Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.
(61) Much difference exists among critics as to the meaning of the two first clauses of this verse. The two words which create the difficulty are בוקק and שוה. The first word in the three other places, Isaiah 24:1, Jeremiah 51:2, and Nahum 2:2, where it alone occurs, means, “to empty thoroughly,” or “to make wholly empty:” and when applied to the vine, as here, it seems to signify vine that fully empties itself of its juices, so as to bear fruit abundantly. This view is favored by the Septuagint, ευκληματουσα, well-branching, luxuriant, and by Symmachus, υλομανουσα, wildly luxuriant, and is adopted by Bishop Horsley, who renders it, “yielding.” The other word, שוה, means “to equal,” or “to be equal,” and in no case, properly, “to lay up,” as Calvin takes it. Then the literal rendering of these words, פרי ישוה לו, is, “the fruit is equal to it;” i.e. the fruit is suitable to the vine, or, “it makes fruit equal to itself:” and with this meaning correspond the words in the Septuagint, ὁ καρπος ευθηνῶν αυτης, — “its fruit is exuberant.” The following appears to be the literal rendering of the verse: — 