the Fourth Week of Lent
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Isaiah 66:17
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“Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their leader, eating meat from pigs, vermin, and rats, will perish together.”
Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves [to go] to the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating pig's flesh, and the abomination, and the akbar, they shall come to an end together, says the LORD.
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord .
"Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord .
"Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat pig's flesh, detestable things, and mice, Will come to an end altogether," declares the LORD.
"These people make themselves holy and pure to go to worship their gods in their gardens. Following each other into their special gardens, they eat the meat of pigs and rats and other hateful things. But they will all be destroyed together," says the Lord .
Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves [to go] to the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating pig's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, says Yahweh.
They that sanctifie themselues, and purifie themselues in the gardens behinde one tree in the middes eating swines flesh, and such abomination, euen the mouse, shall be consumed together, sayeth the Lord.
"Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens,Following one in the center,Who eat swine's flesh, detestable things, and mice,Will come to an end altogether," declares Yahweh.
"Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves-to follow one in the midst of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats-will perish together," declares the LORD.
Some of you get yourselves ready and go to a garden to worship a foreign goddess. You eat the meat of pigs, lizards, and mice. But I, the Lord , will destroy you for this.
"Those who consecrate and purify themselves in order to enter the gardens, then follow the one who was already there, eating pig meat, reptiles and mice, will all be destroyed together," says Adonai .
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one in the midst; that eat swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall perish together, saith Jehovah.
The Lord says, "These are the people who wash themselves and make themselves pure so that they can go into their special gardens to worship their idols. They follow each other into the gardens to eat meat from pigs, rats, and other dirty things. But they will all be destroyed together.
Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens, following one after another in the midst, eating swines flesh and creeping things and mice, shall be consumed together, says the LORD.
The Lord says, "The end is near for those who purify themselves for pagan worship, who go in procession to sacred gardens, and who eat pork and mice and other disgusting foods.
Those who sanctify themselves and those who cleanse themselves to go into the gardens after the one in the middle, eating the flesh of swine and detestable things and rodents together shall come to an end!" declares Yahweh.
Those who sanctify themselves, and purify themselves to the gardens, each one in the midst, eaters of swine's flesh, and the hateful thing, and the mouse, these are cut off together, says Jehovah.
Soch as haue made themselues holy and cleane in the gardens, and those that haue eaten swyne flesh, myce, and other abhominacios, shalbe taken awaye together, saieth the LORDE.
They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, saith Jehovah.
As for those who keep themselves separate, and make themselves clean in the gardens, going after one in the middle, taking pig's flesh for food, and other disgusting things, such as the mouse: their works and their thoughts will come to an end together, says the Lord.
They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the detestable thing, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
They that sanctifie themselues, and purifie themselues in the gardens, behinde one tree in the midst, eating swines flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
Such as haue made them selues holy and cleane in the gardens, and those that haue eaten swines fleshe, mice, and other abhominations, shalbe taken away together saith the Lorde.
They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens, and eat swine’s flesh in the porches, and the abominations, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse; they shall come to an end together, saith the LORD.
that weren halewid, and gessiden hem cleene, in gardyns aftir o yate with ynne; that eten swynes fleisch, and abhomynacioun, and a mows, thei schulen be waastid togidere, seith the Lord.
Those that sanctify themselves and purify themselves [to go] to the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the detestable, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, says Yahweh.
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one [tree] in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
"As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice—they will all be destroyed together," says the Lord .
"Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together," says the LORD.
"Those who ‘consecrate' and ‘purify' themselves in a sacred garden with its idol in the center—feasting on pork and rats and other detestable meats—will come to a terrible end," says the Lord .
Those who set themselves apart and make themselves pure to go to the gardens, following one in the center, who eat pig's flesh, hated things, and mice, will come to an end together," says the Lord.
Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord .
They who hallow themselves and purify themselves for the gardens, Behind a certain thing in the midst, Who eat the flesh of swine and the abomination, and the mouse, Together, shall be cut off - Declareth Yahweh.
They that were sanctified, thought themselves clean in the gardens behind the gate within, they that did eat swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
"Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating swine's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, says the LORD.
Those sanctifying and cleansing themselves at the gardens, After Ahad in the midst, Eating flesh of the sow, And of the abomination, and of the mouse, Together are consumed, An affirmation of Jehovah.
