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The vineyard]

CHAP. V.

CHAP. V

NOW will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choisest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

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

4 What could have been done more 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?

5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there briers and thorns: I will

shall

come up

[of the house of Israel.

also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

9 In mine ears, said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, with.. out inhabitant.

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men

EXPOSITION.

ing) represents the havock occasioned by war, and other calamities which the Prophet had been describing, so great, that seven Women should be left to one man ; in consequence of which, they, instead of being courted, shall be compelled to become suitors, and that, upon any terms, to take away their reproach. The following verses promise to the remnaut that should escape those severe trials, a restoration to the divine favour, and a share in the blessings of the man whose name is The Branch, one of the appropriated names of the Messiah.

(See Zech. iii. 8-vi. 12.)

The great blessings of the gospel are frequently set forth (as in ver. 5.) by allusions to the glory and pomp of the Mosaic dispensation; so the protection and glory afforded by Messiah shall be equal to that of the divine Shechinah, under the Mosaic dispensation: nay more, for it shall not only be a pillar of fire and of cloud, but also the new tabernacle, or Christian Church, shall be a place of refuge from every danger, and a covert from every

storm.

NOTES.

CHAP. V. Ver. 1. A song of my beloved-Lowth, "A Song of loves."In a very fruitful hill-Heb. “On a born, the son of oil," which Lowth renders," On a bigh and fruitful hiil.”

Ver. 2. He fenced it-Marg. "Made a wall about it, which was generally formed of the stones found pon the land.The choicest vine-Lowth, "The Vibe of Sorek." See Gen. xlix. 11. Built a tower-See Matt. xxi. 23.-Made a wine-pressHeb. Hewed out," not the press itself, but the lake, which received the must from the wine-press, which was often underground, in the recess of a

rock, &c. Wild grapes-Lowth," Poisonons berries." See 2 Kings iv. 39-41. also Deut. xxxii. 32,33. Ver. 7. His pleasant plant-Heb. "Plant of his pleasure;" Lowth, " Of his delight." Ver. 9. In mine ears said, &c. --- Lowth, In mine ears hath the Lord. revealed it."Of a truth ...Heb." If not," &c. a usual form of swearing. Lowth, "

"Surely."

Ver. 10. One bath---less than eight gallons." Ver. 13. Their honourable men --- He glory," Lowth, "Nobles."

Predictions]

the tablets, and the earrings,

ISAIAH.

21 The rings, and nose jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods and the vails.

24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.

26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. (C)

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[of the Messiah.

2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and ke that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

4 When the LORD shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a

defence.

6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. (D)

EXPOSITION.

(C) Judgments on the wickedness of the men, and the pride and folly of the women.-The whole of this chapter, with the first verse of the following, is a prophecy of the Babylonian invasion and captivity, in which all ranks of society were involved. These calamities are represented as SO great, and so general, that even the honour of government should be declined, from the desperate state of the country, as affording no ground to hope the return of its prosperity. Its governors are declared to he weak as women, capricious as children, and corrupt as Sodom, whereby they had brought these evils upon themselves. Amidst all the evils denounced, however, an exception is made in favour of good men-"Say ye to the righteous, that it is, and shall be well!"

The latter part of the chapter is a particular amplification of the distress of the delicate daughters of Zion, whose deploraable situation is finely contrasted with their former luxury and ease.

Some think that this prophecy may likewise refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; and it is remarkable, that on a medal struck by Vespasian on that occasion, Jerusalem is represented in the very posture described by the last words of this chapter, under the figure of a disconsolate mother bewailing the unhappy fate of her children. See Ps. cxxxvii.

CHAP. IV.

(D) A prophecy of Christ, the Branch; and the blessings to spring from him.—The first verse of this chapter (which ought not to have been separated, from the preced NOTES.

CHAP. IV. Ver. 1. Let us be called by thy name. -Heis. "Let thy name be called upon us."

Ver. 2. The branch of the Lord" The Messiah of Jehovah," says the Chaldee.- - Beautiful and glorious-Heb. "Beauty and glory.-Fruit of the earth-Lowth, "Of the land;" i, e. of Judah. By this expression, if not exactly parallel with the preceding, Bp. Lowth would understand its fruit; "the blessings consequent upon his redemption,"

Ver. 3. Among the living-Marg. "To life;" i. e. enrolled among the remnant left. See Ezek. xiii. 9. Ver. 4. A spirit of burning-meaning the fire of God's wrath, by which (in his furnace) he will purify his people." Lowth. See Ezek. xxii. 17-29.

Ver.5. Upon all the glory shall be a defence-Heb. "Above all the glory shall be a covering." See Exod. xiii. 21; xl. 38.

The vineyard]

Now

CHAP. V.

CHAP. V

OW will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choisest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

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

4 What could have been done more 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?

5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will

[of the house of Israel.

also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

9 In mine ears, said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men

EXPOSITION.

ing) represents the havock occasioned by war, and other calamities which the Prophet had been describing, so great, that seven women should be left to one man ; in consequence of which, they, instead of being courted, shall be compelled to become suitors, and that, upon any terms, to take away their reproach. The following verses promise to the remnant that should escape those severe trials, a restoration to the divine favour, and a share in the blessings of the man whose name is The Branch, one of the appropriated names of the Messiah.

(See Zech. iii. 8-vi. 12.)

