Isaiah 5:3

Verse

Berean Standard Bible

“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.

American Standard Version (1901)

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

Bible in Basic English

And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden.

Free Bible Version

“Now, you people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

Geneva Bible 1599

Now therefore, O inhabitants of Ierusalem and men of Iudah, iudge, I pray you, betweene me, and my vineyarde.

King James (Authorized) Version

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

One Unity Resource Bible

“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem [City of peace] and men of Judah [Praised], please judge between me and my vineyard.

Translation for Translators

Now this is what Yahweh says: “You people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah, I am like the friend, and you are like my vineyard; so you judge which of us has done what is right.

Unlocked Literal Bible

So now, inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

Noah Webster Bible

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

World English Bible

“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

Young's Literal Translation

And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.

Context

The Song of the Vineyard

²He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour! ³“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard. ⁴What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?

Summary

In this verse, Isaiah uses a parable to convey God's disappointment with the people of Israel. The imagery of a vineyard that produces wild grapes despite being carefully tended symbolizes the unfaithfulness and disobedience of Israel towards God. The prophet highlights how God had done everything to nurture and protect His people, yet they yielded bitter fruit of sin and rebellion. This passage serves as a warning to Israel about the consequences of their actions and the need for repentance and returning to God.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Inhabitants - ישבי yoshebey, in the plural number; three MSS., (two ancient), and so likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

The song of the beloved who was so sorely deceived terminates here. The prophet recited it, not his beloved himself; but as they were both of one heart and one soul, the prophet proceeds thus in Isa 5:3 and Isa 5:4 : "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard! What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore did I hope that it would bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes?" The fact that the prophet speaks as if he were the beloved himself, shows at once who the beloved must be. The beloved of the prophet and the lover of the prophet (yâdid and dōd) were Jehovah, with whom he was so united by a union mystica exalted above all earthly love, that, like the angel of Jehovah in the early histories, he could speak as if he were Jehovah Himself (see especially Zac 2:12-13). To any one with spiritual intuition, therefore, the parabolical meaning and object of the song would be at once apparent; and even the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah (yoosheeb and iish are used collectively, as in Isa 8:14; Isa 9:8; Isa 22:21, cf., Isa 20:6) were not so stupefied by sin, that they could not perceive to what the prophet was leading. It was for them to decide where the guilt of this unnatural issue lay - that is to say, of this thorough contradiction between the "doing" of the vineyard and the "doing" of the Lord; that instead of the grapes he hoped for, it brought forth wild grapes. (On the expression "what could have been done," quid faciendum est, mah-la'asoth, see at Hab 1:17, Ges. 132, Anm. 1.) Instead of למה (למּה) we have the more suitable term מדּוּע, the latter being used in relation to the actual cause (Causa efficiens), the former in relation to the object (Causa finalis). The parallel to the second part, viz., Isa 50:2, resembles the passage before us, not only in the use of this particular word, but also in the fact that there, as well as here, it relates to both clauses, and more especially to the latter of the two. We find the same paratactic construction in connection with other conjunctions (cf., Isa 12:1; Isa 65:12). They were called upon to decide and answer as to this what and wherefore; but they were silent, just because they could clearly see that they would have to condemn themselves (as David condemned himself in connection with Nathan's parable, Sa2 12:5). The Lord of the vineyard, therefore, begins to speak. He, its accuser, will now also be its judge.

Isaiah 5:3

The Song of the Vineyard

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.

American Standard Version (1901)

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

Bible in Basic English

And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden.

Free Bible Version

“Now, you people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

Geneva Bible 1599

Now therefore, O inhabitants of Ierusalem and men of Iudah, iudge, I pray you, betweene me, and my vineyarde.

King James (Authorized) Version

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

One Unity Resource Bible

“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem [City of peace] and men of Judah [Praised], please judge between me and my vineyard.

Translation for Translators

Now this is what Yahweh says: “You people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah, I am like the friend, and you are like my vineyard; so you judge which of us has done what is right.

Unlocked Literal Bible

So now, inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

Noah Webster Bible

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

World English Bible

“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.

Young's Literal Translation

And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.

Adam Clarke
Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Inhabitants - ישבי yoshebey, in the plural number; three MSS., (two ancient), and so likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Isaiah 5:3

Verse

Context

The Song of the Vineyard

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Isaiah 5:3

The Song of the Vineyard

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes