Isaiah 7:23 · Bible study
Isaiah 7:23 Commentary: The Splendor and Ruin of the Vineyard
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore Isaiah 7:23's image of a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels becoming briers, a picture of judgment and lost prosperity.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The most valuable vineyards in Judah will become a wasteland of thorns as a direct consequence of divine judgment through Assyria.
- Key words: ‘eleph (thousand), a numeral emphasizing the scale of loss; kesef (silver/shekel), the currency of value; shamir and shayit (thorns and briers), plants that signal neglect and curse.
- Main debate: Whether the thousand shekels represents the original high value (Barnes, Keil) or a bargain-basement price caused by desolation (Calvin). Both agree the contrast is stark.
- Theological theme: That prosperity is a gift that can be withdrawn when God’s people reject His protection and pursue their own strategies.
- Best use: A vivid illustration of the consequences of unbelief, balanced by the promise of a remnant and the Immanuel sign earlier in the chapter.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
WEB World English Bible 2000
It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, will be for briers and thorns.
KJV King James Version 1769
And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, shall be for briers and thorns.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And it hath come to pass, in that day, Every place where there are a thousand vines, At a thousand silverlings, Is for briers and for thorns.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver pieces, shall become briars and thorns:
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Acontecerá también en aquel tiempo, que el lugar donde había mil vides que valían mil siclos de plata, será para los espinos y cardos.
Será também naquele dia, que todo lugar em que antes havia mil videiras do valor de dez mil moedas de prata, se tornará lugar para espinhos e para cardos.
En ce jour-là,
Denn es wird jetzt zu der Zeit geschehen, daß wo jetzt tausend Weinstöcke stehen, tausend Silberlinge wert, da werden Dornen und Hecken sein,
Ook zal het te dienzelfden dage geschieden, dat iedere plaats, alwaar duizend wijnstokken geweest zijn, van duizend zilverlingen, tot doornen en distelen zal zijn;
In quel giorno, ogni terreno contenente mille viti del valore di mille sicli d’argento, sarà abbandonato in balìa de’ rovi e de’ pruni.
Stanie się też onegoż dnia, iż każde miejsce, gdzie było tysiąc winnych macic za tysiąc srebrników, ostem i cierniem porośnie.
И будет в тот день: на всяком месте, где росла тысяча виноградных лоз на тысячу сребренников, будет терновник и колючий кустарник.
「從前， 凡 種一千 棵葡萄樹、值銀一千 舍客勒 的地方，到 那 時 必 長荊棘 和蒺藜。
And it will be in that day that in every place where before there were a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels of silver, there will be nothing but blackberries and thorns.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 7:23
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Isaiah 7:23 belongs to a unit of judgment (vv. 21, 25) describing the desolation Assyria will bring on Judah. The “thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels” signals a vineyard of exceptional value, the shekel, as Barnes and the Cambridge Bible note, was about two shillings (or half a crown). Interpreters differ on the precise meaning of the price. Calvin reads the phrase as an idiom for “sold for a trifle,” arguing that a shekel per vine would be absurdly low; the desolation explains why such valuable land goes for nothing. Barnes, Keil and Delitzsch, and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, by contrast, see the thousand shekels as the original high value of the vineyard when it was productive, a measure of what is lost when the whole land reverts to thorns. Both readings agree on the essential point: the rich prosperity God gave will be reversed so completely that even the best vineyards become wasteland. The verse functions as the climax of the threat, leaving no doubt about the thoroughness of the coming judgment.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Original high value reading: The thousand shekels represent the vineyard's worth before the invasion, emphasizing the scale of loss (Barnes, Keil, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown).
- Bargain price reading: The price is a trifle because the land is already neglected and overgrown; the desolation explains the low price (Calvin).
- General hyperbole: The numbers are symbolic of maximum prosperity and its total reversal, not meant to convey a precise economic calculation (some modern commentators).
