38 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said
unto his servant: Let us go down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard, and
behold if the natural branches have also brought forth evil fruit.
39 And it came to pass that they went down into the
nethermost parts of the vineyard. And it
came to pass that they beheld that the fruit of the natural branches had become
corrupt also; yea, the first and the second and also the last; and they had all
become corrupt.
40 And the wild fruit of the last had overcome that part
of the tree which brought forth good fruit, even that the branch had withered
away and died.
41 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard
wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?
42 Behold, I knew that all the fruit of the vineyard,
save it were these, had become corrupted.
And now these which have once brought forth good fruit have also become
corrupted; and now all the trees of my vineyard are good for nothing save it be
to be hewn down and cast into the fire.
43 And behold this last, whose branch hath withered away,
I did plant in a good spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me
above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.
Jacob 5:38-43
The Lord of the vineyard wants to check the farthest part of
the vineyard where he had grafted natural branches. He wanted to check to see if they also have
wild fruit growing on the natural branches.
When the Lord and his servant arrived, he found the natural
branches had all become corrupt. Wild
fruit was now growing on parts of the tree, which had brought forth good
fruit. One of the branches had died.
Seeing the corruption of the fruit, the Lord of the vineyard
wept. He turned to his servant and
asked, “What could I have done more for my vineyard?”
It takes time and effort to care for an olive tree.
“The Lord of the vineyard often remarks: ‘It grieveth me
that I should lose this tree’ (Jacob 5:7, 11, 13, 32, 46, 47, 51, 66), and he
weeps at the thought of losing his tree (Jacob 5:41). Zenos represents the tree
as a precious commodity and a substantial asset. It takes about two years to
grow and graft scions to rootstocks, and the plants remain in the nursery for
another three to four years. After the trees are planted it will take at least
six years to start production and about forty years for it to come into full ‘production. White
states that “a tree of such slow growth represents a heavy investment of time
and labor.’”[1]
Remembering the Lord of the vineyard represents Christ, we
know that He works for the good of all of us.
Lehi said, “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all
things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and
eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and
death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that
all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:27). Nephi wrote, “He
doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the
world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw call
men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth
none that they shall not partake of his salvation” (2 Nephi 26:24). Ammon taught, “Now my brethren, we see that
God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he
numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving;
yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever” (Alma 26:37).
John Tanner emphasizes Christ’s love for us all.
“A key phrase in the allegory is ‘it grieveth me that I
should lose this tree,’ repeated eight times. By means of such repetition, the
allegory celebrates the Lord’s long-suffering love. The frequent repetition of
the line describes the quality of that divine love – it is unfailing,
persistent, tenacious. This message of the Lord’s love matters as much as, if
not more than, the historical details of his plan to redeem Israel. Yes, the
allegory tells how the Lord of the vineyard will work out his grand design in
history. But more than this, it shows that he weeps over the loss of his trees:
‘It came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant:
What could I have done more for my vineyard’ (Jacob 5:41; see also Moses
7:28-41). The Lord of the universe grieves that he should
lose any tree of the vineyard. What a remarkable witness! I find this
allegory one of the most eloquent scriptural testimonies of God’s love
anywhere. Surely Jacob did too.”[2]
The fruit had become corrupted. What is meant by “corrupted?”
The word “corrupted” is not a botanical term. One can
interpret the term to mean generally unsound. If this is correct it likely
means that the branches were literally of no more use. In verse 40, “the branch
hath withered away and died” and verse 43 refers to a tree “whose branch had
withered away.” This suggests that the branches were no longer functional. The
life had gone out of them or perhaps they were decayed. If the wood is dead the
best option may be for them to be “hewn down and cast into the fire” (Jacob
5:42). Dead wood is also likely to have parasites and pathogens, and one of the
best ways to reduce the inoculum potential is to burn the infested plant
materials. Olive wood contains resin and oil, so it burns quite readily.[3]
The Lord was concerned that all the trees in the vineyard
had become corrupt. The only thing they
are good for is being cast into a fire. “And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matthew
3:10).
The Lord lamented he had planted the branch in good, choice
ground in his vineyard.
“Accordingly, the main factor mentioned in the allegory as
the cause of fruit loss was cultural rather than genetic, leading to the
withering of good branches. Good branches were grafted onto trees in the
nethermost part of the vineyard (Jacob 5:8), but the wild parts of those trees
eventually overran them, ‘even that the [grafted natural] branch had withered
away and died’ (Jacob 5:40; see also Jacob 5:43), ‘because I plucked not
the [wild] branches thereof and cast them into the fire’ (Jacob 5:45).”[4]
[1]
Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel
Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute.
[2]
Jacob and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Maxwell Institute.
[3]
Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel
Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute.
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