What Does Isaiah 5:3 Mean?
And now, you who settle in Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray, between me and my vineyard.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.THE KEY
The people asked to judge the vineyard’s case are the very people the song will name as the vineyard.
THE MEANING
You are invited to weigh the case between the owner and his vineyard, as though you could judge it from outside. Yet the address names Jerusalem and Judah, and the song soon identifies Judah as the vineyard: the verdict turns back toward those hearing it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that you can judge failure while standing wholly outside the matter.
THE ROOT
שִׁפְטוּ
shifṭu
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-ṭ
To judge, decide a case, or exercise judgment.
“judge” in this verse is shifṭu. The plural command calls the hearers to decide a case between the owner and his vineyard. Its branches link the act of judging to the judgment the owner seeks as fruit; the next verse uses that same root for what the vineyard fails to produce.
ALSO GROWS
mishpat: Judgment, justice, or right order.
מִשְׁפָּט
The next verse uses this word for the fruit the owner looked for, linking the hearers’ act of judging with the judgment expected from the vineyard.
shofet: A judge, one who decides a case.
שֹׁפֵט
This branch names the person who carries out the work the inhabitants are asked to do: hear the case and render a verdict.
THE PATTERN
An invited verdict can reveal that the hearer stands inside the case being judged.
And David's anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deed shall surely die. And he shall repay the lamb fourfold, because he did this deed, and because he did not spare. And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I snatched you out of the hand of Saul.When therefore the master of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those who work the soil? They said to him, He will make those evil men perish badly, and will let the vineyard out to others who work the soil, who will give him back the fruits in their seasons.THE THREAD
For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the planting of his delight. He waited for judgment, but behold, spilled blood. He waited for alignment, but behold, a cry.Here מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, judgment or justice) shares the שפט (sh-p-ṭ, judge or decide a case) root with שִׁפְטוּ (shifṭu, judge) in the verse you are reading. The owner sought judgment as the vineyard’s fruit, and this verse reveals who the vineyard is.
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