A Form-Critical Study of Isaiah 5:1-7

as a Song and a Juridical Parable

GALE A. YEE
164 Rusholme Road
Toronto, Ontario M6H 2Y7

Willis1 presents cogent arguments

against various scholarly interpretations of Isa 5:1-7 as (1) an uncle's song,
(2) a satirical polemic against Palestinian fertility cults, (3) the prophet's song
concerning his own vineyard, (4) the prophet's song expressing sympathy for
his friend, God, (5) a drinking song, (6) a bride's love song, (7) a groom's love
song, (8) a song of the friend of the bridegroom, (9) a lawsuit or accusation,
(10) a fable, and (11) an allegory. He suggests, and I think correctly, that Isa
5:1-7 is a parable.
However, Willis's analysis of the text as a parable is disappointing. He
delineates the features of a parable (pp. 356-58), but he does not sufficiently
apply his definition to the Isaian text. Although maintaining that a parable
contains an intentional decoy so as to distract the hearers from, or (better)
draw them into, the speaker's experience and to pass judgment upon themselves (p. 357), he does not demonstrate precisely how Isa 5:1-7 does this. He
does not show how the parable functions in the text. Moreover, he himself
admits that he did not analyze the parable's relation to Isaiah's own designation of the form as a "song" (p. 359).
In this paper I wish to expand and make precise Willis's work on the Song
of the Vineyard. Anticipating my results, I submit that two similar but also
IN A RECENTLY PUBLISHED article, J. T.

J. T. Willis, "The Genre of Isaiah 5:1-7/' JBL 96 (1977) 337-62.

30

ISA 5:1-7 AS A SONG AND A JURIDICAL PARABLE 31

functionally different literary forms compose Isa 5:1-7, viz., a song and a
juridical parable. It is through these two forms that Isaiah manipulates the
southern kingdom, "the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah (5:3)," to
condemn itself.
The Form of Isa 5:1-7 and Its Structure
The prophet announces to his audience, identified in v. 3 as the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, that he wishes to sing the song of his
friend. Isaiah himself identifies the literary form of his message as a Sir. The
Hebrew words Sir and sir encompass a number of different types of songs.2
Scholars have interpreted Isa 5:1-7 primarily in terms of three of these types: a
drinking song, a cultic festival song, and an erotic love song.3
In concluding his own study, Willis asserts that Isa 5:1-7 is a parable
whose contents may be described as a parabolic song of a disappointed
husbandman.4 He rejects categorizing the whole passage as a lawsuit because
legal matters can also belong to genres other than a lawsuit, viz., a parable.
Nevertheless, I disagree with Willis that the element "song" militates against it
being a lawsuit and that the element "song" was combined with the element
"parable" simply to arrest the hearers' attention and draw them into the
event.51 suggest that the Song of the Vineyard be studied in light of the formal
aspects of a major OT song, Deuteronomy 32, which does contain a lawsuit.
In Deut 31:19 God, after a prediction of Israel's transgressions of the
covenant, commands Moses to write "this song." The word used here and in
Deut 31:21-22,30 and 32:44 is haSSr, the same cognate of Sir as that found in
Isa 5:1. The song will function as a "witness" (ced) against the people during
times of evil and trouble. The detail that Moses spoke the words of this "song"
in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel appears in 32:44 forming an inclusio
with 31:30 delimiting the unit.
The form of Deuteronomy 32 has been discussed extensively by G. E.
Wright, who finds that one basic form can be distinguished here, viz., the
covenant lawsuit or rib, even though present within the psalm itself is a
mixture of styles.6 The form of the lawsuit found in Deuteronomy 32 will be
outlined in the following:

See the discussion of songs in O. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament: An Introduction (New
York: Harper & Row, 1976) 87-124.
3 See J. T. Willis, "Genre," 337-48.
Ibid., 359.
5 Ibid., 350, 361.
6
"The Lawsuit of God: A Form-critical Study of Deuteronomy 32," Israel's Prophetic
Heritage: Essays in Honour of James Muilenburg (ed. . W. Anderson and W. Harrelson;

