the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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King James Version
Isaiah 65:3
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They keep doing things, right in front of me, that make me angry. They offer sacrifices and burn incense in their special gardens.
All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars.
a people that provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
Right in front of me they continue to do things that make me angry. They offer sacrifices to their gods in their gardens, and they burn incense on altars of brick.
These people continually and blatantly offend me as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards and burn incense on brick altars.
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
The people who continually provoke Me to My face, Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;
It is a puple that stirith me to wrathfulnesse, euere bifore my face; whiche offren in gardyns, and maken sacrifice on tiel stoonys;
a people that provoketh me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks;
to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,
They keep making me angry by sneering at me, while offering sacrifices to idols in gardens and burning incense to them on bricks.
a people that provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks;
A people who make me angry every day, making offerings in gardens, and burning perfumes on bricks.
a people who provoke me to my face all the time, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks.
the people that provoke me to anger continually to my face, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense upon the bricks;
A people that provoke Me to My face continually, that sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon bricks;
A people that prouoketh mee to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense vpon altars of bricke:
These people always make Me angry, giving gifts of worship in gardens and burning special perfume on altars of clay blocks.
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks;
A people that prouoked me euer vnto my face: that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense vpon brickes.
A people who provoke me to anger continually, who sacrifice in the gardens and burn incense upon altars of bricks;
The people who are provoking me to anger to my face continually, - Sacrificing in gardens, and Burning incense upon bricks;
A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks.
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense upon bricks;
To a people that is euer defiyng me to my face, they make their oblations in gardens, and their smoke vpon aulters of bricke.
This is the people that provokes me continually in my presence; they offer sacrifices in gardens, and burn incense on bricks to devils, which exist not.
They shamelessly keep on making me angry. They offer pagan sacrifices at sacred gardens and burn incense on pagan altars.
These people continually anger meto my face,sacrificing in gardens,burning incense on bricks,
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
the people who provoke me to anger continually to my face, slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden, and making smoke offerings on bricks,
a people who continually provoke Me to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on the bricks;
The people who are provoking Me to anger, To My face continually, Sacrificing in gardens, and making perfume on the bricks:
To a people, that is euer defyenge me to my face. They make their oblacions in gardens, and their smoke vpon aulters of bricke,
A people who continually provoke Me to My face, Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;
A people who continually provoke Me to My face, Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
A people who continually provoke Me to My face,Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
A people: Isaiah 3:8, Deuteronomy 32:16-19, Deuteronomy 32:21, 2 Kings 17:14-17, 2 Kings 22:17, Psalms 78:40, Psalms 78:58, Jeremiah 32:30-35, Ezekiel 8:17, Ezekiel 8:18, Matthew 23:32-36
to my face: Job 1:11, Job 2:5
that sacrificeth: Isaiah 1:29, Isaiah 66:17, Leviticus 17:5, Jeremiah 3:6, Ezekiel 20:28
altars: Heb. bricks, Exodus 20:24, Exodus 20:25, Exodus 30:1-10
Reciprocal: Genesis 11:3 - brick 1 Kings 14:22 - they provoked 1 Kings 22:53 - provoked Isaiah 1:4 - provoked Isaiah 7:13 - will ye Isaiah 65:12 - did evil Isaiah 66:3 - as if he offered Isaiah 66:4 - they did Jeremiah 1:16 - and have Jeremiah 7:18 - that they Ezekiel 6:13 - upon Matthew 8:30 - an
Gill's Notes on the Bible
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face,.... They committed their sins openly, without any fear of the divine Being, and in defiance of him, not at all awed by his omniscience and omnipresence; they committed them in the open streets, and even in the temple, the place of the divine residence; and these they did constantly, which provoked him to anger and wrath against them; particularly the following sins:
that sacrificeth in gardens; to idols, as the Targum, placed there, as they were under every green tree; or in groves, where idols were worshipped. Fortunatus Scacchus h thinks this refers to their having their sepulchres in their gardens, where they consulted the dead; which is favoured by a clause in the next verse:
and burneth incense on altars of brick: or, "upon bricks" i. Kimchi says, when they made bricks, they put upon them incense for idols; or, "upon tiles"; upon the roofs of their houses, which were covered with tiles; see Jeremiah 19:13 when incense should only have been burnt upon the golden altar erected for that purpose, Exodus 30:1, not that these idolatrous actions were committed by the Jews in the times of Christ and his apostles, the times preceding their last destruction; for, after their return front the Babylonish captivity, they were not guilty of idolatry; but these were the sins of their fathers, which God would recompense into their bosoms, according to Isaiah 65:7 they now filling up the measure of their iniquities, Matthew 23:32.
