Isaiah 5:6

6 I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it."

Isaiah 5:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 5:6

And I will lay it waste
Or "desolate", as it was by the Romans: the whole land of Judea, as well as the city and temple ( Matthew 23:38 ) , it shall not be pruned nor digged;
as vineyards are, to make them more fruitful; but no care shall be taken of it, no means made use of to cultivate it, all being ineffectual: but there shall come up briers and thorns;
sons of Belial, wicked and ungodly men; immoralities, errors, heresies, contentions, quarrels, &c. which abounded about the time of Jerusalem's destruction, and before: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon them;
by "the clouds" are meant the apostles of Christ, who were full of the doctrines of grace, from whom they dropped as rain upon the mown grass; these, when the Jews contradicted and blasphemed the Gospel, and judged themselves unworthy of it, were commanded by Christ to turn from them, and go to the Gentiles, ( Acts 13:45-47 ) ( Zechariah 14:17 Zechariah 14:18 ) ( Revelation 11:6 ) agreeably to this sense is the Targum,

``and I will command the prophets, that they do not prophesy upon them prophecy.''

Isaiah 5:6 In-Context

4 Is there anything I failed to do for it? Then why did it produce sour grapes and not the good grapes I expected?
5 "Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge around it, break down the wall that protects it, and let wild animals eat it and trample it down.
6 I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it."
7 Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.
8 You are doomed! You buy more houses and fields to add to those you already have. Soon there will be no place for anyone else to live, and you alone will live in the land.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.