Isaiah 5:1-7

Isaiah 5:1-7

[1] 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:  [2] And 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.  [3] And now, O inhabitants  of Jerusalem,  and men  of Judah,  judge,  I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.  [4] What 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?  [5] And 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:  [6] And 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  [7] For 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. 

What does Isaiah 5:1-7 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Isaiah , like a folk singer, sang a parable about a vineyard that compared Israel to a vineyard that Yahweh had planted and from which He legitimately expected to receive fruit. One cannot help but wonder if this passage lay behind Jesus" teaching on the vine and the branches in John 15:1-6. The prophet"s original audience did not realize what this song was about at first. It started out sounding like a happy wedding Song of Solomon , but it turned out to be a funeral dirge announcing Israel"s death. This chiastic "song" is only the first part of Isaiah"s unified message in this chapter. His song flowed into a sermon. This is the first of several songs in Isaiah (cf. chs12 , 35; Isaiah 54:1-10; et al.).
"In a way similar to Nathan"s, when he used a story to get King David to condemn his own action ( 2 Samuel 12:1-7), so Isaiah sets his hearers up to judge themselves ..." [1]