Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 5:7
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.
7. The formal application of the parable, emphasising two facts: (1) Jehovah’s vineyard is the house of Israel, but especially the men of Judah, the plant of his delight (R.V. marg.); (2) “the wild grapes” it produces are the frightful oppressions and perversion of justice which are perpetrated in its midst. The underlying thought is that Jehovah’s signal care and goodness ought to have resulted in a national life corresponding to His moral character a fundamental truth of the prophetic theology.
He looked for judgment ( mishp), but behold bloodshed ( misp);
For righteousness ( d qh), but behold a cry! ( ‘ qh).
These powerful assonances, which cannot be reproduced in English, are evidently designed to clinch the moral of the parable in the memories of the hearers. The “cry” is that of the oppressed, cf. Job 19:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the vineyard … – This is the application of the parable. God had treated the Jews as a farmer does a vineyard. This was his vineyard – the object of his faithful, unceasing care. This was his only vineyard; on this people alone, of all the nations of the earth, had he bestowed his special attention.
His pleasant plant – The plant in which he delighted. As the farmer had been at the pains to plant the sorek Isa 5:2, so had God selected the ancient stock of the Jews as his own, and made the race the object of his chief attention.
And he looked for judgment – For justice, or righteousness.
But behold oppression – The word rendered oppression means properly shedding of blood. In the original here, there is a remarkable paranomasia, or play upon words, which is not uncommon in the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was deemed a great beauty in composition:
| He looked for judgment, | mishpat, |
| And lo! shedding of blood, | mis’pach; |
| For rightousness, | tsedaqah, |
| But lo! a clamor, | tseaqah. |
It is impossible, of course, to retain this in a translation.
A cry. A clamor – tumult, disorder; the clamor which attends anarchy, and covetousness, and dissipation Isa 5:8, Isa 5:11-12, rather than the soberness and steadiness of justice.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. 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 Isa 13:6; Isa 24:17; Isa 32:7; Isa 28:1; Isa 57:6; Isa 61:3; Isa 65:11-12. Rabbi David Kimchi has noticed the paronomasia here: he expected mishpat, judgment, but behold mishpach, oppression; he expected tsedakah, righteousness, but behold tseakah, a cry. The rabbins esteem it a great beauty; their term for it is tsachoth haltashon, elegance of language.
Oppression – “tyranny.”] mishpach, from shaphach, servum fecit, Arab. Houbigant: shiphchah is serva, a handmaid or female slave. mispach, eighteen MSS.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; in whom God formerly delighted to dwell and converse. Compare Pro 8:31; Jer 31:20. Behold the cry from the oppressed, crying to men for help, and to God for vengeance.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Isaiah here applies theparable. It is no mere human owner, nor a literalvineyard that is meant.
vineyard of the LordHisonly one (Exo 19:5;Amo 3:2).
pleasant“theplant of his delight”; just as the husbandman was at pains toselect the sorek, or “choicest vine” (Isa5:2); so God’s election of the Jews.
judgmentjustice. Theplay upon words is striking in the Hebrew, He looked formishpat, but behold mispat (“bloodshed”); fortsedaqua, but behold tseaqua (the cry that attendsanarchy, covetousness, and dissipation, Isa 5:8;Isa 5:11; Isa 5:12;compare the cry of the rabble by which justice was overborne in thecase of Jesus Christ, Mat 27:23;Mat 27:24).
