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Selected Verse: Isaiah 5:7 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 5:7	Strong Concordance	For the vineyard [03754] of the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] is the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and the men [0376] of Judah [03063] his pleasant [08191] plant [05194]: and he looked [06960] for judgment [04941], but behold oppression [04939]; for righteousness [06666], but behold a cry [06818].
	King James	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.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Isaiah here applies the parable. It is no mere human owner, nor a literal vineyard that is meant. vineyard of the Lord--His only one (Exo 19:5; Amo 3:2). pleasant--"the plant of his delight"; just as the husbandman was at pains to select the sorek, or "choicest vine" (Isa 5:2); so God's election of the Jews. judgment--justice. The play upon words is striking in the Hebrew, He looked for mishpat, but behold mispat ("bloodshed"); for tsedaqua, but behold tseaqua (the cry that attends anarchy, covetousness, and dissipation, Isa 5:8, Isa 5:11-12; compare the cry of the rabble by which justice was overborne in the case of Jesus Christ, Mat 27:23-24).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Isaiah here applies the parable. It is no mere human owner, nor a literal vineyard that is meant.

vineyard of the Lord--His only one (Exo 19:5; Amo 3:2).

pleasant--"the plant of his delight"; just as the husbandman was at pains to select the sorek, or "choicest vine" (Isa 5:2); so God's election of the Jews.

judgment--justice. The play upon words is striking in the Hebrew, He looked for mishpat, but behold mispat ("bloodshed"); for tsedaqua, but behold tseaqua (the cry that attends anarchy, covetousness, and dissipation, Isa 5:8, Isa 5:11-12; compare the cry of the rabble by which justice was overborne in the case of Jesus Christ, Mat 27:23-24).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
For the vineyard ... - This is the application of the parable. God had treated the Jews as a farmer does a vineyard. This was "his" vineyard - the object of his faithful, unceasing care. This was his "only" vineyard; on this people alone, of all the nations of the earth, had he bestowed his special attention. His pleasant plant - The plant in which he delighted. As the farmer had been at the pains to plant the "sorek" Isa 5:2, so had God selected the ancient stock of the Jews as his own, and made the race the object of his chief attention. And he looked for judgment - For justice, or righteousness. But behold oppression - The word rendered "oppression" means properly "shedding of blood." In the original here, there is a remarkable "paranomasia," or play upon words, which is not uncommon in the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was deemed a great beauty in composition: He looked for "judgment," משׁפט mishpâṭ, And lo! "shedding of blood," משׂפח mis'pâch; For "rightousness," צדקה tsedâqâh, But lo! "a clamor," צעקה tse‛âqâh. It is impossible, of course, to retain this in a translation. A cry. A clamor - tumult, disorder; the clamor which attends anarchy, and covetousness, and dissipation Isa 5:8, Isa 5:11-12, rather than the soberness and steadiness of justice.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of His delight: He waited for justice, and behold grasping; for righteousness, and behold a shriek." The meaning is not that the Lord of the vineyard would not let any more rain fall upon it, because this Lord was Jehovah (which is not affirmed in fact in the words commencing with "for," Ci), but a more general one. This was how the case stood with the vineyard; for all Israel, and especially the people of Judah, were this vineyard, which had so bitterly deceived the expectations of its Lord, and indeed "the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts," and therefore of the omnipotent God, whom even the clouds would serve when He came forth to punish. The expression "for" (Ci) is not only intended to vindicate the truth of the last statement, but the truth of the whole simile, including this: it is an explanatory "for" (Ci explic.), which opens the epimythion. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts" (Cerem Jehovah Zebaoth) is the predicate. "The house of Israel (Beth Yisrâel) was the whole nation, which is also represented in other passages under the same figure of a vineyard (Isa 27:2.; Ps 80, etc.). But as Isaiah was prophet in Judah, he applies the figure more particularly to Judah, which was called Jehovah's favourite plantation, inasmuch as it was the seat of the divine sanctuary and of the Davidic kingdom. This makes it easy enough to interpret the different parts of the simile employed. The fat mountain-horn was Canaan, flowing with milk and honey (Exo 15:17); the digging of the vineyard, and clearing it of stones, was the clearing of Canaan from its former heathen inhabitants (Psa 54:3); the sorek-vines were the holy priests and prophets and kings of Israel of the earlier and better times (Jer 2:21); the defensive and ornamental tower in the midst of the vineyard was Jerusalem as the royal city, with Zion the royal fortress (Mic 4:8); the winepress-trough was the temple, where, according to Psa 36:9 (8.), the wine of heavenly pleasures flowed in streams, and from which, according to Psa 42:1-11 and many other passages, the thirst of the soul might all be quenched. The grazing and treading down are explained in Jer 5:10 and Jer 12:10. The bitter deception experienced by Jehovah is expressed in a play upon two words, indicating the surprising change of the desired result into the very opposite. The explanation which Gesenius, Caspari, Knobel, and others give of mispâch, viz., bloodshed, does not commend itself; for even if it must be admitted that sâphach occurs once or twice in the "Arabizing" book of Job (Job 30:7; Job 14:19) in the sense of pouring out, this verbal root is strange to the Hebrew (and the Aramaean). Moreover, mispâch in any case would only mean pouring or shedding, and not bloodshed; and although the latter would certainly be possible by the side of the Arabic saffâch, saffâk (shedder of blood), yet it would be such an ellipsis as cannot be shown anywhere else in Hebrew usage. On the other hand, the rendering "leprosy" does not yield any appropriate sense, as mispachath (sappachath) is never generalized anywhere else into the single idea of "dirt" (Luzzatto: sozzura), nor does it appear as an ethical notion. We therefore prefer to connect it with a meaning unquestionably belonging to the verb ספח (see kal, Sa1 2:36; niphal, Isa 14:1; hithpael, Sa1 26:19), which is derived in יסף, אסף, סוּף, from the primary notion "to sweep," spec. to sweep towards, sweep in, or sweep away. Hence we regard mispach as denoting the forcible appropriation of another man's property; certainly a suitable antithesis to mishpât. The prophet describes, in full-toned figures, how the expected noble grapes had turned into wild grapes, with nothing more than an outward resemblance. The introduction to the prophecy closes here. The prophecy itself follows next, a seven-fold discourse composed of the six-fold woe contained in vv. 8-23, and the announcement of punishment in which it terminates. In this six-fold woe the prophet describes the bad fruits one by one. In confirmation of our rendering of mispâch, the first woe relates to covetousness and avarice as the root of all evil.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

"For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of His delight: He waited for justice, and behold grasping; for righteousness, and behold a shriek." The meaning is not that the Lord of the vineyard would not let any more rain fall upon it, because this Lord was Jehovah (which is not affirmed in fact in the words commencing with "for," Ci), but a more general one. This was how the case stood with the vineyard; for all Israel, and especially the people of Judah, were this vineyard, which had so bitterly deceived the expectations of its Lord, and indeed "the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts," and therefore of the omnipotent God, whom even the clouds would serve when He came forth to punish. The expression "for" (Ci) is not only intended to vindicate the truth of the last statement, but the truth of the whole simile, including this: it is an explanatory "for" (Ci explic.), which opens the epimythion. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts" (Cerem Jehovah Zebaoth) is the predicate. "The house of Israel (Beth Yisrâel) was the whole nation, which is also represented in other passages under the same figure of a vineyard (Isa 27:2.; Ps 80, etc.). But as Isaiah was prophet in Judah, he applies the figure more particularly to Judah, which was called Jehovah's favourite plantation, inasmuch as it was the seat of the divine sanctuary and of the Davidic kingdom. This makes it easy enough to interpret the different parts of the simile employed. The fat mountain-horn was Canaan, flowing with milk and honey (Exo 15:17); the digging of the vineyard, and clearing it of stones, was the clearing of Canaan from its former heathen inhabitants (Psa 54:3); the sorek-vines were the holy priests and prophets and kings of Israel of the earlier and better times (Jer 2:21); the defensive and ornamental tower in the midst of the vineyard was Jerusalem as the royal city, with Zion the royal fortress (Mic 4:8); the winepress-trough was the temple, where, according to Psa 36:9 (8.), the wine of heavenly pleasures flowed in streams, and from which, according to Psa 42:1-11 and many other passages, the thirst of the soul might all be quenched. The grazing and treading down are explained in Jer 5:10 and Jer 12:10. The bitter deception experienced by Jehovah is expressed in a play upon two words, indicating the surprising change of the desired result into the very opposite. The explanation which Gesenius, Caspari, Knobel, and others give of mispâch, viz., bloodshed, does not commend itself; for even if it must be admitted that sâphach occurs once or twice in the "Arabizing" book of Job (Job 30:7; Job 14:19) in the sense of pouring out, this verbal root is strange to the Hebrew (and the Aramaean). Moreover, mispâch in any case would only mean pouring or shedding, and not bloodshed; and although the latter would certainly be possible by the side of the Arabic saffâch, saffâk (shedder of blood), yet it would be such an ellipsis as cannot be shown anywhere else in Hebrew usage. On the other hand, the rendering "leprosy" does not yield any appropriate sense, as mispachath (sappachath) is never generalized anywhere else into the single idea of "dirt" (Luzzatto: sozzura), nor does it appear as an ethical notion. We therefore prefer to connect it with a meaning unquestionably belonging to the verb ספח (see kal, Sa1 2:36; niphal, Isa 14:1; hithpael, Sa1 26:19), which is derived in יסף, אסף, סוּף, from the primary notion "to sweep," spec. to sweep towards, sweep in, or sweep away. Hence we regard mispach as denoting the forcible appropriation of another man's property; certainly a suitable antithesis to mishpât. The prophet describes, in full-toned figures, how the expected noble grapes had turned into wild grapes, with nothing more than an outward resemblance. The introduction to the prophecy closes here.

The prophecy itself follows next, a seven-fold discourse composed of the six-fold woe contained in vv. 8-23, and the announcement of punishment in which it terminates. In this six-fold woe the prophet describes the bad fruits one by one. In confirmation of our rendering of mispâch, the first woe relates to covetousness and avarice as the root of all evil.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Pleasant - In whom God formerly delighted. A cry - From the oppressed, crying to men for help, and to God for vengeance.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
And he looked for judgment - The paronomasia, or play on the words, in this place, is very remarkable; mishpat, mishpach, tsedakah, tseakah. There are many examples of it in the other prophets, but Isaiah seems peculiarly fond of it. See Isa 13:6, Isa 24:17, Isa 32:7, Isa 28:1, Isa 57:6, Isa 61:3, Isa 65:11, Isa 65:12. Rabbi David Kimchi has noticed the paronomasia here: he expected משפט mishpat, judgment, but behold משפח mishpach, oppression; he expected צדקה tsedakah, righteousness, but behold צעקה tseakah, a cry. The rabbins esteem it a great beauty; their term for it is צחות הלשון tsachoth haltashon, elegance of language. Oppression "tyranny" - משפח mishpach, from שפח shaphach, servum fecit, Arab. Houbigant: שפחה shiphchah is serva, a handmaid or female slave. משפח mispach, eighteen MSS.

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²³ And [1161] the governor [2232] said [5346], Why [1063], what [5101] evil [2556] hath he done [4160]? But [1161] they cried out [2896] the more [4057], saying [3004], Let him be crucified [4717].
²⁴ When [1161] Pilate [4091] saw [1492] that [3754] he could prevail [5623] nothing [3762], but [235] that rather [3123] a tumult [2351] was made [1096], he took [2983] water [5204], and washed [633] his hands [5495] before [561] the multitude [3793], saying [3004], I am [1510] innocent [121] of [575] the blood [129] of this [5127] just person [1342]: see [3700] ye [5210] to it.

¹¹ Woe [01945] unto them that rise up early [07925] in the morning [01242], that they may follow [07291] strong drink [07941]; that continue [0309] until night [05399], till wine [03196] inflame [01814] them!
¹² And the harp [03658], and the viol [05035], the tabret [08596], and pipe [02485], and wine [03196], are in their feasts [04960]: but they regard [05027] not the work [06467] of the LORD [03068], neither consider [07200] the operation [04639] of his hands [03027].

