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!
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!
- BSB Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
- 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!
- NASB ¶Woe to those who attach house to house and join field to field, Until there is no more room, And you alone are a landowner in the midst of the land!
- NLT 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The first woe condemns the greedy who seize house after house and field after field until they crowd out everyone else. It denounces oppressive accumulation that violates God's design for the land.
Overview
In Israel, land was an inheritance meant to remain within families (Leviticus 25), so monopolizing it trampled the poor and defied God's law. This covetous land-grabbing is one of the 'wild grapes' the previous verse condemned. The woe warns that injustice and greed do not escape God's notice but bring His judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mic 2:2And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
- Hab 2:9–12Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
- Jer 22:13–17Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
- Luke 12:16–24And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
- 1 Kgs 21:16–20And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
- Matt 23:13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
- Ezek 11:15Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.
- Ezek 33:24Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 5:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.