John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 5

Now will I sing to my beloved. The subject of this chapter is different from that of the former. It was the Prophet's design to describe the condition of the people of Israel, as it was then, so that all might perceive their faults, and might thus be led by shame and self-loathing to sincere repentance.

Here, as in a mirror, the people could behold the misery of their condition. Without this, they would have flattered themselves too much in their crimes and would not have patiently listened to any instructions. It was therefore necessary to present a striking and lively picture of their wickedness. So that it might have greater weight, he used this preface, for great and memorable events were usually described in verse, so that they might be repeated by everyone, and that a lasting record of them might be preserved.

In the same way, we see that Moses wrote a song and many other compositions (Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 32:1), so that all the events might be proclaimed in this manner, both in public and in private. The instruction becomes more widely diffused than if it had been delivered in plainer language. For the same reason, Isaiah composed this song, so that he might present to the people a clearer view of their wickedness; and, undoubtedly, he handled this subject with magnificent and harmonious language, for the highest skill is commonly exercised in the composition of poems.

To my beloved. There can be no doubt that he means God, as if he were saying that he would compose a poem on behalf of God, so that he might expostulate with the people about their ingratitude. For it gave additional weight to his language to represent God as speaking.

But a question arises: Why does Isaiah call God his friend? Some reply that he was a kinsman of Christ, and I acknowledge that he was a descendant of David; but this appears to be a forced interpretation. A more natural and appropriate one would be to adopt the statement of John, that the Church is committed to the friends of the bridegroom (John 3:29), and to consider prophets as belonging to that class.

To them, unquestionably, this designation applies, for the ancient people were placed under their charge so that they might be kept under their leader. We need not wonder, therefore, that they were jealous and were greatly offended when the people bestowed their attachment on any other. Isaiah therefore assumes the character of the bridegroom and, being deeply anxious about the bride entrusted to him, complains that she has broken conjugal fidelity and deplores her treachery and ingratitude.

Hence we learn that not only Paul but all those prophets and teachers who faithfully served God were jealous of God’s spouse (2 Corinthians 11:2). And all the servants of God should be greatly moved and aroused by this appellation. For what does a man consider more valuable than his wife? A well-disposed husband will value her more highly than all his treasures and will more readily commit to any person the charge of his wealth than of his wife. He to whom one will entrust his dearly-beloved wife must be considered very faithful.

Now to pastors and ministers, the Lord commits His Church as His beloved wife. How great will be our wickedness if we betray her by sloth and negligence! Whoever does not labor earnestly to preserve her can on no pretext be excused.

A song of my beloved. By using the word דודי, dodi, he changes the first syllable, but the meaning is the same as in the former clause. Though some translate it as uncle, and others cousin, I am more inclined to agree with those who consider it to contain an allusion, for greater liberties are allowed to poets than to other writers. By his arrangement of those words, and by his allusions to them, he intended that the sound and rhythm should aid the memory and impress the minds of his readers.

My beloved had a vineyard. The metaphor of a vineyard is frequently employed by the prophets, and it would be impossible to find a more appropriate comparison (Psalms 80:8; Jeremiah 2:21). There are two ways in which it shows how highly the Lord values his Church: for no possession is dearer to a man than a vineyard, and there is none that demands more constant and persevering toil. Not only, therefore, does the Lord declare that we are his beloved inheritance, but at the same time he points out his care and anxiety about us.

In this song, the Prophet proceeds as follows:

1. He mentions the benefits that the Lord had bestowed on the Jewish people.
2. He explains how great the ingratitude of the people was.
3. He indicates the punishment that must follow.
4. He enumerates the vices of the people, for men never acknowledge their vices until they are compelled to do so.

On a hill. He begins by saying that God had placed his people in a favorable situation, as when a person plants a vine on a pleasant and fertile hill. By the word horn or hill I understand a lofty place rising above a plain, or what we commonly call a rising-ground (un coustau). It is supposed by some to refer to the situation of Jerusalem, but I consider this to be unnatural and forced.

It rather belongs to the construction of the Prophet’s allegory. As God was pleased to take this people under his care and protection, he compares this favor to the planting of a vineyard; for it is better to plant vines on hills and lofty places than on a plain. Similarly, the poet says, The vine loves the open hills; the yews prefer the north wind and the cold.

The Prophet, therefore, having alluded to the ordinary method of planting the vine, next develops the comparison that this place occupied no ordinary situation. When he calls it the son of oil or of fatness, he means a rich and exceedingly fertile spot. This is limited by some commentators to the fertility of Judea, but that does not agree with my views, for the Prophet intended to describe metaphorically the prosperous condition of the people.

And he fenced it. The Prophet asserts God's incessant care and watchfulness in tending His vine, as if he had said that God neglected nothing that could be expected from the best and most careful householder. And yet, we do not choose to attempt, as some commentators have done, an ingenious exposition of every clause, such as that the Church is fenced by the protection of the Holy Spirit, so that it is safe against the attacks of the devil; that the wine-press is doctrine; and that by the stones are meant the hindrances of errors.

The Prophet's purpose, as I have mentioned, was more obvious: namely, that by incessant care and large expenditure, God performed the part of an excellent vinedresser. Yet it was the duty of the Jews to consider how numerous and varied the blessings were that God had conferred on them. At the present day, when the Church is represented under the metaphor of a vineyard, we should view those figures as denoting God’s blessings, by which He makes known not only His love toward us but also His concern for our salvation.

In the verb planted, the order appears to be reversed, for one should begin with planting rather than with the fence. However, my explanation is that after having planted, He did everything else that was necessary. Justly, therefore, He charges them with ingratitude and treachery when the fruits that should have followed such laborious cultivation were not produced.

We have reason to fear that the Lord will bring the same accusation against us, for the greater the benefits we have received from God, the more disgraceful our ingratitude will be if we abuse them. It is not without good reason, or to enable them to make any idle display, that the Lord blesses His people; it is so that they may yield grapes—that is, the best fruit. If He is disappointed in His expectation, the punishment that the Prophet here describes will follow. The mention of His benefits should, therefore, produce a powerful impression on our minds and excite us to gratitude.

Besides, the word vineyard, and a vineyard so carefully cultivated, suggests an implied contrast. We should value God’s acts of kindness all the more highly when they are not of an ordinary description but are tokens of His peculiar regard. Other blessings are indiscriminately bestowed; for example, He makes the sun to shine on the evil as well as on the good (Matthew 5:45) and supplies them with what is necessary for food and clothing. But how much more highly should we esteem that covenant of grace into which He has entered with us, by which He makes the light of the Gospel shine on us! For His own people are its special objects. That care and diligence, therefore, which the Lord continually manifests in cultivating our minds deserves our most earnest consideration.

Therefore he hoped that it would bring forth grapes. He now complains that the nation, which had enjoyed such high advantages, had basely and shamefully degenerated. He accuses them of undervaluing the kindness of God, for He says that instead of pleasant grapes, they yielded only wild and bitter fruits.

It is undoubtedly true that God—to whose eyes all things are naked and opened (Hebrews 4:13)—is not deceived by His expectation like a mortal man. In the Song of Moses, He plainly declares that He well knew from the beginning what the wickedness of His people would be.

My beloved, He says, when she fares well and becomes fat,
will kick (Deuteronomy 32:15).

It is therefore no more possible that God should be mistaken in His expectations than that He should repent. Isaiah does not here enter into subtle reasonings about the expectations God had formed, but describes how the people should have acted so that they might not lose the benefit of such excellent advantages.

Thus, God commands that the Gospel be proclaimed for the obedience of faith (Romans 16:26), not that He expects all to be obedient, but because, by the mere hearing of it, unbelievers are rendered inexcusable. Moreover, there is nothing that should excite us more powerfully to lead a devout and holy life than to find that those duties we perform toward God are compared by the Holy Spirit to fruits of exquisite flavour.

Now, therefore, O inhabitant of Jerusalem! Those persons with whom he contends are made judges in their own cause, as is usually done in cases so plain and undoubted that the opposing party has no means of evasion. It is, therefore, a proof of the strongest confidence in his cause, when he calls upon the guilty persons themselves to declare if this is not the truth of the matter; for immediately afterwards, we will find him declaring that the accusation is decided against those very persons to whom he now entrusts the decision.

What more ought to have been done to My vineyard? He first inquires what could have been expected from the best husbandman or householder, which He has not done to His vineyard? Therefore, He concludes that they had no excuse for having basely withheld from Him the fruit of His toil.

How did I expect that it would yield grapes? In this clause, He appears to expostulate with Himself for having expected any good or pleasant fruit from such a wicked people. This is much like when the result does not meet our expectation: we complain about ourselves and are angry at having misplaced our labor on ungrateful individuals whose wickedness should have restrained us from doing what we did. We then acknowledge that we are justly deceived because we were too naive and easily imposed upon.

But a more natural interpretation is this: “Since I discharged every part of My duty, and did more than anyone could have expected in tending My vineyard, how is it that it yields Me so poor a return, and that, instead of the fruit that was expected, it yields what is absolutely bitter?”

If it is objected that God had the remedy in His hands—if He had turned the hearts of the people—this is an idle evasion for those individuals. For their conscience holds them fast, so that they cannot escape by blaming another. Though God does not pierce the hearts of people by the power of His Spirit to make them obedient to Him, yet they will have no right to complain that this was lacking. For every pretense of ignorance is fully and abundantly taken away by the outward call. Besides, God does not speak here of His power, but declares that He was not under any obligation to do more than He did.

And now come, I will show you what I will do to my vineyard. Having held the Jews to be condemned, as it were, by their own mouth, he next adds that he will take vengeance for their contempt of his grace, so that they will not escape punishment. The reproof would not have been sufficiently powerful to affect their minds if he had not also threatened punishment; and therefore he now declares that the heinous offense, of having wickedly imposed on him, will not escape vengeance. Now the punishment to be inflicted on them amounts to this: they will be deprived of the gifts which they had abused when God shall not only withdraw his care from them but shall also give them up to be plundered by their enemies. At the same time, he shows how wretched their condition will be when God shall have ceased to bestow on them his multiplied favors.

Therefore, it follows that it must have been owing entirely to the extraordinary goodness of God that the vineyard remained safe and uninjured until that time. He goes so far as to point out the various supports by which it was upheld, and the vast resources God possesses for destroying it both internally and externally; for when his protection has been removed, they must become a prey to all who pass by, whether humans or beasts. He says, When the fence has been removed, the cattle will tread on it and lay it bare, robbers will ransack and plunder it, and thus it will become a wilderness.