The choicest vine "Sorek"] Many of the ancient interpreters, the Septuagint, Aquila, and Theod., have retained this word as a proper name; I think very rightly. Sorek was a valley lying between Ascalon and Gaza, and running far up eastward in the tribe of Judah. Both Ascalon and Gaza were anciently famous for wine; the former is mentioned as such by Alexander Trallianus; the latter by several authors, quoted by Reland, Palaest., p. 589 and 986. And it seems that the upper part of the valley of Sorek, and that of Eshcol, where the spies gathered the single cluster of grapes, which they were obliged to bear between two upon a staff, being both near to Hebron were in the same neighbourhood, and that all this part of the country abounded with rich vineyards. Compare Num. xiii. 22, 23; Judg. xvi. 3, 4. P. Nau supposes Eshcol and Sorek to be only different names for the same valley. Voyage Noveau de la Terre Sainte, lib. iv., chap. 18. See likewise De Lisle's posthumous map of the Holy Land.

Paris, 1763. See Bochart, Hieroz. ii., Colossians 725. Thevenot, i, p. 406.

Michaelis (note on Judg. xvi. 4, German translation) thinks it probable, from some circumstances of the history there given, that Sorek was in the tribe of Judah, not in the country of the Philistines.

The vine of Sorek was known to the Israelites, being mentioned by Moses, Gen. xlix. 11, before their coming out of Egvpt. Egypt was not a wine country. "Throughout this country there are no wines;" Sandys, p. 101.

At least in very ancient times they had none. Herodotus, ii. 77, says it had no vines and therefore used an artificial wine made of barley. That is not strictly true, for the vines of Egypt are spoken of in Scripture, Psa. lxxviii. 47; cv. 33; and see Gen. xl. 11, by which it should seem that they drank only the fresh juice pressed from the grape, which was called oinov ampelinov; Herodot., ii. 37. But they had no large vineyards, nor was the country proper for them, being little more than one large plain, annually overflowed by the Nile. The Mareotic in later times is, I think, the only celebrated Egyptian wine which we meet with in history. The vine was formerly, as Hasselquist tells us it is now, "cultivated in Egypt for the sake of eating the grapes, not for wine, which is brought from Candia," &c.

"They were supplied with wine from Greece, and likewise from Phoenicia," Herodot., iii. 6. The vine and the wine of Sorek therefore, which lay near at hand for importation into Egypt, must in all probability have been well known to the Israelites, when they sojourned there. There is something remarkable in the manner in which Moses, Gen. xlix. 11, makes mention of it, which, for want of considering this matter, has not been attended to; it is in Jacob's prophecy of the future prosperity of the tribe of Judah:- "Binding his foal to the vine, And his ass's colt to his own sorek; He washeth his raiment in wine, And his cloak in the blood of grapes." I take the liberty of rendering hqr¨ sorekah, for wqr¨ soreko, his sorek, as the Masoretes do by pointing hry[ iroh, for wry[ iro, his foal. ry[ ir, might naturally enough appear in the feminine form; but it is not at all probable that qr¨ sorek ever should. By naming particularly the vine of Sorek, and as the vine belonging to Judah, the prophecy intimates the very part of the country which was to fall to the lot of that tribe. Sir John Chardin says, "that at Casbin, a city of Persia, they turn their cattle into the vineyards after the vintage, to browse on the vines." He speaks also of vines in that country so large that he could hardly compass the trunks of them with his arms. Voyages, tom. iii., p. 12, 12mo. This shows that the ass might be securely bound to the vine, and without danger of damaging the tree by browsing on it.

