The Meaning of Isaiah 5:17 Explained

Isaiah 5:17

KJV: Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

YLT: And fed have lambs according to their leading, And waste places of the fat ones Do sojourners consume.

Darby: And the lambs shall feed as on their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

ASV: Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then shall the lambs  feed  after their manner,  and the waste places  of the fat ones  shall strangers  eat. 

What does Isaiah 5:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Isaiah 5:1-17 - A Disappointing Harvest
In a picture of great beauty, Isaiah describes a vineyard situated on one of the sunny heights visible from Jerusalem. Every care which an experienced vine-dresser could devise had been expended on it, but in vain. The vine-dresser himself is introduced, demanding if more could have been done. When God selects a nation, a church, or an individual for high and holy work in the world and expends care and pains on the preparation of the instrument, and His plans miscarry through no failure on His part but through the obstinancy or obtuseness of the human soul, the measure of what might have been is the gauge of its doom. The worst weeds grow on the richest soil. This picture is the counterpart of Paul's dread of being a castaway, 1 Corinthians 9:27.
The six woes which follow, arising from drunkenness and avarice remind us of sorrows that menace the selfish heart. How different such a lot to the blessedness of the humblest soul that possesses God and is possessed by Him! "Evil shall slay the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be condemned. Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that take refuge in Him shall be condemned," Psalms 34:21-22. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 5

1  Under the parable of a vineyard, God excuses his severe judgment
8  His judgments upon covetousness
11  Upon lasciviousness
13  Upon impiety
20  And upon injustice
26  The executioners of God's judgments

What do the individual words in Isaiah 5:17 mean?

And shall feed the lambs in their pasture and in the waste places of the fat ones strangers shall eat
וְרָע֥וּ כְבָשִׂ֖ים כְּדָבְרָ֑ם וְחָרְב֥וֹת מֵחִ֖ים גָּרִ֥ים יֹאכֵֽלוּ

וְרָע֥וּ  And  shall  feed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָעָה 
Sense: to pasture, tend, graze, feed.
כְבָשִׂ֖ים  the  lambs 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: כֶּבֶשׂ  
Sense: lamb, sheep, young ram.
כְּדָבְרָ֑ם  in  their  pasture 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: דֹּבֶר 
Sense: pasture.
וְחָרְב֥וֹת  and  in  the  waste  places 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: חָרְבָּה  
Sense: a place laid waste, ruin, waste, desolation.
מֵחִ֖ים  of  the  fat  ones 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: מֵחַ  
Sense: fatling, fat one.
גָּרִ֥ים  strangers 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: גּוּר 
Sense: to sojourn, abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, be a stranger, be continuing, surely.
יֹאכֵֽלוּ  shall  eat 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.