Judgment Missed and Demonstrated: In length and theme chapter 5 pairs with chapter 1 and closes a bracket around 2:2–4:6. Chapter 5 comprises a mock love song; a series of woes that will be completed in 10:1–4; and a warning about Yahweh’s outstretched hand that will continue in chapter 9. In contrast to 1:1–2:1 and 2:2–4:6, no positive note is struck at the beginning or the end. Chapters 1–5 come to a close as bleak as their opening. Rebellion and darkness ultimately bracket them.

5:1–7 The chapter opens with a lament for a disappointing vineyard. The readers of this book can easily work out what this vineyard stands for (see 3:14; also Ps. 80). For the original audience of Isaiah’s song, matters were more complicated. Cultivating a vineyard can be an image for courting someone (see Song 2…