I will now sing for my beloved The prophet says: “I will now sing for my beloved and in his place and as his messenger. [The word לִידִידִי would usually mean, ‘to my beloved.’] Similar to (Exodus 14: 4): “The Lord will wage war for you (לָכֶם), for you [not ‘to you’].”

the song of my beloved about his vineyard This is the song of my beloved that he sang for his vineyard, about his vineyard, as (Genesis 26:7): “And the people of the place asked about his wife (לְאִשְׁתּוֹ), about his wife [not ‘to his wife’].”

a vineyard in a fertile corner in a corner that produces fat fruit, like good oil.

fertile Heb. בן-שמן [lit. the son of oil, i.e.,] a corner fit for oil, for olives to produce oil, [like] (I Samuel 20:31) בֶּן-מָוֶת, [lit. a son of death,] fit to die. This is a parable, and at the end of the section, he will explain it.

And he fenced it in Heb. וַיְעַזְּקֵהוּ. He fenced it and walled it around, surrounded like a sort of ring, translated into Aramaic as עִיזְקָא.

and he cleared it of stones Heb. וַיְסַקְלֵהוּ. He cleared it of the stones that are detrimental to the vines, comp. (infra 62:10) “Clear of stones (סַקְּלוֹ מֵאֶבֶן).”

and he planted it with the choicest vines They are the best of all branches for planting.

and he built a tower in its midst A press in which to press the grapes.

and also a vat he hewed therein Heb. יֶקֶב, the pit that is before the press, to receive the wine. Likewise, every יֶקֶב in Scripture is an expression denoting a pit. Likewise (Zechariah 14:4), עַד יִקְבֵי הַמֶלֶךְ, which Jonathan renders, “Until the King’s pits.” This is the depth of the ocean. Therefore, the expression of hewing applies, just like (Deut. 6:11): “and hewn pits.”

and he hoped to produce grapes And my beloved hoped that this vineyard would produce grapes for him.

and it produced wild berries Heb. בְּאֻשִׁים. Similar to grapes, and they are called lanbrojjses in O.F.

I will remove its hedge I will remove the fence that covers and protects it. מְשׂוּכָה is a fence of thorns; גָדֵר is a fence of stones.

and it shall be [i.e.,] the vineyard.

eaten up For cattle and wild beasts will graze there.

And I will make it a desolation Heb. בָתָה, an expression of desolation and emptiness. Compare (infra 7:19): “in the desolate valleys (הַבַּתּוֹת).”

nor hoed Heb. יֵעָדֵר ; this is an expression of digging in a vineyard.

the shamir and desolation will come up Heb. שָׁמִיר וָשָׁיִת. Menahem ben Seruk interprets them as kinds of thorns (Machbereth Menahem p. 176), but I say that “shamir” is a word denoting a strong worm that splits stones, with which Solomon built the Temple, like the matter that is written (Ezekiel 3:19), “Like a shamir, stronger than rock.”

desolation Heb. שַׁיִת, an expression similar to (Lamentations 3:47), “desolation (הַשְׁאֵת) and breach,” an expression similar to (infra 6:11), “shall be made desolate (תִּשָּׁאֶה) [as a wilderness”; i.e., it will be] empty with no one seeking it to enter it, and thereby worms will overrun it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel To this vineyard are you compared, O House of Israel, for all that He did for this vineyard, He did for Israel. The vineyard represents Adam, for we find in Midrash Aggadah, in many places in Tanhuma, and in Genesis Rabbah [that] these passages are expounded concerning him, e.g., Adam was not expelled from Paradise until he reviled and blasphemed, as it is said: And He hoped to produce grapes,... (Gen. Rabbah 19:12). And in another place we find: He appointed guards over him that he should not eat from the Tree of Life, as it is said (verse 6): “And I will command the clouds...” (ibid. 21:8). And in this manner, [the following verses] can be expounded concerning him:

(1) My beloved had a vineyard. A vineyard This [alludes to] Adam.

My beloved This is the Holy One, blessed be He.

In a fertile corner in the Garden of Eden.

(2) And he fenced it in with the ten canopies mentioned in Ezekiel (28), in the section dealing with Hiram, king of Tyre.

And He cleared it of stones Of temptation, until he ate from the tree, and temptation gained entry into him.

And He planted it with the choicest vines The beginning of his formation was from the place of the altar.

And He built a tower in its midst And He breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life, from the heavenly beings.