32 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY | 43, 1981

1 Deut 32 1Call to witnesses to give ear to the proceedings These are "the
heavens" and "the earth" addressed in 1
2 Deut 32 4-6Introductory statement of the case at issue by the divine judge
and prosecutor or by his earthly official
3 Deut 32 7-14Recital of the benevolent acts of the suzerain Recounted here
are major moments in Israelite historytheir election by Yhwh, the
wilderness experience, the conquest of the promised land, and Yhwh's
enduring covenantal love for his people in providing for their needs
4 Deut 32 15-18Indictment Yhwh's loving kindness towards his people is
juxtaposed with their infidelity in turning towards idols We have here
the formal complaint of the poet
5 Deut 32 19-29Sentence In the first person God now declares what he will
do to his people as a result of their unfaithfulness Note the hi clause in
28 7
It is important to note that for Wright the lawsuit in Deuteronomy 32
encompasses only vv 1-29 In the history of the tradition, this lawsuit was
expanded into a liturgical hymn containing motifs of the Holy War "Thus the
rib became a mode of confession, the hymnic portions resolving the tension
into an expression of hope and faith in God for deliverance " 8 Nevertheless,
the legal aspect of the song is still preserved in the final redaction since the
song functions in the text as a "witness" (ced) against the assembly during
periods of trouble due to their unfaithfulness
Isa 5 1-7 contains features which are analogous to Deut 32 1-29 In the
first place, both units are designated as a Sir, "song " Both deal thematically
with the contrast between the covenantal love of God for his people and their
infidelity Moreover, Isa 5 4b corresponds to Deut 32 15-18 as the indictment
in the form of a question Isa 5 5-6 corresponds to Deut 32 19-29 as the
sentence in which the vineyard-owner reveals what he will do to his vineyard
as a result of its unproductiveness
There are, however, differences in the two units In the first place, Yhwh's
benevolent acts in the Isaian passage are not as concretely expressed as in
Deut 32 7-14 Whatever activity the Lord expends on his people is couched
metaphorically in vv 1-2 Second, very integrally related to this first difference are the facts that the identity of Yhwh as the disappointed husbandman
as well as the identity of the offending party are not revealed until the end of
the unit Third, God functions as judge over the people in the Deuteronomy

London SCM, 1962)41-42 See also Huffmon, "The Covenant Lawsuit m the Prophets,"
JBL 78 (1959) 285-95 and J Harvey, "Le '/?/6-Pattern,' rquisitoire prophtique sur la rupture
d'alliance" Bib 43 (1962) 177
7
Wright, "Lawsuit of God," 34-35, 52-53
8
Ibid , 54-58

ISA 5:1-7 AS A SONG AND A JURIDICAL PARABLE 33

text, whereas in the Isaian passage "the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of
Judah" (v. 3) are asked to judge between the vineyard-owner and the vineyard.
These dissimilarities are due, for the most part, to the fact that two
different forms are joined in the Isaian text: a Sir embodying a lawsuit, which
I have discussed above, and a juridical parable, which I will discuss presently.
The "song" form is a "broken" form in this text, since it is not presented in pure
form.9 It is the juridical parable which "breaks" this form. An understanding
of both forms throws light on the logic of this passage.
The most extensive treatment of the juridical parable as a literary form is
U. Simon's analysis of Nathan's parable in 2 Sam 12:1-14. According
to Simon,
the juridical parable constitutes a realistic story about a violation of the law,
related to someone who had committed a similar offense with the purpose of
leading the unsuspecting hearer to pass judgment on himself. The offender will be
caught in the trap set for him if he truly believes that the story told him actually
happened, and only if he does not detect prematurely the similarity between the
offence in the story and the one he himself has committed.10
The main feature of a juridical parable is thus its intentional decoy which
provokes the hearer to condemn himself. Simon lists five examples of OT
juridical parables: 2 Sam 12:1-14; 14:1-20; 1 Kgs 20:35-43; Isa 5:1-7; and Jer
3:1-5. Agreeing with Long that the juridical parable does not adequately
describe the form of Jer 3:l-5, n I therefore eliminate it from my discussion.
The common element in the four remaining texts is the legal issue in which the
decoy is concealed. In the historical books the case is presented to the king,
while in Isaiah the case is delivered to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of
Judah. Each text to some extent follows a standard rhetorical pattern which I
would now like to examine, adding to Simon's study of such parables.
The Nathan parable of 2 Sam 12:1-14 follows the story of David's
indiscretion with Bathsheba and his subsequent order to Joab to place Uriah
at the battlefront. The narrative begins with Yhwh sending the prophet,
Nathan, to David. I outline the rhetorical structure, which will be a paradigm
for the three other parables, as follows:
A. Parable2 Sam 12:lb-4: Nathan presents to David for a legal decision the
"case" concerning the robbery of the poor man's ewe-lamb by the
rich man.
9

Ibid., 53-54 on "broken" forms in Deuteronomy 32.

U. Simon, "The Poor Man's Ewe-Lamb: An Example of a Juridical Parable," Bib 48
(1967) 220-21. Cf. W. Schottroff, "Das Weinberglied Jesajas (Jes 5, 1-7): Ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte der Parabel," ZA W82 (1970) 69.
11
B. O. Long, "The Stylistic Components of Jeremiah 3, 1-5," ZAWSS (1976) 387.
10

34 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 43,1981

B. Judgment2 Sam 12:5-6: David responds angrily to the case and utters an
oath, pronouncing a judgment of death upon the rich man and sentencing him to a fourfold retribution for the ewe-lamb.
C. Interpretation2 Sam 12:7a: Nathan, after David thus condemns himself by
his judgment, announces, "You are the man."
D. Recital of the benevolent actions of God2 Sam 12:7b-8: Yhwh himself
recapitulates his generosity towards David in the first person. (Jnki)
E? Indictment2 Sam 12:9: The accusation of ingratitude is expressed in a
rhetorical question beginning with the adverb maddac: "Why have you
despised the Lord to do what is evil in his sight?" An application of the
parable to David's heinous crimes follows.
F. Sentence2 Sam 12:10-12: The consequences of David's ingratitude are
introduced rhetorically by the adverb wcatt. In v. 11 Yhwh, through his
spokesman Nathan, announces the sentence in the first person. Note the
dramatic conclusion of the oracle marked by the particle hi, where
David's past deeds are juxtaposed with Yhwh's future deeds which result
from them.
The juridical parable in 2 Sam 14:5-17 follows a similar pattern. The
agent, however, is not a prophet but a "wise w o m a n , " disguised as a mourning
widow. She was sent to David by J o a b , who sensed that David was longing for
his exiled son, Absalom.
A. Parable2 Sam 14:5-7: The woman presents her case to the king: she is a
widow with two sons, one killing the other in a quarrel. The whole clan
seeks vengeance for the murdered son in the life of his brother: "Thus
they would quench my coal which is left and leave to my husband neither
name nor remnant upon the face of the earth" (v. 7).
B. Judgment2 Sam 14:8-11: The woman manipulates the king to pronounce
an oath and pass the judgment that her son will not be destroyed.
E. Indictment2 Sam 14:13a: The accusation of the offense "against the people
of God" is phrased in a rhetorical question (wlmm), as in the Nathan
parable.
C. Interpretation2 Sam 14:13b-14: The interpretation of the woman's parable
begins with the particle hi: "for in giving this decision the king convicts
himself, inasmuch as he does not bring his banished one home again."
F. Sentence2 Sam 14:15-17: With wcatt the woman returns to her own case
although there remains a "double entendre" in her words, in that she
appears to be describing her own case when, in fact, she refers to the
king's situation. 12 Because of the delicate balance the woman must
maintain between her function as the defendant appealing for mercy and

12

H. W. Hertzberg, I & IISamuel: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964) 333.

ISA 5:1-7 AS A SONG AND A JURIDICAL PARABLE 35

the accuser of the king, the sentence takes the form of what the king will
do in response to her: "For (ki) the king will hear and deliver his servant
from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together
from the heritage of God" (v. 16).
The juridical parable of the woman at Tekoa departs from the Nathan
form in the absence of D The recital of the benevolent actions of God. This is
also true of the juridical parable found in 1 Kgs 20:35-43. In this episode the
spokesman is another prophet whose mode of concealment is a bandage over
his wounds. King Ahab has just covenanted himself with the enemy,
Ben-Hadad.
A. Parable1 Kgs 20:39-40a: The disguised prophet presents his "case" to the
king: A soldier had entrusted a prisoner of war to him, threatening that
should this man escape, "your life shall be for his life, or else you pay a
talent of silver." This prisoner did escape when his keeper was
preoccupied.
B. Judgment1 Kgs 20:40b: The king declares: "Soshallyourjudgmentbe;you
yourself have decided it," thus condemning himself.
C. Interpretation^. Indictment and F'. Sentence1 Kgs 20:41-42. The prophet
removes his disguise and is recognized by the king as one of the spokesmen of God. The interpretation of the parable is found in the statement
which both indicts and sentences the king: "Because you have let go out
of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your
life shall go for his life and your people for his people." Note that the
indictment/sentence is formulated in the divinefirstperson and that the
sentence echoes the parable itself, making an immediate application.
Before an examination of Isa 5:1-7 I would like to summarize the results
thus far on the OT juridical parable. First of all, the three juridical parables
and the lawsuit in the Sir of Deuteronomy 32 are formally similar. They all
contain an indictment and sentence. Moreover, the Nathan parable shares the
recapitulation of God's acts found in Deut 32:7-14.
In two of the three juridical parables prophets are sent to the kings; in the
third, a gifted woman. In each example the real situation of the king is masked
in the parable. After the parable is related, an oath is pronounced by the king
in two instances before he gives the judgment on the "case." The oath serves to
clinch the condemnation which the king brings upon himself. Only the Nathan
parable has a short application of the parable to David and a recital of God's
benevolence immediately following the king's judgment. All three instances
contain an indictment. Two of these are phrased in a rhetorical question, with
maddac for 2 Sam 12:9 and wlmm for 2 Sam 14:13a. Moreover, the
interpretation of the parables is found in all three cases. In the Nathan parable
the indictment of 2 Sam 12:9 is an expansion of the immediate interpretation