Isa5:8-23. SIX DISTINCTWOES AGAINST CRIMES.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,…. This is the explication of the parable, or the accommodation and application of it to the people of Israel, by whom are meant the ten tribes; they are signified by the vineyard, which belonged to the Lord of hosts, who had chosen them to be a peculiar people to him, and had separated them from all others:
and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; they were so when first planted by the Lord; they were plants of delight, in whom he took great delight and pleasure, De 10:15 these design the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, in distinction from Israel:
and he looked for judgment; that the poor, and the fatherless, and the widow, would have their causes judged in a righteous manner, and that justice and judgment would be executed in the land in all respects; for which such provision was made by the good and righteous laws that were given them:
but behold oppression; or a “scab”, such as was in the plague of leprosy; corruption, perverting of justice, and oppressing of the poor: Jarchi interprets it a gathering of sin to sin, a heaping up iniquities:
for righteousness, but behold a cry; of the poor and oppressed, for want of justice done, and by reason of their oppressions. Here ends the song; what has been parabolically said is literally expressed in the following part of the chapter.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of His delight: He waited for justice, and behold grasping; for righteousness, and behold a shriek.” The meaning is not that the Lord of the vineyard would not let any more rain fall upon it, because this Lord was Jehovah (which is not affirmed in fact in the words commencing with “for,” Ci ), but a more general one. This was how the case stood with the vineyard; for all Israel, and especially the people of Judah, were this vineyard, which had so bitterly deceived the expectations of its Lord, and indeed “the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts,” and therefore of the omnipotent God, whom even the clouds would serve when He came forth to punish. The expression “for” ( Ci ) is not only intended to vindicate the truth of the last statement, but the truth of the whole simile, including this: it is an explanatory “for” ( Ci explic.), which opens the epimythion . “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts” ( Cerem Jehovah Zebaoth ) is the predicate. “The house of Israel ( Beth Yisrael ) was the whole nation, which is also represented in other passages under the same figure of a vineyard (Isa 27:2.; Ps 80, etc.). But as Isaiah was prophet in Judah, he applies the figure more particularly to Judah, which was called Jehovah’s favourite plantation, inasmuch as it was the seat of the divine sanctuary and of the Davidic kingdom. This makes it easy enough to interpret the different parts of the simile employed. The fat mountain-horn was Canaan, flowing with milk and honey (Exo 15:17); the digging of the vineyard, and clearing it of stones, was the clearing of Canaan from its former heathen inhabitants (Psa 54:3); the sorek-vines were the holy priests and prophets and kings of Israel of the earlier and better times (Jer 2:21); the defensive and ornamental tower in the midst of the vineyard was Jerusalem as the royal city, with Zion the royal fortress (Mic 4:8); the winepress-trough was the temple, where, according to Psa 36:9 (8.), the wine of heavenly pleasures flowed in streams, and from which, according to Psa 42:1-11 and many other passages, the thirst of the soul might all be quenched. The grazing and treading down are explained in Jer 5:10 and Jer 12:10. The bitter deception experienced by Jehovah is expressed in a play upon two words, indicating the surprising change of the desired result into the very opposite. The explanation which Gesenius, Caspari, Knobel, and others give of m ispach , viz., bloodshed, does not commend itself; for even if it must be admitted that saphach occurs once or twice in the “Arabizing” book of Job (Job 30:7; Job 14:19) in the sense of pouring out, this verbal root is strange to the Hebrew (and the Aramaean). Moreover, m ispach in any case would only mean pouring or shedding, and not bloodshed; and although the latter would certainly be possible by the side of the Arabic saffach , saffak (shedder of blood), yet it would be such an ellipsis as cannot be shown anywhere else in Hebrew usage. On the other hand, the rendering “leprosy” does not yield any appropriate sense, as m ispachath ( sappachath ) is never generalized anywhere else into the single idea of “dirt” (Luzzatto: sozzura ), nor does it appear as an ethical notion. We therefore prefer to connect it with a meaning unquestionably belonging to the verb (see kal, 1Sa 2:36; niphal, Isa 14:1; hithpael , 1Sa 26:19), which is derived in , , , from the primary notion “to sweep,” spec. to sweep towards, sweep in, or sweep away. Hence we regard m ispach as denoting the forcible appropriation of another man’s property; certainly a suitable antithesis to m ishpat . The prophet describes, in full-toned figures, how the expected noble grapes had turned into wild grapes, with nothing more than an outward resemblance. The introduction to the prophecy closes here.
The prophecy itself follows next, a seven-fold discourse composed of the six-fold woe contained in vv. 8-23, and the announcement of punishment in which it terminates. In this six-fold woe the prophet describes the bad fruits one by one. In confirmation of our rendering of m ispach , the first woe relates to covetousness and avarice as the root of all evil.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
7. Truly the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel. Hitherto he spoke figuratively; now he shows what is the design of this song. Formerly he had threatened judgment against the Jews; now he shows that they are not only guilty, but are also held to be convicted persons; for they could not be ignorant of the benefits which they had received from God.
Thou broughtest a vine from Egypt, says the Psalmist, and, having driven out the nations, plantedst it. (Psa 80:8.)