And also a vat He hewed therein A spring flowing, the fountain of wisdom.

And He hoped to produce grapes that he would thank Him and praise Him.

And it produced wild berries putrid things; he reviled and blasphemed.

(3) Judge now Since the end of the parable comes to say that they too did like him, he asks them the judgment.

(5) I will inform you what I decided to do to him and I did.

I removed its hedge I expelled him from amidst his canopies.

And it shall be eaten up His end will be to die and to be ruled over by wild beasts.

Breach its wall I expelled from the enclosure of Paradise.

(6) And I made it a desolation I made him dwell in desolation, for I did not give the Torah in his days.

It shall neither be pruned nor hoed They will learn from him neither merit nor good deeds.

The shamir and desolation will come up Temptation ruled over him and his posterity, to perform corrupt deeds.

And I commanded the clouds I appointed guards over him to guard the way of the Tree of Life.

(7) For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel For the House of Israel is to Me like that vineyard; The ten tribes were to Me like a vineyard producing wine, like an olive orchard, in a fat corner, in a fat land, [producing anointing] oil for the priesthood, [anointing] oil for the kingdom, oil for the Menorah, oil for the meal offerings. I fenced them in first with the encirclement of the clouds of glory in the desert and I cleared them of stones, i.e., I cleansed them of the transgressors of the generation. I planted them with the choicest vines (שׂוֹרֵק) six hundred and six commandments, like the numerical value of שׂוֹרֵק, I added for them to the seven commandments that the children of Noah were commanded. I built a tower in their midst, My Tabernacle and My Temple, and also a vat, the altar and the pits [the pits by the side of the altar into which the remainder of the libations was poured.]

(2) And it produced wild berries They corrupted their deeds.

(3) And now, dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah who have not yet been exiled, please judge between me and between them concerning the evil that I brought on them; who sinned against whom? What more could I have done beneficial deeds for My vineyard, and I have not done for it?

(5) Now I will inform you Even you who anger Me, what is fitting in My eyes to do to My vineyard, according to all that I did to Adam, viz.

to remove its hedge I will remove My Shechinah from them, the Shechinah that covers them, as it is said (infra 22:8), “And He bared the covert of Judah.”

Breach its wall I will demolish its walls.

(6) And I will make it a desolation And I will make them forsaken [from Targum Jonathan].

It will neither be pruned nor hoed They will not be visited nor will they be supported. [from Targum Jonathan].

And the shamir and desolation will come up And they will be wandering and forsaken, represented by the שָׁמִיר וָשָׁיִת [desolation] of the vineyard, and regarding the vineyard itself in another place, it is rendered הֲבָאִי וּבוּר, desolate and fallow.

And I will command the clouds And I will command the prophets not to prophesy on your behalf [Jonathan]. Prophecy is analogous to rain, which the clouds receive from heaven; so do the prophets receive the divine prophecy.

The plant of His joy Comp. נָטָע (Job 14:9), but since it is in the construct state, it is vowelized with a patach, like (Num. 7:88) בְּקַר זֶבַח הַשְּׁלָמִים, “the cattle of the peace offerings.”

and He hoped that they would perform justice, and behold, there was מִשְׂפָּח, an accumulation of sin upon sin, like (I Sam. 26:19), “From cleaving (מֵהִסְתַּפֵּחַ),” also (ibid. 2:36), “Take me now into (סְפָחֵנִי).” Another explanation is that it is an expression of a lesion, and since it is a similar expression, for, in pronunciation, מִשְׂפָּח resembles מִשְׁפָּט, and so, זְעָקָה resembles צְדָקָה, it fell through divine inspiration into the prophet’s mouth.

Woe to those who join a house to a house Twenty-two instances of אַשְׁרֵי, fortunate, were said in the Book of Psalms concerning those who fulfill [the tenets of] the Torah, and Isaiah said twenty-two times, “הוֹי,” woe, concerning the wicked. Woe An expression of a cry of a sigh concerning the impending retribution.

those who join a house to a house They draw their houses one to the other, thereby taking the land of the weak poor man between the two houses, and so

a field to a field they draw near until there is no place No place for the poor man to live.

and you will be settled alone in the midst of the land You think that neither the Holy One, blessed be He, nor the poor, have a share in the land. His share of the tithes you are stealing, and the poor, [you are robbing] of their land, so that you alone will occupy it.

In my ears [spoke] the Lord of Hosts Said the prophet, Both my ears heard when the decree was decreed upon them by the Lord, and with an oath, “Truly, because of this thing, great houses will become desolate, yea, large ones and good ones, without inhabitants.”

For ten acres of vineyard And, because of the famine, the inhabitants of the house will be exiled, leaving no one dwelling in them. This, too, will be for your payment in kind for bringing one field near to the other field, for you have stolen the share of the Omnipresent in the tithe of the land.

ten acres of vineyard arpent in French, and I say that the amount of land requiring the work of one day with a yoke of oxen is called צֶמֶד, a yoke.

will produce one bath One measure of wine. A bath is three se’ah.

and the seed of a homer A place where a kur, which is thirty se’ah of grain, is usually produced, will produce an ephah three se’ah.

They sit until late in the evening to drink wine at night.

wine inflames them It burns in them.

harp and lute A lute has more strings than a harp. [Perhaps Rashi explains נֵבֶל as a lyre, which may have more strings than a harp.] Now why is it called נֵבֶל? Because it disgraces (מְנַבֵּל) all kinds of musical instruments. In Midrash Tehillim (81:3).

tamborine That was made of skin.

a flute A flute of reed, chalemel in O.F.

and the work of the Lord they do not regard And in the Torah of the Lord they did not look [from Jonathan].

and the deed of His hands they have not seen They pretended that they did not see His mighty deeds. Another explanation is: They did not praise Him in the morning by reciting, “He Who forms light,” nor in the evening, by reciting, “He Who brings on the evenings.”

because of lack of knowledge because their heart was without knowledge.

and its esteemed ones shall die of hunger Heb. וכבודו מתי רעב [lit. and its honor dead ones of hunger.] [Some editions add:] Payment in kind, corresponding to the satiety.

shall be parched from thirst Thirst corresponds to their elaborate drinking feasts.

Heb. צחה Aramaic for thirst.

Therefore, the nether-world has expanded Retribution corresponding to deed; they expanded themselves to swallow much food and drink, and they opened their mouth to swallow, so will the nether world expand itself to swallow.

and opened Heb. פָּעֲרָה.

without measure Without end; and why [did the grave open] without measure? Because these people had no measure or limit to their enjoyments.

shall descend There the splendor of Jerusalem.

And those who rejoice therein Heb. ועלז בה. [I.e., those who rejoiced in Jerusalem, or in all the Land of Israel, with the plenty they had there, will fall into Sheol, i.e., they will die.]

And man shall be humbled... and the strong of men shall be weakened. [after Jonathan]. According to the Midrashic interpretation (Sotah 48a), this is the Holy One, blessed be He. They caused Him to appear as a man who is stunned. [The expression originates in Jeremiah 14:9]. And so Scripture states (Deut. 32:18): “The Rock that begot you, you have weakened (תֶּשִׁי),” [interpreting the word as originating from תָּשׁ, weak,] and Scripture states [further] (Ecclesiastes 10:18): “Through slothfulness, the One Who frames His upper chambers will become impoverished.”

And the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted through judgment When He executes judgment upon them, His Name shall be exalted in the world. through judgment Jostise [justice] in O.F.

and the holy God shall be hallowed among the righteous remaining of you.

And lambs shall graze as their wont The righteous who are compared to a flock of ewes.

as their wont Heb. כדברם. According to their habit, with equity and with a measure, guiding their affairs with justice, like these lambs. [Variant reading: According to their habit, with equity and of their own, for there will no longer be wicked people in the world, who will rob them.] Our Rabbis expounded כְּדָבְרָם to mean: According to all that was spoken regarding them, [i.e.,] the consolations spoken for them.

and...the ruins of the fat ones the houses of the wicked, who are fat.

sojourners shall eat The righteous, who are like sojourners, shall eat them.

fat Heb. מֵחִים, meaning “fat,” as (Psalms 66: 15): “Burnt offerings of fatlings will I offer up.”

Woe to those who draw the iniquity They draw the evil inclination upon themselves little by little; at first with ropes of nothingness, like the thread of a spider web. And since it provokes them, it continuously gains strength until it becomes like cart ropes, with which they tie a wagon in order to pull it.

nothingness Heb. שָׁוְא, a thing that has no tangibility.

sin Heb. חַטָּאָה, sin.

Let Him hurry; let Him hasten His deed [i.e.,] the retribution He says He will bring.

so that we may see whose word will stand up.

