Isaiah 5 Study Notes: The Song of the Vineyard
Isaiah sings of a vineyard lovingly tended that yields only sour grapes, a picture of Israel and Judah failing to produce justice. Six woes follow against greed, drunken revelry, mockery of God, moral inversion, pride and bribery, and God summons a swift foreign army in judgment.
General
What does the refrain at the end of 5:25 say about the LORD's anger after this blow falls?
Answer: It has not subsided; more judgment is still to come
Because the people rejected His word, the LORD's anger burns against them; He stretches out His hand to strike, and even the mountains shake (5:25). Yet this is not the end: a closing line says His anger has not turned away and His hand remains lifted (5:25). The same refrain comes back in 9:12, 9:17, 9:21 and 10:4, marking a series of judgments on a people who would not repent. Isaiah explains why the blows keep coming: the people would not turn back to the One who struck them or seek the LORD (9:13). Judgment that does not lead to repentance is followed by more judgment.
- Isaiah 5:25 (BSB)“Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”God's anger against His people and the refrain that closes the verse.
- Isaiah 9:12 (BSB)“Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”The refrain returns after judgment through Aram and Philistia.
- Isaiah 9:13 (BSB)“But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.”The reason the anger continues: the people did not turn back to the LORD.
- Isaiah 9:17 (BSB)“Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”The refrain returns again after judgment on a godless people.
- Isaiah 10:4 (BSB)“Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”The refrain closes the series one last time.
Theological
What does the closing refrain of 5:25 indicate about the LORD's anger?
Answer: It has not subsided; more judgment is still to come
Verse 25 describes the LORD's anger falling on His people, then closes with a refrain that His anger has not turned back and His hand remains outstretched. The same refrain structures the oracle of 9:8-10:4 (9:12, 17, 21; 10:4), each stroke followed by another because, as 9:13 explains, the people would not turn back to the One who struck them. Judgment unheeded is not the end of judgment; the refrain warns that the LORD's hand remains raised until His purpose is accomplished.
- Isaiah 5:25 (BSB)“Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lie like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”God's anger against His people and the refrain that closes the verse.
- Isaiah 9:12 (BSB)“Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”The refrain returns after judgment through Aram and Philistia.
- Isaiah 9:13 (BSB)“But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.”The reason the anger continues: the people did not turn back to the LORD.
- Isaiah 9:17 (BSB)“Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”The refrain returns again after judgment on a godless people.
- Isaiah 10:4 (BSB)“Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.”The refrain closes the series one last time.
General
True or False: In 5:20 a woe is pronounced on people who turn moral values upside down, treating evil as good and darkness as light.
Answer: True
This is true. The fourth woe condemns those who reverse God's moral order, labeling evil as good and good as evil, swapping darkness for light and bitter for sweet (5:20). Such people do not merely sin; they redefine sin as virtue and virtue as sin. Proverbs says that clearing the guilty or punishing the innocent are both hateful to the LORD (Proverbs 17:15). Malachi rebukes those who claimed that evildoers are good in God's sight (Malachi 2:17), and Paul describes people who not only practice evil but applaud others who practice it (Romans 1:32).
- Isaiah 5:20 (BSB)“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.”The fourth woe condemns those who reverse moral values.
- Proverbs 17:15 (BSB)“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.”Proverbs shows that God hates verdicts that turn guilt and innocence upside down.
- Malachi 2:17 (BSB)“You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?””Malachi rebukes people who claimed that evildoers were good in God's sight.
- Romans 1:32 (BSB)“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.”Paul describes people who not only do evil but approve of others who do it.
Theological
True or False: The woe of 5:20 targets those who invert moral categories, treating evil as good and darkness as light.
Answer: True
This is true. The fourth woe condemns the inversion of moral categories: evil renamed good, darkness exchanged for light, bitter for sweet (5:20). This is more than moral weakness; it is the deliberate redefinition of right and wrong. Proverbs 17:15 declares perverse verdicts hateful to the LORD, Malachi 2:17 rebukes those who called evildoers good in God's sight, and Romans 1:32 describes people who go beyond doing evil to approving those who practice it.
