One of the best commentaries...
Illustration
One of the best commentaries on this passage is Isaiah 5:1-7. Verses one and two plus seven were once sung as a brief response to the first collect following the Creation (Genesis 1:1-22) lection at the Easter Vigil. Life is a new creation and man's response was:
"Listen while I sing you this song,
a song of my friend and his vineyard on a very fertile hill.
He dug the soil and cleared it of stones, he planted the finest vines.
He built a tower to guard them,
dug a pit for treading the grapes.
He waited for the grapes to ripen,
but every grape was sour.
Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty;
the people of Judah are the vines he planted.
He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder.
He expected them to do what was right, but their victim cried out for justice.
"Listen while I sing you this song,
a song of my friend and his vineyard on a very fertile hill.
He dug the soil and cleared it of stones, he planted the finest vines.
He built a tower to guard them,
dug a pit for treading the grapes.
He waited for the grapes to ripen,
but every grape was sour.
Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty;
the people of Judah are the vines he planted.
He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder.
He expected them to do what was right, but their victim cried out for justice.
