Yesaya 5:1

A Love Song Gone Sour

5:1 I ¹  will sing to my love –

a song to my lover about his vineyard. ² 

My love had a vineyard

on a fertile hill. ³ 

Yesaya 8:3

8:3 I then had sexual relations with the prophetess; she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,

Yesaya 22:23

22:23 I will fasten him like a peg into a solid place; ⁴  he will bring honor and respect to his father’s family. ⁵ 

Yesaya 49:20

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ⁶ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ⁷ 

Yesaya 60:15

60:15 You were once abandoned

and despised, with no one passing through,

but I will make you ⁸  a permanent source of pride

and joy to coming generations.

Yesaya 65:19

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness. ⁹ 

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

[5:1]  ¹ tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.

[5:1]  ² sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.

[5:1]  ³ tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).

[22:23]  ⁴ sn The metaphor depicts how secure his position will be.

[22:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he will become a glorious throne for the house of his father.”

[49:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[60:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “Instead of your being abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you.”

[65:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”