- Isaiah 5:20 (BSB)“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.”The fourth woe condemns those who reverse moral values.
- Proverbs 17:15 (BSB)“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.”Proverbs shows that God hates verdicts that turn guilt and innocence upside down.
- Malachi 2:17 (BSB)“You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?””Malachi rebukes people who claimed that evildoers were good in God's sight.
- Romans 1:32 (BSB)“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.”Paul describes people who not only do evil but approve of others who do it.
General
According to 5:7, what did the LORD look for in His people, and what did He find instead?
Answer: Justice and righteousness, but He found bloodshed and anguish
The song ends by naming the sour fruit. God looked for justice, fair and right treatment of others, but saw bloodshed; He looked for righteousness, right living before Him, but heard only anguished cries (5:7). The problem was not a lack of religious activity but the way the powerful treated the weak, as the woes that follow show. Isaiah had already mourned that Jerusalem, once full of justice and righteousness, was now home to murderers (1:21). Amos called for justice to flow like a river (Amos 5:24), and Micah summarized what the LORD requires: doing what is just, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).
- Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”The song names the sour fruit God found in His people.
- Isaiah 1:21 (BSB)“See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!”Isaiah had already mourned that Jerusalem, once full of justice, had become a city of murderers.
- Amos 5:24 (BSB)“But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”Amos shows that God wants justice and righteousness to flow among His people.
- Micah 6:8 (BSB)“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”Micah sums up what the LORD requires, with justice at its center.
Theological
According to 5:7, what fruit did the LORD seek from His vineyard, and what did He find?
Answer: Justice and righteousness, but He found bloodshed and anguish
The interpretation in 5:7 names both the expected fruit and the actual yield: the LORD sought justice and righteousness and found bloodshed and the outcry of the oppressed. The sour grapes are social and moral, not merely ritual, which the following woes spell out. Isaiah 1:21 had already set Jerusalem's former justice beside its present violence; Amos 5:24 and Micah 6:8 show that justice and righteousness were what God required of His covenant people.
- Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”The song names the sour fruit God found in His people.
- Isaiah 1:21 (BSB)“See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!”Isaiah had already mourned that Jerusalem, once full of justice, had become a city of murderers.
- Amos 5:24 (BSB)“But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”Amos shows that God wants justice and righteousness to flow among His people.
- Micah 6:8 (BSB)“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”Micah sums up what the LORD requires, with justice at its center.
General
According to 5:15-16, how will the LORD be exalted when proud people are humbled?
Answer: By His justice, proving Himself holy by doing right
As judgment falls, every person is brought low and the arrogant are forced to lower their gaze (5:15). In contrast, the LORD is lifted high through His justice, and as the Holy One He displays His holiness by acting in righteousness (5:16). God's judgment is not a stain on His character but a display of it: when He punishes sin, He shows that He is holy, set apart from all evil and perfectly right. Isaiah 2 makes the same contrast, with human pride humbled and the LORD alone exalted (2:11). Moses told Aaron that God shows His holiness and glory before His people (Leviticus 10:3), and Mary sang of a God who scatters the proud and lifts up the humble (Luke 1:51-52).
- Isaiah 5:15-16 (BSB)“So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes. But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.”Human pride is humbled while the LORD is exalted in His just judgment.
- Isaiah 2:11 (BSB)“The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”Isaiah earlier sets the same contrast between humbled human pride and the LORD alone exalted.
- Leviticus 10:3 (BSB)“Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.”God declares that He shows His holiness and glory before His people.
- Luke 1:51-52 (BSB)“He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”Mary praises God for scattering the proud and lifting up the humble.
Theological
In 5:15-16, by what means is the LORD exalted as judgment humbles mankind?
Answer: By His justice, proving Himself holy by doing right
Verses 15-16 interrupt the woes with a theological center: humanity is humbled, while the LORD is exalted in justice and, as the Holy One, reveals His holiness in righteousness. Judgment does not compromise God's character; it vindicates it. The same reversal of human pride and divine exaltation governs 2:11, God's self-revelation as holy and glorious is the point of Leviticus 10:3, and Mary’s song celebrates the same pattern of the proud scattered and the lowly raised (Luke 1:51-52).