And built a tower in the midst of it] Our saviour, who has taken the general idea of one of his parables, Matt. xxi. 33; Mark xii. 1, from this of Isaiah, has likewise inserted this circumstance of building a tower; which is generally explained by commentators as designed for the keeper of the vineyard to watch and defend the fruits. But for this purpose it was usual to make a little temporary hut, (chap. i. 8,) which might serve for the short season while the fruit was ripening, and which was removed afterwards. The tower therefore should rather mean a building of a more permanent nature and use; the farm, as we may call it, of the vineyard, containing all the offices and implements, and the whole apparatus necessary for the culture of the vineyard, and the making of the wine. To which image in the allegory, the situation the manner of building, the use, and the whole service of the temple, exactly answered. And so the Chaldee paraphrast very rightly expounds it: Et statui eos (Israelitas) ut plantam vineae selectae et aedificavi Sanctuarium meum in medio illorum. "And I have appointed the Israelites as a plant of a chosen vine, and I have built my sanctuary in the midst of them." So also Hieron. in loc. AEdificavit quoque turrim in medio ejus; templum videlicet in media civitate. "He built also a tower in the midst of it, viz., his own temple in the midst of the city." That they have still such towers or buildings for use or pleasure, in their gardens in the East, see Harmer's Observations, ii. p. 241.

And also made a wine-press therein. "And hewed out a lake therein."] This image also our saviour has preserved in his parable. bqy yekeb; the Septuagint render it here prolhnion, and in four other places upolhnion, chap. xvi. 10; Joel iii. 13; Haggai ii. 17; Zech. xiv. 10, I think more properly; and this latter word St. Mark uses. It means not the wine-press itself, or calcatorium, which is called tg gath, or hrwp purah; but what the Romans called lacus, the lake; the large open place or vessel, which by a conduit or spout received the must from the wine-press. In very hot countries it was perhaps necessary, or at least very convenient, to have the lake under ground, or in a cave hewed out of the side of the rock, for coolness, that the heat might not cause too great a fermentation, and sour the must. Vini confectio instituitur in cella, vel intimae domus camera quadam a ventorum ingressu remota. Kempfer, of Shiras wine. Amaen. Exot. p. 376. For the wind, to which that country is subject, would injure the wine. "The wine-presses in Persia," says Sir John Chardin, "are formed by making hollow places in the ground, lined with masons' work." Harmer's Observations, i., p. 392. See a print of one in Kempfer, p. 377.

Nonnus describes at large Bacchus hollowing the inside of a rock, and hewing out a place for the wine-press, or rather the lake:- kai skopelouv elachne¯ pedoskafeov de sidhrou qhgaleh glwcini mucon koilhnato petrhv¯ leihnav de metwpa baqunomenwn kenewnwn afron [f. akron] eustrafuloio tupon poihsato lenou. DIONYSIAC. lib. xii., l. 331.

"He pierced the rock; and with the sharpen'd tool Of steel well-temper'd scoop'd its inmost depth: Then smooth'd the front, and form'd the dark recess In just dimensions for the foaming lake." And he looked "And he expected"] Jeremiah, chap. ii. 21, uses the same image, and applies it to the same purpose, in an elegant paraphrase of this part of Isaiah's parable, in his flowing and plaintive manner:- "But I planted thee a sorek, a scion perfectly genuine: How then art thou changed, and become to me the degenerate shoots of the strange vine!" Wild grapes" poisonous berries."] µy¨ab beushim, not merely useless, unprofitable grapes, such as wild grapes; but grapes offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous. By the force and intent of the allegory, to good grapes ought to be opposed fruit of a dangerous and pernicious quality; as, in the explication of it, to judgment is opposed tyranny, and to righteousness, oppression. pg gephen, the vine, is a common name or genus, including several species under it; and Moses, to distinguish the true vine, or that from which wine is made, from the rest. calls it, Num. vi. 4, yyh pg gephen haiyayin, the wine-vine. Some of the other sorts were of a poisonous quality, as appears from the story related among the miraculous acts of Elisha, 2 Kings iv. 39-41. "And one went out into the field to gather potherbs; and he found a Seld vine, and he gathered from it wild fruit, his lapful; and he went and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they knew them not. And they poured it out for the men to eat: and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, There is death in the pot, O man of God; and they could not eat of it. And he said, Bring meal, (leg. wjq kechu, nine MSS., one edition,) and he threw it into the pot. And he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was nothing hurtful in the pot." From some such sorts of poisonous fruits of the grape kind Moses has taken these strong and highly poetical images, with which he has set forth the future corruption and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an allegory which has a near relation, both in its subject and imagery, to this of Isaiah: Deut. xxxii. 32, 33.

