Isaiah 5
1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
9 In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
Isaiah 5 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Isaiah 5 begins as a love song and becomes a courtroom accusation. The prophet sings about a beloved owner who carefully prepared a fertile vineyard, planted excellent vines, built a watchtower, and cut a winepress. Every reasonable provision had been made, yet the vineyard produced wild, unusable grapes. Only after the hearers agree that the vineyard deserves judgment does Isaiah reveal its identity: it is Israel, especially the people of Judah.
The rest of the chapter identifies the bad fruit. Six declarations of “woe” expose greedy accumulation, pleasure without regard for God, determined attachment to sin, mockery of divine judgment, reversal of moral truth, self-important wisdom, drunken pride, and corrupt courts. The chapter ends with God summoning a distant nation whose disciplined advance will overwhelm the land. Judah’s privileges have increased, rather than reduced, its accountability.
Key Themes
The vineyard song is designed to involve its audience. At first, Isaiah appears to tell another person’s sad agricultural story. The inhabitants of Jerusalem are then invited to judge between the owner and his vineyard. Their verdict turns back upon them: they condemn the vineyard before recognizing themselves in it.
The owner’s work shows extraordinary care. He chose a fruitful hill, cleared stones, planted choice vines, built a tower, and prepared a winepress. The question “What could have been done more?” establishes that Judah’s failure cannot be blamed on neglect from the covenant Lord.
The “wild grapes” are not merely a disappointing quantity of good fruit. The expression points to foul or worthless produce that contradicts the character of the vine. Verse 7 interprets the image in moral terms. God looked for judgment, meaning justice, but found oppression or bloodshed; he looked for righteousness, but heard the cry of victims.
Isaiah’s Hebrew wording in verse 7 uses soundplay: the words for justice and bloodshed sound alike, as do righteousness and a cry. English cannot fully reproduce the effect. Judah’s conduct resembles covenant faithfulness only in sound; religious identity has not yielded justice.
Israel is also pictured as God’s vine in Psalm 80. Jesus later draws on Isaiah 5 in the vineyard parable of Matthew 21. That later use does not erase Isaiah’s address to Judah; it reinforces the responsibility of God’s people to produce faithful fruit.
The first woe condemns joining house to house and field to field until one wealthy owner stands alone. Powerful people are swallowing family holdings and concentrating land and influence in their own hands. Under Israel’s covenant order, land was a gift entrusted among families, not a limitless commodity for the strongest buyer.
The punishment fits the offense. Grand houses obtained through expansion will stand empty, and large vineyards will produce almost nothing. A “bath” was a modest liquid measure, while an “ephah” was only a fraction of the “homer” of seed planted. Isaiah’s point is unmistakable: fields accumulated for abundance will return humiliating scarcity.
The second woe addresses people who drink from morning until night. Music and feasting are not condemned simply because they are enjoyable. The problem is a life organized around intoxication with no regard for “the work of the Lord.” Pleasure has become spiritual blindness.
Verse 13 says the people go into captivity “because they have no knowledge.” This is not a lack of schooling or information. They refuse the knowledge of God expressed in covenant truth and moral discernment. Their leaders feast without understanding, so hunger, thirst, exile, and death overturn the society they believed secure.
“Hell” in verse 14 translates Sheol, the realm of the dead in Old Testament language. Isaiah pictures it opening wide to receive Jerusalem’s glory, crowds, and revelers. This is not a detailed map of the afterlife but a poetic warning that splendor cannot protect a corrupt society from death.
Human pride descends, but the Lord is exalted in judgment. Verse 16 is central to the chapter: God’s justice displays his holiness. Divine judgment is not an embarrassing contradiction of his goodness. Because God is holy, he will not forever overlook oppression, bribery, bloodshed, or the manipulation of truth.
The third woe pictures sinners dragging iniquity with cords and hauling sin like a heavily loaded cart. They are not merely overtaken by a momentary weakness; they labor to keep wrongdoing attached to themselves. Their taunt—asking God to hurry so they can see his work—turns prophetic warning into entertainment and treats delayed judgment as evidence that no judgment will come.
The fourth woe condemns calling evil good and good evil. Moral reversal renames wrong so that conscience, law, and public opinion will defend it. Darkness is advertised as light and bitterness as sweetness. Language is manipulated until corruption presents itself as virtue.
The fifth woe exposes those wise in their own eyes. Isaiah is not attacking genuine learning or careful reasoning. He condemns self-sufficient judgment that cannot be corrected by God. Intellectual pride is especially dangerous when it supplies sophisticated arguments for the moral reversals of the preceding verse.
