Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 5:9
In mine ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.
9. In mine ears said the Lord of hosts ] The verb is to be supplied as in Isa 22:14: In my ears ( hath revealed himself) Jehovah. It is a prophetic “audition”; the words which follow seem actually to sound in his ears. The great houses shall be uninhabited, because
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9, 10. The divine judgment on this evil. Cf. Amo 5:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In mine ears – This probably refers to the prophet. As if he had said, God has revealed it to me, or God has said in my ears, i. e, to me. The Septuagint reads it, These things are heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts, that is, the wishes of the man of avarice. The Chaldee, The prophet said, In my ears I have heard; a decree has gone from the Lord of hosts, etc.
Many houses shall be desolate – Referring to the calamities that should come upon the nation for its crimes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 5:9
Many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant
Empty houses
(To children):–Empty houses! We all know what they look like.
From afar we can see the bills in the windows–This house to let, or To be let, or, still more curtly, To let; and when we come nearer, the black windows, without blinds or curtains, gape and yawn at us. In the garden the long matted grass has overrun the lawn, and covered nearly all the beds. The door creaks on its hinges as we enter, as though it had been asleep and did not wish to be wakened. There are other houses that are not quite empty. They are comfortably furnished; but the family has gone to the seaside. A servant or an old lady has been kept in the house as caretaker, and as she usually lives in the back part of the house she is often not seen from one weeks end to the other.
I. This world is like a house comfortably and beautifully furnished, and in which we men and women have been placed to dress it and to keep it. But THE WORLD WITHOUT GOD IS LIKE AN EMPTY HOUSE. God is the builder of this house; and He is the tenant too. Cowper, in his Task, speaks of some men who untenant the Creator of His universe. There are some who say that God made this house, and put us in it as caretakers, and then went to live in His own grand mansion in heaven; and there He sits, receiving our letters, which are our prayers, and sending His servants to do His commands. But we believe that God always lives in this house. He is in every room, in England, and in the Continent, and in Africa, and in America. It is Gods name that is woven into the beautiful carpet of grass and flowers, that is carved into the rocks, and worked into the mossy couches, and painted in the beautiful landscape pictures, and reflected in the mirror-like lakes and ponds and rivers. If God were not in the world it would be like a desolate house, though great and fair.
II.
But there is another kind of house that is sometimes found to be empty.
Life is like a house. Its length, however, is measured, not by feet and yards, but by days and months and years. Some lives are long and some are very short. Its breadth is measured by its sympathy and influence. Sometimes the tenant is not a good one. A selfish purpose takes possession, and then the house is like the house of a miser, long, and narrow, and low. And sometimes the house is like a house of feasting, from which there comes the sound of music and dancing, and the clink of glasses and of plates. That is when the desire for pleasure becomes a tenant. But there are some of these houses that are without an inhabitant. For A LIFE WITHOUT A PURPOSE IS LIKE AN EMPTY HOUSE. Some people do not know why they live. They eat and drink and sleep; but they have no great aims, no noble purposes. Their lives are like empty houses. Take Christ with you into your life. And then your life will grow up like a grand temple, upon which there will be inscribed: Holiness unto the Lord; in which there will be perpetual peace and happiness; and from which there will ever come the sound of holy chant and psalm.
III. And then there is another house of which I thought. It was a small house, but large enough to accommodate one man. It was built in the face of a rock, and a great stone door was placed before it. It belonged to a man named Joseph; but another tenant was put in. He did not remain there long: it was too dark, and cold, and dreary. That house was the tomb of Jesus. And A TOMB WITHOUT A SAVIOUR IS LIKE AN EMPTY HOUSE. There are many houses of that kind built in these days; and they are all full. But a time is coming when a trumpet shall sound, and the doors of these dreary houses shall be opened, and the tenants shall all come out. And then their houses shall be empty like the tomb of Jesus. (W. V. Robinson, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. In mine ears. – “To mine ear”] The sentence in the Hebrew text seems to be imperfect in this place; as likewise in Isa 22:14, where the very same sense seems to be required as here. See the note there; and compare 1Sa 9:15. In this place the Septuagint supply the word , and the Syriac eshtama, auditus est JEHOVAH in auribus meis, i.e., niglah, as in Isa 22:14.
Many houses] This has reference to what was said in the preceding verse: “In vain are ye so intent upon joining house to house, and field to field; your houses shall be left uninhabited, and your fields shall become desolate and barren; so that a vineyard of ten acres shall produce but one bath (not eight gallons) of wine, and the husbandman shall reap but a tenth part of the seed which he has sown.” Kimchi says this means such an extent of vineyard as would require ten yoke of oxen to plough in one day.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In mine ears said the Lord; I heard God speak what I now about to utter. Heb. In the ears of the Lord; may relate either,
1. To the foregoing words; The cry of your sins, and of the oppressed, as come into Gods he hears and sees it, and will certainly punish it.
