Isaiah 5

Ezek. xx. 38. (Compare Isa. i. 27. liii. 1. lx. 21. Zcph. iii. 11. Zcch. xiv.20.). Even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem. Whose names arc written in the book of life among God’s elect, to whom the promises made to God’s people peculiarly belong. (See Psal. lxix. 28. Ezek. xiii. 9. Philip, iv. 3. Rev. iii. 5. xxi. 27.) The phrase alludes to the registers which were kept of the Jewish tribes and families: (sec Ezra ii. 59.) and those that could not prove their pedigree from thence were not admitted to the same rights and privileges which others enjoyed. (See ibid. ver. G2.), This chapter contains a general reproof of the Jews, for their ingratitude, impiety, excess,and covetousness, for which sins the prophet denounces God’s judgments against them by the hands of the Assyrians or Babylonians. it to be destroyed and laid waste by the heathens and infidels. (Compare Psal. lxxxi. 12, &e.) [qhap. vx; these particular judgments arc an earnest of the general judgment, when tho wbolo, framo of tho world shall be dis* solved. And their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets.) The preterperfect tense is hero used for tho future: (see ver. 13.) for the words relate to Sennacherib’s invasion, or rather to. the Babylonian captivity; (sec tho following verses.) He compares those enemies to lions; (ver. 29.) and by the same metaphor he says that they shall tear tho Jews to pieces, $nd leave tbeir carcasses torn in. the midst of the public ways or streets. (Compare 1 Kings xiii. 24.) V$r. 26. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far.] Setting up a standard is a signal for armies to assemble together. (See xviii. 3. Jer. Ii; 27.) Thus God will gather together tho nations that live afar off, and assemble them.to -fight against Judca. The nations hero specified are the Babylonians, who aro, in like manner, described as coming from a far country, (xxxix. 3. Jer. y. 15,) It is true, Babylon stood upon the river Euphrates;* which was once the border of the Jewish kingdom. (See <?en. xy. 19. 1 Kings iv. 21.) From whence it may be argued, that the Babylonians or Assyrians cannotbe meant here. But to this it may be replied, that many of their confederates, who made up great part of their army, lived at a farther distance. Indeed, all foreigners were.looked upon, by the Jews as living a great way off, because they maintained but little commerce with their neighbours. So the queen of Sheba is said to have come from the uttermost parts of the earth, (Matt. xii. 42.) whereas she came butfrom Arabia Felix. This threatening may also be extended to the desolation of Judca by the Romans. (Compare Deut. xxviii. 49. and see the note on vi.ll.)’ And ivitt hiss unto them from the ends of the earth.] Will call them by a certain signal. (Compare vii. 18.) From far, and from the ends of the earth, are equivalent expressions. (See xliii. 6.) The meaning of the phrase is, That the least whisper of God’s voice shall be heard from one end of the earth to the other, and shall summon the nations to the place appointed.

Isaiah 5:1

It OW will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved touching his vineyard. As David inscribes his Psalms to his chief musician; so the prophet here, speaking in the person of God, directs this hymn or parable, poetically expressed, to his Well-beloved, i. e. Christ: the Beloved is the Messias, called often by that title in the. Can-, tides, by.his spouse the church. [Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved.] The, words translated Well-beloved and Beloved, are in the Hebrew Jedidi and Dodi, agreeing both in sound and signification, and spoken here of the same person, the Messias, who is called Well-beloved, in respect of his father being the son of his love, (Matt. iii. 17. Colos. i. 13.) and Beloved, in respect to his spouse the church, and, known by that title in the Canticles, to which book it is probable the prophet here alludes.] u My Well-beloved hath a vineyard.] The church is often represented under this figure, as appears by the texts quoted here in the margin of onr Bibles. In a very fruitful hill.] See note on vii. 25.

Isaiah 5:3

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray ye, between me and my vinexjard. The case is so plain, that God might venture to refer it to themselves, although they were parties concerned. Here the style of the parable is altered from the third person (see ver. 2.) to the first; a variation very common in Scripture; and the sense is the same, whether the words be spoken by God, or by Christ, who is one with the Father.

Isaiah 5:4

IVlien the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion. Whose sins arc mentioned, iii. 1G, &c. The Scptuagint express the sense more fully, and read by way of supplement, The sons and the daughters of Zion. And shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof] The sins of cruelty and oppression, (see v. 7.) or of murder and bloodshed, (i. 15.) particularly in killing the prophets, and persecuting God’s servants. (See Matt, xxiii.37. Acts vii. 52.) Or it may signify pollution in general, as the word sometimes is taken. (See Ezek. xvi. G. Joel iii. 21.) By the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.] By makingthem pass through the furnace of affliction, as it is expressed xlviii. 10. The phrase denotes that severe discrimination which God shall make between the good and the bad, the pure silver and the dross; the better being purified, the worse being consumed in the fire. (Compare Ezek. xxii. 21. Mai. iii. 2, 3.) These expressions may probably allude to that severe trial which all shall undergo at the general conflagration, which is designed for the per-, dilion of ungodly men; (2 Pet. iii. 7.) when many of the righteous shall escape with great difficulty, and be saved as through fire, 1 Cor. iii. 15. that place being understood of the general judgment by many interpreters, both ancient and modern…; What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?] From this, among many other texts of Scripture, we may conclude, that those may have sufficient means of grace afforded them, who nevertheless are not actually or effectually converted.

Isaiah 5:5

And the Lord will create upon every dwellingplace upon Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud, and smoke by day; and the shining of a flaming fire by. night.) A plain allusion to the cloud by day, and pillar of fire by night, that conducted and protected the Israelites in the wilderness^ (Exod. xiii. 21.) and afterward rested upon the tabernacle, (xl. 38.) In like manner, God promises here to give visible tokens of his presence in, and protection. over, the church, and each particular member thereof. Smoke and thick darkness was an emblem of God’s pre-. sence, as well as a cloud. (See vi. 4. Psal. xviii. 8.). For upon all the glory shall be a defence’] The saints or living members of the church are called God’s glory, because God is glorified in them; (see xlvi. 13. xlix. 3. lxi. 3.) and because the grace and glory of God is in some measure communicated to them: (see John xvii. 22. 2 Cor. viii. 23.) and they are designed to be made partakers of farther degrees of it in the world to come: (see 2 Cor. iii. 18. 2 Thcss. ii. 14.) and here God promises, in an cspe-, cial manner, to protect and defend them. The Septuagint render the words to a plainer sense, and such as the Hebrew will bear, Ila’try ry SJ?y GKiiracrZyazTat, It (i. e. Zion)* shall be defended with all the glory (of God): i. e. God’s glory, or thoJDivine Schechinah, shall be both a light and a defence to his people. (Compare Zech. ii. 5.) Ver. G. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat, and for a pfoce of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.] God’s placing his tabernacle among the Jews, was a token of his dwelling among them, and admitting them under his immediate protection: (see Lev. xxvi. 11, 12.) accordingly, dwelling in God’s tabernacle is, in Scripture phrase, equivalent to abiding under his shadow or protection. (Compare Psal. xci. 1„ with xxvii. 5. xxxi. 20.) So here it is said, that God’s visible presence in his church will be its defence and security from all sorts of calamities and persecutions. The expressions in the latter part of the verse, allude to the moveable tents which travellers carry along with them in hot countries, for a defence against the scorching heat of the sun, and the fierceness of storms and rain. (Compare xxv. 4. xxxii. 2. Rev. vii. 15.) I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall. be eaten up, &c] I will take no farther care of it, but leave

Isaiah 5:7

And the men of Jtidah his pleasant plant. The living members of the church are calledthe branch of God’s planting, Ixi. 3. (See likewise Matt. xv. 13. John xv. 2.) The Jews should have been such, and had sufficient means of grace to make them so. He looked for righteousness, and behold a en/.] Of those that are oppressed.

Isaiah 5:8

Woe to them that join house to house, that lay field to field, Mil there be no place, &c.J Woe to them that have such an insatiable desire after increasing their possessions, that they stick at no injustice whereby they may defraud others of their right, (see Micah ii. 2.) So they join one to purchase another, until there is no place left for any neighbours to dwell near them.

Isaiah 5:10

Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah. A bath and an ephah are the same measure, and they. contain but the tenth part of a homer; (see Ezek. xlv. 11.) By this com-, putation, the harvest should produce but the tenth part of the seed: we are to distinguish between an omer and a homer; the first letter of the former word in the Hebrew is aijn, the first letter of the latter is cheth: an omer is the tenth part of an ephah, (Exod. xvi. 30.) whereas an ephah is but the tenth part of a homer.

Isaiah 5:12

They regard not the ivories pf the Lord, neither consider the operations of his hands. They consider not the works of his providence, nor lay to heart either his mercies or his judgments,,,

Isaiah 5:13

Therefore my people is gone into captivity because they have no knowledge.* This may probably relate to the captivity threatened more expressly ver. 2G, &c. and’ spoken of here as if it were already come to pass; a figure frequent in the prophetical writings: (see note on i. 7.) which judgment, the prophet says was a punishment pf their stupidity and insensiblencss of their duty. (Compare i.3.) And their Iwnonrable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.] Famine and drought are threatened as punishments of idolatry, Deut. xi. 17. (Compare ver. G. 10. of this chapter.)

Isaiah 5:14

Hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure. Tne word scheol signifies the grave or state of the dead; (sec note on xiv. 9.) In this sense it is elsewhere joined with destruction. (Sec Job xxvi. G. Prov. xv. 11.) And their glory and their multitude, &c.) These two words are joined together, xvi. 14. in speaking of the destruction of Moab; for the multitude of people is the glory and strength of any state.

