Isaia 5:8

Romanian Cornilescu Translation

Vai de ceice înşiră casă lîngă casă şi lipesc ogor lîngă ogor, pînă nu mai rămîne loc, şi locuiesc în mijlocul ţării!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

them: Jeremiah 22:13-17, Micah 2:2, Habakkuk 2:9-12, Matthew 23:14, Luke 12:16-24

field: 1 Kings 21:16-20

they: Heb. ye placed, Ezekiel 11:15, Ezekiel 33:24

Reciprocal: Numbers 5:29 - when a wife goeth Job 3:14 - which built Job 15:28 - desolate Job 18:19 - nor any Job 20:19 - he hath violently Proverbs 15:27 - He that is Ecclesiastes 4:8 - no Isaiah 10:1 - Woe Isaiah 10:14 - And my Isaiah 57:17 - the iniquity Jeremiah 22:14 - I will Amos 1:13 - ripped up the women with child Amos 4:1 - which oppress Amos 5:11 - treading Habakkuk 2:5 - who Zephaniah 1:13 - build Luke 12:19 - Soul 1 Timothy 6:9 - they

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Woe unto them that join house to house,.... Or "O ye that join", c. 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" x, 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 y "that ye may be placed", c. the Targum is,

"and they think they shall dwell alone in the midst of the land.''

x עד אפס מקום "usque ad terminum loci", V. L. y והושבתם "constituamini", Vatablus, Forerius, Montanus; "colloeemini", Calvin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Wo 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. He provided that when the children of Israel should enter the land of Canaan, the land should be equitably divided; and in order to prevent avarice, he ordained the “jubilee,” occurring once in fifty years, by which every man and every family should be restored to their former possession; Leviticus 25:0. Perhaps there could have been no law so well framed to prevent the existence, and avoid the evils of covetousness. Yet, in defiance of the obvious requirements and spirit of that law, the people in the time of Isaiah had beome generally covetous.

That lay field to field - That purchase one farm after another. The words ‘that lay,’ mean “to cause to approach;” that is, they “join” on one farm after another.

Till there be no place - Until they reach the “outer limit” of the land; until they possess all.

That they may be placed alone - That they may displace all others; that they may drive off from their lands all others, and take possession of them themselves.

In the midst of the earth - Or rather, in the midst of the “land.” They seek to obtain the whole of it, and to expel all the present owners. Never was there a more correct description of avarice. It is satisfied with no present possessions, and would be satisfied only if all the earth were in its possession. Nor would the covetous man be satisfied then. He would sit down and weep that there was nothing more which he could desire. How different this from that “contentment” which is produced by religion, and the love of the happiness of others!

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 5:8. Wo 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.