2. To the following clause, which being of great importance, he ushers in with an oath; I speak it in Gods as well as in yours; I call God to witness the truth of what I say. My houses shall be desolate; the houses you have so greedily coveted shall cast you out, and become desolate.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. In mine ears . . . theLordnamely, has revealed it, as in Isa22:14.
desolateliterally, “adesolation,” namely, on account of the national sins.
great and fairhouses.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In mine ears, [said] the Lord of hosts,…. This may be understood either of the ears of the Lord of hosts, into which came the cry of the sins of covetousness and ambition before mentioned; these were taken notice of by the Lord, and he was determined to punish them; or of the ears of the prophet, in whose hearing the Lord said what follows: so the Targum,
“the prophet said, with mine ears I have heard, when this was decreed from before the Lord of hosts:”
of a truth many houses shall be desolate; or “great” ones z; such as the houses of the king, of the princes, and nobles, judges, counsellors, and great men of the earth; not only the house of God, the temple, but a multitude of houses in Jerusalem and elsewhere; which was true not only at the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, but at the destruction of it by the Romans, to which this prophecy belongs,
Mt 23:38 the words are a strong asseveration, and in the form of an oath, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe; , “if not”; if many houses are not left desolate, let it be so or so, I swear they shall:
[even] great and fair, without inhabitants: houses of large and beautiful building shall be laid in such a ruinous condition, that they will not be fit for any to dwell in, nor shall any dwell in them: and this is the judgment upon them for joining house to house; that for laying field to field follows.
z “domus magnificae, sive sumptuosae”, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And the denunciation of punishment is made by him in very similar terms to those which we find here in Isa 5:9, Isa 5:10: “Into mine ears Jehovah of hosts: Of a truth many houses shall become a wilderness, great and beautiful ones deserted. For ten yokes of vineyard will yield one pailful, and a quarter of seed-corn will produce a bushel.” We may see from Isa 22:14 in what sense the prophet wrote the substantive clause, “Into mine ears,” or more literally, “In mine ears is Jehovah Zebaoth ,” viz., He is here revealing Himself to me. In the pointing, is written with tiphchah as a pausal form, to indicate to the reader that the boldness of the expression is to be softened down by the assumption of an ellipsis. In Hebrew, “to say into the ears” did not mean to “speak softly and secretly,” as Gen 23:10, Gen 23:16; Job 33:8, and other passages, clearly show; but to speak in a distinct and intelligible manner, which precludes the possibility of any misunderstanding. The prophet, indeed, had not Jehovah standing locally beside him; nevertheless, he had Him objectively over against his own personality, and was well able to distinguish very clearly the thoughts and words of his own personality, from the words of Jehovah which arose audibly within him. These words informed him what would be the fate of the rich and insatiable landowners. “Of a truth:” (if not) introduces an oath of an affirmative character (the complete formula is C hai ani ‘im – lo’ , “as I live if not”), just as ‘im (if) alone introduces a negative oath (e.g., Num 14:23). The force of the expression ‘im – lo’ extends not only to rabbim , as the false accentuation with gershayim (double -geresh) would make it appear, but to the whole of the following sentence, as it is correctly accentuated with rebia in the Venetian (1521) and other early editions. A universal desolation would ensue: rabbim (many) does not mean less than all; but the houses ( battim , as the word should be pronounced, notwithstanding Ewald’s objection to Khler’s remarks on Zec 14:2; cf., Job 2:1-13:31) constituted altogether a very large number (compare the use of the word “many” in Isa 2:3; Mat 20:28, etc.). is a double, and therefore an absolute, negation (so that there is not, no inhabitant, i.e., not any inhabitant at all). Isa 5:10, which commences, with C i , explains how such a desolation of the houses would be brought about: failure of crops produces famine, and this is followed by depopulation. “ Ten zimde (with dagesh lene , Ewald) of vineyard” are either ten pieces of the size that a man could plough in one day with a yoke of oxen, or possibly ten portions of yoke -like espaliers of vines, i.e., of vines trained on cross laths (the vina jugata of Varro), which is the explanation adopted by Biesenthal. But if we compare 1Sa 14:14, the former is to be preferred, although the links are wanting which would enable us to prove that the early Israelites had one and the same system of land measure as the Romans;
(Note: On the jugerum , see Hultsch, Griechische und rmische Metrologie, 1862. The Greek plethron , which was smaller by two and a half, corresponded to some extent to this; also the Homeric tetraguon , which cannot be more precisely defined (according to Eustathius, it was a piece of land which a skilful labourer could plough in one day). According to Herod. ii. 168, in the Egyptian square-measure an a’roura was equal to 150 cubits square. The Palestinian, according to the tables of Julian the Ashkalonite, was the plethron . “The plethron ,” he says, “was ten perches, or fifteen fathoms, or thirty paces, sixty cubits, ninety feet” (for the entire text, see L. F. V. Fennersberg’s Untersuchungen ber alte Langen-, Feld-, und Wegemaase, 1859). Fennersberg’s conclusion is, that the tzemed was a plethron , equal in length to ten perches of nine feet each. But the meaning of the word tzemed is of more importance in helping to determine the measure referred to, than the tables of long measure of the architect of Ashkalon, which have been preserved in the imperial collection of laws of Constantine Harmenopulos, and which probably belong to a much later period.)