- Isaiah 5:15-16 (BSB)“So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes. But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.”Human pride is humbled while the LORD is exalted in His just judgment.
- Isaiah 2:11 (BSB)“The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”Isaiah earlier sets the same contrast between humbled human pride and the LORD alone exalted.
- Leviticus 10:3 (BSB)“Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.”God declares that He shows His holiness and glory before His people.
- Luke 1:51-52 (BSB)“He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”Mary praises God for scattering the proud and lifting up the humble.
General
What do the people described in 5:18-19 say about God's plan?
Answer: They dare Him to act quickly so they can see it
This woe pictures people hauling sin along like a load pulled with ropes, so tied to wickedness that they drag it with them wherever they go (5:18). They then mock God's warnings, daring the Holy One to speed up His plan so they can see it for themselves (5:19). Their taunt shows they do not believe judgment is coming at all. Jeremiah faced the same scoffing when people demanded that the LORD's word come to pass right away (Jeremiah 17:15), Amos warned that the LORD's day would be darkness for those who longed for it carelessly (Amos 5:18), and Peter foretells scoffers asking what became of the promise of Christ's coming (2 Peter 3:3-4).
- Isaiah 5:18-19 (BSB)“Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!””The third woe falls on people bound to sin who mock God's warnings.
- Jeremiah 17:15 (BSB)“Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!””Jeremiah faced the same mocking demand that God's word come to pass at once.
- Amos 5:18 (BSB)“Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.”Amos warns those who carelessly long for the LORD's day that it will bring darkness.
- 2 Peter 3:3-4 (BSB)“Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.””Peter foretells scoffers who mock the promise of Christ's return.
Theological
What attitude toward the LORD's announced purpose is voiced in 5:18-19?
Answer: They dare Him to act quickly so they can see it
The third woe joins two images: people harnessed to their sin as to a cart they drag along (5:18), and open mockery that dares the Holy One to hurry His plan so they may see it (5:19). It is unbelief disguised as challenge: they treat the threatened judgment as an idle word. The same taunt meets Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:15), Amos warns those who presumptuously desire the LORD's day (Amos 5:18), and Peter predicts scoffers who deride the promise of the Lord's return (2 Peter 3:3-4).
- Isaiah 5:18-19 (BSB)“Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!””The third woe falls on people bound to sin who mock God's warnings.
- Jeremiah 17:15 (BSB)“Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!””Jeremiah faced the same mocking demand that God's word come to pass at once.
- Amos 5:18 (BSB)“Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.”Amos warns those who carelessly long for the LORD's day that it will bring darkness.
- 2 Peter 3:3-4 (BSB)“Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.””Peter foretells scoffers who mock the promise of Christ's return.
General
In 5:26-30, how does the invading army come against God's people?
Answer: He raises a signal and whistles for distant nations
The chapter ends with God Himself summoning the invader. He lifts a signal for faraway peoples and whistles to call them from the far corners of the world, and they come swiftly, tireless and fully armed, roaring like lions over prey that none can snatch back (5:26-29). The land is left in darkness and distress (5:30). The nation is not named here, but Isaiah later names Assyria, whom the LORD summons with a whistle (7:18) and calls the rod of His anger sent against an ungodly people (10:5-6). Moses had warned that the LORD would bring a distant nation against a disobedient Israel (Deuteronomy 28:49). God rules even over the movements of armies and uses them to carry out His just judgment, while still holding them accountable for their arrogance, as chapter 10 goes on to show.
- Isaiah 5:26-30 (BSB)“He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come! None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken. Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away, and no one can rescue it. In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.”God summons a swift and terrible army against His people.
- Isaiah 7:18 (BSB)“On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.”Isaiah later names Assyria among those the LORD summons with a whistle.
- Isaiah 10:5-6 (BSB)“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.”Assyria is the instrument of the LORD's anger, sent against His people.
- Deuteronomy 28:49 (BSB)“The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,”Moses warned that the LORD would bring a distant nation against a disobedient Israel.
Theological
According to 5:26-30, how does the invading army come to be sent against the LORD's people?
Answer: He raises a signal and whistles for distant nations
The chapter closes with the LORD as the active summoner: He raises a banner and whistles for the nations from the remotest parts of the world, and they arrive swiftly, untiring and fully equipped, seizing their prey beyond rescue (5:26-29), leaving the land in darkness (5:30). The army is unnamed here, but 7:18 and 10:5-6 identify Assyria as the LORD's summoned instrument, the fulfillment of the covenant curse of a distant nation (Deuteronomy 28:49). God sovereignly directs the nations to execute His judgment, while chapter 10 shows He holds Assyria fully responsible for its own arrogant intent.
- Isaiah 5:26-30 (BSB)“He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come! None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken. Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away, and no one can rescue it. In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.”God summons a swift and terrible army against His people.
- Isaiah 7:18 (BSB)“On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.”Isaiah later names Assyria among those the LORD summons with a whistle.
- Isaiah 10:5-6 (BSB)“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.”Assyria is the instrument of the LORD's anger, sent against His people.
- Deuteronomy 28:49 (BSB)“The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,”Moses warned that the LORD would bring a distant nation against a disobedient Israel.
General
According to 5:24, what is the root reason for the coming judgment?
Answer: They threw off God's teaching and scorned what He said
The last woe mocks those who are mighty only at drinking and mixing strong drink, and who let the guilty go free for a bribe while denying justice to the innocent (5:22-23). Therefore, like fire licking up straw and dry grass withering in flames, their root will rot and their blossom scatter as dust (5:24). Then the verse gives the reason: they rejected the LORD's teaching and treated what the Holy One said with contempt (5:24). Amos charged Judah with the same sin of rejecting God's Law (Amos 2:4), Jeremiah announced disaster on people who had rejected God's instruction (Jeremiah 6:19), and the law itself forbade taking bribes because bribery blinds judges (Exodus 23:8).
- Isaiah 5:22-24 (BSB)“Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice. Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”The last woe and the reason for the coming fire.
- Amos 2:4 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.”Amos brings the same charge against Judah: they rejected God's law.
- Jeremiah 6:19 (BSB)“Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.”Jeremiah announces disaster on a people who refused God's word and instruction.
- Exodus 23:8 (BSB)“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.”The law forbade bribes, the very corruption condemned in 5:23.
Theological
What does 5:24 give as the underlying cause of the judgment announced in the woes?
Answer: They threw off God's teaching and scorned what He said
The sixth woe exposes those who are champions only at drink and who sell verdicts, freeing the guilty for bribes and stripping the righteous of justice (5:22-23), in direct violation of Exodus 23:8. The sentence is consuming fire (5:24), and its cause is stated as the root of every woe: they cast off the LORD's instruction and scorned the Holy One's word (5:24). The individual sins are fruit of that rejection. Amos 2:4 brings the same charge against Judah, and Jeremiah 6:19 names refusal of God's word and instruction as the reason for disaster.
- Isaiah 5:22-24 (BSB)“Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice. Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”The last woe and the reason for the coming fire.
- Amos 2:4 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.”Amos brings the same charge against Judah: they rejected God's law.
- Jeremiah 6:19 (BSB)“Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.”Jeremiah announces disaster on a people who refused God's word and instruction.
- Exodus 23:8 (BSB)“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.”The law forbade bribes, the very corruption condemned in 5:23.
General
In the song of 5:1-7, what does the vineyard stand for?
Answer: God's people, Israel and Judah
Isaiah sings a song for his beloved about his beloved's vineyard. The owner did everything a farmer could: he dug the ground, removed the stones, planted choice vines, built a tower and cut out a winepress, yet the harvest was sour (5:1-2). Then the meaning is given plainly: the LORD's vineyard is Israel's house, and Judah's people are the planting He took delight in (5:7). Psalm 80 uses the same picture of Israel as a vine God brought from Egypt and planted (Psalm 80:8-9), and Jeremiah asks how God's choice vine turned wild (Jeremiah 2:21). Jesus drew on this song in His parable of the landowner's vineyard with its wall, winepress and tower (Matthew 21:33).
