Commentary for Isaiah 5:8
ה֗וֹי מַגִּיעֵ֥י בַ֙יִת֙ בְּבַ֔יִת שָׂדֶ֥ה בְשָׂדֶ֖ה יַקְרִ֑יבוּ עַ֚ד אֶ֣פֶס מָק֔וֹם וְהֽוּשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם לְבַדְּכֶ֖ם בְּקֶ֥רֶב הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Woe unto them that join house to house, That lay field to field, Till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell Alone in the midst of the land!
Rashi on Isaiah
Woe to those who join a house to a house Twenty-two instances of אַשְׁרֵי, fortunate, were said in the Book of Psalms concerning those who fulfill [the tenets of] the Torah, and Isaiah said twenty-two times, “הוֹי,” woe, concerning the wicked. Woe An expression of a cry of a sigh concerning the impending retribution.
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Ibn Ezra on Isaiah
הוי Oh. The sign for the vocative; or (אוי ═) woe. That join house to house, etc. That move the boundaries of the houses and fields according to their own interest. אין ═ אפס Not.
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Rashi on Isaiah
those who join a house to a house They draw their houses one to the other, thereby taking the land of the weak poor man between the two houses, and so
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Ibn Ezra on Isaiah
Till there be no place. Till they have taken away every place.
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Rashi on Isaiah
a field to a field they draw near until there is no place No place for the poor man to live.
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Ibn Ezra on Isaiah
הושבתם That you may be placed. Hophal of a verb 14ישב, To sit.;פ״י comp. 15Hophal of ירד to go down. והורד and it was taken down (Num. 10:17)
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Rashi on Isaiah
and you will be settled alone in the midst of the land You think that neither the Holy One, blessed be He, nor the poor, have a share in the land. His share of the tithes you are stealing, and the poor, [you are robbing] of their land, so that you alone will occupy it.
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