h Sacr. Eleaochr. Myrothec. I. 2. c. 55. col. 580. i על הלבנים "super lateres", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vitringa.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
A people - This verse contains a specification of the reasons why God had rejected them, and brought the calamities upon them.
That provoketh me to anger - That is, by their sins. They give constant occasion for my indignation.
Continually - (תמיד tâmı̂yd). It is not once merely, but their conduct as a people is constantly such as to excite my displeasure.
To my face - There is no attempt at concealment. Their abominations are public. It is always regarded as an additional affront when an offence is committed in the very presence of another, and when there is not even the apology that it was supposed he did not see the offender. It is a great aggravation of the guilt of the stoner, that his offence is committed in the very presence, and under the very eye, of God.
That sacrificeth in gardens - (See the notes at Isaiah 1:29).
And burneth incense - On the meaning of the word ‘incense,’ see the notes at Isaiah 1:13.
Upon altars of brick - Margin, ‘Bricks.’ The Hebrew is simply, ‘Upon bricks.’ The command of God was that the altars for sacrifice should be made of unhewn stone Exodus 20:24-25. But the pagan had altars of a different description, and the Jews had sacrificed on those altars. Some have supposed that this means that they sacrificed on the roofs of their houses, which were flat, and paved with brick, or tile, or plaster. That altars were constructed sometimes on the roofs of their houses, we know from 2 Kings 23:12, where Josiah is said to have beaten down the ‘altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the king of Judah had made.’ But it is not necessary to suppose that such sacrifices are referred to here. They had disobeyed the command of God, which required that the altars should be made only of unhewn stone. They had built other altars, and had joined with the pagan in offering sacrifices thereon. The reason why God forbade that the altar should be of anything but unhewn stone is not certainly known, and is not necessary to be understood in order to explain this passage. It may have been, first, in order effectually to separate his people from all others, as well in the construction of the altar as in anything and everything else; secondly, because various inscriptions and carvings were usually made on altars, and as this tended to superstition, God commanded that the chisel should not be used at all in the construction of the altars where his people should worship.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 65:3. That sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick - "Sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense on the tiles"] These are instances of heathenish superstition, and idolatrous practices, to which the Jews were immoderately addicted before the Babylonish captivity. The heathen worshipped their idols in groves; whereas God, in opposition to this species of idolatry, commanded his people, when they should come into the promised land, to destroy all the places wherein the Canaanites had served their gods, and in particular to burn their groves with fire, Deuteronomy 12:2-3. These apostate Jews sacrificed upon altars built of bricks; in opposition to the command of God in regard to his altar, which was to be of unhewn stone, Exodus 20:26. Et pro uno altari, quod impolitis lapidibus Dei erat lege constructum, coctos lateres et agrorum cespites hostiarum sanguine cruentabant. "And instead of one altar which, according to the law of God, was, to be constructed of unhewn stones, they stained the bricks and turfs of the fields with the blood of their victims." Hieron. in loc. Or it means, perhaps, that they sacrificed upon the roofs of their houses, which were always flat, and paved with brick, or tile, or plaster of terrace. An instance of this idolatrous practice we find in 2 Kings 23:12, where it is said that Josiah "beat down the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made." See also Zephaniah 1:5. Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows: "Ainsi font tous les Gentiles, sur les lieux eleves, et sur les terrasses, appellez latcres, parceque sont faits de briq." "Who dwell in the sepulchres, and lodge in the caverns," for the purposes of necromancy and divination; to obtain dreams and revelations. Another instance of heathenish superstition: so Virgil: -
Huc dona sacerdos
Cum tulit, et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti
Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit:
Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris,
Et varias audit voces, fruiturque deorum
Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis.
