The purpose of these two lines is to stress that although the greedy rich people may have succeeded in grabbing all the land, what they harvest from it will be very little. In translation it is important to contrast the large area of the land and the vast amount of seed with the small size of the harvest that will result from it. To bring this aspect out in translation is just as important as to find modern equivalents of the Hebrew measurements used here.
The Hebrew particle rendered For does not express result or cause here. It provides emphasis, so it may be rendered “Indeed” or “Really.” Its meaning is similar to the word “Surely” in the previous verse. In this way the judgment on both houses (verse 9) and fields (verse 10) is given similar weight. The houses will fall into ruin, the fields also will suffer.
Ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath [of wine]: The Hebrew word translated acre is literally the area that can be plowed in one day with one pair of oxen—it is not the modern land measure of an acre. Ten acres is roughly the area covered by three football fields. Bible en français courant says “three hectares.” If the receptor language does not have a term for a surface that is about equivalent to the Hebrew term for acre, translators may either borrow the term “acre” or use a descriptive expression for ten acres of vineyard, such as “a very large vineyard.” A bath is a traditional Hebrew measure for liquids, estimated at between 25 and 50 liters (26-53 quarts). There is great difficulty for us today in establishing the exact amount of one bath. For this reason different values appear in the various translations. Contemporary English Version has “six gallons” (similarly the NIV footnote|prj:NIV84.Isa 5.10), which is roughly equivalent to 24 liters, while the British edition of Good News Translation has “eight litres.” Bible en français courant says “fifty liters,” and Revised English Bible has “a gallon.” New Jerusalem Bible is more general with “one barrel,” while New American Bible is not very helpful with “one liquid measure.”
When translators render measurements, they should ensure consistency by using a measurements table that they have adopted for their translation. If a word is borrowed for bath from English, we suggest using either “six gallons” or “twenty-four liters.” It may also be necessary in those cultures where vineyards are not common to add that the liquid was “wine.” Contemporary English Version says “juice,” probably thinking of the raw produce of the harvest, not the finished product. The two measurements here must be contrastive—the area must be understood as large, while the amount of produce is quite small. If specific measurements are not possible, then the contrast may be given by simply saying “a huge vineyard will yield very little wine.” This is acceptable since the focus here is not on the exact amounts but on the contrast between a large area and its minimal produce.
And a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah: Two measures of weight are given here. The exact amount of these measures is unknown, but we do know that ten ephahs equal one homer. Most versions seem to agree that a homer and an ephah is “ten bushels” and “one bushel” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible) or “one hundred kilograms” and “ten kilograms” (Bible en français courant). Contemporary English Version has “five bushels” and “one-half bushel,” while the British edition of Good News Translation says “A hundred and eighty litres” and “eighteen litres.” In view of some uncertainty for these measures, we recommend the majority opinion, represented by Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and Bible en français courant. This line is basically saying that a large amount of seed when planted will produce only a tiny harvest of grain. As suggested above with regard to the vineyard and its produce, it is possible to give a general description instead of exact measurements; for example, this line may be rendered “a huge amount of seed will produce only a tiny amount of grain.” The British edition of Good News Translation renders seed as “corn,” but for many translators this may be an ambiguous term since “corn” in British English does not stand for maize but for wheat. “Wheat” is appropriate since that was grown in Israel. Translators should avoid using a local equivalent such as “rice,” since this was not grown in Israel. General terms such as “seed” and “grain” are recommended.
We suggest the following translation models for this verse:
• Yes, truly, ten acres of grapevines will produce only six gallons of wine,
ten bushels of seed will give only one bushel of grain.”
• Indeed a large area of grapevines will give very little wine,
and a huge amount of seed will produce only a tiny amount of grain.”
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .