Isaia 5:15 Commento

In this chapter the prophet, in God's name, shows the people of God their transgressions, even the house of Jacob their sins, and the judgments which were likely to be brought upon them for their sins, I. By a parable, under the similitude of an unfruitful vineyard, representing the great favours God had bestowed upon them, their disappointing his expectations from them, and the ruin they had thereby deserved (Isa 5:1-7). II. By an enumeration of the sins that did abound among them, with a threatening of punishments that should answer to the sins. 1. Covetousness, and greediness of worldly wealth, which shall be punished with famine (Isa 5:8-10) 2. Rioting, revelling, and drunkenness (Isa 5:11, Isa 5:12, Isa 5:22, Isa 5:23), which shall be punished with captivity and all the miseries that attend it (Isa 5:13-17). 3. Presumption in sin, and defying the justice of God (Isa 5:18, Isa 5:19). 4. Confounding the distinctions between virtue and vice, and so undermining the principles of religion (Isa 5:20). 5. Self-conceit (Isa 5:21). 6. Perverting justice, for which, and the other instances of reigning wickedness among them, a great and general desolation in threatened, which should lay all waste (Isa 5:24, Isa 5:25), and which should be effected by a foreign invasion (Isa 5:26-30), referring perhaps to the havoc made not long after by Sennacherib's army.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 5 In this chapter, under the parable of a vineyard and its ruins, the Jews and their destruction are represented; the reasons of which are given, their manifold sins and transgressions, particularly enumerated, with the punishment threatened to them, and which is delivered in form of a song. The vineyard is described by the owner of it, a well beloved one; by the situation of it, in a fruitful hill; by the fence about it, and care and culture of it; and by its not answering the expectation of the owner, it bringing forth wild grapes instead of good ones, Isa 5:1 wherefore the men of Judah and Jerusalem are made judges between the owner and his vineyard, what more could have been done to it, or rather what was now to be done to it, since this was the case; and the result is, that it should be utterly laid waste, and come to ruin; and the whole is applied to the house of Israel, and men of Judah, Isa 5:3 whose sins, as the cause of their ruin, are mentioned in the following verses; their covetousness, with the punishment of it, Isa 5:8 their intemperance, luxury, and love of pleasure, with the punishment threatened thereunto, Isa 5:11 whereby haughty men should be humbled, the Lord be glorified, and at the same time his weak and innocent people would be taken care of, Isa 5:15 next, other sins are taken notice of, and woes pronounced on account of them, as, an impudent course of sinning, insolent impiety against God, confusion of good and evil, conceit of their own wisdom, drunkenness, and perversion of justice, Isa 5:18 wherefore for these things, and for their contempt and rejection of the law and word of the Lord, utter destruction is threatened them, Isa 5:24 yea, the anger of God had been already kindled against them, and they had felt it in some instances, Isa 5:25 but they are given to expect severer judgments, by means of foreign nations, that should be gathered against them; who are described by their swiftness, strength, and vigilance; by their armour, horses, and carriages; and by their terror and cruelty; the consequence of which would be utter darkness, distress, and calamities, in the land of Judea, Isa 5:26.

And the mean man shall be brought down,.... To hell, or the grave, as well as the rich and noble: and the mighty man shall be humbled; laid low in the dust, and be equal to the poor; for, in the grave, princes and peasants are alike; or they shall be all alike, in the same low and miserable condition: and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled; when famine and distress, ruin and misery, come upon them, then shall the pride of those be abased, as it was; who boasted of their riches and honour, of their descent and parentage, as the children of Abraham, and as being free men, and never in bondage; of their righteousness and good works; not submitting to the righteousness of Christ; but despising it, and looking with disdain upon, and treating with contempt, such as they thought less holy than themselves. The Scribes and Pharisees, the members of the sanhedrim, and rulers of the people, together with the whole body of the nation, are meant; who were all of the same cast and complexion, being conceited of themselves, and proud boasters.

(Verse 14, 15.) Therefore, hell enlarged its soul and opened its mouth without any limit, and its strong ones, and its people, and its high and glorious ones descended to it. And man will be humbled, and the man will be brought low, and the eyes of the proud will be cast down. Those who rose early to pursue wine, and remained in drunkenness until evening, and were occupied with pleasure and indulgence, did not want to consider the work of the Lord, nor did they contemplate the works of His hands. Therefore they were brought into captivity because they did not have knowledge of the Son of God, as He himself said to them, 'You neither know me nor the one who sent me' (John 8:19), and in that very captivity they died of famine and wasted away from thirst. Where Hell and death extended their souls, and opened their mouths, and devoured without number and satiety those to be punished forever: so that the princes and people, and the sublimity and glory of the land of Judah would descend to him, and all pride would be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty would be lowered, understanding themselves to be mortals; and all things were fulfilled, which the Lord had foretold through the prophets. However, Hell is said to have a soul, not that it is a living creature, according to the error of some; but that by the words of human custom, we express the impassivity of things that do not sense, that it is insatiable, and is never filled by the multitude of the dead. And in the hand of the tongue, death is spoken (Prov. XVIII), and the almighty God hates the Sabbaths, and speaks of the Jews despising their own soul (Isai. I). Whatever we have said about the Jewish people can be metaphorically applied to those who are occupied with the pleasures of the world, not looking to the works of God, they are led captive into sin, and have no knowledge of God: and therefore, they perish from hunger and thirst for good works and virtues, and are dragged into hell, where they are assigned to eternal torments, and they witness the power and pride of misery being transformed by humility.

