2 In that day [there shall be] a vineyard of pure wine; sing concerning it:
And I, -- I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate shoots of a strange vine unto me?
Then Israel sang this song, Rise up, well! sing unto it:
Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt; thou didst cast out the nations, and plant it: Thou preparedst space before it, and it took deep root, and filled the land; The mountains were covered with its shadow, and the branches thereof were [like] cedars of ùGod; It sent out its boughs unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river. Why hast thou broken down its fences, so that all who pass by the way do pluck it? The boar out of the forest doth waste it, and the beast of the field doth feed off it. O God of hosts, return, we beseech thee; look down from the heavens, and behold, and visit this vine; Even the stock which thy right hand hath planted, and the young plant thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself. So will we not go back from thee. Revive us, and we will call upon thy name. Restore us, O Jehovah, God of hosts; cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard: My well-beloved had a vineyard upon a fruitful hill. And he dug it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and he built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What was there yet to do 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, let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden under foot; and I will make it a waste -- it shall not be pruned nor cultivated, but there shall come up briars and thorns; and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight: and he looked for justice, and behold, blood-shedding; for righteousness, and behold, a cry.
Hear another parable: There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and made a fence round it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and left the country. But when the time of fruit drew near, he sent his bondmen to the husbandmen to receive his fruits. And the husbandmen took his bondmen, and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other bondmen more than the first, and they did to them in like manner. And at last he sent to them his son, saying, They will have respect for my son. But the husbandmen, seeing the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him and possess his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what shall he do to those husbandmen? They say to him, He will miserably destroy those evil [men], and let out the vineyard to other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus says to them, Have ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which they that builded rejected, this has become the corner-stone: this is of [the] Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation producing the fruits of it. And he that falls on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. And the chief priests and the Pharisees, having heard his parables, knew that he spoke about them. And seeking to lay hold of him, they were afraid of the crowds, because they held him for a prophet.
And he began to speak to the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen, and left the country for a long time. And in the season he sent to the husbandmen a bondman, that they might give to him of the fruit of the vineyard; but the husbandmen, having beaten him, sent [him] away empty. And again he sent another bondman; but they, having beaten him also, and cast insult upon him, sent [him] away empty. And again he sent a third; and they, having wounded him also, cast [him] out. And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: perhaps when they see him they will respect [him]. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir; [come,] let us kill him, that the inheritance may become ours. And having cast him forth out of the vineyard, they killed [him]. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it they said, May it never be! But he looking at them said, What then is this that is written, The stone which they that builded rejected, this has become the corner-stone? Every one falling on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 27
Commentary on Isaiah 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Isa 27:1-13. Continuation of the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Chapters.
At the time when Israel shall be delivered, and the ungodly nations punished, God shall punish also the great enemy of the Church.
1. sore—rather, "hard," "well-tempered."
leviathan—literally, in Arabic, "the twisted animal," applicable to every great tenant of the waters, sea-serpents, crocodiles, &c. In Eze 29:3; 32:2; Da 7:1, &c. Re 12:3, &c., potentates hostile to Israel are similarly described; antitypically and ultimately Satan is intended (Re 20:10).
piercing—rigid [Lowth]. Flying [Maurer and Septuagint]. Long, extended, namely, as the crocodile which cannot readily bend back its body [Houbigant].
crooked—winding.
dragon—Hebrew, tenin; the crocodile.
sea—the Euphrates, or the expansion of it near Babylon.
2. In that day when leviathan shall be destroyed, the vineyard (Ps 80:8), the Church of God, purged of its blemishes, shall be lovely in God's eyes; to bring out this sense the better, Lowth, by changing a Hebrew letter, reads "pleasant," "lovely," for "red wine."
sing—a responsive song [Lowth].
unto her—rather, "concerning her" (see on Isa 5:1); namely, the Jewish state [Maurer].
3. lest any hurt it—attack it [Maurer]. "Lest aught be wanting in her" [Horsley].
4. Fury is not in me—that is, I entertain no longer anger towards my vine.
who would set … in battle—that is, would that I had the briers, &c. (the wicked foe; Isa 9:18; 10:17; 2Sa 23:6), before me! "I would go through," or rather, "against them."
