Isaiah 5:1-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:6

I will lay it waste ; literally, I will make it a desolation (comp. Isaiah 7:19 , where a cognate term occurs). Active ravage is not so much pointed at, as the desolation which comes from neglect. There shall come up briers and thorns. The natural produce of neglected ground in Palestine (see Proverbs 24:31 ). The "thorns and briers" symbolize vices of various kinds, the natural produce of the human soul, if God leaves it to itself. The words are scarcely to be taken literally,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:7

For the vineyard , etc. The full explanation of the parable follows immediately on the disclosure in Isaiah 5:6 . The vineyard is "Israel," or rather "Judah;" the fruit expected from it, "judgment and righteousness;" the wild grapes which alone it had produced, "oppression" and the "cry" of the distressed. His pleasant plan; : literally, the plant of his delights ; i.e. the plantation in which he had so long taken delight. He looked for judgment, etc. Gesenius has attempted to give... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:7

The difference between what God asks and what God gets. The original terms of this verse contain a very striking play upon words, which can but imperfectly be rendered into English. "He looked for judgment ( mishpat ), and behold oppression ( mishpach ); for righteousness ( tsedakah ), and behold a cry ( tseakah ) of the oppressed for help." Dr. C. Geikie translates the verse thus: "And he hoped for deeds of good, but, behold, there are only deeds of blood; for righteousness,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:8

Woe unto them that join house to house . This is the first woe . It is pronounced on the greed which leads men to continually enlarge their estates, without regard to their neighbors' convenience. Nothing is said of any use of unfair means, much less of violence in dispossessing the former proprietors. What is denounced is the selfishness of vast accumulations of land in single bands, to the detriment of the rest of the community. The Jewish law was peculiarly inimical to this practice... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:8

The covetous spirit, and its judgment. The picture presented in this verse can be matched by the conduct of our English king, who destroyed the villages to make the New Forest; or by the makers of deer-forests in North Britain, who have driven away the natives. In Isaiah's time the wealthy men were buying up the houses and estates, and destroying the old village life of Palestine. "In the place of the small freeholders, there rose up a class of large proprietors, while the original holders... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:8-10

Woe to the covetous. To understand this passage we should bear in mind the truths connected with real property as a condition of national well-being. I. THE INSTITUTION OF LANDED PROPERTY IN ISRAEL . According to the Law, each of the twelve tribes was to have its landed possessions, and each particular household was to have its definite portion of the land belonging to the tribe; and this was to be an inalienable heritage. Among an agricultural people it is most necessary... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:8-10

The character and the doom of covetousness. The judgment denounced against those that joined house to house and field to field bring into view the nature of the sin of covetousness, and the desolation in which it ends. I. THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE SIN . It is an immoderate ambition . To secure a house or a piece of land, or to extend that which has been acquired, may be not only lawful but positively commendable; it may, indeed, be highly honorable. But there are bounds... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:8-17

The appropriateness of God's punishments. Many of the punishments of sin follow in the way of natural consequence, and these are generally acknowledged to be fitting and appropriate; e . g . — I. IDLENESS IS PUNISHED BY WANT . "If a man will not work, neither shall he eat" ( 2 Thessalonians 3:10 ). Labor naturally produces wealth, or at any rate value of some kind; and those who work the hardest naturally acquire the most. The idle cannot complain if they have few of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:8-24

THE SIX WOES . After the general warning conveyed to Israel by the parable of the vineyard, six sins are particularized as those which have especially provoked God to give the warning. On each of these woe is denounced. Two have special punishments assigned to them ( Isaiah 5:8-17 ); the remainder are joined in one general threat of retribution ( Isaiah 5:18-24 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 5:9

Either something has fallen out in the first clause of this verse, or there is a most unusual ellipse of the verb " said " which our translators have supplied, very properly. There seems to be nothing emphatic in the words, "on mine ears" ( see Isaiah 22:14 ; Ezekiel 9:1 , Ezekiel 9:5 ; Ezekiel 10:13 ). Many houses shall be desolate. The greed of adding house to house will be punished by the death of those who have so sinned, and the extinction of their families, either through... read more

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