Their ingratitude was plain and manifest.
Isaiah does not illustrate every part of the metaphor; nor was it necessary; for it was enough to point out what was its object. The whole nation was the vineyard; the individual men were the plants. Thus he accuses the whole body of the nation, and then every individual; so that no man could escape the universal condemnation, as if no part of the expostulation had been addressed to himself. Why the nation is called a vineyard is plain enough; for the Lord chose it, and admitted it to the covenant of grace and of eternal salvation, and bestowed on it innumerable blessings. The planting is the commencement, and the dressing of it follows. That nation was adopted, and in various respects was the object of Divine care; for the adoption would have been of no avail, if the Lord had not continually adorned and enriched it by his blessings.
The same doctrine ought to be inculcated on us at the present day. Christ affirms that he is the vine, (Joh 15:1,) and that, having been ingrafted into this vine, we are placed under the care of the Father; for God is pleased to perform towards us the office of a husbandman, and continually bestows those favors which he reproachfully asserts that he had granted to his ancient people. We need not wonder, therefore, if he is greatly enraged when he bestows his labor uselessly and to no purpose. Hence that threatening,
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he will cut off, and cast into the fire. (Joh 15:2.) (78)
He looked for judgment. He begins without a metaphor to relate how wickedly the Jews had degenerated, among whom equity and justice was despised, and every kind of injustice and violence abounded. The words contain an elegant play of language, (paronomasia,) for those which have nearly the same sound have an opposite meaning. משפט ( mishpat) denotes judgment; משפח ( mishpach) denotes conspiracy or oppression; צדקה ( tzedakah) denotes righteousness; צעקה ( tzeakah) denotes the cry and complaint of those who are oppressed by violence and injustice; sounds which are not wont to be heard where every man receives what is his own. He mentions two things which the Lord chiefly demands from his people as the genuine fruits of the fear of God; for although piety comes first in order, yet there is no inconsistency in taking the description of it from the duties of the second table. They are justly charged with having despised God, on the ground of having acted cruelly towards men; for where cruelty reigns, religion is extinguished.
Let us now understand that the same things are addressed to us; for as that nation was planted, so were we. We should call to remembrance what Paul says, that we were like wild olive-plants, but that they were the true and natural olive-tree. (Rom 11:24. (79)) since we who were strangers have been ingrafted into the true olive-tree, the Lord has cultivated and adorned us with unceasing care. But what kind of fruits do we bring forth? Assuredly they are not only useless, but even bitter. So much the greater is the ingratitude for which we ought to be condemned, for the blessings which he has bestowed and heaped on us are far more abundant. And justly does this expostulation apply to us, for violence and injustice abound everywhere. But since the general doctrine did not strike their minds so powerfully, the Prophet described chiefly these two kinds of wickedness; that he might point out with the finger, as it were, how far that nation was from the fruit which a good vineyard ought to have yielded.
(78) In our Author’s quotation the 2d and 6 th verses are inaccurately blended. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he will take away. (Joh 15:2.) If a man abide not in me, he shall be cast out, and wither as a branch; and men shall gather it, and cast it into the fire, and it shall be burned. (Joh 15:6.) We follow the Author’s version. — Ed.
(79) In the original text the reference reads: Rom 11:25 which I assume was a typographical error. — fj.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
ON THE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL ALLOTMENTS OF LAND TO THE POOR
Isa. 5:7-8. He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. Woe unto them that join house to house, and lay field to field, till there be no place.
