First Upload: Wednesday March 13, 2019
Last Modified: Monday July 6, 2020
Author: Eduardo Freire Canosa
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1 In that day the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
2 In that day—"Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3 I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.
4 I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me."
6 In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.
7 Has the Lord struck her as he struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her?
8 By warfare and exile you contend with her—with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows.
9 By this, then, will Jacob's guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the desert; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
12 In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.
13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Revised Chapter 27 extracts three and a half verses from the canonical chapter, imports ten more from six chapters and bears the title, "Sing About A Fruitful Vineyard."
1. In that day the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
Analysis: The word "leviathan" means "crocodile" in Job chapter 41. Psalms 74:12-14 couple Leviathan with Egypt. Here Leviathan is dubbed "the monster of the sea," probably signifying that Egypt's navy ruled supreme.
Destination: Revised Chapter 19, "Egypt."
5. Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.
Analysis: The Lord would never offer refuge or peace to the "briers and thorns" of verse 4. Rather the offer is meant for "them," his rebellious people.
Destination: Revised Chapter 7, "The Lord's Testing of King Ahaz,"
3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. 3:11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. 5 Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.
7. Has the Lord struck her as he struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her?
Analysis: The Lord acknowledges having "struck" Jerusalem in his anger on Isaiah 60:10, "Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion." Verse 7 then is the rhetorical question that triggers the acknowledgement.
Destination: Revised Chapter 60, "The City of The Lord, Zion of The Holy One of Israel."
8. By warfare and exile you contend with her—with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows.
Analysis: It may seem at first glance that this pronoun "her" (a city) is the same pronoun "her" (Jerusalem) of verse 7, but it isn't. The city alluded to by verse 8 could be Damascus in the monarchy of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7-9) or Samaria in the monarchy of Hezekiah (2 Kings 17:3-6, 18:10). Isaiah's sympathy might lie with Samaria, never with Damascus. Therefore stony verse 8 ("with his fierce blast he drives her out") has Damascus in mind.
Destination: Revised Chapter 17, "Damascus,"
17:1 An oracle concerning Damascus: See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. 8 By warfare and exile you contend with her—with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows.Speculation: The metaphor of "a fierce blast of an east wind" suggests that the onslaught came from the east (Assyria) and that Damascene refugees fled west to Tyre and Sidon.
9. By this, then, will Jacob's guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.
Analysis: The only other place where altar stones, Asherah poles and incense altars are mentioned altogether is Isaiah 17:8 (see below). Verse 9 then is the corollary to and partial repetition of that verse. The Book of Isaiah employs partial repetition as a running thread of the narrative often, a fortunate circumstance which assists the recovery of snarled text. This verse must accompany Isaiah 17:8.
Destination: Revised Chapter 7, "The Lord's Testing of King Ahaz,"
17:7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. 17:8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. 9 By this, then, will Jacob's guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.
10. The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the desert; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
Analysis: The fortified city that stands desolate could be Damascus after Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria attacked and captured it during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7-9) or it could be Samaria after Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked and captured it during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:9-11). The keyword "desert" tabs the territory of Damascus (1 Kings 19:15) for Samaria was set on a hill at the head of a fertile valley (Isaiah 28:1). Hence "the fortified city that stands desolate" is Damascus. The calves can graze and lie down in Damascus because it was crossed by two rivers named Abana and Pharpar (2 Kings 5:12).
Destination: Revised Chapter 17, "Damascus,"
10 "The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the desert; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare. First Half of 11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them."
12. In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.
Analysis: This verse prolongs the second half of verse 11 (see Compound Verses).
Destination: Revised Chapter 9, "Ephraim,"
10:23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. Second Half of 11 For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor. 12 In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.
13. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Analysis: The sentence, "And in that day a great trumpet will sound," magnifies the impact that the miraculous defeat of the Assyrian army (2 Kings 18-19) had on the Israelites exiled in Egypt and those deported to Assyria by Shalmaneser. Isaiah 18:7 alludes to the same shock. Verse 13 is prophetic ("will sound," "will come and worship").
Destination: Revised Chapter 8, "Assyria Will Invade Judah,"
12:4 In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 12:5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. 12:6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. 42:17 But those who trust in idols, who say to images, "You are our gods," will be turned back in utter shame.
4. I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire.
Reason: The first half of verse 4, "I am not angry," prolongs verses 2-3.
Destination of the first half: Here.
The second half of verse 4, "If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire," identifies those confronting the Lord to be the rebellious house of Jacob. The Lord exercises a great deal more patience with them than he would with foreign antagonists.
Destination of the second half: Revised Chapter 1, "The Invasion of Judah During the Reign of Ahaz,"
1:2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 1:3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Second Half of 4 If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire."
11. When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
Reason: The first half of verse 11, "When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them," continues verse 10.
Destination of the first half: Revised Chapter 17, "Damascus." See verse 10 for the placement of this half.
The second half of verse 11, "For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor," is unrelated to the first half, there is nothing unlawful per se in using twigs to light a fire.
Destination of the second half: Revised Chapter 9, "Ephraim." See verse 12 for the placement of this half.
41:17-20. The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. 19 I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, 20 so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
42:16. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
43:20-21. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
45:8. "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.
49:11. I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.
61:11. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
2 In that day—sing about a fruitful vineyard: 3 "I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. First Half of 4 I am not angry. 43:20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 43:21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
45:8 "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it. 61:11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
41:17 "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 41:18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. 41:19 I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, 41:20 so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
First Half of 42:16 "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. 49:11 I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. Second Half of 42:16 These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
6 "In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit."
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