Section 9 of 1745:1–7Isaiah

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King James VersionIsaiah 5:1–7

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:

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.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

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?

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:

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.

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.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Isaiah 5:1–7

The Beloved Vineyard Yields Bloodshed Instead of Justice

A love-song about a vineyard is sprung as a trap of recognition

Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. A vineyard is planted on a fruitful hill, fenced, stones gathered, planted with the choicest vine, a tower built, a winepress made. The owner looked for grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah are asked to judge between the vineyard and its keeper.

What more could have been done? The hedge is taken away, the wall broken, the plot laid waste, neither pruned nor digged, briars and thorns, clouds commanded not to rain. Then the identification: the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.

The expected vintage is named, and the actual crop is named

He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. The Hebrew turn is from mishpat to mispach, from tsedaqah to tse'aqah: justice expected, bloodshed found; righteousness expected, a scream found.

The song accuses Israel and Judah of producing violence where justice was the point of the care. It does not authorize anti-Jewish transfer, blaming later Jewish readers for wild grapes, or using the parable so that the speaker's own house escapes the cry.

How this should shape us

Ask what crop your carefully tended institutions actually yield. If the output is blood and a cry, more religion around the tower will not help. Do not aim this song only at another people.

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Explain Isaiah 5:1–7 in your own words. Name its place in Isaiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.

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King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

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Isaiah 5:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 5:1–7 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked

NET Bible Notes: Isaiah

Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.

Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 5:1–7 in the complete 205-page book PDF

First Isaiah study-guide course

Supports: Eighth-century Assyrian setting, Isaiah traditions, later growth, justice, Zion, signs, royal language, nations, and policy, with proposals kept visible.

Yale Bible Study, First Isaiah course, Historical Context and The Demand for Justice guides; applied to Isaiah 5:1–7

Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception

Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.

Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Summary, Background, Introductory Issues, Outline Book 1A, and Theological Themes; applied to Isaiah 5:1–7

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King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

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Exact location: Isaiah 5:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

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Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

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Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 5:1–7 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked

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Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF

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Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 5:1–7 in the complete 205-page book PDF

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First Isaiah study-guide course

John J. Collins and Joel S. Baden

Yale Bible Study, 2020; current public course

Supports: Eighth-century Assyrian setting, Isaiah traditions, later growth, justice, Zion, signs, royal language, nations, and policy, with proposals kept visible.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, First Isaiah course, Historical Context and The Demand for Justice guides; applied to Isaiah 5:1–7

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modern scholarly book course

Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception

Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan

Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024

Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.

Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Summary, Background, Introductory Issues, Outline Book 1A, and Theological Themes; applied to Isaiah 5:1–7

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