Isaiah 18:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 18:5
For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
harvest
קָצִיר֙ka.Tzir
H7105
severed · noun, common masculine singular absolute
bud
פֶּ֔רַחPe.rach
H6525
a calyx (natural or artificial) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
perfect
כְּתָםke.tom-
H8552
to complete · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
grape
וּבֹ֥סֶרu.Vo.ser
H1155
an immature grape · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ripening
גֹּמֵ֖לgo.Mel
H1580
to treat a person (well or ill) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
flower
נִצָּ֑הni.Tzah
H5328
a blossom · noun, common feminine singular absolute
off
וְכָרַ֤תve.kha.Rat
H3772
to cut (off · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sprigs
הַזַּלְזַלִּים֙ha.zal.za.Lim
H2150
tremulous · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
hooks
בַּמַּזְמֵר֔וֹתba.maz.me.Rot
H4211
a pruningknife · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
away
הֵסִ֥ירhe.Sir
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative) · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
down
הֵתַֽזhe.Taz
H8456
to lop off · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
branches
הַנְּטִישׁ֖וֹתha.ne.ti.Shot
H5189
a tendril (as an offshoot) · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 17:10-11 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant plea…
Song of Solomon 2:13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away…
Song of Solomon 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Ezekiel 17:6-10 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it becam…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 18:1–end
Interpreters are very much at a loss where to find this land that lies beyond the rivers of Cush. Some take it to be Egypt, a maritime country, and full of rivers, and which courted Israel to depend upon them, but proved broken reeds; but against this it is strongly objected that the next chapter is distinguished from this by the title of the burden of Egypt. Others take it to be Ethiopia, and read it, which lies near, or about, the rivers of Ethiopia, not that in Africa, which lay south of Egypt, but that which we call Arabia, which lay east of Canaan, which Tirhakah was now king of. He thought to protect the Jews, as it were, under the shadow of his wings, by giving a powerful diversion to…
For--rather, "But."
perfect--perfected. When the enemy's plans are on the verge of completion.
sour grape . . . flower--rather, "when the flower shall become the ripening grape" [MAURER].
sprigs--the shoots with the grapes on them. God will not only disconcert their present plans, but prevent them forming any future ones. HORSLEY takes the "harvest" and vintage here as referring to purifying judgments which cause the excision of the ungodly from the earth, and the placing of the faithful in a state of peace on the earth: not the last judgment (Joh 15:2; Rev 14:15-20).
John Gill on Isaiah 18:5
For afore the harvest,.... Or vintage: the above metaphor is carried on; before the designs and schemes of the people above described are ripe for execution, who promised themselves a large harvest of their neighbours:
when the bud is perfect; when the bud of the vine is become a perfect grape, though unripe; when the scheme was fully laid, and with perfect and consummate wisdom as imagined, though not brought into execution:
and the sour grape is ripening in the flower; things go on and promise well, as if the issue would be according to expectation, and there would be a good vintage. The sour grape may denote the temper and disposition of the above people against their enemies, their ill…
(Verse 5, 6.) For before the harvest it had flowered entirely, and immature perfection had sprouted, and its small branches will be cut with sickles, and whatever has been left behind will be cut off and shaken off. And they will be left with the birds of the mountains and the animals of the earth, and they will have perpetual summer over them, and all the animals of the earth will winter upon it. Because he had said of the south wind, and had sent a cloud of dew before summer and harvest, and had taken produce from the field, he will preserve it in the remains, describing the pride of Egypt and the devastation of its people, and the corpses throughout the province, which will be devoured by the birds. For just as the crops that spring up before maturity quickly perish, and the sprouts that germinate are useless before the proper time of growth comes; so, he says, the Egyptian people are cut down like useless branches with the sickle, and all their offspring will be stripped bare. And lest you think that he is speaking of the vineyard and not of men, he turns the metaphor into historical truth: And they shall be abandoned together to the birds of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. For birds and beasts do not eat the severed branches of trees, but rather devour corpses. Let us read more fully Ezekiel, where he prophesies against Pharaoh and against Egypt: and all these things we will find written very clearly (Ezek. XXIX). And he says: In perpetual summer, birds shall be above him, and all beasts shall winter upon him; either this signifies a multitude of those who will be slain, or by the same interpretation it shows that he will be laid waste by all nations.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Grape — The fruit of the vine, which was extensively cultivated in Palestine. Grapes are spoken of as “tender” (Cant. 2:13, 15), “unripe” (Job 15:33), “sour” (Isa. 18:5), “wild” (Isa. 5:2, 4). (See Rev.…
Hook, Hooks — Various kinds of hooks are noticed in the Bible, of which the following are the most important:
Knife — (1.) Heb. hereb, “the waster,” a sharp instrument for circumcision (Josh. 5:2, 3, lit. “knives of flint;” comp. Ex. 4:25); a razor (Ezek. 5:1); a graving tool (Ex. 20:25); an axe (Ezek. 26:9). (2.)…
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Implements of: The pruning-hook — Implements of: The pruning-hook
Branch · .Pruning of — .Pruning of
Emblems Of The Holy Spirit, The · Refreshing — Refreshing
Ethiopia · General references — General references
Hooks · For pruning — For pruning
Pruning · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Vine, The · Required to be dressed and pruned to increase its fruitfulness — Required to be dressed and pruned to increase its fruitfulness
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Isaiah 18:5
For when the harvest shall be at hand. Literally it is, "in presence of the harvest;" but we must soften the harshness of the expressions; and it cannot be doubted that the meaning of the Prophet is, that when the harvest is close at hand, and when the grapes are nearly ripe, the whole produce, in the expectation of which wicked men had rejoiced, will suddenly be snatched from them. The Prophet continues the same subject, and confirms by these metaphors what he had formerly uttered, that the wicked are not immediately cut off, but flourish for a time, and the Lord spares them; but that when the harvest shall be at hand, when the vines shall put forth their buds and blossoms, so that the sour…
The prophet knows for certain that the messengers may be home and announce this act of Jehovah to their own people and to all the world. "For thus hath Jehovah spoken to me: I will be still, and will observe upon my throne during clear weather in sunshine, during a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For before the harvest, when the blossom falls off, and the fruit becomes the ripening grape: then will He cut off the branches with pruning-hooks; and the tendrils He removes, breaks off. They are left altogether to the birds of prey on the mountains, and to the cattle of the land; and the birds of prey summer thereon, and all the cattle of the land will winter thereon." The prophecy explains…
your plans are ripening: Ethiopia had made every effort to form alliances to protect itself against Assyria, but its alliance with Judah would not help.
Rashi on Isaiah 18:5
For before the ripening of the harvest of Amalek and of Gog, when he has not yet filled his desire and his hope, that he plans to destroy his brothers.
when the blossom is past i.e., when its blossom is past and the grain is close to becoming ripe in its ears and before the buds of his vine become ripening grapes, ripened to the extent of being בֹּסֶר, i.e., when the grapes become as big as a white bean. This is called בֹּסֶר and also גֵּרוּעַ.
and he shall cut off i.e., the cutter shall cut off the tendrils; these are the branches and the boughs.
with pruning hooks sarpes in O.F. [serpes in Modern French].
and the roots These are the roots of the vines, called ceps in O.F.
he cut [them…
