God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 5:8
8How horrible it will be for you who acquire house after house and buy field after field until there’s nothing left and you have to live by yourself in 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 it a wasteland. It will never be pruned or hoed. Thorns and weeds will grow in it, and I will command the clouds not to rain on it. 7The vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the garden of his delight. He hoped for justice but saw only slaughter, for righteousness but heard only cries of distress. How horrible it will be for you who acquire house after house and buy field after field until there’s nothing left and you have to live by yourself in the land. 9With my own ears I heard the Lord of Armies say, “Many houses will become empty. Large, beautiful houses will be without people to live in them. 10A ten-acre vineyard will produce only six gallons of wine, and two quarts of seed will produce only four quarts of grain.”
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 22:13“How horrible it will be for the person who builds his house dishonestly and his upper rooms through injustice. He makes his neighbors work for nothing and doesn’t pay them for their work.
- Micah 2:2They desire ⌞other people’s⌟ fields, so they seize them. They desire ⌞people’s⌟ houses, so they take them. They cheat a man and his family, a man and his inheritance.
- Habakkuk 2:9“ ‘How horrible it will be for the one who uses violence to get things for his own household in order to set his nest up high and save himself from disaster.’
- Luke 12:16Then he used this illustration. He said, “A rich man had land that produced good crops.
- 1 Kings 21:16When he heard about Naboth’s death, Ahab went to confiscate the vineyard.
- Ezekiel 11:15“Son of man, the people who live in Jerusalem are talking about your own relatives and about the entire nation of Israel. The people who live in Jerusalem say, ‘They are far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us as our own property.’
- Ezekiel 33:24“Son of man, those who live in the ruined cities in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, and he was given the land. But we are many. Certainly the land has been given 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries