5:1–2 The warmth and devotion with which the chapter begins is a testimony to Isaiah’s personal devotion to Yahweh, whom he calls “my beloved”—the fact that this is a song only increases the powerful emotion. At the outset all is positive, as Yahweh outlines the care lavished on the vineyard. Even before it was planted, the ground was chosen for its fertility, and hindrances to growth were removed; a watchtower was made for its security, as well as a wine vat to store the expected crop. But these joyful expectations were quickly dashed: “It yielded wild grapes.”15

5:3–4 The point is now driven home, and the hearers asked to be judge and jury. The fault lies entirely with the vine, as the vineyard owner has taken every possible action to secure a good harvest. Could anything more have been done?

5:5–6 Now comes the inevitable consequence: Yahweh will not simply abandon his vineyard but will destroy it. All these actions, such as “devouring,” “breaking,” and “trampling,” will be done by external enemies, notably the Assyrians, but these foreign invaders are merely instruments (cf. 10:5). The land will be cursed and its fertility removed as God withholds the rain.

5:7 Next is the direct application of the message to the whole nation, Israel and Judah, in whom Yahweh has taken intense pleasure—yet they have broken his heart. The wordplay here hammers home the message: he looked for mishpat but found mispakh (“justice” and “bloodshed,” respectively) and for tsedaqah but found tsaʿaqah (“righteousness” and “outcry,” respectively). How alike the words sound, but how differently they play out!

5:8 The exploitation of the land is condemned, as the wealthy gobble up more and more of it. The emerging ruling class builds ever larger and more elaborate houses surrounded by huge estates that drive out those who cannot afford such luxuries. This breaks the basic principle on which the land was originally given to Israel: Yahweh was the landowner, and the people his tenants (cf. Leviticus 25; Num. 27:1–11; 36:1–12).

5:9–10 This ostentation is nearing its end as Yahweh pronounces judgment on it. Worldly security will disappear as the houses become empty and desolate and the fruits of vine and field dwindle. A “bath” is about six gallons, scarcely anything for ten acres of vineyards, while a “homer” of seed is about sixty gallons, which will yield an “ephah,” also six gallons. Instead of the abundant fruit of the land of the restored Zion (Isa. 4:2), hunger and poverty will stalk the countryside.

5:11–12 The second woe is self-indulgence marked by an inordinate appetite for wine. Wine itself is a gift of God, but its excessive use is condemned here. Partying and hedonism is at the heart of the people’s lifestyle, blinding them to the “deeds of the Lord,” which refers presumably to the divine government of the world and especially his care for the nation. “Work of his hands” probably refers to Yahweh as Creator. The two great twin truths undergirding Israel’s understanding of God—that he made heaven and earth and is Lord of history—are matters of total indifference to the people. They are living in an unreal world.

5:13–15 “Therefore” introduces the consequences of the behavior condemned in the first two woes. Exile will replace luxurious living; hunger and thirst will replace indulgence. The root cause is “lack of knowledge,” especially lack of the fear of Yahweh, which is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7). Lack of true leadership is condemned, as the “honored men” are those whose position and wealth will not save them when judgment comes. Their punishment fits the crime.

These men will die with their appetites unfulfilled, but Sheol’s appetite will be satisfied. “Sheol” is the abode of the unrighteous dead and the end of all earthly life. The unrighteous go there unchanged and unrepentant, with no understanding of what awaits them. Just as the sin involved leaders (“nobility of Jerusalem”) and the whole people (“her multitude”), so the judgment will be similarly comprehensive. The sin of pride will be visited with humiliation and with the contempt that the proud showed toward others.

5:16 By contrast Yahweh’s holiness and justice will shine brightly. In chapter 6, the whole earth will see his glory. The display of God’s holiness will expose how far the people have dishonored and disobeyed their God.

5:17 The end result of the building of lavish houses (v. 8) will be a desolate ruin in which lambs will graze and nomadic people camp. Such is the vanity of human greatness, a theme that will be developed in the ruins at the hands of Babylon (13:19–22).

5:18–19 The next woe turns to the moral and spiritual decline underlying the decay of the glittering outward society. The people, for all their conceit in their own achievements, are like beasts harnessed to sinful attitudes and actions. They think they are in charge of their sinful appetites but are in fact enslaved by them. “Cords” and “ropes” suggest an increasingly strong slavery. God is too slow for them; they will believe only if he hurries and shows them some evidence of his presence. Like Herod (Luke 23:8), they want to see a miracle to satisfy their curiosity.

5:20 The next woe is a stage further—these people not only are no longer ashamed of doing wrong but turn the terms “good” and “evil” on their head.16 This shows the intimate relation of worldview to personal behavior. “Light” and “darkness” are the great realities of time and space. “Bitter” and “sweet” are matters of personal taste that replace the eternal and unnegotiable truth of God. This is the ultimate “mix and match” view of life.

5:21 The inevitable result of this is the subject of the next woe. Humans make themselves like God as the arbiter of truth and righteousness, and declare themselves the judge and jury of behavior.

5:22–23 What does such a view of humanity achieve? Does it lead to progress and a fairer and more just society? Far from it, says the final woe. Rather, it leads to a pathetic community in which people’s prowess is judged by how skilled they are at holding their drink. But it is sinister as well as pathetic, for the normal safeguards of the justice system are overturned in order to free the guilty and condemn the innocent.

5:24 Once again “therefore” introduces the consequences of this behavior. The people had criticized the Lord for being slow (Isa. 5:19), but now his judgment will be like fire that devours stubble. They are wholly rotten, from diseased root to withered blossom. Their sin has been to reject Yahweh’s gracious revelation and holy word, a course of action that has inevitably led to their disappearance like chaff (cf. Ps. 1:4).

5:25 Another and longer “therefore” section follows, linking the coming judgment with the power of Yahweh in creation and history. The created order is an instrument in the Creator’s hand. Earthquakes were often a sign of judgment, and this may refer to an actual earthquake in the days of Uzziah (Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5). In any case this is a stark reminder of human helplessness in the face of natural phenomena. Bodies as “refuse in the . . . streets” is a grim token of the vanity of imagining that we are masters of our fate. Yet this is only part of God’s anger—and there is more to come.

5:26–28 Yahweh controls history as well as creation, and the nations are his to command. This is not limited to Judah but extends to the “ends of the earth.” This requires no effort on his part, merely a gesture and a whistle. With clever irony, the idea that Yahweh needs to “speed his work” (v. 19) is shown to be absurd as the nations hasten to obey him. Their physical power and military hardware is impressive as they rush to invade the doomed land.

5:29–30 Two further images, prey cowering before a lion and a storm-tossed sailor hoping that land will be a haven but finding only “darkness and distress,” complete the grim picture of total devastation. Is darkness to have the last word?