Isaiah 5:6

I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses His people immediately after announcing the removal of the vineyard’s protective hedge and wall. He speaks as the owner executing judgment on the neglected plot.

The words — The text highlights בָתָה (bahat), meaning "a desolation," and יִזָּמֵר (yizamer), meaning "it will be pruned." These terms emphasize the complete cessation of agricultural care and the resulting ruin.

The thread — The motif of abandoned vineyards turning to thorns appears in Isaiah 7:23, while widespread desolation is echoed in Jeremiah 25:11 and Isaiah 24:1. These passages share the pattern of divine withdrawal leading to ecological and social decay.

Why it lands — The text states that God will actively prevent cultivation and rainfall, leaving the land to grow thorns. It demands recognition that the stated cause is the failure to produce justice and righteousness despite divine provision.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַאֲשִׁיתֵ֣הוּva./'a.shi.Te./huand/ I will make/ it בָתָ֗הva.Taha desolation לֹ֤אlo'not יִזָּמֵר֙yi.za.Merit will be pruned וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not יֵעָדֵ֔רye.'a.Derit will be hoed וְעָלָ֥הve./'a.Lahand/ it will grow up שָׁמִ֖ירsha.Mirthorn[s]וָשָׁ֑יִתva./Sha.yitand/ bush[es]וְעַ֤לve./'Aland/ to הֶעָבִים֙he./'a.Vimthe/ clouds אֲצַוֶּ֔ה'a.tza.VehI will command מֵהַמְטִ֥ירme./ham.Tirfrom/ raining עָלָ֖יו'a.La/von/ it מָטָֽר׃ma.Tarrain

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Isaiah 7:23 And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
Isaiah 24:1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
Deuteronomy 28:23 The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron.
Deuteronomy 29:23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
2 Chronicles 36:19 Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value.
Isaiah 5:9 I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
Isaiah 6:11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,