"All who enter the sacred groves for initiation in those unholy rituals that climaxed in that foul and obscene meal of pigs and mice will eat together and then die together." God 's Decree.
"Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat swine's flesh, detestable things and mice, Will come to an end altogether," declares the LORD.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
sanctify: Isaiah 1:29, Isaiah 65:3, Isaiah 65:4
behind one tree in the midst: or, one after another, eating. Leviticus 11:2-8, Deuteronomy 14:3-8
Reciprocal: Leviticus 11:7 - swine Leviticus 11:19 - bat Deuteronomy 14:8 - the swine 2 Kings 16:4 - on the hills Psalms 110:6 - fill Isaiah 9:18 - wickedness Isaiah 66:3 - as if he offered Ezekiel 4:14 - abominable Ezekiel 6:13 - upon
Gill's Notes on the Bible
They that sanctify themselves,.... This is a description of the enemies of the Lord, and of his people, who shall be slain at this time; not who are sanctified by the Spirit and grace of God, but who sanctify themselves, pretend to make themselves holy, and give out that they are holier than others; professing great outward sanctity, as the Papists do, but destitute of real inward holiness: or, "that prepare themselves", as the Targum; to go and worship such an idol, on such a day, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it, and as the above followers of the man of sin do, Revelation 9:20
that purify themselves in the gardens; in pools or ponds of water in gardens. This Kimchi understands of the Persians, by whom he means the Mahometans, who bathe and purify themselves daily, but yet are unclean in their lives and actions; and it is true also of the Papists, who pretend to purify themselves with their holy water in their churches. "Behind one tree in the midst": so Aben Ezra supplies it. Some take Achad, rendered "one", to be the name of an idol. Macrobius d says, the Assyrians worshipped the sun under the name of Adad, which signifies "one"; him they adore as a most powerful deity; the same perhaps, with the Adodus of Sanchoniatho e, whom he calls the king of the gods; and the Adadus of Pliny f, the god of the Syrians, from whom the gem "adadunephros" has its name. The Targum paraphrases it, "company after company"; to which agrees the Syriac version, "that purify themselves--one after another"; as the Papists go to Mass company after company, when they make use of their holy water purification. The phrase, "after one in the midst" g, as it may be rendered, may signify, after some middle person or mediator; and the note of Cocceius is not amiss, after the false vicar and head, that is, the pope, the pretended vicar of Christ, and head of the church the above things the Papists do after his orders and injunctions. So R. Bechai h interprets all of this of the Mahometans and Papists; his words are, as Buxtorf i has cited them,
"that sanctify themselves; these are the sons of Edom (that is, the Christians), whose custom it is to move their fingers here and there (that is, to sanctify themselves with the sign of the cross): that purify, themselves; these are the sons of Ishmael (that is, the Turks), whose custom is to wash their hands and their feet; which custom of washing they had from Esau and the Jews: "after one in the midst"; this signifies the cross of the Edomites (that is, the Christians), by which they sanctify, themselves;''
the Papists he means. Ben Melech understands it of one pool in the midst of the garden; and observes, that others interpret it of one of the groves in the midst of it.
Eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse; the eating of swine's flesh, and the mouse, were forbidden by the law of Moses,
Leviticus 11:7 and some think by the "abomination" is meant the "weasel", since that is mentioned in the above law with the "mouse"; though it may be rather things offered to idols, or blood, are designed. Mice have been eaten, at least some sort of them, as the dormouse, by some people, particularly the Romans, and counted delicious food, as Sanctius upon the place, from various authors, has showed; and Bochart k also observes, that there is a kind of field mice, called by the Arabians "jarbuo", which are eaten by them, and had in great esteem, and is the very word the Arabic interpreter renders this by in the text. Now, though the ceremonial law is abolished, and all distinction of meats ceased, and will continue so in the times referred to; yet the description of these unclean people, pretending to so much sanctity and purity, is taken from such persons who were reckoned impure in the times the prophet wrote; and may particularly point at such who abstain from meats at certain times, to be eaten lawfully; and yet are as unclean as those under the law were, who ate things forbidden; they being such who are abominable, and make an abomination, and a lie,
Revelation 21:8: "these shall be consumed together, saith the Lord"; in the above mentioned battles, or in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.
d Saturnal. I. 1. c. 23. e Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. I. 1. c. 10. p. 38. f Nat. Hist. 1. 37. c. 11. g ××ר ××× ××ª× "post unam in medio", Montanus Munster, Vatablus; "post unum in medio", Cocceius, Vitringa. h Comment. in Deut. xxx. fol. 220. col, 4. i De Abbreviat. Heb. p. 199, 200. k Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 33. col. 1014.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
They that sanctify themselves - That is, who attempt to purify themselves by idolatrous rites, by ablutions, and lustrations. The design here is, to describe those who will be exposed to the wrath of God when he shall come to execute vengeance.