5. Or—Else; the only alternative, if Israel's enemies wish to escape being "burnt together."
strength—rather, "the refuge which I afford" [Maurer]. "Take hold," refers to the horns of the altar which fugitives often laid hold of as an asylum (1Ki 1:50; 2:28). Jesus is God's "strength," or "refuge" which sinners must repair to and take hold of, if they are to have "peace" with God (Isa 45:24; Ro 5:1; Eph 2:14; compare Job 22:21).
6. He—Jehovah. Here the song of the Lord as to His vineyard (Isa 27:2-5) ends; and the prophet confirms the sentiment in the song, under the same image of a vine (compare Ps 92:13-15; Ho 14:5, 6).
Israel … fill … world—(Ro 11:12).
7. him … those—Israel—Israel's enemies. Has God punished His people as severely as He has those enemies whom He employed to chastise Israel? No! Far from it. Israel, after trials, He will restore; Israel's enemies He will utterly destroy at last.
the slaughter of them that are slain by him—rather, "Is Israel slain according to the slaughter of the enemy slain?" the slaughter wherewith the enemy is slain [Maurer].
8. In measure—not beyond measure; in moderation (Job 23:6; Ps 6:1; Jer 10:24; 30:11; 46:28).
when it shooteth—image from the vine; rather, passing from the image to the thing itself, "when sending her away (namely, Israel to exile; Isa 50:1, God only putting the adulteress away when He might justly have put her to death), Thou didst punish her" [Gesenius].
stayeth—rather, as Margin, "when He removeth it by His rough wind in the day," &c.
east wind—especially violent in the East (Job 27:21; Jer 18:17).
9. By this—exile of Israel (the "sending away," Isa 27:8).
purged—expiated [Horsley].
all the fruit—This is the whole benefit designed to be brought about by the chastisement; namely, the removal of his (Israel's) sin (namely, object of idolatry; De 9:21; Ho 10:8).
when he—Jehovah; at the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, His instrument. The Jews ever since have abhorred idolatry (compare Isa 17:8).
not stand up—shall rise no more [Horsley].
10. city—Jerusalem; the beating asunder of whose altars and images was mentioned in Isa 27:9 (compare Isa 24:10-12).
calf feed—(Isa 17:2); it shall be a vast wild pasture.
branches—resuming the image of the vine (Isa 27:2,6).
11. boughs … broken off—so the Jews are called (Ro 11:17, 19, 20).
set … on fire—burn them as fuel; "women" are specified, as probably it was their office to collect fuel and kindle the fire for cooking.
no understanding—as to the ways of God (De 32:28, 29; Jer 5:21; Ho 4:6).
12. Restoration of the Jews from their dispersion, described under the image of fruits shaken from trees and collected.
beat off—as fruit beaten off a tree with a stick (De 24:20), and then gathered.
river—Euphrates.
stream of Egypt—on the confines of Palestine and Egypt (Nu 34:5; Jos 15:4, 47), now Wady-el-Arish, Jehovah's vineyard, Israel, extended according to His purpose from the Nile to the Euphrates (1Ki 4:21, 24; Ps 72:8).
one by one—gathered most carefully, not merely as a nation, but as individuals.
13. great trumpet—image from the trumpets blown on the first day of the seventh month to summon the people to a holy convocation (Le 23:24). Antitypically, the gospel trumpet (Re 11:15; 14:6) which the Jews shall hearken to in the last days (Zec 12:10; 13:1). As the passover in the first month answers to Christ's crucifixion, so the day of atonement and the idea of "salvation" connected with the feast of tabernacles in the same seventh month, answer to the crowning of "redemption" at His second coming; therefore redemption is put last in 1Co 1:30.
Assyria—whither the ten tribes had been carried; Babylonia is mainly meant, to which Assyria at that time belonged; the two tribes were restored, and some of the ten accompanied them. However, "Assyria" is designedly used to point ultimately to the future restoration of the ten fully, never yet accomplished (Jer 3:18).
Egypt—whither many had fled at the Babylonish captivity (Jer 41:17, 18). Compare as to the future restoration, Isa 11:11, 12, 16; 51:9-16 ("Rahab" being Egypt).