Isaiah 5:15

And the mean man shall’be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled. As men of both ranks joined in the same sin; (see ii. 9.) so they shall share alike in the punishment.,

Isaiah 5:16

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God, that is holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness. Judgment and righteousness arc often’ equivalent terms; (see Ecclcs. iii. 1G.) and then righteousness signifies strict justice, and so the word is used,*Isa. x. 22. lix. 17. If we understand the words so here, the sense will be, that God’s power and holiness shall be magnified in the judgments he executeth upon the wicked. But we may understand righteousness here as opposed to judgment, and signifying the same with mercy; (see i. 27. and note on xxxii. 1G.) and then the meaning of the latter part of the verse will be, that God’s holine’ss shall be rendered illustrious in his shewing mercy to the righteous (see the following verse); God is said to be sanctified in those, in whose preservation or destruction he exerts his power after a remarkable manner. (See Numb. xx. 13. Ezek. xx. 41. xxviii. 22. 25. xxxvi. 23. xxxviii. 16. 23. xxxix. 27.)

Isaiah 5:17

Tlien shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. While strangers devour the possessions of those who have grown rich by oppression; (compare i. 7.) the lambs, i. e. good men shall be under the peculiar care of Providence, and shall want nothing that is necessary for their support God is often represented as a shepherd, and his care of the righteous described by their feeding securely in rich pastures. (See Psal. xxiii. 1. Isa. lxv. 10.)

Isaiah 5:18

TFoc to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were’ with a cart-rope. AVho are industrious in finding out pretences to confirm themselves and others in their evil practices, and still add one sin to another.- Ver.. 19. Wlio say, Let him make speed, and hasten his tvork,Jhat we may see it, &c] This is an objection often in the mouths of libertines, that God doth not hasten the fulfilling of his promises or threatenings, so as to give them ocular demonstration of their certainty. (See Amos v. 18. 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4.), < Ver. 20: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.] That endeavour to confound both the names and the natures of virtue and vice, commend and applaud what is evil, and disparage and discountenance what is good. <* lliatpnt darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.] This reproof of the prophet supposes, that the difference between good and evil, is as self-evident as the most contrary qualities which we arc informed of by the report of our senses: and that the advantage which light hath above darkness doth not shine out with a brighter evidence, than the pre-eminence which virtue hath above vice.

Isaiah 5:21

Woe unto them that are wise in their own.eyes. Who think themselves too wise to need any instruction, and therefore despise. the admonitions of God’s prophets.

Isaiah 5:23

And take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. By condemning and punishing him, make him look as if he were guilty.

Isaiah 5:24

Their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go upas dust. They shall be consumed both root. and branch. The prophet alludes to the metaphor insisted on at the beginning of the chapter, where he calls the Jews God’s vineyard, and his pleasant plant.

Isaiah 5:25

And the hills did tremble. The mountains and the earth itself arc often said to tremble at God’s judgments: (sec Psal. Ixxvii. 18. cxav. 7. Jer. iv. 24. Micah i. 4. Nahum i. 5. Habak. iii. 10.) which expressions allude to the trembling of Mount Sinai, when God came down upon it, (Exod. xix. 18.) as also to the thunder which accompanies God’s extraordinary judgments, and niakes tho earth tremble. (Sec Psal. xviii. 7. 13.) And because

Isaiah 5:27

29. None shall be weary, or stumble amongst them, &c. See a parallel description of a hostile army, Joel ii. 2. 7—10. Where God girds men with strength, their courage and success is irresistible. (See xlv. 1 — 3.) Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed.’] A girdle was a necessary part of a soldier’shabit: (see 1 Kings ii. 5. xx. 11. 2 Kings iii. 21.) for it fastened his armour upon him, and made him more nimble and fit for action. From thence it is taken to signify strength and courage; (Job xxxviii. 3. Isa. xlv; 5.) and to unloose the loins, is to enfeeble and dispirit, (Dan. v. 6. Isa. xlv. 1.) Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken.] They shall be all well-appointed; and as their courage shall not fail them, so neither shall any defect in their habit or armour retard them, or render them unfit for action.

Isaiah 5:28

And their wheels like a whirlwind. That nothing can stop nor resist. Chariots were a principal instrument of war, and are always mentioned in the ancient accounts of battles, as well in Scripture as in profane authors.

Isaiah 5:30

" An d if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkenedin the heavens thereof. Every thing looks black and -diurnal. The Scripture expresses great calamities by the heavens being darkened, and tho sun, moon, and stars,, withdrawing their light. (Compare viii. 22. xiii. 10. Jer. iv. 23. Ezek. xxxii. 7,8. Joel ii. 10. Amos viii. 9.)