Commentary - Isaiah 5:1-7

Bird's-eye view

Here in Isaiah 5, the prophet delivers what begins as a tender love song but quickly turns into a blistering courtroom indictment. This is a covenant lawsuit, what the old prophets called a rib. God, through Isaiah, lays out His case against His people, Judah and Israel. He presents Himself as a meticulous, loving vinedresser who did everything possible to ensure a fruitful harvest from His vineyard. But when the time came for grapes, He found only worthless, sour berries. The song then shifts to a pronouncement of judgment. Because of its willful unfruitfulness, the vineyard will have its protections removed and will be utterly laid waste. The passage climaxes with a direct and devastating interpretation of the parable, using a powerful Hebrew wordplay to contrast God's expectation of justice and righteousness with the people's reality of bloodshed and oppression.

This is not just a historical reprimand of ancient Israel. It is a perennial warning to God's covenant people in every age. God establishes His people, lavishes His grace upon them, and rightfully expects fruit. When a people blessed by God produce the opposite of what He has cultivated, judgment is not only just, it is inevitable. The church today must hear this song and examine her own fruit. Are we producing the sweet grapes of gospel justice, or the sour berries of self-interest and worldliness?

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This "Song of the Vineyard" serves as a powerful introduction to a series of "woes" that Isaiah pronounces upon Judah, beginning in verse 8. It functions as the foundational charge sheet for the judgments that follow. Having established God's universal sovereignty in the opening chapters, Isaiah now narrows his focus to the covenant people. This passage is a classic example of a prophetic lawsuit, a form in which God formally brings charges against Israel for breaking His covenant. The parable form is masterful; it draws the listeners in, secures their agreement with the principle of the case, and only then reveals that they themselves are the guilty party, much like Nathan did with David in 2 Samuel 12.

Key Issues

Beginning: The Vineyard Motif in Scripture

The image of a vineyard to represent Israel is not unique to Isaiah. It is a rich and recurring metaphor throughout the Old Testament. In Psalm 80, Asaph portrays Israel as a vine that God brought out of Egypt, cleared the land for, and planted. Jeremiah 2:21 uses similar language, where God says, "Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?" The prophets used this imagery because it was something the people understood intimately. A vineyard required constant, laborious attention, and its success or failure was a direct reflection of the care it received and the quality of the vines.

Jesus picks up this theme in the New Testament, most notably in His parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21, where the vineyard again represents Israel and its leaders who reject the owner's servants and son. Crucially, Jesus also transforms the metaphor by declaring in John 15, "I am the true vine." This points to the ultimate fulfillment: the old covenant vineyard failed, but Christ is the perfect, fruitful vine, and believers are the branches who must abide in Him to bear good fruit. The Church, therefore, is the new vineyard, grafted into the true vine. This makes Isaiah's warning all the more potent for us.

The Meticulous Vinedresser

The central argument of God's lawsuit hinges on His impeccable care for the vineyard. Notice the exhaustive list of actions in verse 2. He "dug it all around," which refers to trenching the soil to prepare it. He "removed its stones," a back-breaking task necessary for vines to thrive. He "planted it with the choicest vine," the soreq, a high-quality red grape. He didn't skimp. He built a "tower" for protection against thieves and animals and a "wine vat" in anticipation of a bountiful harvest. In verse 4, God throws down the gauntlet: "What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?"

The answer is nothing. God gave Israel every advantage: a fertile land ("a fertile hill," literally "a horn, the son of oil"), His perfect law, His tabernacle and temple, His prophets, and His miraculous deliverance. The fault for the bad fruit cannot be laid at God's feet. This is a crucial point against all forms of theological sentimentalism that would try to excuse human sin by blaming circumstances or God's supposed lack of care. God is a good God, and His grace is sufficient. The responsibility for the worthless grapes lies entirely with the vines themselves.