- Isaiah 5:1-2 (BSB)“I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!”The love song describes the owner's lavish care and the sour harvest.
- Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”The song's meaning is stated outright.
- Psalm 80:8-9 (BSB)“You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.”The psalmist pictures Israel as a vine God brought out of Egypt and planted.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (BSB)“I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?”Jeremiah uses the same image of a choice vine that turned wild.
- Matthew 21:33 (BSB)“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.”Jesus builds His parable of the tenants on the details of Isaiah's vineyard.
Theological
In the vineyard song of 5:1-7, whom does the vineyard represent?
Answer: God's people, Israel and Judah
The song begins as a song for the singer's beloved about his vineyard on a fertile hill, lavishly prepared and planted with choice vines, which nevertheless yields only sour grapes (5:1-2). Verse 7 removes the disguise: the vineyard is Israel, and Judah's people are the planting in which the LORD delighted. The vine was an established image for Israel as God's own planting (Psalm 80:8-9; Jeremiah 2:21), and Jesus deliberately echoed Isaiah's details in the parable of the wicked tenants (Matthew 21:33), applying the same indictment to the leaders of His day.
- Isaiah 5:1-2 (BSB)“I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!”The love song describes the owner's lavish care and the sour harvest.
- Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”The song's meaning is stated outright.
- Psalm 80:8-9 (BSB)“You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.”The psalmist pictures Israel as a vine God brought out of Egypt and planted.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (BSB)“I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?”Jeremiah uses the same image of a choice vine that turned wild.
- Matthew 21:33 (BSB)“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.”Jesus builds His parable of the tenants on the details of Isaiah's vineyard.
General
What will the owner do to the vineyard according to 5:5-6?
Answer: Remove its protection, let it be trampled, and withhold rain
Because the vineyard yielded only sour fruit, the owner says he will remove its protective fence and break down its wall so it is eaten and trampled, leave it unpruned and unworked until briers and thorns take over, and order the clouds to give it no rain (5:5-6). Only the LORD can command the clouds, so this last detail reveals who the owner really is before verse 7 says it outright. Psalm 80 laments this very thing, asking why God broke down His vine's walls so that passersby and wild animals ravaged it (Psalm 80:12-13), and Moses had warned that turning to other gods would bring the LORD's anger and a sky closed against rain (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).
- Isaiah 5:5-6 (BSB)“Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.””The owner announces what he will do to the fruitless vineyard.
- Psalm 80:12-13 (BSB)“Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.”The psalmist laments that God broke down His vine's walls so it was ravaged.
- Deuteronomy 11:16-17 (BSB)“But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods, or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.”Moses warned that turning from the LORD would bring His anger and shut the sky against rain.
Theological
What judgment does the owner pronounce on the vineyard in 5:5-6?
Answer: Remove its protection, let it be trampled, and withhold rain
The sentence undoes the owner's care: fence and wall removed so the vineyard is grazed and trampled, cultivation abandoned so that briers and thorns overrun it, and the clouds commanded to withhold rain (5:5-6). Command over the clouds belongs to the LORD alone, so the owner's identity is already showing before 5:7 names Him. The withdrawal of protection is lamented in Psalm 80:12-13, and the withheld rain is the covenant curse Moses had attached to idolatry (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).
- Isaiah 5:5-6 (BSB)“Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.””The owner announces what he will do to the fruitless vineyard.
- Psalm 80:12-13 (BSB)“Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.”The psalmist laments that God broke down His vine's walls so it was ravaged.
- Deuteronomy 11:16-17 (BSB)“But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods, or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.”Moses warned that turning from the LORD would bring His anger and shut the sky against rain.
General
In 5:3-4, what does God ask the people of Jerusalem and Judah to do?
Answer: Decide whether He or the vineyard is at fault
God turns to the listeners and calls them to act as judges in the case between Himself and His vineyard (5:3). He asks what more He might have done for His vineyard, and why it gave sour grapes when He looked for good ones (5:4). The point is that the fault lies entirely with the vineyard, not with its owner, so Judah has no excuse. Micah records the same kind of challenge, with God asking His people to testify how He had wearied them after redeeming them from Egypt (Micah 6:3-4). Jesus used the same approach: after His vineyard parable He asked His hearers what the owner would do, and they pronounced judgment on the tenants (Matthew 21:40-41), condemning themselves.
- Isaiah 5:3-4 (BSB)““And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?”God calls the people of Jerusalem and Judah to judge His case against the vineyard.
- Micah 6:3-4 (BSB)“‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.”God likewise challenges His people to say how He has failed them, recalling His saving acts.
- Matthew 21:40-41 (BSB)“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.””Jesus asks His hearers to judge the vineyard case, and their answer condemns them.
Theological
What role does God assign to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah in 5:3-4?
Answer: Decide whether He or the vineyard is at fault
The song becomes a covenant lawsuit. God summons the very people under indictment to sit as judges between Him and His vineyard (5:3), then asks what He left undone and why sour fruit came from such care (5:4). The rhetorical question clears the owner and leaves Judah without defense. Micah 6:3-4 uses the same courtroom form, inviting Israel to testify against God in light of the exodus, and Jesus used the same device when His hearers pronounced sentence on the tenants and so condemned themselves (Matthew 21:40-41).
- Isaiah 5:3-4 (BSB)““And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?”God calls the people of Jerusalem and Judah to judge His case against the vineyard.
- Micah 6:3-4 (BSB)“‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.”God likewise challenges His people to say how He has failed them, recalling His saving acts.
- Matthew 21:40-41 (BSB)“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.””Jesus asks His hearers to judge the vineyard case, and their answer condemns them.
General
True or False: Isaiah 5:21 praises those who trust their own wisdom and cleverness, as long as they use it to lead the nation.
Answer: False
This is false. Verse 21 is a woe, not praise: it condemns those who rate their own wisdom highly and admire their own cleverness (5:21). Such self-confidence does not look to God for teaching, and verse 24 sums up the people's condition: they have rejected His instruction. Proverbs warns against trusting one's own wisdom and calls instead for fearing the LORD and turning from evil (Proverbs 3:7), and it says a fool has better prospects than such a person (Proverbs 26:12). Paul likewise tells anyone who thinks himself wise by this age's standards to accept being a fool in the world's eyes in order to gain true wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:18).
- Isaiah 5:21 (BSB)“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”The fifth woe condemns self-made wisdom.
- Proverbs 3:7 (BSB)“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”Proverbs sets self-trusting wisdom against the fear of the LORD.
- Proverbs 26:12 (BSB)“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”Proverbs says a fool has better prospects than a man wise in his own estimation.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18 (BSB)“Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.”Paul tells the self-deceived wise man that true wisdom begins by giving up his own.
Theological
True or False: Isaiah 5:21 commends those who rely on their own wisdom and shrewdness, provided they use it to govern well.
Answer: False
This is false. The fifth woe condemns people wise and shrewd only in their own estimation (5:21). Self-assessed wisdom belongs with the rejection of God's instruction that 5:24 names. Proverbs sets such autonomy against the fear of the LORD (Proverbs 3:7) and ranks it below folly (Proverbs 26:12), and Paul calls the self-deceived wise man to become a fool in this age's terms in order to receive the wisdom that comes from God (1 Corinthians 3:18).
- Isaiah 5:21 (BSB)“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”The fifth woe condemns self-made wisdom.
- Proverbs 3:7 (BSB)“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”Proverbs sets self-trusting wisdom against the fear of the LORD.
- Proverbs 26:12 (BSB)“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”Proverbs says a fool has better prospects than a man wise in his own estimation.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18 (BSB)“Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.”Paul tells the self-deceived wise man that true wisdom begins by giving up his own.
General
In 5:11-13, what deeper failure lies behind the drunken feasting and leads to exile?
