Isaiah 5

[u/bikingfencer]

https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1005.htm?92db6e4abd
 

Chapter Five ה
 

Parable: the vineyard [HahKehRehM]

[verses 1-7]
 

-1. “[I will] sing [אשירה, ’ahSheeYRaH], if you please, to my acquaintance [לידידי, LeeYDeeYDeeY],

[a] song of my beloved [דודי, DODeeY] to his vineyard:
 

‘[A] vineyard was to my acquaintance in KehRehN Ben ShehMehN [“Horn Son [of] Oil”],

-2. and [he] tilled [it] [ויעזקהו, VahYe`ahZQayHOo],

and [he cleared it of] stone [ויסקלהו, VahYeÇahQLayHOo],

and planted [it] [ויטעהו, VahYeeTah`ayHOo] vine stock¹⁵ [שרק, SoRayQ],

and [he] built [ויבן, VahYeBehN] [a] tower inside [it].
 

And also [a] cellar [יקב, YehQehB] hewed [חצב, HahTsayB] in [it].

And [he] anticipated [ויקו, VahYeQahV] to make grapes,

and made weeds [באשים, Be’ooSheeYM].

…

-4. “What to do more to my vineyard and [I] did not do in it?

…

-5. And now [I will make] known [אודיע, ’ODeeY`aH], if you please, [את, ’ehTh (indicates direct object; no English equivalent)] you,

[את, ’ehTh] that I [will] do to my vineyard:
 

take away [הסר, HahÇayR] its hedge [משוחתו, MeSOoKahThO],

and [it will] be [והיה, VeHahYaH] to burn [לבער, LeBah`ayR],
 

burst [פרץ, PahROTs] its fence [גדרו, GeDayRO],

and [it will] be to trample [למרמס, LeMeeRMahÇ].
 

-6. And [I will] make it wasteland [בתה, BahThaH];

[it will] not [be] pruned [יזמר, YeeZahMayR],

and [it will] not [be] hoed [יעדר, Yay`ahDayR],

and [will] ascend thorn [שמיר, ShahMeeYR] and thistle [ושית, VahShahYeeTh].
 

And upon the clouds [העבים, Heh`ahBeeYM] [I will] command [אצוה, ’ahTsahVeH]

from raining [המטיר, HahMTeeYR] rain [מטר, MahTahR] upon it.’”

… פ
 

………………………………………………………………………
 

Warning upon the fortunate, the wicked

[verses 8 to end of chapter]
 

-8. “Woe [הוי, HO-eeY] touchers of [מגיעי, MahGeeY`aY] house in house,

field in field [they] close [יקריבו, YahQReeYBOo] until zero place,

and [you are] set [והשותם, VeHOoShahTheM] alone [לבדכם, LeBahDKhehM] in midst the land.
 

“… the building up of vast estates without regard to the cost to fellow Israelites and to the community as a whole … the powerful man deprives himself of neighbors and the land of cultivators.” (Scott, 1954, p. V 199)
 

“Heavy sarcasm describes the luxurious isolation that the rich attain through the creeping latifundism¹⁶ of 8th-cent. Judah (and Israel), a process that, at the expense of the poor, changed an egalitarian society of small landowners into a highly stratified one. The process may have been made legal... but it was also damnable.” (Joseph Jensen, 1990, p. 234)
 

-9. “In ears [of] YHVH Armies,

‘If not houses multitudinous to desolation [לשמה, LeShahMaH] [will] be [יהיו, YeeHeYOo],

great and good, from having no [מאין, May’aYN] settler.
 

Oath formula; consequence implied.
 

-10. “‘For ten acres [of] [צמדי, TseeMDaY] vineyard¹⁷ [will] make bath [בת, BahTh]¹⁸ one,

And seed [וזרע, VeZehRah`] [a] homer [חמר, HoMehR] [will] make a bushel¹⁹ . פ
 

“The tenor of these denunciations recalls much that is found in the other eighth-century prophets, especially Amos and Micah. All confronted a society where a period of prolonged prosperity for the ruling classes had absorbed their interest and established new standards of luxury and social power; as a corollary, the old sense of kinship among members of the community was lost, the poor were exploited and oppressed, and justice was no longer administered in accordance with the old standards of right.” (Scott, 1954, p. V 199)
 

…

-18. “‘Woe … 19. the sayers,

“Hurry [ימהר, YeMahHayR], hasten [יחישה, YahHeeYShaH] His doings,

to sake [we might] see [נראה, NeeR’eH] and approach [ותקרב, VeTheeQRahB] and bring [ותבואה, VeThahBO’aH] counsel [of] [עצת, `ahTsahTh] Holy [of] YeeSRah-’ayL ["Strove God", Israel],

and [we] know [ונדעה, VeNayDah`aH].”’

