This puts an end to the unthankful vineyard, and indeed a hopeless one."And I will put an end to it: it shall not be pruned nor digged, and it shall break out in thorns and thistles; and I will command the clouds to rain no rain over it." "Put an end:" bâthâh ( equals battâh : Ges. 67, Anm. 11) signifies, according to the primary meaning of bâthath (בּוּת, בּהת, see at Isaiah 1:29), viz., abscindere, either abscissum equals locus abscissus or praeruptus (Isaiah 7:19), or abscissio equals deletio. The latter is the meaning here, where shı̄th bâthâh is a refined expression for the more usual כלה עשׂה, both being construed with the accusative of the thing which is brought to an end. Further pruning and hoeing would do it no good, but only lead to further disappointment: it was the will of the Lord, therefore, that the deceitful vineyard should shoot up in thorns and thistles (âlâh is applied to the soil, as in Isaiah 34:13 and Proverbs 24:31; shâimr vâshaith, thorns and thistles, are in the accusative, according to Ges. 138, 1, Anm. 2; and both the words themselves, and also their combination, are exclusively and peculiarly Isaiah's).

(Note: Cassel associates shâmir as the name of a plant (saxifraga) with σμὐρις, and shaith with sentis, ἄκανθα; but the name shâmir is not at all applicable to those small delicate plants, which are called saxifraga (stone-breakers) on account of their growing out of clefts in the rock, and so appearing to have split the rock itself. Both shâmir vâshaith and kōts v'dardar, in Genesis 3:18, seem rather to point to certain kinds of rhamnus, together with different kinds of thistles. The more arid and waste the ground is, the more does it abound, where not altogether without vegetation, in thorny, prickly, stunted productions.)

In order that it might remain a wilderness, the clouds would also receive commandment from the Lord not to rain upon it. There can be no longer any doubt who the Lord of the vineyard is. He is Lord of the clouds, and therefore the Lord of heaven and earth. It is He who is the prophet's beloved and dearest one. The song which opened in so minstrel-like and harmless a tone, has now become painfully severe and terribly repulsive. The husk of the parable, which has already been broken through, now falls completely off (cf., Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30). What it sets forth in symbol is really true. This truth the prophet establishes by an open declaration.

Isaiah 5:12 Parallel Commentaries

the harp

Isaiah 22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink...

Genesis 31:27 Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and did not tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth, and with songs...

Job 21:11-14 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance...

Daniel 5:1-4,23 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand...

Amos 6:4-6 That lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock...

Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water...

they regard

Isaiah 5:19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come...

Job 34:27 Because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways:

Psalm 28:5 Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

Psalm 92:5,6 O LORD, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep...

Hosea 4:10,11 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit prostitution, and shall not increase...