⁸ Woe [01945] unto them that join [05060] house [01004] to house [01004], that lay [07126] field [07704] to field [07704], till there be no [0657] place [04725], that they may be placed [03427] alone in the midst [07130] of the earth [0776]!

² And he fenced [05823] it, and gathered out the stones [05619] thereof, and planted [05193] it with the choicest vine [08321], and built [01129] a tower [04026] in the midst [08432] of it, and also made [02672] a winepress [03342] therein: and he looked [06960] that it should bring forth [06213] grapes [06025], and it brought forth [06213] wild grapes [0891].

² You only have I known [03045] of all the families [04940] of the earth [0127]: therefore I will punish [06485] you for all your iniquities [05771].

⁵ Now therefore, if ye will obey [08085] my voice [06963] indeed [08085], and keep [08104] my covenant [01285], then ye shall be a peculiar treasure [05459] unto me above all people [05971]: for all the earth [0776] is mine:

¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord [0113] the king [04428] hear [08085] the words [01697] of his servant [05650]. If the LORD [03068] have stirred thee up [05496] against me, let him accept [07306] an offering [04503]: but if they be the children [01121] of men [0120], cursed [0779] be they before [06440] the LORD [03068]; for they have driven [01644] me out this day [03117] from abiding [05596] in the inheritance [05159] of the LORD [03068], saying [0559], Go [03212], serve [05647] other [0312] gods [0430].

¹ For the LORD [03068] will have mercy [07355] on Jacob [03290], and will yet choose [0977] Israel [03478], and set [03240] them in their own land [0127]: and the strangers [01616] shall be joined [03867] with them, and they shall cleave [05596] to the house [01004] of Jacob [03290].

³⁶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left [03498] in thine house [01004] shall come [0935] and crouch [07812] to him for a piece [095] of silver [03701] and a morsel [03603] of bread [03899], and shall say [0559], Put [05596] me, I pray thee, into one [0259] of the priests' offices [03550], that I may eat [0398] a piece [06595] of bread [03899].

¹⁹ The waters [04325] wear [07833] the stones [068]: thou washest away [07857] the things which grow [05599] out of the dust [06083] of the earth [0776]; and thou destroyest [06] the hope [08615] of man [0582].

⁷ Among the bushes [07880] they brayed [05101]; under the nettles [02738] they were gathered together [05596].

¹⁰ Many [07227] pastors [07462] have destroyed [07843] my vineyard [03754], they have trodden [0947] my portion [02513] under foot [0947], they have made [05414] my pleasant [02532] portion [02513] a desolate [08077] wilderness [04057].

¹⁰ Go ye up [05927] upon her walls [08284], and destroy [07843]; but make [06213] not a full end [03617]: take away [05493] her battlements [05189]; for they are not the LORD'S [03068].

¹ To the chief Musician [05329], Maschil [04905], for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141]. As the hart [0354] panteth [06165] after the water [04325] brooks [0650], so panteth [06165] my soul [05315] after thee, O God [0430].
² My soul [05315] thirsteth [06770] for God [0430], for the living [02416] God [0410]: when shall I come [0935] and appear [07200] before [06440] God [0430]?
³ My tears [01832] have been my meat [03899] day [03119] and night [03915], while they continually [03117] say [0559] unto me, Where is thy God [0430]?
⁴ When I remember [02142] these things, I pour out [08210] my soul [05315] in me: for I had gone [05674] with the multitude [05519], I went [01718] with them to the house [01004] of God [0430], with the voice [06963] of joy [07440] and praise [08426], with a multitude [01995] that kept holyday [02287].
⁵ Why art thou cast down [07817], O my soul [05315]? and why art thou disquieted [01993] in me? hope [03176] thou in God [0430]: for I shall yet praise [03034] him for the help [03444] of his countenance [06440].
⁶ O my God [0430], my soul [05315] is cast down [07817] within me: therefore will I remember [02142] thee from the land [0776] of Jordan [03383], and of the Hermonites [02769], from the hill [02022] Mizar [04706].
⁷ Deep [08415] calleth [07121] unto deep [08415] at the noise [06963] of thy waterspouts [06794]: all thy waves [04867] and thy billows [01530] are gone [05674] over me.
⁸ Yet the LORD [03068] will command [06680] his lovingkindness [02617] in the daytime [03119], and in the night [03915] his song [07892] shall be with me, and my prayer [08605] unto the God [0410] of my life [02416].
⁹ I will say [0559] unto God [0410] my rock [05553], Why hast thou forgotten [07911] me? why go [03212] I mourning [06937] because of the oppression [03906] of the enemy [0341]?
¹⁰ As with a sword [07524] in my bones [06106], mine enemies [06887] reproach [02778] me; while they say [0559] daily [03117] unto me, Where is thy God [0430]?
¹¹ Why art thou cast down [07817], O my soul [05315]? and why art thou disquieted [01993] within me? hope [03176] thou in God [0430]: for I shall yet praise [03034] him, who is the health [03444] of my countenance [06440], and my God [0430].

