1 In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sworde shall punish Leuiathan the piercing serpent, euen Leuiathan that crooked serpent, and hee shall slay the dragon that is in the Sea.
2 In that day, sing yee vnto her; A vineyard of red wine.
3 I the Lord doe keepe it; I will water it euery moment: lest any hurt it, I will keepe it night and day.
4 Furie is not in mee: who would set the briars and thornes against me in battell? I would goe through them, I would burne them together.
5 Or let him take holde of my strength, that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.
6 Hee shall cause them that come of Iacob to take roote: Israel shall blossome and budde, and fill the face of the world with fruite.
7 ¶ Hath hee smitten him, as hee smote those that smote him? or is hee slaine according to the slaughter of them that are slaine by him?
8 In measure when it shooteth foorth, thou wilt debate with it: hee stayeth his rough winde in the day of the East winde.
9 By this therefore shall the iniquitie of Iacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, to take away his sinne: when he maketh all the stones of the Altar as chalke stones, that are beaten in sunder, the groues and images shall not stand vp.
10 Yet the defenced citie shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wildernesse: there shall the calfe feede, and there shall he lie downe, and consume the branches thereof.
11 When the boughes thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come and set them on fire: for it is a people of no vnderstanding: therefore hee that made them will not haue mercie on them, and hee that formed them, will shewe them no fauour.
12 ¶ And it shall come to passe in that day, that the Lord shall beate off from the chanell of the riuer vnto the streame of Egypt, and ye shall bee gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
13 And it shall come to passe in that day, that the great trumpet shall bee blowen, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Ierusalem.
God's care over his people. (1-5) A promise of their recall to Divine favour. (6-13)1-5 The Lord Jesus with his strong sword, the virtue of his death, and the preaching of his gospel, does and will destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, that old serpent. The world is a fruitless, worthless wilderness; but the church is a vineyard, a place that has great care taken of it, and from which precious fruits are gathered. God will keep it in the night of affliction and persecution, and in the day of peace and prosperity, the temptations of which are not less dangerous. God also takes care of the fruitfulness of this vineyard. We need the continual waterings of Divine grace; if these be at any time withdrawn, we wither, and come to nothing. Though God sometimes contends with his people, yet he graciously waits to be reconciled unto them. It is true, when he finds briers and thorns instead of vines, and they are set in array against him, he will tread them down and burn them. Here is a summary of the doctrine of the gospel, with which the church is to be watered every moment. Ever since sin first entered, there has been, on God's part, a righteous quarrel, but, on man's part, most unrighteous. Here is a gracious invitation given. Pardoning mercy is called the power of our Lord; let us take hold on that. Christ crucified is the power of God. Let us by lively faith take hold on his strength who is a strength to the needy, believing there is no other name by which we can be saved, as a man that is sinking catches hold of a bough, or cord, or plank, that is in his reach. This is the only way, and it is a sure way, to be saved. God is willing to be reconciled to us.
6-13 In the days of the gospel, the latter days, the gospel church shall be more firmly fixed than the Jewish church, and shall spread further. May our souls be continually watered and kept, that we may abound in the fruits of the Spirit, in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. The Jews yet are kept a separate and a numerous people; they have not been rooted out as those who slew them. The condition of that nation, through so many ages, forms a certain proof of the Divine origin of the Scriptures; and the Jews live amongst us, a continued warning against sin. But though winds are ever so rough, ever so high, God can say to them, Peace, be still. And though God will afflict his people, yet he will make their afflictions to work for the good of their souls. According to this promise, since the captivity in Babylon, no people have shown such hatred to idols and idolatry as the Jews. And to all God's people, the design of affliction is to part between them and sin. The affliction has done us good, when we keep at a distance from the occasions of sin, and use care that we may not be tempted to it. Jerusalem had been defended by grace and the Divine protection; but when God withdrew, she was left like a wilderness. This has awfully come to pass. And this is a figure of the deplorable state of the vineyard, the church, when it brought forth wild grapes. Sinners flatter themselves they shall not be dealt with severely, because God is merciful, and is their Maker. We see how weak those pleas will be. Verses #12,13|, seem to predict the restoration of the Jews after the Babylonish captivity, and their recovery from their present dispersion. This is further applicable to the preaching of the gospel, by which sinners are gathered into the grace of God; the gospel proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord. Those gathered by the sounding of the gospel trumpet, are brought in to worship God, and added to the church; and the last trumpet will gather the saints together.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.