What Does Isaiah 5:3 Mean in the King James?
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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 was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him 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 his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, 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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