Chapter Five

1–7. Song of the ungrateful vineyard and its judge. 8–10. Seven-fold woe upon insatiable acquirers of real property, 11–17. upon those given to feasting, 18–19. upon unbelieving mockers, 20. upon those who do not recognize the distinction between good and evil, 21. upon the proud, 22. upon the drunken, 23. and upon those who pervert justice. 24–30. A threat against the wicked Israelite people by the invasion of a distant foreign mighty nation.

Isa 5:1-7. The prophet here appears as a lyric poet, but his song contains truth of a fully tragic character. The prophet sings of the work of his beloved Lord, who planted his vineyard—that is, the chosen people—in a beautiful place and granted it every condition for prosperous existence. Yet this vineyard produced not fine grapes but bad, unsuitable berries. The listeners to this parable-song should themselves say what the Most High is justified in doing with such a vineyard. But since the listeners cannot acknowledge themselves guilty, the Lord Himself determines for His vineyard, or what is the same, for the Judeans, their future fate, which promises to be most sorrowful.

Isaiah 5:1. I will sing for my beloved a song of my beloved about His vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on the top of a fertile hill, “I will sing” from the Hebrew means “I begin to sing about my friend: this is a song of His love for His vineyard.” The prophet wishes to portray the relation of his friend (as the Being Himself is figuratively called here) to His vineyard, which in Scripture is not infrequently called the chosen people (cf. Isa 3:14; Jer 2:21; Jer 12:10; Matt 21:33). This vineyard was laid out in the most suitable soil—on the slopes of the hill, most open to the action of the sun’s rays. “Bacchus loves open hills,” says Virgil (Georgics II, 113).

Isaiah 5:2. And He enclosed it with a hedge, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice grape vines, and built a tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine press in it, and expected it would produce good grapes, but it produced wild berries. “And He enclosed it with a hedge”—more precisely from the Hebrew, he dug or worked the ground for the planting of grape cuttings. “Cleared it of stones”—from large stones; small pebbles, however, serve to anchor the vines in the soil. Towers in the vineyard were built so that the vineyard keeper could observe from there the integrity of the vines, which could be damaged chiefly by livestock. “Wine press”—properly the lower vat, located in the ground, into which the grape juice flowed from the upper vat where the grapes were trodden. Choice grape—in Hebrew soreq (Assyrian Sarka), that is, particularly dark red in color. “Wild berries”—fruit of poor quality.

Isaiah 5:3. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. Isaiah 5:4. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done for it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce wild berries? Isaiah 5:5. Now therefore I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devastated; I will break down its walls, and it shall be trampled, Isaiah 5:6. and I will leave it in desolation: it shall neither be pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thistles shall grow up, and I will command the clouds not to rain upon it. Here speaks the Beloved One, that is, the Most High. “Hedge”—(verse 5)—low stone walls around the vineyard one to two arshin high. “Pruning” the vines (verse 6) was necessary to increase their fertility. The vineyard soil was worked several times a year to increase its productivity.

Isaiah 5:7. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His beloved planting. And He looked for justice, but behold—bloodshed; He looked for righteousness, and behold—a cry. The parable with which the Lord addressed Israel in verses 3–6 is here explained. “Cry,” that is, heard in the people are the cries of those oppressed by the mighty. Isa 5:8-23. For their sins and transgressions the Judeans will be strictly punished. Those who encroach upon others’ lands will suffer: their own lands will be laid waste and their income diminished. People who spend all their time in pleasures will suffer hunger and thirst and finally will be swallowed by the gaping mouth of Hades. Slaves of sin, impudently denying the existence of Providence and the inevitability of God’s judgment over mankind, will soon experience the weight of this judgment. Other sinners too will pay for their sins.

Isaiah 5:9. The Lord of hosts said in my ear: Surely these many houses shall be desolate, large and fair ones, without inhabitants; The Law of Moses required that every Israelite family own only its own portion of land, assigned to it from the beginning of the taking of the promised land (Lev 25:23). But the Hebrews repeatedly violated this law in various ways (see 1 Sam 21). Chiefly, wealthy people strove to seize large tracts of land because wheat cultivated on these tracts was in ancient times the most profitable item of trade, and land, one might say, was the gold mine of Palestine. Isaiah, like other prophets, turns special attention to this abnormality, by which few rich men became owners of vast stretches of land and many houses, while the rest of the population had to work for them for a crust of bread, gradually turning into a true proletariat. Moreover, since wheat was cultivated for export abroad, ordinary Jewish settlers positively lacked bread for themselves and their families. Furthermore, this widened the gulf between different classes of people, while the law established no distance, no distinction in the social position of Israelites, and then endangered the integrity of the state, which could be defended only by people who felt themselves not as hired workers, but as masters, to whom the land was their own. It must be noted, however, that the prophet, in pronouncing woe upon those Hebrews who strove to enlarge their possessions, does not incite the people to violent restoration of the original boundaries of each Hebrew family’s holdings, but only wishes to act upon these violators of the Law of Moses by threatening them with God’s wrath (verse 10). The prophets in general were opposed to all violence...

Isaiah 5:10. Ten acres of vineyard shall produce one bath, and a homer of sown seed shall yield only an ephah. “Bath”—a measure of liquids, about one epic measure or 34.44 French liters. “Homer” was equal to ten ephahs or baths. Rich Hebrews will receive ten times less than what they sowed.