And purify themselves in the gardens - (See the notes at Isaiah 65:3).
Behind one tree in the midst - This passage has not a little exercised the ingenuity of commentators. It is quite evident that our translators were not able to satisfy themselves with regard to its meaning. In the margin they have rendered it, âone after another,â supposing that it may mean that the idolaters engaged in their sacrifices in a solemn procession, walking one after another around their groves, their shrines, or their altars. In the translation in the text, they seem to have supposed that the religious rites referred to were celebrated behind one particular selected tree in the garden. Lowth renders it, âAfter the rites of Achad.â Jerome renders it, In hortis post januam intrinsecus - âIn the gardens they sanctify themselves behind the gate within.â The Septuagint, âWho consecrate and purify themselves (ειÌÏ ÏÎ¿Ï ÌÏ ÎºÎ·ÌÏÎ¿Ï Ï, ÎºÎ±Î¹Ì ÎµÌν ÏοιÍÏ ÏÏÎ¿Î¸Ï ÌÏÎ¿Î¹Ï ÎµÌÌÏθονÏεÏ, κ.Ï.λ. eis tous keÌpous, kai en tois prothurois hesthontes, etc.) for the gardens, and they who, in the outer courts, eat swineâs flesh,â etc. The Chaldee renders the phrase ס××¢× ××ר ס××¢× siyâaÌ' baÌchar siyâaÌ' - âMultitude after multitude.â The vexed Hebrew phrase used here, ××× ××ר 'achar 'achad, it is very difficult to explain. The word ××ר 'achar means properly after; the after part; the extremity; behind - in the sense of following after, or going after anyone. The word ××× 'achad, means properly one; someone; anyone. Gesenius (Commentary at the place) says that the phrase may be used in one of the three following senses:
1. In the sense of one after another. So Sym. and Theo. render it - οÌÏιÌÏÏ Î±ÌλληÌλÏν opisoÌ alleÌloÌn. Luther renders it, Einer hier, der andere da - âone here, another there.â
2. The word ××× 'achad, may be understood as the name of a god who was worshipped in Syria, by the name of Adad. This god is that described by Macrobius, Sat., i. 23: âUnderstand what the Assyrians think about the power of the sun. For to the God whom they worship as Supreme they give the name Adad, and the signification of this name is One.â That the passage before us refers to this divinity is the opinion of Lowth, Grotius, Bochart, Vitringa, Dathe, and others. âThe image of Adad,â Macrobius adds, âwas designated by inclined rays, by which it was shown that the power of heaven was in the rays of the sun which were sent down to the earth.â The same god is referred to by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 71), where he mentions three gems which received their names from three parts of the body, and were called âThe veins of Adad, the eye of Adad, the finger of Adad;â and he adds, âThis god was worshipped by the Syrians.â There can be no doubt that such a god was worshipped; but it is by no means certain that this idol is here referred to. It is not improbable, Vitringa remarks, that the name Adad should be written for Achadh, for the ease of pronunciation - as a slight change in letters was common for the purpose of euphony. But it is still not quite clear that this refers to any particular idol.
3. The third opinion is that of Gesenius and accords substantially with that which our translators have expressed it the text. According to that, it should be rendered âThose who sanctify and purify themselves in the (idol) groves after one in the midst;â that is, following and imitating the one priest who directed the sacred ceremonies. It may mean that a solemn procession was formed in the midst of the grove, which was led on by the priest, whom all followed; or it may mean that they imitated him in the sacred rites. It seems tome probable that this refers to some sacred procession in honor of an idol, where the idol or the altar was encompassed by the worshippers, and where they were led on by the officiating priest. Such processions we know were common in pagan worship.
In the midst - In the midst of the sacred grove; that is, in the darkest and obscurest recess. Groves were selected for such worship on account of the sacred awe which it was supposed their dark shades would produce and cherish. For the same reason, therefore, the darkest retreat - the very middle of the grove - would be selected as the place where their religious ceremonies would be performed. I see no evidence that there is any allusion to any tree here, as our translators seem to have supposed; still less, that there was, as Burder supposes, any allusion to the tree of life in the midst of the garden of Eden, and their attempts to cultivate and preserve the memory of it; but there is reason to believe that their religious rites would be performed in the center, or most shady part of the grove.