The sixth woe returns to drink, but now its irony is sharper. These people are “mighty” and “men of strength” only in their ability to consume alcohol. Their supposed heroism is joined to judicial corruption: they acquit the wicked for a reward and strip the innocent of rightful standing. Strength that should defend justice is spent on indulgence and bribery.
Verse 24 moves from bad fruit to diseased roots. Judah’s visible collapse grows from rejecting the law of the Lord and despising the word of the Holy One of Israel. The problem is therefore theological as well as social. Injustice is the fruit of contempt for God, while reverence for God should produce truthful and righteous treatment of others.
The final section portrays the Lord raising a signal and summoning a distant nation. The army is swift, alert, equipped, and terrifying. Isaiah does not name it here, although Isaiah 10 identifies Assyria as the dominant imperial instrument of judgment. Even a distant military power answers God’s summons.
The repeated statement that God’s hand remains stretched out means judgment has not completed its work. Here the outstretched hand is not primarily an offer of welcome but an image of continued striking power. The phrase will recur as Isaiah unfolds rebellion’s consequences.
Isaiah 5 prepares for Isaiah 6. After exposing a nation that rejects the Holy One’s word, the prophet sees the Lord as “holy, holy, holy” and recognizes his own uncleanness. The messenger of judgment must also be humbled and cleansed.
Important Verses and Questions
What does the vineyard represent? Verse 7 identifies it as the house of Israel, with Judah as God’s pleasant planting. The vineyard image emphasizes covenant privilege, care, purpose, and accountability. God expected his people to reflect his character in justice and righteousness.
What are the wild grapes? They are the corrupt practices named throughout the chapter: oppression, bloodshed, greed, indulgence, unbelief, moral confusion, arrogance, and bribery. The image teaches that spiritual condition is revealed by the fruit a people actually produces, not merely by its name or heritage.
Why does God remove the vineyard’s hedge? The hedge and wall represent protection. Because the vineyard persistently refuses its purpose, God withdraws protection and allows devastation. This does not mean every hardship is proof of a person’s specific sin; Isaiah is interpreting Judah’s covenant judgment through a prophetic word given for that historical situation.
Does verse 20 apply whenever people disagree morally? The verse is not permission to label every disagreement deliberate evil. It condemns the conscious inversion of moral reality—defending what God calls evil and discrediting what he calls good. Faithful application requires humility, accurate interpretation, and willingness to have one’s own judgments corrected by Scripture.
Who is the distant nation in verses 26–30? The chapter leaves it unnamed. In Isaiah’s wider setting, Assyria is the most immediate fulfillment, though some features of the warning can also anticipate later invasions. Readers should begin with the historical Assyrian threat without forcing every detail into only one event.
Why is the Holy One angry with his own people? Covenant relationship does not make injustice unimportant. God’s love includes opposition to what destroys his creatures and dishonors his name. Judah’s election was a calling to holiness and service, not immunity from correction.
Practical Applications
Measure spiritual health by fruit, not by advantages. Judah possessed revelation, worship, history, and divine care, yet those privileges did not automatically produce righteousness. Churches and individuals should ask whether teaching and worship are yielding honesty, mercy, justice, humility, repentance, and love.
Resist forms of success that depend on pushing others aside. The first woe warns against expansion that leaves no room for neighbors. Legal ownership alone does not settle every moral question. Believers should consider how business, housing, influence, and consumption affect families and communities with less power.
Do not use entertainment or intoxication to avoid God. Isaiah’s revelers are surrounded by music but unable to regard the Lord’s work. Rest and celebration can be gifts, yet they become destructive when they keep a person from prayer, responsibility, grief, repentance, or attention to suffering.
Guard moral language carefully. Calling evil good often begins by adjusting words until sin appears harmless and righteousness appears cruel. Christians should speak truth without manipulation, but also without arrogance. The answer to cultural confusion is not self-righteousness; it is disciplined submission to God’s word joined with compassion for people.
Take delayed consequences seriously. The mockers assume that because judgment has not arrived, it never will. Scripture repeatedly treats patience as an opportunity to repent, not a guarantee that present choices are safe. Wisdom responds to warning before consequences become unavoidable.
Receive conviction personally. Isaiah 5 makes it easy to identify greed, drunkenness, corruption, and moral reversal in other people. Isaiah 6 will show the prophet himself confessing uncleanness before God. A faithful reader asks not only what the chapter says about society, but what fruit the Lord finds in one’s own life.