nevertheless Arab. fddan (in Hauran) is precisely similar, and this word signifies primarily a yoke of oxen, and then a yoke ( jugerum ) regarded as a measure of land. Ten days’ work would only yield a single bath. This liquid measure, which was first introduced in the time of the kings, corresponded to the ephah in dry measure (Eze 45:11). According to Josephus ( Ant. viii. 2, 9), it was equal to seventy-two Roman sextarii , i.e., a little more than thirty-three Berlin quarts; but in the time of Isaiah it was probably smaller. The homer , a dry measure, generally called a C or after the time of the kings, was equal to ten Attic m edimnoi ;
(Note: Or rather 7 1/2 Attic m edimnoi = 10 Attic m etretoi = 45 Roman modia (see Bckh, Metrologische Untersuchungen, p. 259).)
a m edimnos being (according to Josephus, Ant. xv 9, 2) about 15-16ths of a Berlin bushel, and therefore a little more than fifteen pecks. Even if this quantity of corn should be sown, they would not reap more than an ephah .The harvest, therefore, would only yield the tenth part of the sowing, since an ephah was the tenth part of a homer , or three seahs , the usual minimum for one baking (vid., Mat 13:33). It is, of course, impossible to give the relative measure exactly in our translation.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. This is in the ears of Jehovah of hosts. Here something must be supplied; for he means that the Lord sits as judge, and as taking cognizance of those things. When covetous men seize and heap up their wealth, they are blinded by their desire of gain, and do not understand that they will one day render an account. Never, certainly, were men so utterly stupid as not to ascribe some judgment to God; but they flatter themselves so far as to imagine that God does not observe them. In general, therefore, they acknowledge the judgment of God: when they come to particular cases, they take liberties, and suppose that they are not bound to proceed to that extent.
If many houses be not laid desolate. Having warned them that none of these things escape the eyes of God, lest they should imagine that it is a knowledge which does not lead to action, he immediately adds, that vengeance is close at hand. He likewise makes use of an oath; for the expression If not is a form of swearing that frequently occurs in the Scriptures. (80) In order to strike them with greater terror he breaks off the sentence with studied abruptness. (81) He might indeed have brought out this threatening with full expression, but the incomplete form is better fitted to keep the hearer in doubt and suspense, and is therefore more alarming. Besides, by this instance of reserve the Lord intended to train us to modesty, that we may not be too free in the use of oaths.
But what does he threaten? Many houses will be laid desolate. This is a just punishment, by which the Lord chastises the covetousness and ambition of men, who did not consider their own meanness, that they might be satisfied with a moderate portion. In a similar manner the poet ridicules the mad ambition of Alexander the Great, who having learned from the philosophy of Anacharsis that there were many worlds, sighed to think, that after having worn himself out by so many toils, he had not yet made himself master of one world. “One globe does not satisfy the Macedonian youth. He writhes in misery on account of the narrow limits of the world, as if he were confined to the rocks of Gyaros, or to the puny Seriphos. But when he shall enter the city framed by potters, he will be content with a tomb. Death alone acknowledges how small are the dimensions of the bodies of men.” (82)
Instances of the same kind occur every day, yet we do not observe them; for the Lord exhibits to us, as in a mirror, the absurd vanity of men, who spend a vast amount of money in building palaces that are afterwards to become the receptacles of owls and bats and other animals. These things are plainly before our eyes, and yet we do not apply our mind to the consideration of them. So sudden and various are the changes that happen, so many houses are laid desolate, so many cities are overthrown and destroyed, and, in short, there are so many other evident proofs of the judgment of God; and yet men cannot be persuaded to lay aside this mad ambition. The Lord threatens by the Prophet Amos:
“
You have built houses of hewn stones, but you shall not dwell in them.” (Amo 5:11.)