⁹ For with thee is the fountain [04726] of life [02416]: in thy light [0216] shall we see [07200] light [0216].

⁸ And thou, O tower [04026] of the flock [05739] [04029], the strong hold [06076] of the daughter [01323] of Zion [06726], unto thee shall it come [0857], even the first [07223] dominion [04475]; the kingdom [04467] shall come [0935] to the daughter [01323] of Jerusalem [03389].

²¹ Yet I had planted [05193] thee a noble vine [08321], wholly a right [0571] seed [02233]: how then art thou turned [02015] into the degenerate plant [05494] of a strange [05237] vine [01612] unto me?

³ For strangers [02114] are risen up [06965] against me, and oppressors [06184] seek [01245] after my soul [05315]: they have not set [07760] God [0430] before them. Selah [05542].

¹⁷ Thou shalt bring [0935] them in, and plant [05193] them in the mountain [02022] of thine inheritance [05159], in the place [04349], O LORD [03068], which thou hast made [06466] for thee to dwell in [03427], in the Sanctuary [04720], O Lord [0136], which thy hands [03027] have established [03559].

² In that day [03117] sing [06031] ye unto her, A vineyard [03754] of red wine [02561] [02531].

¹² Therefore will I number [04487] you to the sword [02719], and ye shall all bow down [03766] to the slaughter [02874]: because when I called [07121], ye did not answer [06030]; when I spake [01696], ye did not hear [08085]; but did [06213] evil [07451] before mine eyes [05869], and did choose [0977] that wherein I delighted [02654] not.

¹¹ But ye are they that forsake [05800] the LORD [03068], that forget [07913] my holy [06944] mountain [02022], that prepare [06186] a table [07979] for that troop [01409] [01408], and that furnish [04390] the drink offering [04469] unto that number [04507].

³ To appoint [07760] unto them that mourn [057] in Zion [06726], to give [05414] unto them beauty [06287] for ashes [0665], the oil [08081] of joy [08342] for mourning [060], the garment [04594] of praise [08416] for the spirit [07307] of heaviness [03544]; that they might be called [07121] trees [0352] of righteousness [06664], the planting [04302] of the LORD [03068], that he might be glorified [06286].

⁶ Among the smooth [02511] stones of the stream [05158] is thy portion [02506]; they, they are thy lot [01486]: even to them hast thou poured [08210] a drink offering [05262], thou hast offered [05927] a meat offering [04503]. Should I receive comfort [05162] in these?

¹ Woe [01945] to the crown [05850] of pride [01348], to the drunkards [07910] of Ephraim [0669], whose glorious [06643] beauty [08597] is a fading [05034] flower [06731], which are on the head [07218] of the fat [08081] valleys [01516] of them that are overcome [01986] with wine [03196]!

⁷ The instruments [03627] also of the churl [03596] are evil [07451]: he deviseth [03289] wicked devices [02154] to destroy [02254] the poor [06041] [06035] with lying [08267] words [0561], even when the needy [034] speaketh [01696] right [04941].

¹⁷ Fear [06343], and the pit [06354], and the snare [06341], are upon thee, O inhabitant [03427] of the earth [0776].

⁶ Howl [03213] ye; for the day [03117] of the LORD [03068] is at hand [07138]; it shall come [0935] as a destruction [07701] from the Almighty [07706].