5:2 He built a hedge around it, 1 removed its stones,
and planted a vine.
He built a tower in the middle of it,
and constructed a winepress.
He waited for it to produce edible grapes,
but it produced sour ones instead. 2
18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will wait 3 and watch from my place,
like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, 4
like a cloud of mist 5 in the heat 6 of harvest.” 7
1 tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.
2 tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).
sn At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3-6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.
3 tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”
4 tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.
5 tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”
6 tc Some medieval Hebrew
7 sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.