And again,
“
He will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.” (Amo 6:11.)
These things happen daily, and yet the lawless passions of men are not abated.
(80) The following is a striking instance: To whom I sware in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest; that is, they shall not enter into my rest. (Psa 95:11.), — Ed.
(81) The classical reader may be reminded of a fine instance of ἀποσιώπησις, by which the effect of a speech is prodigiously heightened: Quos ego — sed motos praestat componere fluctus. — Virg. AEn. 1:135.
(82)
Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis: AEstuat infelix angusto limite mundi, Ut Gyari clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho: Quum tamen a figulis munitam intraverit urbem, Sarcophago contentus erit. Mors sola fatetur, Quantula sint hominum corpuscula . Juven. Sat. 10:168-173.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) In mine ears said the Lord.The italics show that there is no verb in the Hebrew, the text, if it be correct, giving the emphasis of abruptness; but it is rightly supplied in the Authorised Version. The sentence that follows is one of a righteous retribution: There shall be no profit or permanence in the property thus unjustly gained.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9, 10. Many houses shall be desolate Without occupant, desolation dwelling there, because of the invasion invoked below, in Isa 5:26-30.
Great and fair Aristocratic though they be.
Ten acres An acre was a space of ground ploughed by a man with a yoke of oxen in one day, about three fourths of an English acre. Ten acres of vineyard, it is estimated, (Kay,) might be expected ordinarily to produce 32,000 pints of wine, or 500 baths, instead of which it is here said they shall produce but one.
A homer About ten bushels, enough to sow ten acres, but here only one bushel is promised. A bath was a liquid measure, in capacity one tenth of a “homer,” a dry measure. Eze 45:11-14. God directly permits devastation like this as a punishment for these specified sins. Compare Lev 26:20 with Isa 24:7 and Joe 1:10-12.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The prophet speaks with confidence, concerning the issue of worldly minded men in their pursuits, because the Lord said it, and so plain, as when a man whispers in the ear of another. It is a general intimation that nothing of the kind shall prosper. Their houses shall be uninhabited, and their product nothing; yea, in measure shall they fail. Ten acres of vineyard, which; when fruitful, might be supposed to yield many hogsheads of wine, shall give out but one bath, which makes about eight gallons; and in their seeds an omen, which is in quantity a bushel, shall yield but an ephah, that is the tenth part of a gallon. Such hath ever been, and will be more or less, the disappointments of the carnal.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 5:9 In mine ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.
Ver. 9. In mine ears, said the Lord of hosts. ] Or, In the ears of the Lord of hosts – q.d., God well heareth and knoweth all your cunning contrivances, your coloured and cloaked covetousness, as it is called 1Th 2:5 2Pe 1:3 The cries also of those poor whom you have by fraud or force unroosted and undone, is come into God’s ears, Deu 15:9 ; Deu 24:15 and he will reckon with you, though by your greatness you can bear out your wrong dealing, because it is facinus maioris abollae. Yet God will arraign you one day for an Abaddon; and in the meanwhile,
Of a truth many houses shall be desolate.
a The common name of the daw (Corvus monedula), one of the smallest of the crow family, which frequents old buildings, church towers, etc.; it is easily tamed and taught to imitate the sound of words, and is noted for its loquacity and thievish propensities.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ears. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
said. Note Ellipsis of the verb “to say”. See App-6and instructive examples in Psa 109:5; Psa 144:12. Psa 28:9. Jer 9:19, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
In mine ears, said: or, This is in mine ears, saith, etc. Isa 22:14, Amo 3:7
Of a truth: etc. Heb. If not many houses desolate, etc. desolate. Isa 5:6, Isa 27:10, 2Ch 36:21, Amo 5:11, Amo 6:11, Mat 22:7, Mat 23:38
Reciprocal: Lev 26:32 – And I Deu 28:30 – build 2Ki 19:17 – Of a truth Job 18:19 – nor any Isa 1:7 – country Isa 28:14 – ye Isa 32:14 – the palaces Isa 57:17 – the iniquity Jer 2:15 – his cities Jer 4:7 – to Jer 4:26 – the fruitful Jer 22:14 – I will Jer 39:8 – burned Eze 9:5 – hearing Amo 3:15 – the great Zep 1:13 – build
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:9 In my {l} ears [said] the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, [even] great and fair, without inhabitant.
(l) I have heard the complaint and cry of the poor.