poetry in Isaiah 5:1-6

The Hebrew poetry in Isaiah 5:1-6 is translated by the German Gute Nachricht Bibel (last rev. 2018) in poetic form:

Auf fruchtbarem Hügel,
da liegt mein Stück Land,
dort hackt ich den Boden
mit eigener Hand,
ich mühte mich ab
und las Felsbrocken auf,
baute Wachtturm und Kelter,
setzte Reben darauf.
Und süße Trauben
erhofft ich zu Recht,
doch was dann im Herbst wuchs,
war sauer und schlecht.
Jerusalems Bürger,
ihr Leute von Juda,
was sagt ihr zum Weinberg,
was tätet denn ihr da?
Die Trauben sind sauer –
entscheidet doch ihr:
War die Pflege zu schlecht?
Liegt die Schuld denn bei mir?
Ich sage euch, Leute,
das tue ich jetzt:
Weg reiß ich die Hecke,
als Schutz einst gesetzt;
zum Weiden solln Schafe
und Rinder hinein!
Und die Mauer ringsum –
die reiße ich ein!
Zertrampelnden Füßen
geb ich ihn preis,
schlecht lohnte mein Weinberg
mir Arbeit und Schweiß!
Ich will nicht mehr hacken,
das Unkraut soll sprießen!
Der Himmel soll ihm
den Regen verschließen!		 Literal translation:
“On a fertile hill,
lies my piece of land,
I hoe the ground there
with my own hand,
I worked hard
and picked up boulders,
I built watchtower and wine press,
put vines on it.
And for sweet grapes
I had reason to hope for
but what then grew in the fall,
was sour and bad.
Jerusalem’s citizens,
you people of Judah,
what do you say about the vineyard,
what were you doing there?
The grapes are sour –
you decide:
Was the care too bad?
Is the fault all mine?
I’m telling you, people,
this is what I’m going to do now:
I’ll tear the hedge away,
once placed as protection;
Sheep ill enter to graze
and so will cattle come!
And the wall all around –
I’ll tear it down!
I’ll open it up to
trampling feet,
My vineyard didn’t warrant
my work and sweat!
I don’t want to hoe anymore,
let the weeds sprout!
the sky shall block
the rain form falling”

The syllable count of the lines is 5 and 6 and the rhymes are highlighted (note: the highlights are not in the original).

Source: Jan P. Sterk in OPTAT 1989/1, p. 36ff.

See also word play in Isaiah 5:7.

vineyard

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “vineyard” in English is translated in Noongar as boodjer-djildjiyang, lit. “land for fruit.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

Translation commentary on Isaiah 5:5

Yahweh was justified in expecting a good harvest, but the vineyard did not produce it. So now he tells his hearers what he will do to punish the vineyard. Verse 5 begins the message of judgment against the nation. Translators who use a poetic format should leave a blank line before verse 5 to indicate that a new subsection is beginning. Those who use a prose format should start a new paragraph (so Good News Translation).

And now repeats the introductory phrase found in verse 3. Once again it marks a turning point in the discourse.

I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard repeats various vocabulary items and ideas from the previous verse. The phrase I will tell you is somewhat polite in the Hebrew, which is literally “now let me cause you to know.” Bible en français courant includes this nuance with “I want to tell you.” What I will do has the sense of “what I am about to do [right away].”

The rest of the verse expresses what Yahweh will do, together with the result of his actions. Yahweh will destroy the vineyard by removing its protection.

I will remove its hedge: The pronoun I is implicit in the Hebrew verb form here, but all the versions make it explicit. Yahweh will take away the hedge, the thorny bushes that form a border around the vineyard. The word hedge is parallel with wall in the second to last line. The purpose of the hedge and the wall is primarily to keep animals out.

And it shall be devoured points to the result of removing the hedge. The pronoun it refers to the vineyard, not the hedge. When the hedge is gone, animals will be free to come in and eat the vines. New American Bible says “give it to grazing,” which suggests that cattle farmers will allow their herds to graze on it. The meaning of this line may be wider than that, referring also to wild animals that come and feed on the vines (see Good News Translation). The Hebrew verb translated devoured is the same one used in 4.4, where it is rendered “burning.” Here its meaning is more general, namely, to consume or eat. The passive verb be devoured may be expressed as an active one with “animals” as the subject (see the models below).

I will break down its wall refers to the stone wall surrounding the vineyard. Yahweh will knock this wall down.

And it shall be trampled down: The pronoun it refers to the vineyard, not the wall. It shall be trampled down describes another way in which the vines will be destroyed. The passive verb here may also be rendered as an active one with “animals” as the subject (see the examples below).

Translation suggestions for this verse are:

• Let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will cut down the surrounding hedge,
and let animals feed on those vines;
I will knock down its wall,
and let them trample all over it.

• Now I will tell you what I plan to do to my vineyard.
I am going to cut down its hedge, letting animals graze there;
I am going to knock down its wall, letting animals trample all over it.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .