Isaiah 57:5

Isaiah 57:5

3 “But come here,
^aYou sons of the sorceress,
You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!

4 Whom do you ridicule?
Against whom do you make a wide mouth
And stick out the tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
Offspring of falsehood,

5 Inflaming yourselves with gods ^aunder every green tree,
^bSlaying the children in the valleys,
Under the clefts of the rocks?

6 Among the smooth ^astones of the stream
Is your portion;
They, they, are your lot!
Even to them you have poured a drink offering,
You have offered a grain offering.
Should I receive comfort in ^bthese?

7 “On^a a lofty and high mountain
You have set ^byour bed;
Even there you went up
To offer sacrifice.

8 Also behind the doors and¹ their posts
You have set up your remembrance;
For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me,
And have gone up to them;
You have enlarged your bed
And made a covenant with them;
^aYou have loved their bed,
Where you saw their¹ nudity.

9 ^aYou went to the king with ointment,
And increased your perfumes;
You sent your ^bmessengers far off,
And even descended to Sheol.

10 You are wearied in the length of your way;
^aYet you did not say, ‘There is no hope.’
You have found the life of your hand;
Therefore you were not grieved.

11 “And ^aof whom have you been afraid, or feared,
That you have lied
And not remembered Me,
Nor taken it to your heart?
Is it not because ^bI have held My peace from of old
That you do not fear Me?

12 I will declare your righteousness
And your works,
For they will not profit you.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Isaiah 57:6 >>

Enflaming yourselves—burning with lust towards idols [GESENIUS]; or else (compare Margin), in the terebinth groves, which the Hebrew and the parallelism favor (see on Isaiah 1:29) [MAURER].

under . . . tree— (II Kings 17:10). The tree, as in the Assyrian sculptures, was probably made an idolatrous symbol of the heavenly hosts.

slaying . . . children—as a sacrifice to Molech, etc. (II Kings 17:31; II Chronicles 28:3; II Chronicles 33:6).

in . . . valleys—the valley of the son of Hinnom. Fire was put within a hollow brazen statue, and the child was put in his heated arms; kettle drums (Hebrew, toph) were beaten to drown the child's cries; whence the valley was called Tophet (II Chronicles 33:6; Jeremiah 7:3).

under . . . clifts—the gloom of caverns suiting their dark superstitions.

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Isaiah 57:5:**

Deuteronomy 12:2
Jeremiah 2:20
Ezekiel 16:20-21

<< Isaiah 57:4

Isaiah 57:6 >>

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