183. Second, as to the lowering of the captives: and man shall be brought down, being in captivity, as to the high ones, and man shall be humbled, as to the powerful, and the eyes of the lofty, as to the glorious ones: neither shall you be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of your foot (Deut 28:65).

The prophet, having described the judgments impending over his countrymen, enlarges on the corruptions which prevailed among them. Their profession of religion was all false and hypocritical, Jer 5:1, Jer 5:2. Though corrected, they were not amended, but persisted in their guilt, Jer 5:3. This was not the case with the low and ignorant only, Jer 5:4; but more egregiously so with those of the higher order, from whose knowledge and opportunities better things might have been expected, Jer 5:5. God therefore threatens them with the most cruel enemies, Jer 5:6; and appeals to themselves if they should be permitted to practice such sins unpunished, Jer 5:7-9. He then commands their enemies to raze the walls of Jerusalem, Jer 5:10; that devoted city whose inhabitants added to all their other sins the highest contempt of God's word and prophets, Jer 5:11-13. Wherefore his word, in the mouth of his prophet, shall be as fire to consume them, Jer 5:14; the Chaldean forces shall cruelly addict them, Jer 5:15-17; and farther judgments await then as the consequence of their apostasy and idolatry, Jer 5:18, Jer 5:19. The chapter closes with a most melancholy picture of the moral condition of the Jewish people at that period which immediately preceded the Babylonish captivity, Jer 5:20-31.

PARABLE OF JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD. (Isa. 5:1-30) to--rather, "concerning" [GESENIUS], that is, in the person of My beloved, as His representative [VITRINGA]. Isaiah gives a hint of the distinction and yet unity of the Divine Persons (compare He with I, Isa 5:2-3). of my beloved--inspired by Him; or else, a tender song [CASTALIO]. By a slight change of reading "a song of His love" [HOUBIGANT]. "The Beloved" is Jehovah, the Second Person, the "Angel" of God the Father, not in His character as incarnate Messiah, but as God of the Jews (Exo 23:20-21; Exo 32:34; Exo 33:14). vineyard-- (Isa 3:14; Psa 80:8, &c.). The Jewish covenant-people, separated from the nations for His glory, as the object of His peculiar care (Mat 20:1; Mat 21:33). Jesus Christ in the "vineyard" of the New Testament Church is the same as the Old Testament Angel of the Jewish covenant. fruitful hill--literally, "a horn" ("peak," as the Swiss shreckhorn) of the son of oil; poetically, for very fruitful. Suggestive of isolation, security, and a sunny aspect. Isaiah alludes plainly to the Song of Solomon (Sol 6:3; Sol 8:11-12), in the words "His vineyard" and "my Beloved" (compare Isa 26:20; Isa 61:10, with Sol 1:4; Sol 4:10). The transition from "branch" (Isa 4:2) to "vineyard" here is not unnatural.

(Compare Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, Isa 2:17). All ranks, "mean" and "mighty" alike; so "honorable" and "multitude" (Isa 5:13).

The prophet now repeats a thought which formed one of the refrains of the second prophetic address (Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, cf., Isa 2:17). It acquires here a still deeper sense, from the context in which it stands. "Then are mean men bowed down, and lords humbled, and the eyes of lofty men are humbled. And Jehovah of hosts shows Himself exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One sanctifies Himself in righteousness." That which had exalted itself from earth to heaven, would be cast down earthwards into hell. The consecutive futures depict the coming events, which are here represented as historically present, as the direct sequel of what is also represented as present in Isa 5:14 : Hades opens, and then both low and lofty in Jerusalem sink down, and the soaring eyes now wander about in horrible depths. God, who is both exalted and holy in Himself, demanded that as the exalted One He should be exalted, and that as the Holy One He should be sanctified. But Jerusalem had not done that; He would therefore prove Himself the exalted One by the execution of justice, and sanctify Himself (nikdash is to be rendered as a reflective verb, according to Eze 36:23; Eze 38:23) by the manifestation of righteousness, in consequence of which the people of Jerusalem would have to give Him glory against their will, as forming part of "the things under the earth" (Phi 2:10). Jerusalem has been swallowed up twice in this manner by Hades; once in the Chaldean war, and again in the Roman. But the invisible background of these outward events was the fact, that it had already fallen under the power of hell. And now, even in a more literal sense, ancient Jerusalem, like the company of Korah (Num 16:30, Num 16:33), has gone underground. Just as Babylon and Nineveh, the ruins of which are dug out of the inexhaustible mine of their far-stretching foundation and soil, have sunk beneath the ground; so do men walk about in modern Jerusalem over the ancient Jerusalem, which lies buried beneath; and many an enigma of topography will remain an enigma until ancient Jerusalem has been dug out of the earth again.