36 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY | 43, 1981

in v. 7a. In the woman's parable the interpretation follows the indictment with
the particle ki. In the 1 Kings parable the interpretation is implied in the
indictment itself. Finally, all the cases contain a sentencing of the royal
offender. In both the Nathan parable and the 1 Kings parable, the sentence is
announced in the divine first person. This is not the case for the woman's
parable because of her sensitive role as both defendant in the case and accuser
of the king. Noteworthy is the fact that in both of the 2 Samuel parables, the
sentencing begins with wcatt and closes with ki. We can now assess the
Isaian parable in light of the other juridical parables discussed.
Isa 5:1-7 follows the form of the juridical parable but with a significant
modification:
A. ParableIsa 5:lb-2: Within the framework of a "song" Isaiah presents the
"case" about his friend and the unproductiveness of the choice vines
which he planted in his vineyard.
B. JudgmentIsa 5:3: After the "case" is laid out, the speaker changes to the
vineyard-owner himself who requests the inhabitants of Jerusalem and
men of Judah to judge the proceedings accordingly.
D. Recital of benevolent actions of GodIsa 5:4a: There is no immediate interpretation of the parable or indictment following the judgment as in the
other OT parables. However, like the Nathan parable and the song of
Deuteronomy 32, the vineyard-owner in the first person recounts his
positive activity for the vineyard in a rhetorical question.
E. IndictmentIsa 5:4b: The accusation is also formulated in a rhetorical question, beginning with madduac like the Nathan parable. The major complaint is the fact that although choice vines were planted, rotten grapes
were produced.
F. SentenceIsa 5:5-6: In the first person emphasized rhetorically by the pronoun Dni9 the vineyard-owner reveals what he will do to the vineyard as a
result of its unfruitfulness. The use of the first person for God who gives
the sentence is also found in the Nathan parable, in the 1 Kings parable,
and in Deuteronomy 32. Observe furthermore that the sentence, as in the
two 2 Samuel parables, begins with the adverb wcatt.
C. InterpretationIsa 5:7: Signalled by the particle ki as in 2 Sam 14:13b, the
interpretation unveils the real identities involved in the case.13
The major departure from form in Isa 5:1-7 is the positioning of the
interpretation as the final part of the song. Moreover, a rhetorical question in
5:4a recapitulates the labor expended by the vineyard-owner on behalf of his
vineyard which is found in the Nathan parable, but not in the other OT
parables studied. Another difference in the Song of the Vineyard from the

