Biblion Bible Commentary
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A Vineyard of Wine, Sing to It
Isaiah 27:1-13
1 In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan, the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. · WEB
The vineyard song is sung again with the verdict reversed, and the keeper says he has no wrath in him.
In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan, the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea Isaiah 27:1.
The sea monster of the region's older poetry, used here for whatever stands behind the hostile powers. The last book of Scripture takes up the same figure and names it Revelation 12:9; this passage does not, and the profile given is the one the text supplies — fleeing, twisted, in the sea, and killed.
In that day, sing to her, "A pleasant vineyard!" Isaiah 27:2.
The song of the fifth chapter, sung again. That one ended with the hedge taken away, the wall broken down and the rain stopped Isaiah 5:5–6. This one begins where that ended and reverses every clause.
I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day Isaiah 27:3.
The rain that was withheld is now continuous, and the protection that was withdrawn is round the clock. And the keeper is named — the first song had an unnamed beloved who owned the vineyard; here the owner says who he is.
Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together Isaiah 27:4.
The first clause is startling in a book with this much judgment in it. What it says is that anger is not the settled condition — it is what happens when he finds thorns, and the thorns are what the vineyard produced in the first song.
Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me Isaiah 27:5.
The alternative offered to the briers, and it is repeated. Instead of being burned, take hold — and what is to be taken hold of is God's own strength, which is offered to the thing he was about to march on.
In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit Isaiah 27:6.
The vineyard that yielded worthless grapes fills the earth.
Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? Isaiah 27:7.
The question is about proportion, and the answer implied is no. In measure, when you send them away, you contend with them Isaiah 27:8 — the discipline was measured, which is what distinguishes it from the destruction of the nations that carried it out.
Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven... that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces Isaiah 27:9.
The evidence that the discipline worked is rubble — the altars of the false gods broken up like limestone.
It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come; and they will worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem Isaiah 27:13.
The section ends with a trumpet and a gathering, and the two places named are the two empires the book has been arguing about since chapter seven.
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