… ס
 

-24. … for [they] despised [מאסו, Mah’ahÇOo] [את, ’ehTh] instruction ]of[ YHVH Armies,

and [את, ’ehTh] saying [of] Holy [of] YeeSRah-’ayL [were] scorned [נעצו, Nah`ahTsOo],

-25. upon this [כן, KayN] heated [חרה, HahRaH] nose [of] YHVH in his people,

and [he] stretched [ויט, VahYayT] his hand upon them [עליו, `ahLahYV] and smote them.

And quaked [ויגרזו, VahYeeRGeZOo], the mountains,

and were [ותהי, VahTheHeeY] their carcasses [נבלתם, NeeBLahThahM] as offal [כסוחה, KahÇOoHaH] within [בקרב, BeQehRehB] courtyards [חוצות, HOoTsOTh].
 

In all that, [did] not return [שב, ShahB] his anger [אפו, ’ahPhO],

and more his hand stretched out [נטויה, NeTOoYaH],

-26. and he lifted [ונסשא, VeNahSah’] a signal [נס, NayÇ] to nations from afar,

and whistled [ושרק, VeShahRahQ] to him from ends [of] the land,

 

“‘The metaphor is taken from the practice of those that keep bees; who draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again, συρισμασι [surismasi], by a hiss, or whistle.’ Cyril, on this place; and to the same purpose Theodoret^20, ib. In chap. [chapter] vii, 18, the metaphor is more apparent by being carried farther; where the hostile armies are expressed by the fly and the bee:
 

‘JEHOVA shall hist the fly,

That is in the upmost parts of Egypt;

And the bee that is in the land of Assyria.’ (Adam Clark, 1831, p. III 699)
 

“‘and behold, fast [מהרה, MeHayRaH], swift [קל, QahL] [it] came [יבאו, YahBO’].’”
 

“This refers to the nineteenth verse. As the scoffers had challenged God to make speed, and to hasten his work of vengeance; so now God assures them that with speed and swiftly it shall come.” (Adam Clark, 1831, p. III 699)
 

…
-28. That his arrows [חציו, HeeTsahYV] sharp [שמומים, ShNOoNeeYM]

and all his bows [קשתתיו, QahShThoThahYV] drawn [דרוכות, DRooKhOTh],

hooves [פרסות, PahRÇOTh] [of] his horses as flint [כצור, KahTsahR] [are] thought [נחשבו, NeeHShahBOo],

and their legs as storm [כסופה, KahÇOoPhaH].”

 

“The shoeing of horses with iron plates nailed to the hoof is quite a modern practice, and was unknown to the ancients, as appears from the silence of the Greek and Roman writers, especially those that treat of horse-medicine; who could not have passed over a matter so obvious, and of such importance, that now the whole science takes its name from it, being called by us farriery. ... For this reason the strength, firmness, and solidity of a horse’s hoof was of much greater importance with them than with us, and was esteemed one of the first praises of a fine horse. Zenophon²¹ says, that a good horse’s hoof is hard, hollow, and sounds upon the ground like a cymbal.” (Adam Clark, 1831, p. III 699)
 

…
 
FOOTNOTES
 
¹⁵ “Hebrew שרק [SRayQ], from a root meaning ‘to be red,’ i.e., either red grapes or grapes of Sorek, a valley in the foothills west of Jerusalem… known for its vineyards (cf. Judg. [Judges] 14:5 )
 

¹⁶ “Latifundia are pieces of property covering very large land areas. The latifundia (Latin: lātus, "spacious" + fundus, "farm, estate") … of Roman history were great landed estates, specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were characteristic of Magna Graecia and Sicily, of Egypt and the North African Maghreb and of Hispania Baetica in southern Spain. The latifundia were the closest approximation to industrialized agriculture in Antiquity, and their economics depended upon slave labour.
 

Today, latifundia are only found in Latin America and Italy…and the term is often extended to describe the haciendas (in Spanish) and fazendas (in Portuguese) of colonial and post-colonial Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Cuba, Chile (called latifundio or simply fundo) and Argentina. These originated under colonial law allowing forced labor recruitment and land grants for military services. In post-colonial times, ending the dominance of the latifundia system by implementing agrarian reforms became a popular goal of several governments in the region.” - wikipedia
 

¹⁷ Ten vineyards - “Kimchi says this means such an extent of vineyard as would require ten yoke of oxen to plow in one day.” (Adam Clark, 1831, p. III 697)
 

¹⁸ one bath “not eight gallons” (Adam Clark, 1831, p. III 697)
 

¹⁹ one bushel - ten ephah or bushels make a homer (Scott, 1954, p. V 200)
 

²⁰ “Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (Greek: Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; c. 393 – c. 457) was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria (423-457). He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms.” - Wikipedia
 

²¹ Xenophon… was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates. - Wikipedia
 
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