John Gill Commentary Isaiah 5

Now will I sing to my well beloved These are the words of the Prophet Isaiah, being about to represent the state and condition of the people of Israel by way of parable, which he calls a song, and which he determines to sing to his beloved, and calls upon himself to do it; by whom he means either God the Father, whom he loved with all his heart and soul; or Christ, who is often called the beloved of his people, especially in the book of Solomon's song; or else the people of Israel, whom the prophet had a great affection for, being his own people; but it seems best to understand it of God or Christ.

a song of my beloved which was inspired by him, or related to him, and was made for his honour and glory; or "a song of my uncle" ^F17 , for another word is used here than what is in the preceding clause, and is rendered "uncle" elsewhere, see (Leviticus 25:49) and may design King Amaziah; for, according to tradition, Amoz, the father of Isaiah, was brother to Amaziah king of Judah, and so consequently Amaziah must be uncle to Isaiah; and this might be a song of his composing, or in which he was concerned, being king of Judah, the subject of this song, as follows.

touching his vineyard not his uncle's, though it is true of him, but his well beloved's, God or Christ; the people of Israel, and house of Judah, are meant, comparable to a vineyard, as appears from (Isaiah 5:7) (Psalms 80:14Psalms 80:15) being separated and distinguished from the rest of the nations of the world, for the use, service, and glory of God.

My beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill ; or, "in a horn, the son of oil" ^F18 ; which designs the land of Israel, which was higher than other lands; and was, as some observe, in the form of a horn, longer than it was broad, and a very fruitful country, a land of olive oil, a land flowing with milk and honey, (Deuteronomy 8:7Deuteronomy 8:8) (Exodus 3:8) .

the prophet said, I will sing now to Israel, who is like unto a vineyard, the seed of Abraham, my beloved, a song of my beloved, concerning his vineyard. My people, my beloved Israel, I gave to them an inheritance in a high mountain, in a fat land.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: (ydwd tryv) "canticum patruelis mei", V. L.
• F18: (Nmv Nb Nrqb) "in cornu, filio olei", V. L.

And he fenced it
With good and wholesome laws, which distinguished them, and kept them separate from other nations; also with his almighty power and providence; especially at the three yearly festivals, when all their males appeared before God at Jerusalem:

and gathered out the stones thereof ;
the Heathens, the seven nations that inhabited the land of Canaan, compared to stones for their hardness and stupidity, and for their worshipping of idols of stone; see (Psalms 80:8)

and planted it with the choicest vine ;
the seed of Abraham, Joshua, and Caleb, who fully followed the Lord, and the people of Israel with them, who first entered into the land of Canaan, and inhabited it; such having fallen in the wilderness, who murmured and rebelled against God, (Jeremiah 2:21)

and built a tower in the midst of it ;
in which watchmen stood to keep the vineyard, that nothing entered into it that might hurt it; this may be understood of the city of Jerusalem, or the fortress of Zion, or the temple; so Aben Ezra, the house of God on Mount Moriah; and the Targum, ``and I built my sanctuary in the midst of them:''

and also made a winepress therein ;
to tread the grapes in; this the Targum explains by the altar, paraphrasing the words, ``and also my altar I gave to make an atonement for their sins;'' so Aben Ezra; though Kimchi interprets it of the prophets, who taught the people the law, that their works might be good, and stirred them up and exhorted them to the performance of them.

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes ;
this "looking" and "expecting", here ascribed to God, is not to be taken properly, but figuratively, after the manner of men, for from such a well formed government, from such an excellent constitution, from a people enjoying such advantages, it might have been reasonably expected, according to a human and rational judgment of things, that the fruits of righteousness and holiness, at least of common justice and equity, would have been brought forth by them; which are meant by "grapes", the fruit of the vine, see (Isaiah 5:7)

and it brought forth wild grapes ;
bad grapes; corrupt, rotten, stinking ones, as the word ^F19 used signifies; these, by a transposition of letters, are in the Misnah ^F20 called (Myvba) , which word signifies a kind of bad grapes, and a small sort: evil works are meant by them, see (Isaiah 5:7) the Targum is, ``I commanded them to do good works before me, and they have done evil works.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (Myvab) . The Septuagint render it thorns.
• F20: Maaserot c. 1. sect. 2. Vid. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah. All and everyone of them, who were parties concerned in this matter, and are designed by the vineyard, for whom so much had been done, and so little fruit brought forth by them, or rather so much bad fruit: judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard; between God and themselves; they are made judges in their own cause; the case was so clear and evident, that God is as it were willing the affair should be decided by their own judgment and verdict: so the Targum, "judge now judgment between me and my people."

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have
not done in it ?
&c.] Or "ought", as the Vulgate Latin: this is generally understood of good things done to it in time past; as what better culture could it have had? what greater privileges, blessings, and advantages, natural, civil, and religious, could have been bestowed on this people? what greater favour could have been shown them, or honour done them? or what of this kind remains to be done for them? they have had everything that could have been desired, expected, or enjoyed: though it may be rendered, "what is further or hereafter to be done to my vineyard" ^F21 , and "I have not done in it?" that is, by way of punishment; I have reproved and chastised them, but all in vain; what remains further for me, and which I will do, because of their ingratitude and unfruitfulness? I will utterly destroy them as a nation and church; I will cause their civil and ecclesiastical state to cease. The sense may be gathered from the answer to the question in the following verse (Isaiah 5:5) ,

wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought
it forth wild grapes ?
that is, why have these people acted so ill a part, when such and so many good things have been bestowed upon them; on account of which it might have been reasonably expected they would have behaved in another manner? or rather the words may be rendered, "why have I looked or expected ^F23 that it should bring forth grapes, seeing it brought forth wild grapes?" why have I been looking for good fruit, when nothing but bad fruit for so long a time has been produced? why have I endured with so much patience and longsuffering? I will bear with them no longer, as follows.

The Targum is for the former sense, ``what good have I said to do more to my people, which I have not done to them? and what is this I have said, that they should do good works, and they have done evil works?''

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (ymrkl dwe twvel hm) "quid faciendum amplius fuit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "et quid ultra faciendum erat"; so some in Vatablus, Montanus.
• F23: (ytywq ewdm) "quare expectavi?" Cocceius.

And now, go to; I will tell you what I will do to my
vineyard
Not by bestowing fresh favours upon them, but by inflicting punishment on them, for abusing what they had received; and this he told by John Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, what he determined to do; and what he was about to do to the Jewish nation, in the utter ruin of it (Matthew 3:12) (Luke 19:43Luke 19:44) .

I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up ;
that is, the vineyard shall be eaten by the wild beasts that will enter into it, when the hedge is taken away; or "it shall be burnt"; that is, the hedge, being a hedge of thorns, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe; such there were about vineyards, besides the stone wall after mentioned:

[and] break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down ;
the vineyard, or the vines in it, see (Psalms 80:12Psalms 80:13) this is to be understood of the Lord's removing his presence, power, and protection from the Jewish nation, and leaving them naked, destitute, and helpless, and exposed to their enemies.

The Targum is, "and now I will declare to you what I will do to my people; I will cause my Shechinah, or Majesty, to remove from them, and they shall be for a spoil; and I will break down the house of their sanctuary, and they shall be for treading."