Isaiah's Parable of the
Vineyard
BY PAUL HAUPT
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Mel.
Reprinted from
THE AflERICAN JOURNAL OF SEHITIC
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
(Continuing " HEBRAICA"!
\'oi .r.MK XI X. No. 4
Jn.v, 1903
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
(CONTINUING "HEBRAICA")
VOLUME XIX JULY, 1903 NUMBER 4
ISAIAH'S PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD.
BY PAUL HAUPT,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
Cheyne says in his notes on Is. 5, in The Polychrome Bible,
that ' the Parable of the Vineyard takes the form of a song. The
prophet assumes the character of a popular singer. If he accom-
panied his song with music, he must have changed his note at
v. 3, and what an effect must have been produced when in the
middle of a sentence (v. 6) he suddenly passed out of the lyric
into the grave prophetic rhythm, and became no longer a singer
but an orator.' These remarks are evidently based on Duhm's
commentary.* Duhm's analysis of the poem has been adopted
also by Marti. f Duhm thinks that there is a different rhythm
from rPlZJl T331D nblPl on ; but this clause is a gloss, and the fol-
lowing lines exhibit the same rhythm as the preceding stanzas.
In his Introduction^ Cheyne says that vv. 1-7 are in two distinct
rhythms or meters ; the division is at v. 6 C , when Isaiah, in the
midst of his threatening prophecy respecting the vineyard,
suddenly exchanges the light, dancing, popular rhythm for a
heavy prophetic parallelism.
Ewaldjj arranged only the first two verses in lines, evidently
thinking that the rhythm in the following verses was different.
* First edition, Gottingen, 1892 ; second edition, 1902.
fl>as Buch Jesaia (Freiburg i. B. 1900), p. 55.
t Introduction to the Book of Isaiah (London, 1895), p. 23.
|| Jetaiai (Gottingen, 1867), p. 306.
193
2111307
194 HEBEAICA
In Hitzig's translation of the poetical books of the Old Testa-
ment, on the other hand, the whole poem is printed in lines.* In
Kautzsch's Textbibel (1899) the second half of v. 5 and vv. 6. 7
are printed in lines, but not the preceding verses. Cersoy,-}- on
the other hand, thinks that the first two verses were borrowed by
Isaiah from a popular song, but that the following verses are not
metrical. If we look at Sievers'J arrangement of the poem we
can easily see how a commentator may arrive at the conclusion
that vv. 3-7 are not metrical ; for there is apparently no regu-
larity whatsoever. But if the song is freed from superfluous
scribal expansions the meter is the same from the first verse to
the last.
There is no change of rhythm in the poem. This parable
consists of four |! stanzas; each stanza is composed of four
Q'vTD33 with two beats in each hemistich. Each of the first
three stanzas comprises two Masoretic verses, while the last
stanza is represented by v. 7. The text of the first three stanzas
is on the whole correct but considerably expanded ; in the last
stanza, on the other hand, we find an omission and a corruption.
The scribal expansions are all such as we frequently meet with
in other texts of the Old Testament.
I would arrange the Hebrew text as follows : **
* Die poetischen Biicher des AT (Leipzig, 1854); so, too, in Hendewerk's Jesaja, part 1
(Konigsberg, 1838), p. 129, and in Umbreit's commentary (Hamburg, 1846).
t L' 'apologue de la Vigne au chapitre V d'lsale in the Revue Biblique (Jan. 1899), pp.
3-12 (cited in Marti's commentary, p. 55) . Cf. ZA 9, 361.
%Metrische Studien (Leipzig, 1901), p. 434.
II Ernst Meier in his commentary (Pforzheim, 1850) divided the poem into two stanzas :
w. 1-4 and 5-7.
See my paper on The Poetic Form of the First Psalm in HEBEAICA, 19, 137, n. 15. The
four double-hemistichs of each stanza may be grouped in two couplets.