I. The Almighty expects from all His creatures, and especially from those to whom He has given wealth or power, the practice of justice and righteousness. II. The Almighty, instead of finding justice and righteousness among His creatures, discovers oppression on the part of the powerful, and a cry of lamentation and of indignation on the part of the poor: the proof of the oppression, and the cause of the cry is, that no place is left for the poor. There is a strong tendency to the accumulation of property, and especially of land, in the hands of a few; but such accumulations of land in a few hands tends to grave national evilsto luxury on the part of the rich, and to lawlessness on the part of the poorand, therefore, instead of being promoted, should be discouraged by the legislature. But year by year we have been adding field to field, and house to house, till we have left the poor no place. Rights of common and rights of pasture have been taken away, and the beer-shop established by law to occupy that time which otherwise would have been employed in healthy toil for a happy family. Little farms, held by working farmers, have been joined together, so that one may live in luxury, where ten families once dwelt in simplicity and plenty. The cottager, with his little field, that once looked so fruitful and trim, cheering the eye and charming the heart, not only of himself, but of beings dear to and dependent upon him, has been driven into some town to add to its misery, its debasement, and its discontent. Let us pray that there may come a time when the gentle in rank shall be gentle in very deed; when the rich shall recognise that they are trustees for God, and shall use their property for the purposes for which He has placed it in their hands; when allotment acts shall remedy the ruin which enclosure acts have wrought; when an enlightened self-love, arising out of the possession of something to love, shall render the demagogue and the inciter to outrage a foreigner to our land; and when our common Father shall find that justice and righteousness for which He looks.R. C. Parkman, B.A., Sermons (1843), No. X.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(7) For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts.The words remind us of Nathans Thou art the man, to David (2Sa. 12:7), and of our Lords words in Mat. 21:42-43.
Behold oppression.The Hebrew word carries with it the idea of bloodshed, and points to the crimes mentioned in Isa. 1:15; Isa. 4:4. The cry is that of the victims who appeal to Jehovah when they find no help in man (Gen. 4:10; Deu. 24:15; Jas. 5:4).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 5:7. For the vineyard, &c. Or, Now, the vineyard, &c. We have in this verse the interpretation of the preceding parable; first, in general, which the history of the Jewish people, especially in the time of our Saviour, and before their destruction by the Romans, fully verifies. The word mispach, which we render oppression, is literally a scab; and it refers to that spiritual leprosy, that total corruption, wherewith the Jews were infected: Men totally corrupt in mind. See 1Ti 6:5.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 5:7 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.
Ver. 7. For the vineyard, &c. ] Exponit breviter mentem huius cantici. Here we have the parable expounded and applied: the Scripture is its own best interpreter; sometimes, as here and Joh 7:39 , the sense is annexed. The Rabbis have a saying, Nulla est obiectio in lege quae non habet solutionem in latere. Nothing is exposed in law which does not have a solution in parts.
His pleasant plant.
And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression.
For righteousness, but behold a cry.
“ Clamitat in coelum vex sanguinis et Sodomorum,
Vex oppressorum, mercesque retenta laborum. ”
The twofold Ecce,
a Con. Pelag., lib. ii. cap. 9.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 5:7
7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant.
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Isa 5:7 the house of Israel This term normally seems to refer to all of the Jewish people collectively before the political split in 922 B.C., although in this verse the term refers to Judah. At this time in the history of the people of God, their nation was split into the northern ten tribes known as Israel, Ephraim, or Samaria and the southern three tribes known as Judah, which included Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and most of the Levites/priests.
justice. . .bloodshed. . .righteousness. . .a cry of distress This is a play on two different sounds in Hebrew that cannot be reproduced in an English translation: Mishpat (justice) vs. Mispach (bloodshed, BDB 705) and Zedakah (righteousness) vs. Zeakah (cry of distress). Another biblical reversal of expectations.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the LORD of hosts. See note on Isa 1:9 and 1Sa 1:3.
house of Israel. Occurs four times in Isaiah, twice before Isa 40: (Isa 6:7; Isa 14:2), and twice after (Isa 46:3; Isa 63:7). See App-79. Note the introversion: “vineyard”, “Israel”, “Judah”, “pleasant plant”.
judgment. oppression. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia for great and solemn emphasis, to attract our attention and impress our minds. Not a “pun “or a “play” on words. Hebrew. mishpat. mishpach.
righteousness. a cry. Figure of speech Paronomasia. Hebrew. zedakah. ze’akah. See note above. These two lines may be Englished by “He looked for equity, but behold iniquity; for right, but behold might” (as used in oppression and producing a “cry”). and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the vineyard: Psa 80:8-11, Psa 80:15, Jer 12:10
his pleasant plant: Heb. plant of his pleasures, Isa 62:5, Psa 147:11, Psa 149:4, Son 7:6, Zep 3:17
he looked: Isa 5:2, Isa 58:6-8, Exo 22:22-27, Mic 6:8, Zec 7:9-14, Mat 3:8-10, Mat 23:23, Joh 15:2, 1Co 6:8-11, 1Jo 3:7, 1Jo 3:8
but: The paronomasia, or play of words, is very remarkable here: he looked for mishpat “judgment,” but behold mispach “oppression;” for tzedakah “justice,” but behold tzedkah “a cry.”
