What does Isaiah 5:3 mean?
This parable started as if it were a love song (Isaiah 5:1). Isaiah describes how his beloved did all the hard work to develop a vineyard only to discover in the end that the grapes were sour and worthless for their purpose (Isaiah 5:2).Now Isaiah shifts to the voice of the vineyard-maker. He calls out to his audience to ask them to weigh in on the matter. He will ask if there was anything he could have done differently to receive a different result (Isaiah 5:4). This is a rhetorical question, of course, meant to point out that the Master is not the problem.
Isaiah 5:1–7 contains Isaiah's parable about his beloved about their vineyard. His beloved invests time and money to dig stones from the field, plant vines, build a watchtower, and make vats. He does all this work only to find the resulting grapes are sour and useless. The owner declares he will lay waste to the vineyard since the fruit is not good. Isaiah reveals that the vineyard is Israel and the owner is the Lord. He expected Judah to produce justice and integrity, but instead it has yielded trampling down of the weak and an ignoring of God's ways.
Isaiah 5 begins with a parable about a farmer who builds a vineyard that produces sour grapes. The owner says he will lay waste to the vineyard. Isaiah reveals the owner to be the Lord and the vineyard to be Israel. Israel's bad fruit includes the greed of the wealthy and the hedonism of the people. They will go hungry and thirsty, into exile, and the grave. The Lord will be exalted for His righteousness. Isaiah pronounces woe on the sinners, the mockers, and the unjust rulers. The Lord will summon the nations to judge His people.