Isaiah 5:11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning to seek intoxicating drink, and who linger late into the evening heated with wine; “Strong drink”—an intoxicating beverage made from apples or other fruits, even from grain, but wheat (like our beer); “Wine”—was made from grapes, which at that time were renowned for their taste. The prophet Isaiah here arms himself against drunkenness—a vice that began to spread among the Hebrews from the time of Solomon, whose example undoubtedly influenced people closely connected with the court. (1 Sam 4:20). The abundance of wine made the beverage the most common and drunkenness thus had fertile ground for itself. The prophets, seeing all the harm from this indulgence, tried in every way to bring their listeners to their senses, who even took pride in their ability to drink as much wine as possible (cf. verse 22).

Isaiah 5:12. And the lyre and the harp, the timbrel and the flute and wine at their feasts; but the works of the Lord they do not regard, and the deeds of His hands they do not consider. “Lyre”—an empty wooden box, with strings stretched over the top (in Hebrew kinnor). “Harp”—a harp (in Hebrew nevel). “Timbrel”—a hand drum or tambourine (in Hebrew toph). “Flute”—a flute (in Hebrew cholil).

Isaiah 5:13. Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men are famished, and their multitude is parched with thirst. “Unexpectedly.”—The people, having no guilt on their part, must suffer because of the excesses which the rich allowed themselves.

Isaiah 5:14. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth without measure; and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her pomp and all who exult in her. Isaiah 5:15. And the human is brought low, and the man is humbled, and the eyes of the haughty are brought down; “Brought low”—that is, shall repent.

Isaiah 5:16. But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. Isaiah 5:17. And the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, and the kids shall feed among the ruins of the rich. By “lambs” one may understand poor Hebrews, to whom there was formerly no place in Palestine, since all the lands were in the possession of few rich men. After the wealthy and noble Hebrews were led into captivity, the poor left in Judea could freely choose fields wherever they wished.

Isaiah 5:18. Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as if with the ropes of a cart; “Draw”—more correctly translated: “bring upon themselves God’s punishment for their transgressions.” In this sense this prophecy is understood by the Holy Cyril of Alexandria and by Saint John Chrysostom, as well as by some modern commentators. The punishment, one might say, is so firmly fixed, attached to the wicked Judeans, as firmly as a cart is tied to the animal pulling it.

Isaiah 5:19. Those who say, “Let Him make haste, let Him speed His work that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, that we may know it! “His work,” that is, His judgment upon us.

Isaiah 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! Isaiah 5:21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! “Wise in their own eyes”—do not wish to know the Law of God. Isa 5:24-30. For their transgressions all sinners will bear heavy punishment from God; their corpses will lie everywhere—a sign that some terrible pestilence will begin, but this is not all. God will call against the sinful Judeans from a distant land such an enemy who, like a lion, will rush upon the chosen people and many Judeans will be carried into captivity.

Isaiah 5:25. 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 streets. For all this His anger has not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still. “His hand... is stretched out still,” that is, this plague will be only the beginning of Judea’s disasters.

Isaiah 5:26. He will raise a signal for a nation far away, and whistle for it from the ends of the earth; and behold, swiftly, speedily it comes; “Raise a signal”—indicate a place for the assembly of troops coming against Judea. “Nations far away”—the prophet most likely means here the Assyrians and neighboring nations subject to them.

Isaiah 5:27. None of them is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers nor sleeps; not a belt is loose, not a sandal thong broken; Isaiah 5:28. Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are bent; their horses’ hooves seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind; Isaiah 5:29. Their roaring is like a lioness; they roar like young lions; they growl and seize the prey, and carry it off, and none can rescue. The Assyrians indeed were distinguished by tirelessness in campaigns and skill in using all means of military art.

Isaiah 5:30. And he will roar over it on that day like the roaring of the sea; and if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened by its clouds. “Behold darkness.” By these words is depicted the impression which will be produced upon the Judeans by the invasion of the mighty and numerous Assyrians, who went with great noise (like the noise of the sea). Critics are fairly unanimous in dividing chapter five into three parts: 1–7, 8–24, and 26–30. The first part maintains a certain rhythm throughout its entire length. Verse 1—first half Verse 1—second half, verse 2 Verse 3—verse 4 Verse 5—verse 6 Verse 7 Heading: First stanza—in 4 hemistich—2, 2 Second stanza—in 4 hemistich—2, 2 Third stanza—of 6 hemistich—3, 3 First and second stanzas—each of 2 hemistich—2, 2 This song was composed probably shortly after the appearance of the prophet’s preceding speeches, around 735 B.C. The second part does not in general raise serious objections regarding its authenticity, although criticism nearly unanimously considers verses 15 and 16 to be an insertion, which could be placed lower, since its content is too general and does not fit the enumeration of particular punishments begun in verse 14. Verse 17, according to Condamin, should also be placed after verse 10, as more suited to it in content. The stanzas in this part, which also probably appeared around 735 B.C., can be distributed as follows: Verses 8–10 and 17—first stanza—2, 3, 3 Verses 11–14—second stanza—3, 3, 2 Verses 18–23—third stanza—3, 3, 3 Regarding the third part, Condamin supposes that it originally had a different place—namely verses 24–25 after chapter 9, verse 16, and verses 26–30 after chapter 8, verse 20, since they fit better in content with those sections. But the said critic does not present other, more convincing reasons for his hypothesis, and what has been said is quite insufficient for such a rearrangement. * * * Notes

Isaiah 5:11. Ambiguous interpretation. The matter is that in Palestine and among the Greeks “strong drink” was made from the fruits of the date palm and was, in essence, date vodka. The Aramaic conception of “strong drink,” however, meant an intoxicating, mind-altering beverage, technologically close to mead or beer production, without distillation. That is, an intoxicating beverage of natural origin. In Isaiah in the Slavonic translation in Is.5:11—“woe to those rising up at dawn and strong drink pursuing.” Thus there is confirmation of the viewpoint that this is simple moonshine. Editor’s note.