Those who say of the evil that it is good They praise idolators [var. idolatry], but they consider it evil to worship the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is good.

who present darkness as light A thing which is destined to bring darkness upon them, they say, will bring light to them.

who present bitter as sweet Iniquity, [var. idolatry] which is destined to bring upon them bitter retribution, they say, will be sweet for them.

and sweet as bitter The sweet worship of the Holy One, blessed be He, they say, is bitter.

to mix strong wine Heb. לִמְסֹךְ. To mix (לִמְזֹג) strong wine. Preparation [of the beverage] is called מֶסֶךְ.

and the innocence of the innocent who are fit to be exonerated in court, they take away from him, and find him guilty in his suit, and rob him of his money.

Therefore this thing shall be to them...

as a flame of fire consumes stubble [lit.] as consuming the stubble a flame of fire.

and straw Jonathan renders: chaff, the straw of ears of grain; and like straw that the flame shrivels and turns to ashes.

like rot Like something that melts.

and their blossom Their greatness; just as the dust that is raised before the wind and goes away, so will it go away.

therefore [i.e.,] because of these deeds of theirs.

and the mountains have quaked [This is symbolic of] their kings and their princes.

like spittle Heb. כַּסּוּחָה, like spittle and vomit, which is expelled (נִיסָח) from a person’s body, which is repugnant. In the language of the Rabbis, it is called סְחִי and so (Lamentations 3:45): “Loathsome and rejected.”

in the midst of the streets So they will be loathsome among the nations.

with all this that has come upon them.

His anger has not turned back They have not been rectified with their deeds to cause His anger to turn back.

and His hand is still outstretched to harm them.

And He shall raise i.e., the Holy One, blessed be He. an ensign to the nations and signal to them to gather and to come upon them. Raising an ensign (נֵס) is like a long pole (כְּלוּנָס), at the end of which they attach a cloth, [i.e., a flag,] and they climb to the top of a lofty mountain and see it from afar; and that is the sign for people to gather. Comp. (infra 49:22) “And to peoples I will raise My ensign (נִסִּי)”; comp. also (Numbers 21:8), “And set it upon a pole (נֵס),” meaning a pole (כְּלוּנָס), perche in French, but since it is for a sign, it is called נֵס.

And He will whistle sibler in O.F. This too is a sign for gathering.

from the end of the earth that they should come from afar to besiege Israel.

swiftly he will come The enemy [will come] upon them [swiftly,] as Scripture proceeds to explain.

None is weary or stumbles among them No one will be weary and no one will stumble in his running, to fulfill (supra v. 19), “Let Him hurry, let Him hasten,” that they say before Him.

open up Heb. נִפְתַּח, an expression of untying, as (Genesis 24:32): “And he untied (וַיְפַתַּח) the camels.”

nor will...be torn And they will not see any omen of defeat, because of which to fear to come.

like flint Jonathan renders: like a rock, similar to צור.

and his wheels the wheels of his chariots.

He has a roar like a lion His fear will be upon you like a lion.

and he will retrieve He will save it from all those who try to save it. יַפְלִיט is esmoucer in O.F. [to seize].

And he will growl That enemy [will growl] at the people of the Lord, mentioned above.

like the growling of the sea whose waves roar, so will he come with roaring armies.

and he will look to the land Heb. וְנִבַּט, an expression of looking. Israel will look and hope that the kings of the land, upon whom they rely, will assist them, like the matter that is stated (infra 31:1): “Those who go down to Egypt for aid.”

and behold darkness for they will have no support. וְנִבַּט is in the passive voice (נִפְעַל) like וְלֹא נִפְתַּח, will not open up, וְלֹא נִתַּק, will not be torn, and the ‘vav’ causes the tense to be reversed to the future. Ediert esvuardeyd in O.F.

the distressed one and the light shall darken Comp. (infra 31:3) “And the helper shall stumble and the one who is helped shall fall.” He who is distressed, upon whom the trouble has come, as well as he who comes to bring light to him, both of them will darken. Some interpret צַר as the moon, whose light was diminished, צַר [meaning narrow,] and אוֹר as the sun, [meaning light].

in its eclipse Heb. בַּעֲרִיפֶיהָ. When its darkening comes. An expression similar to (Deut. 32:2): “Shall drip (יַעֲרֹף) like rain,” for so is the nature that when rain falls, the light darkens.