A Painful Song of Love - Reflections on Isaiah 5:1-7, Pentecost 10, Year C

by John C. Holbert on Friday, June 6, 2025

         Isaiah 5 has within its lines a relative biblical rarity: a love song that ends in pain and struggle, a far cry from the lush, romantic poems one finds, for example, in that rich lyric book, “The Most Beautiful Song,” known more popularly as the Song of Songs. There we read of the aching and passionate love between a man and a woman that offers up delight and joy in the deep love they share. Not here! Isaiah, the 8th century Judean prophet of YHWH has something quite different in mind when he composes this love poem, as his words make all too plain.

         “Let me sing now to my beloved

                  a love song for his vineyard” (Is.5:1)

         The song begins as all such love songs should with a lilting poem directed toward an unnamed “beloved” (Deedee in Hebrew, echoing the famous king name, David). But the song is not simply for this beloved, but rather is directed to his vineyard. Vineyards are especially significant in ancient Israel for several reasons. Wine is the drink of choice in the land, since the untreated water cannot often be drunk safely. Also, successful vineyards produce the important wine, and excess cash to boot. The Bible is riddled with stories about vineyards and their owners, often referring to persons important to the society, well-known for their wealth and power. The owner of this vineyard promises to be one of the same, rich, comfortable, and revered in the community.

         He starts out well. His vineyard is “on a very fertile hill,” a location that augurs well for future profits. “He dug it, cleared it of stones, and planted it with vines. He built a tower in the center, and hewed out a wine vat in it (for use after the harvest)” (Is.5:1-2). But all too soon, there is a disheartening failure. “He expected a yield of grapes, but instead he got wild grapes,” that is, grapes with no good taste, sour and poor in quality. What is to be done? Do we start again? Just who is the one singing this unpleasant so-called love song?

         Whoever it is, the song makes a sharp turn. “And now, dwellers in Jerusalem, people of Judah, make a judgment between me and my vineyard” (Is.5:3). Well, the vineyard is not finally owned by the “beloved,” but rather is the property of the singer. “What more can one do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected a yield of grapes, why these sour grapes?” (Is 5:4) The beloved offers no reply to this direct demand, so the singer goes on.

         “So now I will let you know what I am about to do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it will be devoured; I will breach its wall so that it will be trampled down” (Is.5:5). All protections for the vineyard shall be ripped away, and the unprotected vineyard will soon be eaten up, stomped down by marauding bands of animals and people. “I will make it a waste, not pruned, not hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briars; I will direct the clouds not to rain upon it” (Is.5:6) In short, the promising vineyard will now sit with tangled vines, with withered fruit, with dry shoots, with desiccated plants, devoid of life. Just what sort of love song is this? 

         Finally, the singer reveals the point of this terrible song. “Yes! The vineyard of YHWH of the armies is the house of Isreal, and the Judeans are its delightful plantings. He (the singer) expected justice, but, look, bloodshed (or “sweeping away”), righteousness, but look, an outcry of distress!” (Is.5:7). The song ends in a dark double pun. It is clearly YHWH who is the author of the song and thus the creator of the puns. YHWH, as always in the Hebrew Bible, expected “justice” (mishpat) but instead received “bloodshed” or (mispach). YHWH expected, as always “righteousness” (tsedakah) but instead witnessed “an outcry” (ts’akah). YHWH’s demand for justice and righteousness from the people is ubiquitous in the mouths of the prophets, but too often, instead of acting in the ways of YHWH, the people act to create “bloodshed” and the “outcry” of constant demand for YHWH to act on their behalf, regardless of their refusal to acknowledge YHWH’s call at all.

         Vineyard Israel is doomed to remain unfruitful and desolate until they seek and perform deeds of justice and righteousness among all people. Here is a lovesong that no one wishes to hear, yet the divine song goes on sounding for those of us with ears to hear.