Isaiah 5:8

Woes and Judgments

8 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.

Isaiah 5:8 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
8 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!
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 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 Living Translation (NLT)
8 What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.
The Message Bible (MSG)
8 Doom to you who buy up all the houses and grab all the land for yourselves - Evicting the old owners, posting no trespassing signs, Taking over the country, leaving everyone homeless and landless.
American Standard Version (ASV)
8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
8 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.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
8 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until there is no more room and you alone are left in the land.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
8 How terrible it will be for you who get too many houses! How terrible for you who get too many fields! Finally there won't be any space left in the land. Then you will live all alone.

Isaiah 5:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 5:8

Woe unto them that join house to house
Or "O ye that join"; for, as Aben Ezra observes, it signifies calling, as in ( Isaiah 55:1 ) though Jarchi takes it to be expressive of crying and groaning, on account of future punishments; and he observes, that as there are twenty two blessings pronounced in the book of Psalms, on those that keep the law, so there are twenty two woes pronounced by Isaiah upon the wicked: [that] lay field to field;
the sin of covetousness is exposed and condemned in these words; not that it is unlawful in itself for a man that has a house or field of his own to purchase another that is next unto it; but when he is insatiable, and not content with his houses and lands, but is always coveting more, this is his sin, and especially if he seeks to get them by fraud or force: till [there] be no place;
for others to dwell in and possess; and so the Targum,

``and say, until we possess every place;''
or "unto the end of the place" F24, city, or field; till they have got all the houses in the town or city, and all the pieces of ground in the field, in their own possession: that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth,
or land; that is, of Judea; wholly inhabit it themselves, and have the sole power and jurisdiction over it. It is in the Hebrew text F25 "that ye may be placed"; the Targum is,
``and they think they shall dwell alone in the midst of the land.''

FOOTNOTES:

F24 (Mwqm opa de) "usque ad terminum loci", V. L.
F25 (Mtbvwhw) "constituamini", Vatablus, Forerius, Montanus; "colloeemini", Calvin.

Isaiah 5:8 In-Context

6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
8 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.
9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.
10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”

Cross References 2

  • 1. ver 11,18,20; Isaiah 6:5; Isaiah 10:1; Isaiah 24:16; Jeremiah 22:13
  • 2. Job 20:19; Micah 2:2; Habakkuk 2:9-12
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.