Isaiah 5:1-7
New English Translation
A Love Song Gone Sour
5 I[a] will sing to my love—
a song to my lover about his vineyard.[b]
My love had a vineyard
on a fertile hill.[c]
2 He built a hedge around it,[d] removed its stones,
and planted a vine.
He built a tower in the middle of it,
and constructed a winepress.
He waited for it to produce edible grapes,
but it produced sour ones instead.[e]
3 So now, residents of Jerusalem,
people[f] of Judah,
you decide between me and my vineyard!
4 What more can I do for my vineyard
beyond what I have already done?
When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,
why did it produce sour ones instead?
5 Now I will inform you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture,[g]
I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.[h]
6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground,[i]
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
7 Indeed,[j] Israel[k] is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the people[l] of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.
He waited for justice, but look what he got—disobedience![m]
He waited for fairness, but look what he got—cries for help![n]
Notas al pie
- Isaiah 5:1 tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.
- Isaiah 5:1 sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.
- Isaiah 5:1 tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).
- Isaiah 5:2 tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.
- Isaiah 5:2 tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).sn At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3-6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.
- Isaiah 5:3 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
- Isaiah 5:5 tn Heb “and it will become [a place for] grazing.” בָּעַר (baʿar, “grazing”) is a homonym of the more often used verb “to burn.”
- Isaiah 5:5 tn Heb “and it will become a trampled place” (NASB “trampled ground”).
- Isaiah 5:6 tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.
- Isaiah 5:7 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 5:7 tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 5:7 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
- Isaiah 5:7 tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mispakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.
- Isaiah 5:7 tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tseaʿqah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsedaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Expanded Bible
Israel, the Lord’s Vineyard
5 Now I will sing for my ·friend [or beloved] a song about his vineyard [C Israel is the vineyard and God is its owner].
My ·friend [or beloved] had a vineyard
on a ·hill with very rich soil [fertile hillside].
2 He ·dug [or fenced it] and cleared the field of stones
and planted the best grapevines there.
He built a ·tower [watchtower; C for protection] in the middle of it
and ·cut [carved] out a winepress as well [C symbolizing God’s protection of Israel].
He ·hoped [expected; looked to see if] good grapes would grow there,
but ·only bad ones grew [L it produced only wild/sour grapes].
3 [C The vineyard owner now speaks:] “You ·people living in [residents/citizens of] Jerusalem,
and you people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard [C the scene changes from a love song to a courtroom indictment].
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I have already done?
Although I ·expected [waited/looked for] good grapes to grow,
why ·were there [did it produce] only ·bad [sour; wild] ones?
5 Now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove the hedge,
and it will ·be burned [be purged/destroyed; or become a pasture].
I will break down the stone wall,
and it will be ·walked [trampled; C referring to the Assyrian conquest in 722 bc].
6 I will ·ruin my field [make it a wasteland; leave it untended].
It will not be ·trimmed [pruned] or hoed,
and ·weeds [briers] and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 [L For; Because] The vineyard belonging to the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]
is the ·nation [L house] of Israel;
and the people of Judah
are the ·garden [vines; plants] that he ·loves [delights in].
He looked for justice, but ·there was [look; behold] only ·killing [bloodshed; or oppression; injustice; C the Hebrew words for “justice” and “killing” sound alike].
He hoped for ·right living [righteousness], but ·there were [look; behold] only ·cries of pain [cries of distress; or an outrcy; C the Hebrew words for “righteousness” and “cries of pain” sound alike].
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