80:8 You uprooted a vine 1 from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
80:9 You cleared the ground for it; 2
it took root, 3
and filled the land.
80:10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars 4 by its branches.
80:11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea, 5
and its shoots the Euphrates River. 6
80:12 Why did you break down its walls, 7
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 8
80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; 9
the insects 10 of the field feed on it.
5:1 I 11 will sing to my love –
a song to my lover about his vineyard. 12
My love had a vineyard
on a fertile hill. 13
5:2 He built a hedge around it, 14 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. 15
5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, 16
people 17 of Judah,
you decide between me and my vineyard!
5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard
beyond what I have already done?
When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,
why did it produce sour ones instead?
2:21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? 18
11:12 Now 20 the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 11:13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit 21 on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 11:14 He said to it, 22 “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. 23
1 sn The vine is here a metaphor for Israel (see Ezek 17:6-10; Hos 10:1).
2 tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”
3 tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”
4 tn Heb “cedars of God.” The divine name אֵל (’al, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
5 tn Heb “to [the] sea.” The “sea” refers here to the Mediterranean Sea.
6 tn Heb “to [the] river.” The “river” is the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. Israel expanded both to the west and to the east.
7 sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).
8 tn Heb “pluck it.”
9 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.
10 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.
11 tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.
12 sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.
13 tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).
14 tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.
15 tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).
16 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
17 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
18 tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 707 s.v. סוֹרִי.
19 tn Grk “one fig tree.”
20 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
21 tn Grk “anything.”
22 tn Grk “And answering, he said to it.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.
23 sn Mark 11:12-14. The incident of the cursing of the fig tree occurs before he enters the temple for a third time (11:27ff) and is questioned at length by the religious leaders (11:27-12:40). It appears that Mark records the incident as a portent of what is going to happen to the leadership in Jerusalem who were supposed to have borne spiritual fruit but have been found by Messiah at his coming to be barren. The fact that the nation as a whole is indicted is made explicit in chapter 13:1-37 where Jesus speaks of Jerusalem’s destruction and his second coming.