Religion of greed

Isaiah’s woe against the greedy uses liturgically charged terminology. “Woe to those who touch house to house” uses the verb naga’ , which is used some 28 times in Leviticus, far more than anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. “[Woe to those] who join field to field” uses the hiphil of qarav , with the meaning “cause to come near” or “bring near.” That verb is used over 90 times in Leviticus, over 50 in Numbers, and is the normal word for “offering” a sacrifice. The ironic result of “bringing near” field to field is that the offerer stands alone in the midst ( qerev , an adjective form of the same root) of his piles of wealth.

Acquisition is the liturgy of the greedy, their form of sacrifice and their rule of purity.