13

J. Muilenburg, "The Linguistic and Rhetorical Usages of the Particle ki in the Old
Testament," HUCA 32 (1961) 146.

ISA 5:1-7 AS A SONG AND A JURIDICAL PARABLE 37

other parables is not a formal one. The others are addressed to the king for
decision, and in his judgment he condemns himself. In Isaiah, on the other
hand, the "inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah" are requested to judge
the vineyard. Implied in the text is their denunciation and thus their own
subsequent conviction. The condemnation brought upon themselves by their
judgment would only be complete if, in fact, they believe that the vineyard is
liable and that it represented something other than themselves. The ultimate
revelation of their guilt appears in the climactic interpretation of v. 7 which is
the most rhetorically brilliant feature of the text.
Isa 5:7 has been variously interpreted by a number of scholars. H.
Wildberger, although admitting that the expression "house of Israel" can be
used to refer specifically to the northern kingdom, asserts that in Isa 5:7
"house of Israel" indubitably stands in parallel with and not in opposition to
"men of Judah." Moreover, both concepts are identical with "the inhabitants
of Jerusalem" and "men of Judah" in v. 3.14 F. Delitzsch,15 E. Young,16 and O.
Kaiser17 do not find precise synonyms in the chiasmus but rather consider the
"house of Israel" as the whole nation with the "men of Judah" as a part within
the whole. G. B. Gray seems to leave open the question of the identity of the
"house of Israel,"18 while E. A. Leslie identifies it as the northern kingdom.19
For specific reasons I prefer understanding the concept, "house of Israel"
as the northern kingdom. In the first place, the term "house of Israel" never
occurs elsewhere in the Hebrew scriptures in a synonymous parallel with
either "men of Judah" or "inhabitants of Jerusalem." Against Wildberger I
think it is quite significant that in Hosea and Amos, prophets just prior to
Isaiah, and in Micah, Isaiah's southern contemporary, every instance of bet
yisr^lrefers to the north.20 Even the later prophet Jeremiah in many instances carries on the tradition of referring to the north as bet yisrDl.21 Isaiah
prophesied then in a milieu which did characterize the north as the "house
of Israel."
In the second place, bt yisr^lis unmasked in Isa 5:7 as the "vineyard of
the Lord of Hosts." Similar imagery of a vine/vineyard representing the
14
Jesaja 1-12 (BKAT X/l; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1972) 172. So also G.
Fohrer, Das Buch Jesaja, Band 1 (Stuttgart: Zwingli, 1966) 78.
15
Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah (Edinburgh: Clark, 1898) 153.
16
The Book of Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 1. 203.
17
Isaiah 1-12: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1972)61.
18
For Gray (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Isaiah [ICC 15;
Edinburgh: Clark, 1928] 87) the expression could refer to the north. However, this equation
would be improbable in light of the distinct limitation to Judah in v. 3. It could also be a synonym
for Judah as Israel, but this usage would be rare before the fall of Samaria.
19
Isaiah (New York: Abingdon, 1963)31-32.
20
Hos 1:4, 6; 5:1; 6:10; 12:1; Amos 5:1, 3, 4, 25; 6:1, 14; 7:10; 9:9; Mie 1:5; 3:1, 9.

38 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY | 43, 1981

people is associated with the northern kingdom. Thus we read in Hosea:
Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. (Hos 10:1)
Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. (Hos 9:10)
They (Israel) shall blossom as the vine. (Hos 14:8)
In Psalm 80, which scholars such as Eissfeldt, Mowinckel, Weiser, Briggs,
Sabourin, and Dahood believe has a northern provenance, Israel is presented
as a vine in language very reminiscent of God's activity in his vineyard in Isa
5:1-7. All of the scholars cited, with the exception of Briggs, would date this
psalm during the last days of the northern kingdom probably after the
successful campaigns of Tiglath-pileser against the north of 734-32 B.C. If
these scholars are correct, we have further evidence that during the time of
Isaiah the north was described in vine imagery.22
If it would have been customary around Isaiah's time to refer to the
northern kingdom by this motif, Isaiah's hearers, the men of Judah, being
deceived by a parable concerning a vineyard, could quite conceivably identify
the vineyard with the north and judge against their rival nation. We must
realize that at the time when Isaiah wrote this text, Israel was stripped of much
of its territory by Tiglath-pileser. Thus the sentencing the parable had begun
to come true. Because of the north's transgressions, God had, in fact, removed
the hedge, and it was devoured. God had broken down its wall, and it was
being trampled by the Assyrians. It would not be difficult to picture the
Judeans very smug upon hearing Isaiah's words and easily condemning the
north. The interpretation in Isa 5:7, therefore, reveals that, although the
vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the north, the favorite plant of the Lord and
ultimate offender of Yhwh is Judah. Isaiah was warning Judah, who was as
morally and politically decadent as Israel, that it will suffer the same fate as
Israel if it does not repent.
The dynamics of the text are such that the Judeans are led to believe that
the vineyard is Israel, that they judge and condemn it and witness Yhwh's
prediction to wipe it out. Moreover, the interpretation reveals that the vineyard is indeed Israel. However, with an ironic twist the interpretation also
discloses that Judah, whose own situation was analogous to the north's, is the