**The arrangement of Hebrew poetic texts in double-hemistichs, in two columns,
which I introduced in part 15 (Proverbs) and 4 (Numbers, cc. 21. 23. 24) of The Poly-
chrome Bible, is found in certain Hebrew MSS, e. g., in the Sephardic MS, British Museum,
Oriental 2201. In this beautiful quarto MS, which is one of the oldest dated copies of the
entire Hebrew Bible, having been written at Toledo in 1246 A. D., the three poetical books,
Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, are written in double-hemistichs, in two columns. A collotyped
facsimile reproduction of folio 283 (containing Ps. 106, 23b-107, 32) of this MS is given on
plate ix of the Series of XV Facsimiles of MSS of the Hebrew Bible published by James
Hyatt (London, 1897). Ginsburg says in his description of this plate, ' The three poetical
books are arranged in prescribed lines,' whatever that may mean; see also Ginsburg's
Introduction to the Masoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible (London, 1897), p. 675;
cf. also ibid., pp. 517. 729. Ginsburg's remarks are unfortunately not sufficiently clear (cf.
op. cit., pp. 591. 598. 606. 667). Cf. also the Cod. Or. Gaster. 151 described in PSBA 22, 234.
ISAIAH'S PABABLE OP THE VINEYARD 195
irrwb iron
TITID "TTb KS-rr
"pip
'TD VKWI inbpo^i njyrr'i 2
iTprr
jrye -pfii *r:
n tD2 &bi ^Tiy tiiis2b"Tft3 4
I I
1 5 III
bv nra inn^^i 6
m *m.r triD-^ 7 iv
i i i
VsnWlD 5t33 miiT 1
i i i
(*) 11212 () by <*) n^nJn nittw nbn
2 (y) HTI ( ^Tn l ()
a^o^n 115771
(> nnn 5 (*> nnwy w
196 HEBKAICA
CRITICAL NOTES ON THE TEXT.
(1) ffl. 85 (cf. Gesen.27, 105, b, n. 3) in 83TPHBK is enclitic ; the pre-
ceding nTlBfcfc should be accented on the ultima, not on the penult ;
so, too, man (v. 2), is-Trio? (v. 4), 3-nrTi (v. 5).
, I" f IT
JH *FT3 does not mean to my friend (A V, to my well beloved ;
RV, for my well beloved) or in honorem Dei quern maxime diligo
cantabo (Grotius). Nor can the prefixed b be taken as the b
auctoris (cf. Bachmann's explanation cited below), although in
v. 3 the friend to whom the vineyard belongs is introduced as the
speaker. The preposition b means here of (so RV M ), that is, con-
cerning, as in Ps. 3, 3 : "'ITSib D^T-iS D h H"l Many there are who
say of me and in Gen. 20,13: fcOfi T!8 *b"^EK Say of me, He
is my brother. This b is not a popular shortening of bfcS > as Duhm
supposes; in his commentary on Ps. 3,3 Duhm says, "'TESjb is a
poetic equivalent of " |1 ffl5)3~b3? . Nor can we read, with Bachmann,*
"HT^btf (haplography). Cf. Gesen. 27 , 119, u.
iER 'TH may be a misplaced variant to TTb in the first hemistich.
& has -n*n** for both TT and *H*n. M TH is certainly
not an abbreviation for Q h Tn (Lowth, Cheyne, Budde,f Marti, as
an alternative); this parable is no love-ditty (contrast Grit. Notes
on Isaiah, SBOT, p. 117, 1. 37, and Ginsburg's Introduction, pp.
793. 820). Cersoy points, "'Til flTlS my love-song, and Marti is
inclined to adopt this emendation as the simplest solution of the
difficulty. Bachmann proposes to read Tfl'tVPlE = Tub {1T1E .
According to Winckler, AoF (= Altorientalische Forschungen),
1,341 (1896), the opening lines of the poem should be taken to
mean: I will sing to my god a song of my god, concerning his
vineyard. My god had a vineyard, &c. He believes that TH or
Til means 8aLp.<av (Dido 17 Scu]u.a>y) and is inclined to substitute
H-Hb or 'HIT! for fSL 'TTb in the first and third hemistichs of
the opening couplet.
After the insertion of 'Til between T,2"0~rP"'TE it was necessary
to prefix b to 1}J"0 ( v rta a/A7reAuw pov "^"l^b is inlluenced
by glosses ^ and *).
Omit fE HTl after Q"0 ; the vineyard still belongs to the friend ;
he tells the men of Judah in v. 5 what he purposes to do with it.
The addition of {TT~i w & s probably suggested by fVC*b TTTl D"O
inl K 21,1; cf. my notes on Cant. 8,11 (The Book of Canticles,
p. 60 = HEBBAICA, 19, 6).
There is hardly any paronomasia between Q"0 and "pp as Duhm
supposes ; p and 5 ar e entirely different consonants. Nor is this
case recorded in Dr. Casanowicz's dissertation on Paronomasia in
the OT (Boston, 1894). There is just as much assonance between
* Altteslamentliche Unlersuchungen (Berlin, 1894), p. 64.
t-ZVew World, March 1893, p. 49.
ISAIAH'S PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD 197
and "32123 , viz. only one consonant and the vowels are
identical.
Bachmann's emendation fa'2J~ l p HIpS and Cheyne's "nys n 3 2Hp3
are not good. Nor need we read, with Kennedy, HC12W instead of fH
TQT2 ; see, however, my remarks on pSPrbyZ* or rather jTSFrbsa*
in Cant. 8,11 (The Book of Canticles, p. 33, n. 3). In his Critica
Biblica (London, 1903), p. 10, Cheyne proposes to read ""3Q n"lD2
biC^C'iE 11 The reference, Cheyne adds, is not to the Cimmerians but
to the North Arabians. I prefer the received text. & 1*4? PI-O-S
|lVi* ; cf. <& v Kepari, iv rmrta TTLOVI. ftt "52123 ""p is more poetic
than the adjective T2TD, but it is not chosen on account of the
meter ; TJ2123 "pDH would have suited the meter just as well. Con-
trast my note on Cant. 1,6 in The Book of Canticles (Chicago, 1902),
p. 31, n. 13 = HEBBAICA, 18, 221.
(2) For fSL pnic cf. Jer. 2,21 ; Gen. 49,11 and Abulwalld's explanation
quoted in Gesenius' Jesaia, part 1 (Leipzig, 1821), p. 231 (repeated
in his Thesaurus): ^jXj (JjjwJ! *J jLib* ^^X. 1 ' i>*^>t J&
(LiJU . Cr T (i. e., Fragmenta rescripta Tischendorfiana Isaiae
prophetae) has a/tireXov truprjn, 3 electam, & }_oxaA, vines. A good
German equivalent would be rother Gutedel.
Winckler, AoF 1, 350, proposes to read f\j, instead of bl>C; but
cf. Mark 12,1.
fS ISIinn is a superfluous scribal expansion.
The third b^E of v. 3, f D'^ip ton D'a^mWb Ip^l , is
a scribal expansion derived from the second b'lfl'E of v. 4. Both
there and in the present gloss fSL niiC7 represents a subsequent
addition ; cf. ESTEb Ij^l (v. 7 e ) and 59,9. 11. 3 inserts ut faceret
not only in w. 2. 4 but also in v. 7: et expectavi ut faceret judicium.
The expression Q"2r? SnllSyb n p^1j without an indication of the
different subject of ni'^J, is illogical; flS D" 1 !!? nYwb 1p"*l is
generally supposed to mean, He (my friend) expected that it (the
** .. _ * f y
vineyard) would bear grapes (S | m\ , nM? ^aa?o) ; but this would
require at least the insertion of ib > D^3-? Hliuyb ib Ip^l
For D^IC-JO ir7"1 see my remarks in HEBBAICA, 19, 138, n. 20.
For Q^fcO (3 labruscae, French lambntsque) cf. Gesenius' Jesaia,
part 1, p'; 233; part 2, p. 364, and ZDPV 1888, p. 160 (cited by
Marti).
(3) ffl nrui at the beginning of stanzas II and III (vv. 3. 5) is due to
scribal expansion.
J5 transposes fSL DblDlT UlTV an d nilH" 1T"^ 5 c f- niy remarks
on the Syriac version of Ps. 1 in HEBBAICA, 19, 137, n. 16 and below,
n. 5 of the Explanatory Notes on p. 201.
198 HEBRAICA
(4) M "^""Ob is a superfluous addition both here and at the end of
the first btZ352 of stanza III (v. 5).
$& ?1T2 is a scribal expansion. Logically it does not belong to
the first hemistich, but to the second : Why, when I had a right to
expect good grapes, did it bear worthless, small, sour berries ? so
correctly ARV and Hendewerk (see above, p. 194, n. *), p. 133 ; con-
trast Ernst Meier (see above p. 194, n. || ), p. 49.
For the insertion of tll'tiD? i n $& D"^-? niTZjyb instead of Q'Ojyb
see the note on gloss 8 (v. 2).
(5) Omit fSl niVl as at the beginning of v. 3.
The rhythm of the second hemistich would perhaps be improved
by transposing iW HiE? "OX 5 m this case we should have to read :
"OXTITE? TCXTlX , "OX being enclitic ; cf. the notes on v. 1.
