1; 2:1; 3:1; 4:3, 4), those who professed to be the people of God. The song of the vineyard, as such, is now ended, and the Lord, the “beloved” of that song, speaks to His people through the prophet.
Judge. Zion is called upon to render a verdict upon herself (see Matt. 21:40, 41). God again invites His people to reason with Him (see Isa. 1:18). His plea is just, and they will of necessity admit His justice—and their own guilt—if they squarely face the facts.
Isa 5:4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
A question is often the most effective means of bringing home a truth. Isaiah makes it clear by this searching question that the Lord did everything that could possibly have been done for Israel. He provided them with every facility for the development of a character that would resemble His own, and they had only themselves to blame for their failure.
Isa 5:5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
Take away the hedge. God would remove His protecting hand from His people and allow their enemies to despoil and scatter them. As a result of transgression, the vineyard would become a desolate waste.
Isa 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
God did not Himself desolate Israel, but by the withdrawal of His protection, permitted enemies from without, now Assyria and later Babylon and Rome, to accomplish His will (see on 2 Chron. 18:18; 22:8). Later, Isaiah speaks of the Lord’s making use of Assyria as the “rod” of His “anger” and the “staff” of His “indignation” for the punishment of Israel (ch. 10:5–7).
Neither pruned nor cultivated.
Care is essential if a vineyard is to be productive.
Without pruning and cultivation it must eventually deteriorate and become a desolate waste. The cessation of pruning and digging points to the withdrawal of the means of moral and spiritual culture provided by the Lord (Luke 13:8; John 15:2).
Briers and thorns. The once flourishing vineyard would become waste and desolate. Instead of grapes it would produce nothing but briers and thorns. Even the heavens would withhold their blessings, and the land would become parched and barren. It is God who imparts life and blessing (James 1:17). The withholding of His blessings results in desolation and death.
Isa 5:7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
The specific application of this message to the apostate nation is reminiscent of Nathan’s pointed rebuke to David. “Thou art the man” (2 Sam. 12:7), and of Jesus’ scathing denunciation of the Jews: “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43).
The nation of Israel. Although Isaiah’s mission was primarily to the kingdom of Judah, some of his messages were fully as applicable to the kingdom of Israel. The parable of the vineyard was certainly intended primarily for Judah (v. 3), but the message of rebuke and coming doom was as appropriate for Israel as for Judah. The term “Israel” is often employed to designate the nation of Judah (see Isa. 1:3; 4:2; 8:18; 31:6; Micah 1:14; 3:1; 6:2).
But the fact that here both “the house of Israel” and “the men of Judah” are mentioned would seem to indicate that the message applies to both nations. If “Israel” here specifies the northern kingdom, this prophecy was made before 722 b.c., when the northern kingdom fell.
As that nation was approaching its doom, it can hardly be denied that a prophet of the Lord whose main concern was with Judah would occasionally cast a prophetic glance at Judah’s northern neighbor in its hour of crisis.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
The “cries” came from those who suffered oppression or whose innocent blood was being shed (see Gen. 4:10; Deut. 24:15; James 5:4; Rev. 6:9, 10). The righteous do not treat one another in such a way that cries for help must ascend to heaven.
Isa 5:8 Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
Woe unto them. Isaiah here begins the enumeration of a series of woes to come upon Israel as the result of the offenses specifically mentioned in connection with each woe. These offenses are the “bad fruit” of v. 2. Not all the sins of the people can be listed; only those most characteristic of that evil age are named.
Add house to house. This graphic picture represents the sin of covetousness and greed. God originally intended Israel to be a nation of small landowners. To guard against the formation of large estates he had provided the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:13; 27:24) and the law of inheritance for heiresses (Num. 27:1–11; cf. 33:54; 36).
But these provisions had been disregarded, with the result that instead of many small landholders there had grown up a class of wealthy proprietors, and another, of poverty-stricken, landless laborers. Many of the people had been reduced to virtual slavery, and others, not yet slaves, were forced to pay exorbitant rents. Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, also denounced this evil (Micah 2:2).
Live alone in the land. That is, secure a monopoly. The wealthy classes had no interest in the welfare of the people at large. They were concerned with their own interests exclusively. They did not care even if the poor were entirely wiped out of existence. The situation was rapidly approaching the place where the poor would soon lose any holdings they had, and the wealthy would be left to enjoy the products of the land.
House to house. Many houses. Those who dispossessed their neighbors in order to increase their own estates would not have long to enjoy the results of their oppressive measures. Instead of finding prosperity and happiness they would encounter poverty and national ruin. Things would come to such a pass that large and beautiful estates would be left uninhabited and untended.