"Their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah: Their grapes are grapes of gall; Their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of dragons, And the cruel venom of aspics."I am inclined to believe," says Hasselquist, "that the prophet here, ver. 2-4, means the hoary nightshade, solanum incanum; because it is common in Egypt, Palestine, and the East; and the Arabian name agrees well with it. The Arabs call it anab el dib, i.e., wolf grapes. The µy¨wab beushim, says Rab. Chai., is a well known species of the vine, and the worst of all sorts. The prophet could not have found a plant more opposite to the vine than this; for it grows much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to them; wherefore they root it out: it likewise resembles a vine by its shrubby stalk;" Travels, p. 289. See also Michaelis Questions aux Voyageurs Danois, No. 64.

Is. 5:1-7 Christ is God's beloved Son, and our beloved Saviour. The care of the Lord over the church of Israel, is described by the management of a vineyard. The advantages of our situation will be brought into the account another day. He planted it with the choices vines; gave them a most excellent law, instituted proper ordinances The temple was a tower, where God gave tokens of his presence. He se up his altar, to which the sacrifices should be brought; all the mean of grace are denoted thereby. God expects fruit from those that enjo privileges. Good purposes and good beginnings are good things, but no enough; there must be vineyard fruit; thoughts and affections, word and actions, agreeable to the Spirit. It brought forth bad fruit. Wil grapes are the fruits of the corrupt nature. Where grace does not work corruption will. But the wickedness of those that profess religion, an enjoy the means of grace, must be upon the sinners themselves. The shall no longer be a peculiar people. When errors and vice go withou check or control, the vineyard is unpruned; then it will soon be grow over with thorns. This is often shown in the departure of God's Spiri from those who have long striven against him, and the removal of his gospel from places which have long been a reproach to it. The explanation is given. It is sad with a soul, when, instead of the grapes of humility, meekness, love, patience, and contempt of the world, for which God looks, there are the wild grapes of pride passion, discontent, and malice, and contempt of God; instead of the grapes of praying and praising, the wild grapes of cursing an swearing. Let us bring forth fruit with patience, that in the end we may obtain everlasting life.

Is. 5:8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a fiel to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when the have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. Ho applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the mos populous cities. Those who set their hearts upon the world, will justl be disappointed. Here is woe to those who dote upon the pleasures an the delights of sense. The use of music is lawful; but when it draw away the heart from God, then it becomes a sin to us. God's judgment have seized them, but they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures. The judgments are declared. Let a man be ever so high, deat will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower. The frui of these judgments shall be, that God will be glorified as a God of power. Also, as a God that is holy; he shall be owned and declared to be so, in the righteous punishment of proud men. Those are in a wofu condition who set up sin, and who exert themselves to gratify their base lusts. They are daring in sin, and walk after their own lusts; it is in scorn that they call God the Holy One of Israel. They confoun and overthrow distinctions between good and evil. They prefer their ow reasonings to Divine revelations; their own devices to the counsels an commands of God. They deem it prudent and politic to continu profitable sins, and to neglect self-denying duties. Also, how ligh soever men make of drunkenness, it is a sin which lays open to the wrath and curse of God. Their judges perverted justice. Every sin need some other to conceal it.

Is. 5:24-30 Let not any expect to live easily who live wickedly. Sin weakens the strength, the root of a people; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms of a people. When God's word is despised, and his law cas away, what can men expect but that God should utterly abandon them When God comes forth in wrath, the hills tremble, fear seizes eve great men. When God designs the ruin of a provoking people, he can fin instruments to be employed in it, as he sent for the Chaldeans, an afterwards the Romans, to destroy the Jews. Those who would not hea the voice of God speaking by his prophets, shall hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them. Let the distressed look which wa they will, all appears dismal. If God frowns upon us, how can an creature smile? Let us diligently seek the well-grounded assurance that when all earthly helps and comforts shall fail, God himself wil be the strength of our hearts, and our portion for ever __________________________________________________________________

Original Hebrew