For m iroVlDH read inSiDE * has a^r^e for m irOllOE
just as in v. 2 for M bl3E
fft C32"l/2b rrni 1*1" VIS is a gloss (or variant) to the preceding
b^232 > it may have been suggested by Hos. 2, 8. Cf. my notes on
Cant. 3, 8. 10 ; 4, 14 (see my Book of Canticles, p. 23, n. 14 ; p. 49,
n. 49), also my note on Ps. 45,16 in HEBRAICA, 19, 136.
(6) For IE nrQ point HPSl, from fifa, Arab, oo to cut (*&),
r T T - (^
vii to be cut off, decided, ended (.hpM); Assyr. buttutu 'to end'
(Delitzsch, HW 192 b ). Arab. mJaS means also to exterminate, to
^>
annihilate; cf. Heb. rH53 and tV"On> especially Gen. 41,36:
33>*G V*lXn n*l3*l . Bachmann proposes to read, following ffi
KOU dv^crco TOV dl/nrcXwva /AOU, "713 ( c f- 27,10).
fE "pJJp ^b is a scribal expansion of the following Jft T7y xbl ;
so, too, fR n n lSl TMTD r&Pli c/. 7,23; 9,17; 10,17; 27,4." With
the exception of 9, 17 all those passages are post-Isaianic.
Bachmann proposes to read S|b?1 instead of fK nb^lj following
T :
ffi T Kal avafirio-ovTai (var. ava/?^crcTat), 3 e ascendent vepres et spinae,
> Ij^ko )jcas aus ^U 5 c/. Assyr. elu 'to grow up' (Delitzsch,
HW 61 a , 4). Bachmann thinks that rr'H T321C does not stand in
the accusative (Ges. 27 , 117, z) but is the subject of pjby The clause
rriSl "I" 1 "- 1 !!! nbyl should therefore be translated, not: It shall
shoot up in thorns and briars (so Cheyne in SBOT), but : There shall
come up briars and thorns (so ARV). I believe, with Bachmann,
that rnEl ""^Slfl is nominative, not accusative ; but if the verbal
predicate precedes the subject, the plural is not necessary ; cf. Ges. 27 ,
145, o. In Prov. 24,31 the meter requires not only the omission of
the superfluous third hemistich D^b^H ITS *1&3 (see SBOT ad Zoc.)
\
but also the excision of "123 so that D" ; uJElp Jlbl? may be explained
in the same way as msl TEID tlb>? i- & Jib? niay be verbal
predicate to D'O'JJ'E Prov. 24,30-34 must be read as follows :
ISAIAH'S PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD 199
:nb-icn D'IS on;p-b:n troy bxrTC* rnic-b* 30
inciro r TDI "D-oteB nby ram 31
a ^nnpb TYWI aa rr- ^nrwi 32
'i i i i i
DT psan-tara maiDn BSE maw-tara 33
r I I | | ~
Tir&c -pbrrai wn -jbnED ni 34
II' ' IV I | - I
32 (y) Dnn T3B 1DD 31 O) 3 30 ()
Also in Is. 34, 13 we had better read :
a rrim "wiap D^-D srnbws'a' rfbm
is due to ntvm at the beginning of the following line.
In Is. 32,13 nbjri is Hif'Il (=rpJ32n); cf. my remarks in my
paper on The Beginning of the Judaic Account of Creation in the
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 17, 158 (1896).
Omission of f& by improves the rhythm.
fH "lt3"J a t the end of this verse is a superfluous scribal expansion.
(7) Syntactically niPP D"0 is predicate, and bjOUT FP2 subject.
iS r\1&O is scribal expansion. It is canceled also by Sievers.
&( nST^ seems to be a corruption of t2)"nz532 = T^IL'D (in Is.
52,14 it is better to read nffiSE instead of M t^rTC^j; cf. Heb.
(15T7) rvmsn; Eth. ftAm: sehta, to err, to sin; ft^tt :
sehtat, error, sin; (\d\n\ : sahata, to hurt, to injure; Syr.
P fc.
'(_:_- i-k- corruption, destruction ; Arab. \z*! suht, corrupt prac-
tice, undue profit, unlawful gain (o^J! _ " < ^~!) The t3
instead of f\ is due to the influence of the preceding n , just as
C is not unfrequently changed into 21 under the influence of an
p .
adjacent H; c/. i-js = )1CB Assyr. pussuxu, to appease, see
note 60 of my paper on Babylonian elements in the Levitic Ritual
(Journal of Biblical Literature, 19, 73) and KAT 3 610, n. 3. In the
same way we might combine Heb. 77,2!2 to sprout with Assyr.
s a m a x u (Delitzsch, H W 669^). In Ges.-Buhl", O n the other hand,
Assyr. samaxu is combined with Heb. JT2TD to rejoice and Arab.
^s4- to be high (Jtb. ^Lt) or to be proud (AiL? -^ t -') ;
cf. Lat. lucus laetissimus umbrae, &c., and 1. 8 of the fifth tablet
of the Babylonian Nimrod* Epic (p. 24 of my edition): tabu
cillasufjmal! risati; cf. Delitzsch, HW 607 b and Jensen's
inaccurate translation in Schrader's KB 6, 161 (ihr guter Schatten
* Cf. my remarks in the Critical Notes on Proverbs (SBOT), p. 33, 1. 17. It might be well
to state in this connection that I never believed that Nimrod was identical with the Kassite
ruler NazimaraddaS (see Cheyne-Black's Encyclopaedia Biblica, 3418) ; I only suggested,
nineteen years ago, that the name Nimrod might be a contraction of Nazirnaradda s ;
see my paper in the Andover Review, July, 1884, p. 94; cf. KAT3 581.
200 HEBRAICA
ist voll ' Jauchzens ;' this would be cillasu tabu rlsati mall;
tabu is, of course, predicate to cillasu); cf. my remarks on
Jensen's translations in my paper on The Beginning of the Baby-
lonian Nimrod Epic in the Journal of the American Oriental
Society, vol. 22, p. 9; see also vol. 16, p. ex, and Critical Notes on
Proverbs (SBOT), p. 60, 1. 39.
We might also read 1)11253 bribery, but tiiTCE is preferable ; in
T :
the first place the paronomasia between tDSlZI/J and 13)11253 is
more striking, and then the corruption of t3)l"X"- to JlSlT/G is
more easily explained : the last two consonants of t3FllCE3 were
transposed, and t3 was miswritten 2- Siegfried-Stade, s. v.
1131232 > suppose that this word was coined by the prophet for the
T :
sake of the paronomasia with t3TD13 Even if f&, HE'lDS were
T : T :
correct, it could not mean bloodshed, although Arab. ,\Juu means
shedding blood, tyrant (^A>*> i^j U ). For fiSTD we should
expect ^.BMI. Brown-Driver-Briggs, p. 705 b , thinks that the is
in nSiS33 was substituted for C Gres.-Buhl 13 compares
musaffah, thwarted, unsuccessful; cf. Assyr. sapaxu, to annihi-
late, break up, destroy (Delitzsch, HW 507 b ). In note 80 of his dis-
sertation on Paronomasia in the OT (1894) Dr. Casanowicz suggested
that nSiD33 might be a transposition of uJTUJE Assyr. saxapu,
to overthrow ; but we expect a word for injustice, corruption (<&
avofjiLa., 3 iniquitas). Cheyne's FHTE is impossible.
Before ffl np"I2b in the last line of the poem the rhythm requires
the insertion of a verb, either *|p n l, as in the preceding line, or
bri^l > or 7IFP1 > although this form does not occur in the OT.
It is not impossible that the original text read tiHlE/jb JlSHl a n d
np?:2b nsni i n the second hemistichs of the last two lines ; cf.
Hagg. 1,9: t53b HSHI H^rrb^ HbB 5 see note 3 of my
lecture on the Book of Ecclesiastes in Oriental Studies (Boston,
1894), p. 264; cf. Ges.2?, 143, e; $ 114, i, note 1 ; Wright-de GoejeS,
2,79.
This Isaianic poem may be translated as follows :
PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD.
Ill will sing of my friend, now, a song of his vineyard: 1
My friend has0 a vineyard on a spur that is fertile. 2
2 He h6ed it and cleared it, 3 and planted choice vines 4 (there);
He biiilt (there) y a t6wer 5 and he'wed out 6 a wine-vat. 5
(a) 1 my dear one of (j3) had (y) 2 in the midst of it
(S) 2 he 16oked for it to bear (choice) clusters, it b6re sour berries !
ISAIAH'S PARABLE OP THE VINEYABD 201
II 3Ye me"n of Jerusalem, freemen of Jiidah !
Be judges of my case 7 and that of my vineyard !