The great blessings of the gospel are frequently set forth (as in ver. 5.) by allusions to the glory and pomp of the Mosaic dispensation; so the protection and glory afforded by Messiah shall be equal to that of the divine Shechinah, under the Mosaic dispensation: nay more, for it shall not only be a pillar of fire and of cloud, but also the new tabernacle, or Christian Church, shall be a place of refuge from every danger, and a covert from every

storm.

NOTES.

CHAP. V. Ver.1. A song of my beloved-Lowth, "A song of loves."In a very fruitful hill-Heb. "On a horn, the son of oil," which Lowth renders," On a high and fruitful hill."

Ver. 2. He fenced it-Marg. "Made a wall about it, which was generally formed of the stones found upon the land. -The choicest vine-Lowth, "The vine of Sorek." See Gen. xlix. 11. Built a tower-See Matt. xxi. 23.-Made a wine-pressHeh."Hewed out," not the press itself, but the Jake, which received the must from the wine-press, which was often underground, in the recess of a

rock, &c. berries." See 2 Kings iv. 39-41. also Deut. xxxii. 32,33.

Wild grapes Lowth," Poisonons

Ver. 7. His pleasant plant-Heb. "Plant of his pleasure;" Lowth, "Of his delight."

Ver. 9. In mine ears said, &c. ... Lowth, In mine ears hath the Lord. . . revealed it."Of a truth Heb. "If not," &c. a usual form of swearing. Lowth, "Surely."

Ver. 10. One bath---less than eight gallons. Lowth. Ver. 13. Their honourable men Heb. "The glory;" Lowth," Nobles."

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God's judgments]

ISAIAH.

[on the nation.

are famished, and their multititude the stubble, and the flame consumeth dried up with thirst.

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righte

ousness.

17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope :

19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may ɛee it and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink :

23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

24 Therefore as the fire devoureth

CHAP. V.

the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind :

29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. (E)

EXPOSITION.

God justifies himself, and reproves the (E) Under the Parable of a Vineyard, Jews.-This chapter opens with a parable

NOTES-Chap. V. Cou.
Ver. 14. Hell---Lowth, "Hades," which he here
explains of the grave. See Hab. ii. 5.
Ver. 16. God that is holy---Heb. "God, the Holy

One."

Ver. 17. The lambs.... after their manner--that is, in their own way, without guidance or restraint. Lowth, with a slight variation, reads, "Kids shall depas ure the desolate fields of the Juxurious." But if we adhere to the present text, we must explain it of foreigners.

Ver. 18. Cords of vanity seem to be long and thin cords: by a cart-rope is evidently meant, a thick and strong cord, such as are used for the traces of a

wain, or waggon; taking both images together, the sense is, they use all possible means to accomplish their ends.

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Ver. 20. That cull evil good Heb. "That say concerning evil, "It is good," &c.

Ver. 24. As the fire devoureth---Heb. "The tongue of fire;" i. e. flame.

Ver. 25. Carcases were torn---Marg. "Becarne as dung." So Lowth.

Ver. 26. Will hiss (Lowth, "hist") unto them. --It alludes to the practice of those who keep bees, who hiss or whistle to draw them from their hives. Lowth, See chap. vii. 18.

The vineyard]

CHAP. V.

CHAP. V

NOW will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choisest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

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

4 What could have been done more 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?

5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will také away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will

[of the house of Israel.

also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

9 In mine ears, said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, with-out inhabitant.

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men

EXPOSITION.

ing) represents the havock occasioned by war, and other calamities which the Prophet had been describing, so great, that seven women should be left to one man ; in consequence of which, they, instead of being courted, shall be compelled to become suitors, and that, upon any terms, to take away their reproach. The following verses promise to the remnant that should escape those severe trials, a restoration to the divine favour, and a share in the blessings of the man whose name is The Branch, one of the appropriated names of the Messiah.

(See Zech. iii. 8-vi. 12.)

The great blessings of the gospel are frequently set forth (as in ver. 5.) by allusions to the glory and pomp of the Mosaic dispensation; so the protection and glory afforded by Messiah shall be equal to that of the divine Shechinah, under the Mosaic dispensation nay more, for it shall not only be a pillar of fire and of cloud, but also the new tabernacle, or Christian Church, shall be a place of refuge from every danger, and a covert from every

storm.

NOTES.

CHAP. V. Ver. 1. A song of my beloved-Lowth,"A song of loves."In a very fruitful hill-Heb. "On a born, the son of oil," which Lowth renders," O2 a bigh and fruitful hill."

Ver. 2. He fenced it-Marg, "Made a wall about it, which was generally formed of the stones found apon the land. The choicest vine-Lowth, "The vine of Sorek." See Gen. xlix. 11. Built a tower-See Matt. xxi. 23.-Made a wine-pressHeb. Hewed out," not the press itself, but the Jake, which received the must from the wine-press, which was often underground, in the recess of a

rock, &c. Wild grapes-Lowth, " Poisonons berries." See 2 Kings iv. 39-41. also Deut. xxxii. 32,33.

Ver. 7. His pleasant plant-Heb. "Plant of his pleasure;" Lowth, "Of his delight."

Ver. 9. In mine ears said, &c. Lowth, In mine ears hath the Lord. . . revealed it."Of a truth ---Heb. "If not," &c. a usual form of swearing. Lowth, "Surely."

Ver. 10. One bath---less than eight gallons. Lowth. Ver. 13. Their honourable men --- Heb. "Their glory;" Lowth, "Nobles."

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