EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Isaiah 5:8
8It will be very bad for you people who buy many houses for yourselves. You also buy land to join to the land that you already have. Then there is no more land left for anyone else. You are the only people who remain on the land.
Isaiah 5:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
- New International Version (NIV)Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
Context of Isaiah 5:8
6I will make the land become useless. Nobody will take care of the vines. Nobody will dig the ground. Weeds and thorn bushes will grow there. I will command the clouds, ‘Do not drop any rain on it.’ 7Israel's nation is like the vineyard of the Lord Almighty. Judah's people are his beautiful garden. But when the Lord looked there for justice, he found only murder! When he looked for people who were righteous, he saw that they were cruel. It will be very bad for you people who buy many houses for yourselves. You also buy land to join to the land that you already have. Then there is no more land left for anyone else. You are the only people who remain on the land. 9I have heard the Lord Almighty promise this: ‘All these great, beautiful houses will certainly become empty. There will be nobody to live in them. 10Large vineyards will give only a few bottles of wine. If you plant ten bags of seed, you will only get one bag of grain as your harvest.’
Read all of Isaiah 5Isaiah 5:8 word by word
ה֗וֹי מַגִּיעֵ֥י בַ֙יִת֙ בְּבַ֔יִת שָׂדֶ֥ה בְשָׂדֶ֖ה יַקְרִ֑יבוּ עַ֚ד אֶ֣פֶס מָק֔וֹם וְהֽוּשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם לְבַדְּכֶ֖ם בְּקֶ֥רֶב הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- unto them that joinנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060
- houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- layקָרַבqârab · to present: comeH7126
- fieldשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
- noאֶ֫פֶס'ephes · endH657
- placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
- that they may be placedיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- alone in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
- of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
Cross-references for Isaiah 5:8
- Jeremiah 22:13The Lord says, ‘Terrible trouble will happen to this man! He cheats people so that he can build a beautiful palace for himself. He does not do what is right and fair. He does not pay the people who work for him. His own men have to work for nothing.
- Micah 2:2When they want fields, they take them from other people. When they want houses, they take them. These cruel people take other people's homes and fields; then those people's families have nothing.
- Habakkuk 2:9It will be very bad for anyone who cheats other people so that he can make his family rich. He thinks that his riches will make him safe. He thinks that he is too high up for any trouble to reach him.
- Matthew 23:14[It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You take things away from women after their husbands have died. You pray for a long time so that other people will praise you. God will punish you much more than other people.]
- Luke 12:16Jesus then told them a story: ‘A man had some very good ground, where he planted seeds. The plants grew very well. When they became ripe, he had much more than he planted.
- 1 Kings 21:16When Ahab knew that Naboth was dead, he got up from his bed. He went to Naboth's vineyard to take it for himself.
- Ezekiel 11:15‘Son of man, listen to what the people of Jerusalem are saying about you, your brothers and your relatives. They say this about all the people of Israel who are now in Babylon. They are saying, “Those people have gone far away from the Lord. So now this land belongs to us and we can keep it.”
- Ezekiel 33:24‘Son of man, there are people who continue to live in the places in Israel that have become heaps of stones. Those Israelites are saying, “Abraham was only one man, but God gave him the whole land of Israel. We are many people. So we can be sure that the land now belongs to us.”
Commentaries on Isaiah 5:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Wo unto them that - lay field to field "You who lay field unto field" - Read תקריבו takribu, in the second person; to answer to the verb following. So Vulgate.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Wo unto them - The prophet now proceeds to “specify” some of the crimes to which he had referred in the parable of the vineyard, of which the Jews had been guilty. The first is “avarice.” That join house to house - That seek to possess many houses; or perhaps that seek to live in large and magnificent palaces. A similar denunciation of this sin is recorded in Micah 2:2; Nehemiah 5:1-8. This, together with what follows, was contrary to the law of Moses…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-23Verses 8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-10Woe: The first warning of judgment was against oppressive greed. People took properties, like houses and fields, illegally. The new owners were bullies who used every method to get richer at the expense of the poor (see 1 Kings 21:1–29; Amos 2:6–7).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-238. (Le 25:13; Mi 2:2). The jubilee restoration of possessions was intended as a guard against avarice. till there be no place--left for any one else. that they may be--rather, and ye be. the earth--the land.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 5:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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