Answer: They gave no thought to what the LORD was doing
The second woe targets people who chase strong drink from early morning and stay up late until wine inflames them, with harps, lyres and flutes at their banquets (5:11-12). But the real charge is that they ignore the LORD's deeds and give no thought to what His hands are doing (5:12). Therefore His people will be carried off as captives because they do not understand, and Sheol, the realm of the dead, opens wide for nobles and crowds alike (5:13-14). Hosea says God's people perish for lacking knowledge (Hosea 4:6), Amos rebukes those who feasted and drank by the bowl while caring nothing for the ruin of their nation (Amos 6:4-6), and a psalm warns that those who ignore the LORD's works will be torn down (Psalm 28:5).
- Isaiah 5:11-13 (BSB)“Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine. At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands. Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.”The second woe and its result in exile.
- Hosea 4:6 (BSB)“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.”Hosea likewise traces the ruin of God's people to rejecting the knowledge of God.
- Amos 6:4-6 (BSB)“You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.”Amos condemns feasting and music that ignore the coming ruin of the nation.
- Psalm 28:5 (BSB)“Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD or what His hands have done, He will tear them down and never rebuild them.”The psalm warns that those who ignore the LORD's works will be torn down.
Theological
According to 5:11-13, what root failure lies behind the revelers' feasting and brings exile?
Answer: They gave no thought to what the LORD was doing
The second woe describes revelry from dawn to night, with music and wine (5:11-12), but its decisive charge is spiritual blindness: they take no notice of the LORD's deeds or of what His hands accomplish (5:12). The result is exile for want of understanding and death swallowing high and low alike (5:13-14). Hosea 4:6 makes the same link between rejected knowledge and destruction, Amos 6:4-6 condemns luxury that is indifferent to the nation's ruin, and Psalm 28:5 pronounces judgment on those who disregard what the LORD has done.
- Isaiah 5:11-13 (BSB)“Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine. At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands. Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.”The second woe and its result in exile.
- Hosea 4:6 (BSB)“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.”Hosea likewise traces the ruin of God's people to rejecting the knowledge of God.
- Amos 6:4-6 (BSB)“You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.”Amos condemns feasting and music that ignore the coming ruin of the nation.
- Psalm 28:5 (BSB)“Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD or what His hands have done, He will tear them down and never rebuild them.”The psalm warns that those who ignore the LORD's works will be torn down.
General
What sin is condemned in the first woe of 5:8-10?
Answer: Buying up houses and fields until others have no land
A woe is a solemn cry of grief and warning over those facing God's judgment. The first woe falls on the greedy who buy up one property after another, swallowing whole estates until no one else has room and they are left by themselves in the land (5:8). In Israel the land belonged to the LORD, and His people held it as His tenants, so families were not to lose their inheritance for good (Leviticus 25:23). Micah condemned the same sin of coveting and seizing fields and houses (Micah 2:1-2). God's sentence fits the crime: the grand houses they gathered will stand empty, and their land will yield only a tiny fraction of the expected harvest (5:9-10).
- Isaiah 5:8-10 (BSB)“Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land. I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied. For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.””The first woe and its sentence.
- Leviticus 25:23 (BSB)“The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.”The land belonged to the LORD, so it was not to be sold off permanently.
- Micah 2:1-2 (BSB)“Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.”Micah condemns the same greed that seizes fields and houses from their owners.
Theological
What practice does the first woe (5:8-10) condemn?
Answer: Buying up houses and fields until others have no land
The first of six woes targets the accumulation of land and houses until smaller holders are squeezed out and the rich occupy the land alone (5:8). Because the land was the LORD's and Israelites held it as resident tenants (Leviticus 25:23), such consolidation violated the covenant order that protected each family's inheritance; Micah 2:1-2 condemns the same coveting and seizing. The sentence is fitting: the great houses will stand empty and the fields will return a pitiful fraction of their seed (5:9-10).
- Isaiah 5:8-10 (BSB)“Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land. I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied. For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.””The first woe and its sentence.
- Leviticus 25:23 (BSB)“The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.”The land belonged to the LORD, so it was not to be sold off permanently.
- Micah 2:1-2 (BSB)“Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.”Micah condemns the same greed that seizes fields and houses from their owners.