10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath. He foretells that the same thing will befall their fields and vineyards; that covetous men will not obtain the desired returns, because their greed is insatiable; that, like certain animals which, by their breath, scorch the branches, and wither the corn, those men destroy the fruits of the earth by their extortion. The fields will be so barren as scarcely to yield a tenth part of the seed: the vineyards will yield very little wine. A bath, as Josephus tells us, is a measure of liquids, and contains seventy-two sextaries; a very small measure, certainly, for ten acres, especially on a fertile soil. The cor (koros) or homer, is a measure of dry substances, and, according to the same author, contains thirty-one medimni [1] An ephah is the tenth part of it, and therefore evidently contains a little more than three medimni [2] Now, when the soil is productive, it yields not only tenfold, but thirtyfold, and in all cases goes beyond the quantity of seed, and gives back far more abundantly than it received. When the case is otherwise, it undoubtedly proceeds from the curse of God punishing the extortion of men. And yet men blame the niggardliness of the soil, as if the fault lay there, but all in vain; for we would not want abundant increase, if God did not curse the soil on account of men's covetousness. When they are so eagerly employed in gathering and heaping up, what else are they doing than swallowing up the goodness of God by their greed? If this is not seen in all, because they want the power, still they do not want the disposition. Never was the world so much inflamed by this covetousness, and we need not wonder if God visit it with punishment.
1 - A medimnus, or Greek bushel, is reckoned to contain six Roman bushels, a Roman bushel (modius) being about an English peck. -- Ed.
2 - "For the actual size of these measures," says Dr. Kitto, "we must refer to Josephus, of whom Theodoret (in Exod. 29.) says: pisteuteon de en toutois to Iosepo akribos tou ethnous ta metra epistameno, -- follow in these things Josephus, who well understood the measures of the nation.' (Comp. Antiq. 8:3, 8.) To the homer or cor Josephus ascribes (Antic. 15:9, 2) twelve Attic medimni, where the reading should be metretae. Bath and Ephah are the same. Josephus (Antiq. 8:2, 9) determines each at seventy-two xestae, and makes them equal to an Attic metretes. The Attic metretes, which corresponded with the Hebrew bath and ephah, contains 739,800 Parisian grains of rain-water, which would fill a space of about 1985 Parisian cubic inches." -- Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, Art. Weights and Measures
Yea, ten acres - In this verse a reason is rendered why the houses mentioned in the previous verse should become desolate. The reason is, that the land would become sterile and barren, as a divine judgment for their oppression. To what particular time the prophet refers, here, is not apparent. It is certain, however, that the land of Canaan was frequently given up to sterility. The withholding of the early and latter rains, or the neglect of cultivation from any cause, would produce this. At present, this formerly fertile country is among the most unproductive on the face of the earth.
Ten acres - An "acre," among the Hebrews, was what could be plowed by one yoke of oxen in a day. It did not differ materially from our acre.
Shall yield one bath - One bath of wine. The "bath" was a Jewish measure for liquids, containing about seven gallons and a half. To say that "ten acres" should produce no more wine than this; was the same as to say that it would produce almost nothing.
And the seed of an homer - An "homer" was a Hebrew measure for grain, containing about eight bushels.
An ephah - The "ephah" contained about three pecks. Of course, to say that an homer of seed should produce about three pecks, would be the same as saying that it would produce almost nothing.
Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one (m) bath, and the seed of an (n) homer shall yield an (o) ephah.
(m) Which contains about 5 gallons, so that every acre would yield only half a gallon.
(n) Which contains 50 gallons.
(o) An ephah contains 5 gallons and is in dry things as much as a bath is in liquids.
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 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 (a), 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.
(a) Moses and Aaron, l. 6. c. 9.
acres--literally, "yokes"; as much as one yoke of oxen could plow in a day.
one--only.
bath--of wine; seven and a half gallons.
homer . . . ephah--Eight bushels of seed would yield only three pecks of produce (Ezekiel 45:11). The ephah and bath, one-tenth of an homer.
One bath - Of wine. The bath contained about eight gallons. Thus an acre did not yield one gallon. An ephah - Which was of the same quantity with the bath, only the bath was the measure of liquid things, the ephah of dry things; and a ephah was the tenth part of an homer. So instead of the increase which that fruitful land commonly yielded, they should loose nine parts of their seed.
*More commentary available at chapter level.