There shall come up briers and thorns "The thorn shall spring up in it" - One MS. has בשמיר beshamir . The true reading seems to be שמור בו bo shamir , which is confirmed by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. read more
And he looked for judgment - The paronomasia, or play on the words, in this place, is very remarkable; mishpat , mishpach , tsedakah , tseakah . There are many examples of it in the other prophets, but Isaiah seems peculiarly fond of it. See Isaiah 13:6 , Isaiah 24:17 , Isaiah 32:7 , Isaiah 28:1 , Isaiah 57:6 , Isaiah 61:3 , Isaiah 65:11 , Isaiah 65:12 . Rabbi David Kimchi has noticed the paronomasia here: he expected משפט mishpat , judgment, but behold משפח ... read more
Now will I sing to my Well-beloved. The prophet sings to Jehovah a song concerning his vineyard. The song consists of eight lines, beginning with "My Well-beloved," and ending with "wild grapes." It is in a lively, dancing measure, very unlike the general style of Isaiah's poetry. The name "Well-beloved" seems to be taken by the prophet from the Song of Songs, where it occurs above twenty times. It well expresses the feeling of a loving soul towards its Creator and Redeemer. A song of my... read more
ISRAEL REBUKED BY THE PARABLE OF A VINEYARD . This chapter stands in a certain sense alone, neither closely connected with what precedes nor with what follows, excepting that it breathes throughout a tone of denunciation. There is also a want of connection between its parts, the allegory of the first section being succeeded by a series of rebukes for sins, expressed in the plainest language, and the rebukes being followed by a threat of punishment, also expressed with... read more
God's care for man, and man's ingratitude. Three times has God made himself a vineyard upon earth, planted a plantation of choice vines, endued by him with the capacity of bringing forth excellent fruit, fenced his vineyard round with care, cleared its soil of stones, pruned its superfluous shoots, hoed out the weeds from between the vine-stocks, bestowed on it all possible tendance, and looked to see a suitable result; and three times has the result, for which he had every right to look, ... read more
The parable of the vineyard. I. NOTICE THE ART OF THE PARABLE . It has been remarked, "A proverb finds him who a sermon flies." Pictures from nature are acceptable to all, especially of that nature which is familiar to the imagination of the listener. Through the imagination we may glide into our listener's heart and conscience. The truth comes with much more power when it is made to glance from an object intermediate between the mind and its naked reality. A great secret of... read more
Privilege and penalty. We have a striking picture of— I. THE FULNESS OF THE DIVINE PROVISION . ( Isaiah 5:1 4.) The second verse describes in detail the processes by which the vineyard is prepared for fruitfulness, and in the fourth verse the question is asked, "What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" The idea is that of the fullness of the Divine provision for the Jewish nation . God had provided: 1. Illustrious men—Moses, Aaron,... read more
He fenced it. So the LXX ; the Vulgate, Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Rosenmüller, Lowth, Kay. Gesenius, Knobel, and Mr. Cheyne prefer to translate, "he dug it over;" while the Revisers of 1885 have suggested, "he made a trench about it." The word occurs only in this place, and has no cognates in Hebrew. And gathered out the stones (comp. Isaiah 62:10 ). In the stony soil of Palestine, to collect the surface stones into heaps, or build them into walls, is of primary necessity for the improvement... read more
The prophet's "song" here ends, and Jehovah himself takes the word. As if the story told in the parable had been a fact, he calls on the men of Judah and Jerusalem to "judge between him and his vineyard." Compare Nathan's appeal to David by the parable of the ewe lamb ( 2 Samuel 12:1-4 ). read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 5:3
Inhabitants - ישבי yoshebey , in the plural number; three MSS., (two ancient), and so likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate. read more