Isaiah 5:10

10 For a ten-acre^[a] vineyard will yield only six gallons,^[b] and 10 bushels^[c] of seed will yield only [one] bushel.^[d]

Isaiah 5:10 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 5:10

Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath
They shall get nothing by laying field to field, for their fields shall be barren and unfruitful; though Jarchi and Kimchi take this to be a reason why their houses should be desolate, and without inhabitants, because there would be a famine, rendering the words, "for ten acres", &c. The Targum makes this barrenness to be the punishment of their sin, in not paying tithes; paraphrasing the words thus,

``for because of the sin of not giving tithes, the place of ten acres of vineyard shall produce one bath.''

The word (ydmu) signifies "yokes", and is used of yokes of oxen; hence the Septuagint and Arabic versions render the words thus, "for where ten yoke of oxen work", or "plough, it shall make one flagon"; and so Kimchi explains them, the place in a vineyard, which ten yoke of oxen plough in one day, shall yield no more wine than one bath. A bath is a measure for liquids; according to Godwin ^F1, it held four gallons and a half; a small quantity indeed, to be produced out of ten acres of ground; an acre, according to our English measure, being a quantity of land containing four square roods, or one hundred sixty square poles or perches: and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah:
that is, as much seed as an "homer" would hold, which was a dry measure, and which, according to the above writer, contained five bushels and five gallons, should yield only an ephah, which was the tenth part of an homer, ( Ezekiel 45:11 ) so that it would only produce a tenth part of the seed sown.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Moses and Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.

Isaiah 5:10 In-Context

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.

9 In my hearing the Lord of Hosts [has taken an oath]: Indeed, many houses will become desolate, grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.

10 For a ten-acre vineyard will yield only six gallons, and 10 bushels of seed will yield only [one] bushel.

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.

12 At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flute, and wine. They do not perceive the Lord's actions, and they do not see the work of His hands.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit ten-yoke
• [b]. Lit one bath
• [c]. Lit one homer
• [d]. Lit [one] ephah