oppression: Heb. a scab, Isa 1:6, Isa 3:17
a cry: Gen 4:10, Exo 2:23, Exo 2:24, Exo 3:7, Exo 22:21-24, Exo 22:27, Deu 15:9, Neh 5:1-5, Job 31:38, Job 31:39, Job 34:28, Pro 21:13, Luk 18:7, Jam 5:4
Reciprocal: Gen 18:20 – the cry Lev 25:14 – General Num 5:29 – when a wife goeth Deu 24:15 – lest he Job 20:19 – he hath violently Psa 82:5 – all the Ecc 4:1 – and considered Ecc 5:8 – regardeth Isa 1:21 – it was full Isa 3:14 – ye have eaten Isa 10:2 – that widows Isa 24:20 – the transgression Isa 59:6 – their works Isa 59:8 – no Jer 5:15 – O house Jer 14:2 – the cry Jer 24:2 – naughty Eze 7:11 – Violence Eze 18:7 – hath not Eze 22:29 – people Hos 10:4 – thus Amo 5:7 – turn Amo 5:11 – treading Mic 6:12 – the rich Mar 11:13 – he found 1Th 4:6 – go Heb 12:15 – any root
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 5:7. For the vineyard, &c. Or rather, Now the vineyard, as Dr. Waterland renders it: here we have the interpretation of the preceding parable in general. In the subsequent verses the prophet enters into particulars. This general interpretation is fully verified by the history of the Jewish people, especially in the time of our Lord and his apostles: and the men of Judah his pleasant plant In whom God formerly delighted; and he looked for judgment Both the administration of justice by magistrates, and justice in the dealings of the people with one another: but behold oppression From the powerful upon their inferiors; and for righteousness For equity, mercy, and benevolence; but behold a cry From the oppressed, crying to men for help, and to God for vengeance. The paronomasia, or play on the words, in the Hebrew, in this place, is very remarkable; mispat, mispach; zedakah, zeakah. There are many examples of it in the other prophets; but Isaiah seems peculiarly fond of it. The rabbins esteem it a great beauty: their term for it is, elegance of language. Bishop Lowth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:7 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 {h} judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold {i} a cry.
(h) Judgment and righteousness are true fruit of the fear of God and therefore in the cruel oppression there is no religion.
(i) Of them who are oppressed.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Isaiah now shocked his audience by identifying the characters in his parable by name. His well-beloved and the owner of the vineyard was Yahweh of Hosts, not some unnamed friend; the vineyard was Israel, not his friend’s wife (cf. Isa 1:8; Isa 3:14; Psa 80:8-18; Jer 2:21; Jer 12:10; Eze 15:6-8; Hos 10:1; Mat 21:33-44); and the Judahites were the individual plants in this unresponsive vineyard.
"Before the fall of Samaria in 722 BC the house of Israel meant either the whole divided nation or its northern component. The prophets did not countenance the division, and whether specifically called to prophesy to north or south they tended to embrace the whole in their ministry (cf. Amo 3:1). Isaiah thus addresses the whole nation and then narrows his vision to the specially privileged men of Judah . . ." [Note: Motyer, p. 69.]
The good fruit God looked for was justice (the righting of wrongs; Heb. mishpat) and righteousness (right relationships; Heb. tsedaqah), but the bad fruit the vines produced was oppression (the inflicting of wrongs; Heb. mispakh) and violence (wrong relationships; Heb. tse’aqah; cf. Isa 60:21; Isa 61:3). Isaiah used paronomasia (a pun) to make his contrasts more forceful and memorable. Instead of mishpat God got mispakh, and instead of tsedaqah He received tse’aqah.
"The assonance would seem to point to the fact that the worthless grapes bore at least an outward resemblance to the good ones. In appearance at least the nation seemed to be the people of God." [Note: Young, 1:204.]
As the vineyard disappointed the Lord, so this song disappointed its original hearers. It proved to be confrontation, not entertainment.