Isaiah 5:8-25

Woes on the Wicked

8 Ah! Those who {join} house with house, they join field together with field until {there is no place} and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

9 Yahweh of hosts [said] in my ears: {Surely} many houses shall become a desolation, large and beautiful [ones] without inhabitant.

10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and [the] seed of a homer will yield an ephah.

11 Ah! Those who rise early in the morning, they pursue strong drink. Those who linger in the evening, wine inflames them.

12 And [there] will be lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine [at] their feasts, but they do not look at the deeds of Yahweh, and they do not see the work of his hands.

13 Therefore my people will go into exile without knowledge, [and] their nobles [will be] men of hunger, and their multitude [is] parched [with] thirst.

14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat, and it has opened wide its mouth without limit, and her nobles will go down, and her multitude, her tumult and those who revel in her.

15 And humankind is bowed down, and man is brought low, and [the] eyes of [the] haughty are humiliated.

16 But Yahweh of hosts is exalted by justice, and the holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.

17 And then [the] lambs will graze as [in] their pasture, and {fatlings, kids will eat among the sites of ruins.}

18 Ah! Those who drag iniquity along with the cords of falsehood and sin as with rope of the cart,

19 those who say, "Let him make haste; let him hurry his work so that we may see it and let it draw near and let the plan of the holy one of Israel come so that we may know [it]!"

20 Ah! Those who call evil good and good evil, those who put darkness for light and light for darkness, those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

21 Ah! [Those who are] wise in their own eyes and have understanding {in their view}!

22 Ah! Heroes at drinking wine, and men of capability at mixing strong drink!

23 Those who acquit the guilty because of a bribe and remove [the] justice of [the] innocent from him.

24 Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and dry grass sinks down [in the] flame, so their root will become like [the] stench, and their blossom will go up like [the] dust. For they have rejected the instruction of Yahweh of hosts, and they have treated the word of the holy one of Israel with contempt.

25 Therefore {Yahweh's wrath was kindled} against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in [the] middle of [the] streets.

Isaiah 5:8-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 5

In this chapter, under the parable of a vineyard and its ruins, the Jews and their destruction are represented; the reasons of which are given, their manifold sins and transgressions, particularly enumerated, with the punishment threatened to them, and which is delivered in form of a song. The vineyard is described by the owner of it, a well beloved one; by the situation of it, in a fruitful hill; by the fence about it, and care and culture of it; and by its not answering the expectation of the owner, it bringing forth wild grapes instead of good ones, Isa 5:1,2 wherefore the men of Judah and Jerusalem are made judges between the owner and his vineyard, what more could have been done to it, or rather what was now to be done to it, since this was the case; and the result is, that it should be utterly laid waste, and come to ruin; and the whole is applied to the house of Israel, and men of Judah, Isa 5:3-7 whose sins, as the cause of their ruin, are mentioned in the following verses; their covetousness, with the punishment of it, Isa 5:8-10 their intemperance, luxury, and love of pleasure, with the punishment threatened thereunto, Isa 5:11-14 whereby haughty men should be humbled, the Lord be glorified, and at the same time his weak and innocent people would be taken care of, Isa 5:15-17 next, other sins are taken notice of, and woes pronounced on account of them, as, an impudent course of sinning, insolent impiety against God, confusion of good and evil, conceit of their own wisdom, drunkenness, and perversion of justice, Isa 5:18-23 wherefore for these things, and for their contempt and rejection of the law and word of the Lord, utter destruction is threatened them, Isa 5:24 yea, the anger of God had been already kindled against them, and they had felt it in some instances, Isa 5:25 but they are given to expect severer judgments, by means of foreign nations, that should be gathered against them; who are described by their swiftness, strength, and vigilance; by their armour, horses, and carriages; and by their terror and cruelty; the consequence of which would be utter darkness, distress, and calamities, in the land of Judea, Isa 5:26-30.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "touch"
• [b]. Literally "an end of place"
• [c]. A bath is a liquid measure
• [d]. An ephah is a dry measure equal to one-tenth of a homer
• [e]. Hebrew "deed"
• [f]. Hebrew "its"
• [g]. Hebrew "noble"
• [h]. Hebrew "its"
• [i]. That is, Jerusalem's
• [j]. Hebrew "noble"
• [k]. Following the Septuagint, which reads the Hebrew grym (resident aliens) as gdym (young goats/sheep)
• [l]. Literally "and ruins, fatlings, resident aliens, will eat"
• [m]. Literally "before their faces"
• [n]. Literally "the anger of Yahweh became hot"
• [o]. Hebrew "it"
• [p]. Hebrew "it"
• [q]. Hebrew "corpse"