What is clear: The land that was once productive and valuable will, in the day of judgment, be overgrown with thorns and briers — a complete reversal of God's blessing.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of the thousand vines / thousand shekels | The phrase indicates a vineyard of considerable value, a benchmark of prosperity that will be destroyed. | Some (Barnes, Keil, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) read it as the vineyard’s original high worth; others (Calvin) read it as a low, fire-sale price, since a shekel per vine would be far below a vine’s true value. The debate turns on whether the price reflects pre- or post-judgment conditions. |
| Historical fulfillment | The prophecy found an initial fulfillment in the Assyrian invasions of the late eighth century BC. | Some interpreters limit the reference to the immediate Assyrian threat in Ahaz’s day; others see it as a pattern that recurred in the Babylonian destruction and even in later national calamities. |
| Connection to Song of Solomon 8:11 | Both passages use the language of ‘a thousand vines’ and ‘a thousand shekels,’ suggesting a shared cultural or economic reference point. | In Song 8:11, the price is the annual rent, a sign of abundance and order. In Isaiah, it becomes a sign of loss. Some see an intentional contrast, others merely a conventional expression for a valuable vineyard. |
| Tone of the passage | Verses 21, 25 are a threat of judgment, not a promise of comfort. | A few older interpreters (mentioned by Calvin and dismissed) tried to read the milk and honey of vv. 21, 22 as a blessing; almost all modern and Reformation commentators agree the tone is thoroughly ominous. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 7 sits in the midst of the Syro-Ephraimite crisis (c. 734 BC). King Ahaz of Judah faces an alliance of Israel and Syria and, despite Isaiah’s offer of a sign, refuses to trust Yahweh. Instead, he appeals to Assyria for help. The prophet warns that the very power Ahaz relies on will become God’s instrument of judgment (vv. 17, 20). Verses 21, 25 paint the aftermath: depopulation so severe that a man keeps only a cow and two sheep, the survivors eat butter and honey from untended flocks, and the once-cultivated hills grow only thorns.
Vineyards were the pride of Judah’s agrarian economy. A productive vineyard could be a source of steady income, and the price of a thousand silver shekels (about £125 in the 1880s, per the Cambridge Bible) indicates a plot of extraordinary quality, perhaps echoing Solomon’s vineyard at Baal Hamon (Song 8:11). The phrase “a thousand vines for a thousand silverlings” uses the same language as commercial contracts of the period; Burckhardt observed that Syrian vineyards were customarily valued by the number of vines. The judgment is therefore concrete: the most valuable real estate in the land will become impassable, fit only for wild animals and for hunters who must carry bows and arrows for protection (v. 24). Matthew Henry calls these “terrible threatenings” against a king who rejected divine help. The historical outcome, Assyria’s devastation of Judah under Sennacherib a generation later, made the imagery painfully real for Isaiah’s original hearers.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Isaiah 7:23. The Hebrew text is well established, with only minor orthographic variations in the Dead Sea Scrolls that do not affect meaning. The repeated use of yihyeh (it will be / it was) in the verse creates a distinctive temporal play, but this is a feature of the received text rather than a variant.
Reception History
From the early church onward, Isaiah 7:23 has been read primarily as a warning against the spiritual and material consequences of unbelief. The church fathers (e.g., Jerome) allegorized the vineyard as Israel, and the thorns as the sins that choke faith. The Reformers, particularly Calvin, stressed the justice of God in stripping away visible blessings when trust is withdrawn. Matthew Henry’s comment sums up the pastoral angle: “the loving-kindness of God shall not be utterly taken away… yet his iniquity shall be chastened with the rod.” In modern preaching, the verse is often used to illustrate that material prosperity is fragile and that national or personal judgment can come through the very means one relies upon for security. Some interpreters have linked the imagery to the parable of the tenants (Matt. 21:33, 44), seeing the vineyard as a consistent biblical symbol of God’s covenant people.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Prosperity as a gift that can be lost. The thousand vines worth a thousand shekels represent God’s blessing, the fruit of a land He promised to His people. The verse shows that such blessing is not unconditional; persistent unbelief can turn abundance into barrenness.
- The thoroughness of judgment. “Every place” where these valuable vines stood becomes briers and thorns. No vineyard is exempt. The description is intentionally slow and repetitive (Keil and Delitzsch note the “heavy, tautological” style), driving home that the loss is total.
- Remnant hope even in ruin. The larger passage (vv. 21, 22) includes milk and honey, signs of a surviving remnant. The same God who judges also preserves. Judgment is not the final word, the Immanuel sign (v. 14) overshadows the chapter.
Five-point outline
- The valuation: what does the thousand vines tell us about the prosperity of Judah before judgment?
- The instrument: Assyria as God’s hired razor (v. 20), a nation used to execute His purposes.
- The reversal: from cultivated garden to thorny wilderness, the land reflects the spiritual state of the people.