Eating swineâs flesh - That is, in connection with their public worship (see the notes at Isaiah 65:4).
And the abomination - The thing which is held as abominable or detestable in the law of God. Thus the creeping thing and the reptile were regarded as abominations Leviticus 11:41-42. They were not to be eaten; still less were they to be offered in sacrifice (compare Exodus 8:26; Deuteronomy 20:16; Deuteronomy 29:17; see the notes at Isaiah 65:3).
And the mouse - The Hebrew word used here means the dormouse - a small field-mouse. Jerome understands it as meaning the glis, a small mouse that was regarded as a great delicacy by the Romans. They were carefully kept and fattened for food (see Varro, De Rust., iii. 15). Bochart (Hieroz., i. 3, 34) supposes that the name used here is of Chaldaic origin, and that it denotes a field-mouse. Mice abounded in the East, and were often exceedingly destructive in Syria (see Bochart; compare 1 Samuel 5:4). Strabo mentions that so vast a multitude of mice sometimes invaded Spain as to produce a pestilence; and in some parts of Italy, the number of field-mice was so great that the inhabitants were forced to abandon the country. It was partly on account of its destructive character that it was held in abomination by the Hebrews. Yet it would seem that it was eaten by idolaters; and was, perhaps, used either in their sacrifices or in their incantations (see the notes at Isaiah 65:4). Vitringa supposes that the description in this verse is applicable to the time of Herod, and that it refers to the number of pagan customs and institutions which were introduced under his auspices. But this is by no means certain. It may be possible that it is a general description of idolatry, and of idolaters as the enemies of God, and that the idea is, that God would come with vengeance to cut off all his foes.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 66:17. Behind one tree - "After the rites of Achad"] The Syrians worshipped a god called Adad, Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxvii. 11; Macrob. Sat. i. 23. They held him to be the highest and greatest of the gods, and to be the same with Jupiter and the sun; and the name Adad, says Macrobius, signifies one; as likewise does the word Achad in Isaiah. Many learned men therefore have supposed, and with some probability, that the prophet means the same pretended deity. ××× achad, in the Syrian and Chaldean dialects, is ×× chad; and perhaps by reduplication of the last letter to express perfect unity, it may have become ××× chadad, not improperly expressed by Macrobius Adad, without the aspirate. It was also pronounced by the Syrians themselves, with a weaker aspirate, ××× hadad, as in Benhadad, Hadadezer, names of their kings, which were certainly taken from their chief object of worship. This seems to me to be a probable account of this name.
But the Masoretes correct the text in this place. Their marginal reading is ××ת achath which is the same word, only in the feminine form; and so read thirty MSS. (six ancient) and the two oldest editions. This Le Clerc approves, and supposes it to mean Hecate, or the moon; and he supports his hypothesis by arguments not at all improbable. See his note on the place.
Whatever the particular mode of idolatry which the prophet refers to might be, the general sense of the place is perfectly clear. But the Chaldee and Syriac, and after them Symmachus and Theodotion, cut off at once all these difficulties, by taking the word ××× achad in its common meaning, not as a proper name; the two latter rendering the sentence thus: ÎÏιÏÏ Î±Î»Î»Î·Î»Ïν εν μεÏÏÍ ÎµÏθιονÏÏν Ïο κÏÎµÎ±Ï Ïο ÏοιÏειον; "One after another, in the midst of those that eat swine's flesh." I suppose they all read in their copies ××× ××× achad achad, one by one, or perhaps ××× ××ר ××× achad achar achad, one after another. See a large dissertation on this subject in Davidis Millii Dissertationes Selectae, Dissert. vi. - L.
I know not what to make of this place; it is certain that our translation makes no sense, and that of the learned prelate seems to me too refined. Kimchi interprets this of the Turks, who are remarkable for ablutions. "Behind one in the midst" he understands of a large fish-pond placed in the middle of their gardens. Others make ××× achad a deity, as above; and a deity of various names it is supposed to be, for it is Achad, and Chad, and Hadad, and Achath, and Hecat, an Assyrian idol. Behynd the fyrst tree or the gate withine forth. - Old MS. Bible.