AEn. vii. 86. - L.
"Here in distress the Italian nations come,
Anxious, to clear their doubts, and learn their doom.
First, on the fleeces of the slaughtered sheep,
By night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep:
When in a train, before his slumbering eye,
Thin airy forms and wondrous visions fly.
He calls the powers who guard the infernal floods,
And talks inspired, familiar with the gods."
PITT.
There was a practice exactly like this which prevailed among the Highlanders of Scotland; an authentic account of this is given by Sir Walter Scott, in a note on his poem called The Lady of the Lake. It is as follows: -
"The Highlanders, like all rude people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and deposited beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the question proposed; and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination passed for the inspiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt these desolate recesses. In some of the Hebrides, they attributed the same oracular power to a large black stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities; and considered the first fancy which came into their own minds after they did so, to be the undoubted dictate of the tutelar deity of the stone; and as such to be, if possible, punctually complied with. Martin has recorded the following curious modes of Highland augury, in which the Taghairm, and its effects upon the person who was subjected to it, may serve to illustrate the text.
"It was an ordinary thing among the over-curious to consult an invisible oracle concerning the fate of families and battles, c. This was performed three different ways the first was by a company of men, one of whom, being detached by lot, was afterwards carried to a river, which was the boundary between two villages. Four of the company laid hold on him; and, having shut his eyes, they took him by the legs and arms, and then, tossing him to and again, struck his hips with force against the bank. One of them cried out, What is it you have got here? Another answers, A log of birch-wood. The other cries again, Let his invisible friends appear from all quarters, and let them relieve him by giving an answer to our present demands; and in a few minutes after, a number of little creatures came from the sea, who answered the question, and disappeared suddenly. The man was then set at liberty; and they all returned home, to take their measures according to the prediction of their false prophets; but the poor deluded fools were abused, for the answer was still ambiguous. This was always practised in the night, and may literally be called the works of darkness.
"I had an account from the most intelligent and judicious men in the Isle of Skie, that, about sixty-two years ago, the oracle was thus consulted only once, and that was in the parish of Kilmartin, on the east side, by a wicked and mischievous race of people, who are now extinguished, both root and branch.
"The second way of consulting the oracle was by a party of men, who first retired to solitary places, remote from any house; and there they singled out one of their number, and wrapt him in a big cow's hide, which they folded about him. His whole body was covered with it, except his head, and so left in this posture all night, until his invisible friends relieved him, by giving a proper answer to the question in hand; which he received, as he fancied, from several persons that he found about him all that time. His consorts returned to him at the break of day, and then he communicated his news to them; which often proved fatal to those concerned in such unwarrantable inquiries.
"There was a third way of consulting, which was a confirmation of the second above mentioned. The same company who put the man into the hide took a live cat, and put him on a spit. One of the number was employed to turn the spit, and one of his consorts inquired of him, What are you doing? He answered, I roast this cat until his friends answer the question; which must be the same that was proposed by the man shut up in the hide. And afterwards, a very big cat (in allusion to the story of 'the King of the Cats,' in Lord Lyttleton's Letters, and well known in the Highlands as a nursery tale) comes, attended by a number of lesser cats, desiring to relieve the cat turned upon the spit, and then answers the question. If this answer proved the same that was given to the man in the hide, then it was taken as a confirmation of the other, which, in this case, was believed infallible.
"Mr. Alexander Cooper, present minister of North-Vist, told me that one John Erach, in the Isle of Lewis, assured him it was his fate to have been led by his curiosity with some who consulted this oracle, and that he was a night within the hide, as above-mentioned; during which time he felt and heard such terrible things, that he could not express them. The impression it made on him was such as could never go off; and he said for a thousand worlds he would never again be concerned in the like performance, for this had disordered him to a high degree. He confessed it ingenuously, and with an air of great remorse; and seemed to be very penitent under a just sense of so great a crime. He declared this about five years since, and is still living in the Lewis for any thing I know." - Description of the Western Isles, p. 110. See also PENNANT'S Scottish Tour, vol. ii. p. 361.
