Amplified Bible
Isaiah 5:4
4What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?
Isaiah 5:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
- New International Version (NIV)What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
- English Standard Version (ESV)What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
- New King James Version (NKJV)What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?
Context of Isaiah 5:4
2He dug it all around and cleared away its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine (the people of Judah). And He built a tower in the center of it; And also hewed out a wine vat in it. Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. 3“And now, says the Lord, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard (My people). What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones? 5So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up; I will break down its stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies]. 6I will turn it into a wasteland; It will not be pruned or cultivated, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.”
Read all of Isaiah 5Isaiah 5:4 word by word
מַה־לַּעֲשׂ֥וֹת עוֹד֙ לְכַרְמִ֔י וְלֹ֥א עָשִׂ֖יתִי בּ֑וֹ מַדּ֧וּעַ קִוֵּ֛יתִי לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת עֲנָבִ֖ים וַיַּ֥עַשׂ בְּאֻשִֽׁים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- What could have been doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- more to my vineyardכֶּרֶםkerem · vineyardH3754
- in it? whereforeמַדּוּעַmaddûa‛ maddûa‛ · why?H4069
- when I lookedקָוָהqâvâh · to awaitH6960
- that it should bring forthעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- grapesעֵנָב‛ênâb · grapeH6025
- wild grapesבְּאֻשִׁיםbe'ûshîym · sour grapesH891
Cross-references for Isaiah 5:4
- Isaiah 1:5Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]? You [only] continue to rebel. The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint and sick.
- 2 Chronicles 36:14Also, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 2:30“In vain I have punished your people [with the consequences of their disobedience]; They received no insight from correction [and refused to change]. Your [own] sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.
- Jeremiah 6:29The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain they continue refining, But the wicked are not separated and removed.
- Ezekiel 24:13In your filthiness are lewdness and outrage. Therefore I would have cleansed you, Yet you were not [willing to be] cleansed, You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again Until I have satisfied My wrath against you.
- Matthew 23:37“ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who murders the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I wanted to gather your children together [around Me], as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
- Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.
Commentaries on Isaiah 5:4
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4What could I - As a man who had done what is described in Isaiah 5:2, would have done all that “could” be done for a vineyard, so God says that he has done all that he could, in the circumstances of the Jews, to make them holy and happy. He had chosen them; had given them his law; had sent them prophets and teachers; had defended them; had come forth in judgment and mercy, and he now appeals “to them” to say what “could” have been done more. This…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Clearly, the Lord had kindly done everything possible for the vineyard. He was not responsible for the bitter grapes. I extort you to judge: Isaiah wanted the audience to condemn the vineyard before revealing that they were the vineyard themselves (Isaiah 5:7). This rhetorical tactic is similar to the one Nathan used to confront David (2 Samuel 12:1–5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. God has done all that could be done for the salvation of sinners, consistently with His justice and goodness. The God of nature is, as it were, amazed at the unnatural fruit of so well-cared a vineyard.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 5:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Amplified Bible — © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
Commentaries