- The reason: Ahaz’s refusal to trust God (vv. 10, 13) set this judgment in motion.
- The response: how should we hear this warning without despairing of grace?
Illustration hooks
- Abandoned farmland. A traveler drives past a once-thriving orchard, now choked with weeds. The visible decay mirrors a deeper loss, of stewardship, community, and hope.
- A family business lost. A shop that supported three generations closes because of decisions made in a moment of fear, leveraging the wrong partner, neglecting the foundation of trust.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why would God destroy what He Himself planted? The vineyard was His gift; judgment is His sorrowful response to covenant-breaking.
- Does this verse still apply today, or is it only for ancient Israel? The principle of blessing and consequence remains, though its outworking differs under the new covenant.
- Is there any way back from such devastation? The chapter points to a remnant and to Immanuel, God with us, as the ground of hope.
Leading a Discussion
This verse serves as a powerful case study in how biblical prophecy uses economic language to speak about spiritual reality. The vineyard, a symbol of God’s care and Israel’s fruitfulness, is turned to briers. Your group may benefit from considering both the historical setting and the warning the text carries for any community that trusts in wealth rather than in God.
Discussion questions
- Read Isaiah 7:18, 25. What kind of picture does the passage paint of life after the Assyrian invasion?
- Why do you think the prophet specifies “a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels”? What does that detail add that a general statement of desolation would not?
- How does the vineyard contrast in this passage compare with the vineyard song of Isaiah 5:1, 7? What themes carry over?
- Calvin believed the price indicates a “trifling” sum, the land being sold cheap because no one would work it. Barnes and others see it as the original high value. Which reading makes more sense to you, and why?
- What does this verse suggest about the link between faith and material prosperity? How does it challenge easy assumptions either way?
- The surrounding passage includes hope (milk and honey for a remnant). How does that hope shape the way you read the judgment in verse 23?
- Identify one area of your life or community where you are tempted to trust in visible “vines” rather than in the Vinedresser. What would it look like to trust God in that area this week?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Song of Solomon 8:11 | Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon. He leased out the vineyard to keepers. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit. |
| Song of Solomon 8:12 | My own vineyard is before me. The thousand are for you, Solomon, two hundred for those who tend its fruit. |
| Isaiah 5:6 | I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” |
| Isaiah 32:12 | Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. |
| Isaiah 32:14 | For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks, |
| Jeremiah 4:26 | I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, before his fierce anger. |
| Matthew 21:33 | “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. |
| Hebrews 6:8 | but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the description of a thousand vines valued at a thousand shekels points to the most fertile, carefully cultivated land. His distinctive observation is that such land required intense cultivation to remain productive, so its desolation into thorns and briers would be especially striking, as Judea's neglected soil becomes remarkably barren.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin insists the drastic drop in land prices is not a fair valuation but a sign of total devastation. With no vine-dressers or laborers left, the most valuable estates sell for next to nothing because war has made the land worthless.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible highlights the irony that even vineyards costing a staggering sum for a thousand vines will be overrun by thorns and thistles. The high price only underscores the completeness of the ruin the Assyrian invasion brings, despite the land's former value.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note draws attention to the startling contrast: land once so valuable that a thousand vines would fetch a thousand pieces of silver will become overgrown with briers and thorns. The point is the completeness of judgment — what was precious is made worthless.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill pictures a complete economic and agricultural collapse: once-productive vineyards that yielded a thousand silver shekels will turn to briers and thorns. The catastrophe is not plague or war directly but simple depopulation, with no one left to till the ground.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB emphasizes the extreme contrast between the vineyard's former high value and its future ruin, noting that 1000 vines were each worth a silverling. He adds that Judea's potential for rich cultivation makes its current neglect-driven barrenness all the more striking.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the "virgin" in this passage was a specific, unmarried princess in Ahaz's own household who was already pregnant. He sees this as a punitive sign against the entire royal house, not a prediction of a future messianic birth. For Lange, the child was a type of Christ only in a secondary, typological sense.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes that even after comforting promises to Ahaz, the warnings are real because he is a corrupted branch of David's house. God's covenant love for David's sake will not be entirely removed, but Ahaz's own sin will still bring harsh punishment.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Of silver - Each of the thousand vineyards might have been sold or let for a thousand shekels, which was the yearly rent of some excellent vineyards.