Texts in Conversation
In Isaiah, a vineyard given every care yields sour grapes, and its owner resolves to destroy it. In the Shepherd of Hermas, a similar vineyard parable ends in reward, when a servant weeds vines he was told only to fence and is made joint heir for it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 5:2
Hebrew Bible
1 I will sing to my love—a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 He built a hedge around it, 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. 3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! 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? 5 Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. 6 I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.
Shepherd of Hermas 55:2
Early Christian
2 A man had an estate, and many servants, and on part of his estate he planted a vineyard. Choosing a trustworthy servant who pleased him and was held in honor, he called him and said to him, ‘Take this vineyard that I planted, and fence it until I come, but do nothing else to the vineyard. Keep this command of mine, and you will be set free in my house.’ Then the servant’s master went away on a journey. 3 After he left, the servant fenced the vineyard; and when he finished fencing the vineyard, he noticed it was full of weeds. 4 So he thought to himself, ‘I have carried out my master’s command. I will next dig this vineyard, and it will look better when it is dug; and with no weeds it will yield more fruit, as it will not be choked by weeds.’ So he dug the vineyard, and pulled up all the weeds that were in it. And that vineyard became very neat and flourishing, once it had no weeds to choke it. 5 After some time the master of the servant and of the estate came back, and went into the vineyard. Seeing it fenced neatly, and dug as well, and all the weeds pulled up, and the vines flourishing, he was delighted with what his servant had done. 6 So he called his beloved son, who was his heir, and the friends who were his advisers, and told them what he had commanded his servant, and everything he had found done. And they were happy for the servant because of the testimony his master gave him. 7 And he said to them, ‘I promised this servant his freedom, if he kept my command that I gave him; but he not only kept my command but also did a good work for my vineyard, and pleased me greatly. Because of this work he has done, I want to make him joint-heir with my son, because when the good thought occurred to him, he did not neglect it, but carried it out.’ 8 The master’s son agreed to this plan, that the servant should be made joint-heir with the son.
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Notes and References
“... parable is reminiscent of several biblical stories, yet it has its own unique development. A key difference is that most of the familiar vineyard stories are parables of destruction with unhappy outcomes, whereas this one has a happy ending. [...] Especially Isa 5:1-11; Mark 12:1-12, par. Matt 21:33-46 and Luke 20:9-19 [...] Isa 5:2 LXX uses both terms in a way that seems to assign [...] to the enclosure fence and [...] to the stakes ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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