21

Jer 2:4; 3:18; 5:1; 11:10, 17; 13:11; 31:27, 31; 33:14; 48:13.
Cf. also Mie 1:6. I realize that Jeremiah frequently described the south with the plant
motif. In fact, the theme of a choice vine, srq, turning renegade appears in Jer 2:21 just as in Isa
5:1 -7. (Cf. the plant motif in Jer 6:9; 12:2; 18:9; 24:6; 32:41 ; 42:10; 45:4). Jeremiah however is much
later than Isaiah, and so also is the second song of the vineyard text in Isa 27:2-7. There is
probably no reason why the southern kingdom could not also have been described as a vineyard
around the time of Isaiah, but we unfortunately do not have texts. We do have evidence for such a
motif for the north.
22

ISA 5:1-7 AS A SONG AND A JURIDICAL PARABLE 39

real transgressor in the song. This brief disclosure has the same overwhelming
impact as Nathan's short declaration to David: "You are the man."
Since the success of the juridical parable depends on concealing the real
situation addressed in the parable from its hearers, the analogy between the
choice vines planted in the vineyard and the men of Judah as "his favorite
plant" cannot be pressed so far as to consider the south responsible for the
north's dilemma.23 The primary purpose of the parable is deception intended
to manipulate the Judeans into condemning a corrupt condition of which they
too are guilty. U. Simon has concluded likewise with regard to the Nathan
parable which lacks a motive paralleling Uriah's slaying and a parallel in
David's situation to the unexpected traveller of the parable.24
I would now like to make a few remarks concerning the interrelationship
between the song and the juridical parable. I noted above the formal similarity
between a song based on a lawsuit in Deuteronomy 32 and Isa 5:1-7 which is
entitled a "song." Both contain an indictment and sentence. Both furthermore
deal with the relationshp of God with his people: the graciousness of God is
recounted vis--vis the disloyalty of the people. However, I also pointed out
the dissimilarities between Deuteronomy 32 and Isa 5:1-7. In the latter parable
the explicitness of God's actions for his people is obfuscated. The identities of
God and the offenders are not revealed until the very end after the sentence of
the vineyard-owner has been given. Isaiah's decoy, the intentional veiling of
the real transgressor, differs from the other juridical parables because of its
relationship with the "song." The "cases" in the other parables are truly
fictional situations similar to the king's own predicaments. The "song," on the
other hand, articulates a real situation between God and his people. The
vineyard-decoy, therefore, represents figuratively a real situation used as a
subterfuge by Isaiah to trap Judah.
Conclusion
The Isaian text is a "song" addressed to Judah who would be familiar
with the usual content of songs, viz., the covenant between Yhwh and his
people. Moreover, the Judeans would also appreciate the fact that in certain
songs God indicts and sentences his people. These songs would indeed function as "witness" (ced) against those who are unfaithful in their own part of the

23

The recurring motif in Isaiah's parable, in his indictment, and in his interpretation is the
fact that the owner expected choice grapes but rotten grapes were yielded (vv. 2b, 4b, 7b). In spite
of the best growing conditions for the vineyard and the labor of the keeper himself, the vineyard is
unfruitful. The blame for the vineyard's unfruitfulness lies solely with the srq which the owner
planted in the vineyard.
24
"The Poor Man's Ewe-Lamb," 226.

40 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY | 43, 1981

covenant. This being so, the prophet after announcing a "song" to Judah
introduces secretively at this point the parable which deals with a vineyard
whose vines fail to yield their best. In a milieu which did regard the northern
kingdom in terms of vine imagery, the men of Judah predictably equate the
two in the parable, unaware that the "case" is designed to provoke their
own condemnation.
Conjoined in Isa 5:1-7, then, are two literary forms: a song and a juridical
parable. Both types have formal and functional similarities. Within the overall
framework of a song the parabolic element operates covertly to bring about
the hearers' own judgment against themselves.25 Viewed from this functional
aspect to convict its audience, previous interpretations of Isa 5:1-7 as allegory,
fable, erotic love poem, etc. are inadequate.

25
The NT parables at times function similarly. See especially Luke 10:30-35; 7:41-43 and
Matt 21:28-32. Fora study of the juridical aspect of such parables, see K. Berger, "Materialen zu
Form und berlieferungsgeschichte neutestamentlicher Gleichnisse," 15 (1973) 1-37.

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