The Covenant Lawsuit

In verse 3, the tone shifts from a sorrowful song to a direct legal challenge. God summons the "inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah" to act as judges in this dispute. This is a brilliant rhetorical move. He presents the evidence of His faithfulness and the vineyard's failure so clearly that He can trust the accused to convict themselves. He is not an arbitrary tyrant; His judgments are righteous and transparent. He brings His case into the open court and asks for a verdict based on the plain facts.

This demonstrates the nature of God's covenant relationship with His people. It is a legal arrangement with stipulations, blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). When Israel breaks the covenant, God doesn't just lash out. He formally prosecutes His case, demonstrating their guilt before heaven and earth. The judgment that follows in verses 5 and 6 is not random misfortune; it is the just and contractually stipulated consequence of their covenant rebellion.

The Devastating Wordplay

Verse 7 provides the key to the entire parable and contains one of the most powerful and tragic wordplays in all of Scripture. God decodes the metaphor: the vineyard is Israel, and He is the owner. Then He defines the fruit He was looking for and the fruit He found. He hoped for justice (mishpat), but behold, bloodshed (mispach). He hoped for righteousness (tsedaqah), but behold, a cry of distress (tse'aqah).

The sounds are hauntingly similar, but the meanings are polar opposites. Mishpat refers to the impartial, covenantal justice that should have characterized their society, protecting the weak and punishing the wicked. Instead, God found mispach, the spilling of innocent blood. Tsedaqah is the ethical righteousness and right living that flows from a right relationship with God. Instead, He heard tse'aqah, the cry of the poor and the oppressed who were being crushed by the powerful. The very people who were supposed to be a beacon of God's justice to the nations had become a source of profound injustice. Their worship was a sham because their lives were a contradiction of the God they claimed to serve.

Key Words

Mishpat, "Justice"

Mishpat is a foundational concept in the Old Testament. It is not just about courtroom verdicts, but about the entire structure of a just and rightly-ordered society according to God's law. It means giving people their due, protecting the rights of the vulnerable (the widow, the orphan, the sojourner), and maintaining a community where righteousness can flourish. God expected His vineyard to produce a harvest of societal justice.

Tsedaqah, "Righteousness"

While often paired with justice, tsedaqah carries the sense of right conduct, ethical integrity, and conformity to God's moral standard. It is relational righteousness, both toward God and toward one's neighbor. It is the positive fruit of a heart that is rightly aligned with God. God looked for a people who lived out their faith in tangible acts of goodness and fidelity.

Beushim, "Worthless Ones"

The Hebrew word for "worthless ones" or "wild grapes" is beushim. It comes from a root that means "to stink." This is not just a description of poor-quality fruit; it is a declaration of moral and spiritual rottenness. The fruit Israel produced was not merely disappointing; it was offensive and foul in the sight of God.

Application

The song of the vineyard is a sobering word for the Church. We are the people whom God has planted in the world, having given us every spiritual advantage in Christ. He has cleared the stony ground of our hearts, planted the choicest vine (Christ Himself), and built His protective watchtower around us. He has given us His Word, His Spirit, and the fellowship of the saints. He has done everything necessary for a bountiful harvest.

And so He comes looking for fruit. He looks for grapes, not just religious activity. Specifically, He looks for justice and righteousness. Does our church community produce mishpat? Are we known for our fair dealings, our defense of the defenseless, and our stand against the injustices of our day? Does our community produce tsedaqah? Are we known for our personal holiness, our integrity, and our love for our neighbors? Or does God find in our midst the stench of mispach and tse'aqah, the bloodshed of abortion and the cry of those oppressed by our greed and indifference?

The judgment pronounced on Israel is a pattern. When God's people refuse to bear fruit, He removes His hedge of protection. He allows the world to trample them down. He commands the clouds, His means of grace, to withhold their rain. If the modern church continues to produce the sour grapes of worldliness, compromise, and social justice posturing instead of true biblical justice, we should not be surprised when our walls are broken down and we are laid waste. The warning is clear: God inspects His vineyard, and He will not be mocked.