Isaiah 5 Study Notes

5:1-7 This poem has been identified as a parable, an allegory, and a love poem. Whatever its precise genre, its message is clear and compelling. It uses imagery to make the point that the people of God deserve the punishment coming their way. While previous pronouncements have hinted at hope beyond the judgment, this poem does not.

5:1 The loved one in the song turns out to be none other than God himself, and his vineyard stands for his people (v. 7). The image of the vineyard is appropriate for Israel because grapes were one of its main crops.

5:2 The singer continues by describing the labor that went into preparing the vineyard. To create a vineyard was no easy matter. There was a period of a few years that passed from clearing the area of stones (pervasive through the hill country of Israel), planting expensive vines, and building a tower and a winepress. Similarly, God expended great effort in creating the right conditions for Israel to flourish as a godly nation. But in spite of all the work, the vineyard produced worthless grapes. This signified that the people of God did not live up to their promise of being an obedient and blessed people who would also bless the nations around them.

5:3-6 In these verses the first-person speaker is God, the owner of the vineyard, demanding an accounting of his grapes, the people of Israel.

5:3-4 When God called on the residents of Jerusalem to judge between him and his vineyard, he in essence was calling on them to judge themselves. In this way, this poem functions similarly to the parable of Nathan as he confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba (2Sm 12:1-15).

5:5-6 The owner was incensed that the results of his hard labor had produced useless grapes, so he took his anger out on the vineyard.

5:7 The last verse of the poem makes explicit the identification of the vineyard as the people of God. It also gives the explanation for their punishment by means of a wordplay. In the land there was injustice (Hb mispach) and not justice (Hb mishpat), cries of despair (Hb tse‘aqah) and not righteousness (Hb tsedaqah).

5:8-30 The previous passage described Israel as a vineyard that produced worthless grapes. The six woes (on “woe,” see note at 1:4) that follow illustrate why Israel was so worthless. Judgment pronouncements follow the description of the woes.

5:8 The first woe is directed toward those who expanded their real estate holdings. Since God graciously provided the land so all of his people had some, buying up land was always done at the cost of another person. Ahab’s seizure of Naboth’s vineyard is a concrete illustration of this exploitation (1Kg 21).

5:9-10 While the wealthy intended to grab land to get richer, the result will be the opposite—empty houses and poor harvests.

5:11-12 The second woe is directed toward those who indulged in excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages (beer and wine). They drank and ate and sang, forgetting what was really important—the work of God.

5:13 This verse begins the statement of judgment proceeding from the woe. They lack the knowledge of God.

5:14 As God’s people indulged themselves with drink and food, so Sheol will open its large mouth and swallow them. Sheol refers to the grave and in some contexts signifies the underworld. The idea of Sheol swallowing its victims did not originate with the Hebrews, but may stem from the Canaanite story that describes the god of death (Mot) swallowing his victims.

5:15-17 Compare these verses with 2:9,11,17. John Oswalt (NICOT) notes the theological significance of v. 16. “It expresses the truth that what makes God truly God, what sets him off as divine, is neither his overwhelming power nor his mysterious numinousness. Rather, what marks him as God is his essential justice and righteousness.”

5:18-19 The third woe begins by picturing people whose sin was so heavy that they ended up pulling it along in a cart behind them. Their sin was one of cynicism. With a tone of disbelief, they challenged God to act. In particular they might be thinking of God’s work of judgment. They sinned and did not yet see God’s punishment.

5:20 The fourth woe is against those who confused ethical categories. They classified actions as evil that God would call good and vice versa. While the principle is broader than judicial, such moral confusion was particularly reprehensible in the courtroom (v. 23).

5:21 As with the previous verse, the issue of the fifth woe is human autonomy. On being wise in one’s own eyes, see Pr 3:7; 26:12; 28:11,26.

5:22-23 The sixth and final woe returns to the earlier issue of excessive drinking (heroes at drinking wine) and also twisting justice for money.

5:24-25 Two judgment speeches follow (therefore introduces vv. 24 and 25) the woes.

5:26-28 God will call for foreign armies to descend on his people. Though these armies are not mentioned by name, we know from later history that these nations were Assyria and Babylon. Notice that God would signal them with a whistle, and they would immediately respond. This illustrates God’s sovereign rule over the nations.

5:29 Assyrian royal inscriptions often compare their kings to lions.