Isaiah 5:10

10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath^[a] of wine; a homer^[b] of seed will yield only an ephah^[c] of grain.”

Isaiah 5:10 in Other Translations

10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah."

10 Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.”

10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine, a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain."

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

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 you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.

9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: “Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.

10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.

12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.

Cross References

• 1. S ver 6; Leviticus 26:26; S Deuteronomy 28:38; Zechariah 8:10

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, about 6 gallons or about 22 liters
• [b]. That is, probably about 360 pounds or about 160 kilograms
• [c]. That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms