New English Translation
Isaiah 5:6
6I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.
Isaiah 5:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
- New International Version (NIV)I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.”
Context of Isaiah 5:6
4What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead? 5Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it. 7Indeed Israel is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! 8Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, those who also accumulate landed property until there is no land left, and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.
Read all of Isaiah 5Isaiah 5:6 word by word
וַאֲשִׁיתֵ֣הוּ בָתָ֗ה לֹ֤א יִזָּמֵר֙ וְלֹ֣א יֵעָדֵ֔ר וְעָלָ֥ה שָׁמִ֖יר וָשָׁ֑יִת וְעַ֤ל הֶעָבִים֙ אֲצַוֶּ֔ה מֵהַמְטִ֥יר עָלָ֖יו מָטָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And I will layשִׁיתshîyth · to set: makeH7896
- it wasteבָּתָהbâthâh · wasteH1326
- it shall not be prunedזָמַרzâmar · to pruneH2168
- nor diggedעָדַר‛âdar · to hoeH5737
- but there shall come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- briersשָׁמִירshâmîyr · thornH8068
- and thornsשַׁ֫יִתshayith · thornbushH7898
- I will also commandצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
- the cloudsעָב‛âb · cloudH5645
- that they rainמָטַרmâţar · to rainH4305
- no rainמָטַרmâţâr · rainH4306
Cross-references for Isaiah 5:6
- Isaiah 5:9The Lord who commands armies told me this: “Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.
- Isaiah 6:11I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated,
- Isaiah 24:1Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth and leave it in ruins; he will mar its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
- Isaiah 32:13Mourn over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses in the city filled with revelry.
- Leviticus 26:33I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.
- Deuteronomy 29:23The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.
- 2 Chronicles 36:19They burned down the Lord’s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items.
- Jeremiah 25:11This whole area will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.’
- Jeremiah 45:4The Lord told Jeremiah, “Tell Baruch, ‘The Lord says, “I am about to tear down what I have built and to uproot what I have planted. I will do this throughout the whole earth.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Isaiah 7:23At that time every place where there had been a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels will be overrun with thorns and briers.
- Hosea 3:4For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.
- Isaiah 30:23He will water the seed you plant in the ground, and the ground will produce crops in abundance. At that time your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
- Deuteronomy 28:23The sky above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron.
- Amos 4:7“I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. I gave rain to one city, but not to another. One field would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.
- Zechariah 14:16Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, and to observe the Feast of Tabernacles.
Commentaries on Isaiah 5:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6There shall come up briers and thorns "The thorn shall spring up in it" - One MS. has בשמיר beshamir . The true reading seems to be שמור בו bo shamir, which is confirmed by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6I will lay it waste - The description here is continued from Isaiah 5:5. The image is carried out, and means that the Jews should be left utterly without protection. I will also command the clouds - It is evident here, that the parable or figure is partially dropped. A farmer could not command the clouds. It is God alone who could do that; and the figure of the vineyard is dropped, and God is introduced speaking as a sovereign. The meaning is, that he…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Sometimes, the lack of rain was seen as a divine judgment (Deuteronomy 28:23–24; Haggai 1:11; 2:16). This was particularly harmful to a society that relied heavily on farming.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. I will ... command--The parable is partly dropped and Jehovah, as in Is 5:7, is implied to be the Owner: for He alone, not an ordinary husbandman (Mt 21:43; Lu 17:22), could give such a "command." no rain--antitypically, the heaven-sent teachings of the prophets (Am 8:11). Not accomplished in the Babylonish captivity; for Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah prophesied during or after it. But in gospel times.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 5:6
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries