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Selected Verse: Isaiah 5:8 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 5:8	King James	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!

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
SIX DISTINCT WOES AGAINST CRIMES. (Isa. 5:8-23) (Lev 25:13; Mic 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.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

SIX DISTINCT WOES AGAINST CRIMES. (Isa. 5:8-23)

(Lev 25:13; Mic 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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
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 Mic 2:2; Neh 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; Lev. 25. 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!

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

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 Mic 2:2; Neh 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; Lev. 25. 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!

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"Woe unto them that join house to house, who lay field to field, till there is no more room, and ye alone are dwelling in the midst of the land." The participle is continued in the finite verb, as in Isa 5:23; Isa 10:1; the regular syntactic construction is cases of this kind (Ges. 134, Anm. 2). The preterites after "till" (there are to such preterites, for 'ephes is an intensified אין enclosing the verbal idea) correspond to future perfects: "They, the insatiable, would not rest till, after every smaller piece of landed property had been swallowed by them, the whole land had come into their possession, and no one beside themselves was settled in the land" (Job 22:8). Such covetousness was all the more reprehensible, because the law of Israel and provided so very stringently and carefully, that as far as possible there should be an equal distribution of the soil, and that hereditary family property should be inalienable. All landed property that had been alienated reverted to the family every fiftieth year, or year of jubilee; so that alienation simply had reference to the usufruct of the land till that time. It was only in the case of houses in towns that the right of redemption was restricted to one year, at least according to a later statute. How badly the law of the year of jubilee had been observed, may be gathered from Jer 34, where we learn that the law as to the manumission of Hebrew slaves in the sabbatical year had fallen entirely into neglect. Isaiah's contemporary, Micah, makes just the same complaint as Isaiah himself (vid., Mic 2:2).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

"Woe unto them that join house to house, who lay field to field, till there is no more room, and ye alone are dwelling in the midst of the land." The participle is continued in the finite verb, as in Isa 5:23; Isa 10:1; the regular syntactic construction is cases of this kind (Ges. 134, Anm. 2). The preterites after "till" (there are to such preterites, for 'ephes is an intensified אין enclosing the verbal idea) correspond to future perfects: "They, the insatiable, would not rest till, after every smaller piece of landed property had been swallowed by them, the whole land had come into their possession, and no one beside themselves was settled in the land" (Job 22:8). Such covetousness was all the more reprehensible, because the law of Israel and provided so very stringently and carefully, that as far as possible there should be an equal distribution of the soil, and that hereditary family property should be inalienable. All landed property that had been alienated reverted to the family every fiftieth year, or year of jubilee; so that alienation simply had reference to the usufruct of the land till that time. It was only in the case of houses in towns that the right of redemption was restricted to one year, at least according to a later statute. How badly the law of the year of jubilee had been observed, may be gathered from Jer 34, where we learn that the law as to the manumission of Hebrew slaves in the sabbatical year had fallen entirely into neglect. Isaiah's contemporary, Micah, makes just the same complaint as Isaiah himself (vid., Mic 2:2).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Alone - That they alone may be the lords and owners, and all others only their tenants and servants.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

Alone - That they alone may be the lords and owners, and all others only their tenants and servants.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
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.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

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.

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