Isaiah 5:4

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 the ground and he removed the stones. He planted the best vines in it. He built a tower in the middle of the vineyard so that he could watch it. He built a place to squeeze the grapes to make wine. Then he waited for the vines to make sweet grapes. But the vines made only bitter grapes.’ 3So now, listen to me, you people who live in Jerusalem and in Judah. You must be the judge! Who did what was right? Was it me or my vineyard? You decide! I did everything that I could to help my vineyard. I could have done no more! But when I waited to get sweet grapes from the vines, there were only bitter ones! Why was that? 5Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will break down its walls, so that it becomes an open field. Then wild animals will go in and they will destroy the vines. 6I will make the land become useless. Nobody will take care of the vines. Nobody will dig the ground. Weeds and thorn bushes will grow there. I will command the clouds, ‘Do not drop any rain on it.’

Isaiah 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 1:5You continue to fight against God. Why do you do that? God will continue to punish you. You are weak and you hurt all over. Your mind and your body have great pain.
• 2 Chronicles 36:14All the leaders of the priests and the people also turned away from the Lord more and more. They did the same disgusting sins that the people in other nations did. They made the Lord's temple an unclean place. That was the place that the Lord himself had chosen as his special home in Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah 2:30‘When I punished your people, they did not change how they lived. When I sent my prophets to you, you killed them as if you were a hungry lion.’
• Jeremiah 6:29A very hot fire can remove the dirt from silver and make it pure. I punish my people to make them pure, but it is useless. There are too many wicked people, so I cannot make them pure.
• Ezekiel 24:13The dirt on the pot shows the disgusting things that you do. I tried to remove those wicked things to make you clean, but you would not let me do that. So I will punish you until I am no longer angry with you. You will not be clean until that happens.
• Matthew 23:37Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed God's prophets. They have thrown stones to kill other people that God has sent to you. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of your people near to me. A female bird covers her babies with her body to make them safe. But you would not let me keep you from danger like that.
• Acts 7:51Then Stephen said, ‘You people do not want to obey God! You do not want to listen to God's true message. You are the same as your ancestors. Like them, you always fight against what the Holy Spirit says.

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

• God Continued...
• Isaiah
• Judgment
• Parables
• Punishment
• Reasoning
• Unfaithfulness
• Vineyard
• War

In the dictionaries

• Cast
• Cockle
• Cord
• Cry
• Dry
• Ensign
• Grape
• Join
• Lay
• Mighty

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