Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 5

Verses 1-30

With the thought of judgment, and the necessity for it still in mind, the prophet utters his great denunciation. This falls into three parts.

The first is a song of accusation. By the simple and familiar illustration of the rights of the proprietor in his vineyard, the prophet appeals to the listening people. The nature of the parable is such as to compel their assent to the rightness of the judgment indicated. The prophet immediately makes a blunt application of his song as he declares that the "vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant."

He then proceeds to utter woes against the prevailing sins of the time. The first is against monopoly, and the consequent oppression of the poor; the second, against the life of dissipation which the rulers were living; the third, against that unbelief which persists in iniquity and scoffs at the idea of divine intervention; the fourth, against that moral confusion which is unable to distinguish between good and evil; the fifth, against the false wisdom which acts without reference to God; the sixth, against the perversion of justice by the judges.

He finally describes the instrument of judgment. The inspiration of judgment is the anger of Jehovah, who calls a people from far. These are then described in their perfect equipment, in their terrible fierceness, and in the overwhelming impetuosity of their onslaught.