God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 5:4
4What more could have been done for my vineyard than what I have already done for it? When I waited for it to produce good grapes, why did it produce only sour, wild grapes?
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 up, removed its stones, planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in it, and made a winepress in it. Then he waited for it to produce good grapes, but it produced only sour, wild grapes. 3Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, judge between me and my vineyard! What more could have been done for my vineyard than what I have already done for it? When I waited for it to produce good grapes, why did it produce only sour, wild grapes? 5Now then, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will tear away its hedge so that it can be devoured and tear down its wall so that it can be trampled. 6I will make it a wasteland. It will never be pruned or hoed. Thorns and weeds will grow in it, and I will 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 1:5“Why do you still want to be beaten? Why do you continue to rebel? Your whole head is infected. Your whole heart is failing.
- 2 Chronicles 36:14All the officials, the priests, and the people became increasingly unfaithful and followed all the disgusting practices of the nations. Although the Lord had made the temple in Jerusalem holy, they made the temple unclean.
- Jeremiah 2:30“I have punished your children without results. They didn’t respond to correction. You killed my prophets like a raging lion.
- Jeremiah 6:29The bellows of the blast furnace blow fiercely to make the fire melt away the lead. It is useless to go on refining because the impurities can’t be removed.
- Ezekiel 24:13I tried to clean you of your filthy lust, but you wouldn’t clean yourself from your filth. You will never be clean until I unleash my fury on you.
- Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing!
- Acts 7:51“How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you!
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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