The Meaning of Isaiah 5:6 Explained

Isaiah 5:6

KJV: 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 upon it.

YLT: And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain.

Darby: and I will make it a waste it shall not be pruned nor cultivated, but there shall come up briars and thorns; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

ASV: and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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  upon it. 

What does Isaiah 5:6 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 5:6 mean?

and I will lay it waste not it shall be pruned or dug but there shall come up briers and thorns and also the clouds I will command that they rain no on it rain
וַאֲשִׁיתֵ֣הוּ בָתָ֗ה לֹ֤א יִזָּמֵר֙ וְלֹ֣א יֵעָדֵ֔ר וְעָלָ֥ה שָׁמִ֖יר וָשָׁ֑יִת וְעַ֤ל הֶעָבִים֙ אֲצַוֶּ֔ה מֵהַמְטִ֥יר עָלָ֖יו מָטָֽר

וַאֲשִׁיתֵ֣הוּ  and  I  will  lay  it 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, first person common singular, third person masculine singular
Root: שִׁית  
Sense: to put, set.
בָתָ֗ה  waste 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: בָּתָה  
Sense: end, destruction.
יִזָּמֵר֙  it  shall  be  pruned 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: זָמַר  
Sense: to trim, prune.
יֵעָדֵ֔ר  dug 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָדַר 
Sense: to help.
וְעָלָ֥ה  but  there  shall  come  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
שָׁמִ֖יר  briers 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁמִיר 
Sense: thorn(s), adamant, flint.
וָשָׁ֑יִת  and  thorns 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שַׁיִת  
Sense: thorn bushes.
וְעַ֤ל  and  also 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
הֶעָבִים֙  the  clouds 
Parse: Article, Noun, common plural
Root: עָב 
Sense: darkness, cloud, thicket.
אֲצַוֶּ֔ה  I  will  command 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.
מֵהַמְטִ֥יר  that  they  rain  no 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: מָטַר  
Sense: to rain.
עָלָ֖יו  on  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
מָטָֽר  rain 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָטָר  
Sense: rain.