4 Could aught have been d6ne f that f did not d6 there ?
nl looked for* (choice) clusters, it b6re sour berries ! 8
III 5*1 will give you to kn6w what I purpose to d6:
Away with its hedges ! that cattle may br6wse there ; A
6 A waste be it henceforth, 9 M no spade ever delve it ! *
i The c!6uds will I summon to rain on it neVer.
IV 7 It is the vineyard of J'nvn, 10 the nation of Israel,
The freemen of Jiidah, His cherished plantation.
He looked for correctness, 11 but 16 ! corruptness! 12
He h6ped for c a n d o r, 13 but 16 ! there is clamor!"
() 3 and now () 4 with my vineyard (n) why (8) it to bear (i) 5 and now () with my
(A) break d6wn is its wall that d6wn it be trampled ! Oineyard
(p.) 6 it shall not be pruned and O) there shall shoot up thorns and briars
(I ) on (o) rain (*) 7 Sabaoth
EXPLANATOEY NOTES.
(1) This is the first line of the song. Duhm, Cheyne, Marti, follow-
ing Ewald, Propheteri 2 , 1, 306, consider the second line to be the
beginning of the poem ; they think that the first line is a special intro-
duction, but this view is erroneous. t
(2) Lit., on a horn, the son of fatness, i. e., the terraced slope of a
mountain exposed to the sun, with rich fertile soil ; cf. the Swiss Matter-
horn, Schreckhorn, Faulhom, &c., Lat. cornu montis, Greek xcpas TOV
opovs. AV M , the horn of the son of oil ; but KV M , a horn, the son of
oil. Cf. apertos Bacchus amat colles (Virgil, Georg. 2, 113) quoted by
Delitzsch and Orelli.
(3) Of stones, AV: gathered out the stones thereof; solum elapi-
davit, Pliny 17, 30.
(4) See above, p. 197 (2).
(5) Cf. Mark 12,1 ; Matt. 21,33: A certain man planted a vineyard,
and set a hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine-vat, and built a
tower. This is based on the Septuagintal rendering of our passage,
<5 V Ktti (jipayfjiov Trepiefli/Ka KOI e^apaxwcra, 3 et sepivit earn, et lapides elegit
&
ex ilia, &, transposing the two terms, 1-^J oi^lo CTM\IO he tilled it
and made a fence around it. AV translates therefore, he fenced it, or
(in the margin) he made a wall about it instead of he hoed it. RV, he
made a trench about it or (in the margin) he digged it. In the neigh-
borhood of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, &c., there are in almost
all the vineyards small round tower-like houses of stone, in which
202 HEBRAICA
implements are stored and the keepers housed. The owners live in
them during the vintage. Cf. Dillmann-Kittel 6 (1898) ad loc.
(6) Wine-presses and vats, excavated in the solid rock, are common
throughout Palestine ; see the cut in the translation of Judges, in the
Polychrome Bible, p. 68.
(7) Supply, says my friend. Cf. 2 S 12,5 ; Matt. 21,40.
(8) There is nothing humorous in the second line of v. 4, as Duhm
supposes. The prophet's friend (i. e. JHVH) says, I confidently expected
good grapes, but my vineyard bore nothing but worthless, small, sour
berries. I had a right to expect good grapes after all the trouble I had
taken.
(9) Cf. Is. 7,23-25.
(10) Isaiah does not say, My friend is JHVH, and his vineyard is
Israel ; he simply states, It is the vineyard of JHVH, i. e., the Israelitish
nation.
(11) Correctness of life and conduct, rectitude, justice.
(12) Corruptness, especially of the judges and other persons in power.
(13) Candor = fairness, impartiality, honesty, righteousness.
(14) Loud complaint of injustice and urgent demand for justice ; cf.
Exod. 22,22; Gen. 4,10. Dr. Horace Howard Furness, to whom I am
indebted for some valuable suggestions, proposes to render the last
couplet :
He looked for reason, but behold ! treason ;
For men loving duty, but lo ! those loving booty !
This last line might be used for the translation of the last but one line of
the Hebrew text. The last line of the poem might be rendered :
He looked for right, but behold riot !
(so Dr. Marcus Jastrow). We might also use justice and injustice,
honesty and dishonesty; but correctness and corruptness, candor and
clamor seem to me preferable.
(15) The Hebrew text uses the infinitive : (I purpose) to break down ;
so, too, in the preceding double-hemistich, Away with its hedges = (I
purpose) to do away with its hedge.
A 000126363 1