Isa 5:10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”
Ten acres. The Hebrew word for acre denotes specifically the land that could be ploughed in one day by a yoke of oxen. A “bath” was 5.81 U.S. gal., or 22 liters. In other words, the ground would yield practically no return.
A homer. Ten ephahs (the same volume as 10 baths) made one homer; its yield was only one ephah. Instead of the land yielding an increase, the harvest would yield much less than the amount of seed sown. The picture presented is one of utter failure and ruin.
Isa 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.
11. Strong drink. The second sin listed is drunkenness and intemperance. The professed people of God were addicted to strong drink. They arose early to have more time for drink. From morning till night many thought only of wine (see Isa. 22:13; 28:7; Hosea 4:11; Amos 6:6).
Isa 5:12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.
Isa 5:12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.
12. The harp. Or lyre. Music was prominent in their drunken revelry (see Amos 6:5, 6). Instead of being used to the glory of God, music became a powerful tool in the hand of the enemy to bring ruin to the soul.
They regard not. In their wild and wanton revels the consciences of these gluttons became seared, truth and right were forgotten, and their hearts were opened to every form of evil. Lust took the place of love, and violence and terror the place of righteousness.
Isa 5:13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst.
The exile had not yet begun (see on v. 7). Isaiah here sets forth the reasons for the captivity. He does not present the captivity as an accomplished fact. The people of Israel were taken captive in 723/722.
Lack of understanding.
Sin is folly. Those who engage in sin show themselves not to be wise, but foolish. Sin pays wages, not of prosperity, peace, and honor, but of ignominy, woe, and death. He who chooses sin, chooses death. Clearly and repeatedly God had pointed out what the results of transgression would be.
Also, experience had frequently shown the terrible fruitage of disobedience. Now the people of Israel and Judah were revealing their complete lack of “knowledge” by persisting in evil and thereby ensuring their own destruction. They were “destroyed for lack of knowledge,” because they had “rejected knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
Isa 5:14 Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers (bullies) and revellers.
Expands. That is, to accommodate the increased number of arrivals from the land of the living.
Their pomp. The nobility of Jerusalem, the multitudes of the people, all who glorified in their present pomp and took pleasure in their iniquities, would alike go down to destruction.
Isa 5:14 Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers (bullies) and revellers.
Expands. That is, to accommodate the increased number of arrivals from the land of the living.
Their pomp. The nobility of Jerusalem, the multitudes of the people, all who glorified in their present pomp and took pleasure in their iniquities, would alike go down to destruction.
Isa 5:15 So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
People of all classes would be humbled, the small as well as the great. The coming destruction would spare none.
Isa 5:16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
Exalted by his justice. That is, honored and vindicated in His acts of justice. Sin ultimately results in humiliation, but in the end, righteousness and justice bring honor and glory. The acts of the Lord are such as to bring Him honor and glory before all the universe.
Isa 5:16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
Israel had lost sight of the fact that God is holy, and accordingly failed to understand either the importance or the meaning of righteousness. Conscious himself of God’s exalted character, Isaiah had the constant burden that Israel might also become holy and righteous. This ideal he keeps ever before them.
Isa 5:17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.
Restored Israel is presented as lambs feeding happily and peacefully together.
Lands that lie waste today will be transformed into pasture, in which domestic animals will feed together in peace.
Isa 5:18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
The third woe is addressed to those who persist in their evil ways, fully aware of what they are doing. They are willingly bound to their iniquities with cords, as it were, and perversely resist every influence designed to set them free (see ch. 61:1).
A cart rope. A cart rope is thicker and stronger than a mere cord, and represents an advanced stage of rebelliousness in which the wicked are bound to their sins with bonds impossible to break. By persisting in evil they are sealing their own doom.
Isa 5:19 to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.”
These sinners boldly challenge God to go ahead with what He proposes to do about their spirit of perversity. They are defiant in their rebellion against Him. Isaiah constantly pointed out the certainty and nearness of the coming doom.
The name of his second son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (ch. 8:3), means “Speed the spoil, hasten the prey.” This name was intended as a sign to Israel of the nearness of the doom Isaiah so frequently foretold (ch. 8:18). But the people flouted the divine warnings. To Isaiah’s solemn messages of impending judgment, they tauntingly replied, “Let God hasten the doom you keep telling us about. We would like to see it with our own eyes.” Thus they invited their own destruction. Compare Mal. 2:17; 3:13.
Isa 5:20 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.
He who persistently resists the warnings that God in His mercy sends, will ultimately become so perverse in his thoughts that he is unable longer to distinguish between good and evil. He honestly thinks right is wrong and wrong is right. When perversity reaches such a pass, doom cannot be long delayed.
Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Confident that they know better than God, these perverse impenitent become “vain in their imaginations,” and their “foolish heart” is locked in darkness (Rom. 1:21; see DA 213). Their vaunted wisdom is consummate folly (Rom. 1:22).
The world is filled with men who look with disdain upon those who believe God and obey His word. They find fault with everything God has done and all He proposes to do. It is men of this type who today are bringing woe upon themselves and the world about them. What these men need is to heed the sublime words of the psalmist, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).
Isa 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
This woe is akin to that pronounced against the drinkers of wine in vs. 11, 12. But the woe there is simply against a group of abandoned revellers. This woe traces the relationship between drink and the injustices mentioned in v. 23 as resulting from its use. These men are “heroes” in their drinking and ‘‘champions‘’ in their practice of iniquity.
Isa 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
Right means nothing to this class. They are willing to exonerate the most wicked of men for the sake of material gain. For a bribe they will pronounce a righteous man guilty and declare the wicked innocent. They are without moral scruples. Their mode of living is expensive, and they will stop at nothing to secure the needed means. A country has reached a sorry state when men of this type sit in the judgment seat.
Isa 5:24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
The law of the Lord. Terrible are the results when the law of the Lord is rejected (see GC 586), for without it there is no way of determining what is good and what is evil. It was because these men had cast aside God’s law that they sank so low in iniquity as to engage in the practices described in vs. 8–23.
Despised the word. God’s word is always true and just. But these men despised His holy word (see on v. 21), and when men take this attitude there is little hope for them.
Isa 5:24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
The law of the Lord. Terrible are the results when the law of the Lord is rejected (see GC 586), for without it there is no way of determining what is good and what is evil. It was because these men had cast aside God’s law that they sank so low in iniquity as to engage in the practices described in vs. 8–23.
Isa 5:25 Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
It is a fearful thing to stir up the anger of the Lord. The Lord God is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6). He ardently loves the sinner, but utterly abhors sin.
He will not clear the guilty; in fact, He cannot do so and be consistent with His own character—unless and until the guilty person repents of his evil ways. When iniquity reaches a point beyond which there is no hope, divine forbearance ceases and the ministry of wrath begins (5T 208; 9T 13). At the time of Isaiah’s message the iniquity of Israel had almost reached such a pass.
The mountains shake. Such an earthquake apparently took place at some time during the reign of Uzziah, possibly during the latter part of his reign, a few years before his death. This may have been the earthquake not long before which the prophet Amos received his call (Amos 1:1). The memory of this earthquake was still vivid in the minds of the people when Isaiah delivered this message.
Isa 5:26 He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.
When God speaks to the nations they will respond by sending forth their armies (see ch. 5:26–30). In this case Isaiah refers particularly to the Assyrians, soon to invade Palestine (see ch. 10:5–7).
Isa 5:27 No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
The picture of vs. 27–30 is of an army rapidly advancing (see ch. 10:28–33). The army presses on in perfect order toward the accomplishment of its appointed task. Nothing would hinder it. Compare the way God hindered the Egyptians as they advanced contrary to His will (Ex. 14:23–25).
Isa 5:28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses’ hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
The army is ready for battle. Their weapons are sharp, their horses are in condition for the long, hard journey, and the wheels of their chariots revolve like a whirlwind.
Isa 5:29 Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue.
Their roar. That is, their battle cry. The army approaches like a lion—fierce, bold, strong, and determined. The prey will not escape. God has given this army its marching orders, and the divine purpose will be accomplished.
Isa 5:30 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds.
The prophet here turns to another figure of speech, comparing the approach of the Assyrians to the waters of a flood that sweeps all before it and leaves desolation and ruin in its wake (see ch. 8:7, 8).
Behold darkness and sorrow. The figurative roaring of the sea is accompanied by the darkness and terror of the tempest.
ELLEN G. WHITE COMMENTS
1, 2 COL 214, 284; GC 20; PK 17
2 COL 215
3–7 AA 15; COL 290; PK 19
4 COL 218, 298; DA 596; GC 20; 1T 510; 2T 123; 5T 117, 195, 240
7 COL 214, 285, 298; PK 17, 711; 8T 114
8, 11, 12 PK 306
11–13 8T 114
20 AA 431; GC 192, 229, 557; GW 264; MH 346; ML 87; PK 178; 1T 332; 3T 207, 324; 5T 62, 438
20, 21 PP 360; 8T 114
22 PK 306
22–24 MH 346
23, 24 PP 360
24 8T 97, 115