The Meaning of Isaiah 5:1 Explained

Isaiah 5:1

KJV: Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

YLT: Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill,

Darby: I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard: My well-beloved had a vineyard upon a fruitful hill.

ASV: Let me sing for my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now will I sing  to my wellbeloved  a song  of my beloved  touching his vineyard.  My wellbeloved  hath a vineyard  in a very fruitful  hill: 

What does Isaiah 5:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Isaiah 5:1-17 - A Disappointing Harvest
In a picture of great beauty, Isaiah describes a vineyard situated on one of the sunny heights visible from Jerusalem. Every care which an experienced vine-dresser could devise had been expended on it, but in vain. The vine-dresser himself is introduced, demanding if more could have been done. When God selects a nation, a church, or an individual for high and holy work in the world and expends care and pains on the preparation of the instrument, and His plans miscarry through no failure on His part but through the obstinancy or obtuseness of the human soul, the measure of what might have been is the gauge of its doom. The worst weeds grow on the richest soil. This picture is the counterpart of Paul's dread of being a castaway, 1 Corinthians 9:27.
The six woes which follow, arising from drunkenness and avarice remind us of sorrows that menace the selfish heart. How different such a lot to the blessedness of the humblest soul that possesses God and is possessed by Him! "Evil shall slay the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be condemned. Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that take refuge in Him shall be condemned," Psalms 34:21-22. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 5

1  Under the parable of a vineyard, God excuses his severe judgment
8  His judgments upon covetousness
11  Upon lasciviousness
13  Upon impiety
20  And upon injustice
26  The executioners of God's judgments

What do the individual words in Isaiah 5:1 mean?

Let me sing now to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard A vineyard has My Well-beloved On a hill on a fertile very fruitful
אָשִׁ֤ירָה נָּא֙ לִֽידִידִ֔י שִׁירַ֥ת דּוֹדִ֖י לְכַרְמ֑וֹ כֶּ֛רֶם הָיָ֥ה לִֽידִידִ֖י בְּקֶ֥רֶן בֶּן־ שָֽׁמֶן

אָשִׁ֤ירָה  Let  me  sing 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: שִׁיר  
Sense: to sing.
נָּא֙  now 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
לִֽידִידִ֔י  to  my  Well-beloved 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: יָדִיד  
Sense: one beloved, beloved adj.
שִׁירַ֥ת  a  song 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: שִׁיר 
Sense: song.
דּוֹדִ֖י  of  my  Beloved 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: דֹּוד  
Sense: beloved, love, uncle.
לְכַרְמ֑וֹ  regarding  His  vineyard 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: כֶּרֶם 
Sense: vineyard.
כֶּ֛רֶם  A  vineyard 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֶּרֶם 
Sense: vineyard.
לִֽידִידִ֖י  My  Well-beloved 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: יָדִיד  
Sense: one beloved, beloved adj.
בְּקֶ֥רֶן  On  a  hill 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: קֶרֶן 
Sense: horn.
בֶּן־  on  a  fertile 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
שָֽׁמֶן  very  fruitful 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׁמֶן  
Sense: fat, oil.