Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 66:17
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.
17. A renewed description of the apostates, in terms similar to Isa 66:3, Isa 65:3-5; Isa 65:11. Although the judgement is “with all flesh” it has a special significance for these reprobates. The connexion of Isa 66:17 with Isa 66:16 is not, however, beyond suspicion.
in the gardens ] for the gardens, i.e. in order to go into the sacred gardens (ch. Isa 65:3) where the illegal rites were to be consummated (“ad sacra in lucis obeunda”).
behind one tree in the midst ] A difficult and much disputed phrase. The insertion of the word “tree” is purely gratuitous, and indefensible. If the consonantal text be sound the best rendering by far is after one in the midst; i.e. following the actions of a hierophant or mystagogue, who stands in the midst of the brotherhood and regulates the important ceremony of purification. Comp. Eze 8:11, “ seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand.” There does not appear to be any valid objection to this interpretation, although it is not supported by any ancient authority. The Massoretes substitute the fem. of “one” for the masc., thinking apparently of the image of some goddess as the central object. (The Babylonian Codex and the Soncino Bible have the fem. in the text.) Many commentators, guided by a faulty reference in Macrobius ( Saturn. 1. 23), have supposed that the word for “one” ( ) contains the name of a deity; but this view, although revived by Lagarde, finds little favour among modern scholars. Several ancient versions (Pesh., Sym., Theod.) render “one after another” (Targ. “company after company”), which would be possible if we might insert an additional ( ), but it leaves “in the midst” unexplained. Cheyne ( Introd. p. 370) reads with Klostermann “one (consecrating) the other on the tip of the ear”; an ingenious emendation, but hardly yielding an easier sense than the received (consonantal) text as understood above.
swine’s flesh ] ch. Isa 65:4.
the abomination ] Hebr. shqec, the general name for unclean animals; Lev 7:21; Lev 9:10 ff. ( passim); cf. Eze 8:10. (Duhm reads shre, “vermin,” creeping or swarming creatures).
the mouse ] an unclean animal according to Lev 11:29. Of the 23 species of small rodents included under the name in Palestine, several are esteemed edible by the Arabs (Tristram, Nat. Hist., pp. 122 ff.). The allusion here without doubt is to sacrificial meals, the mouse being a sacred animal in the same sense as the swine and the dog. see W. R. Smith, Rel. of Sem. 2 p. 293; who mentions a statement of Maimonides that the Harranians sacrificed field-mice.
shall be consumed ] shall come to an end; see on next verse.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 Isa 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, one after another, 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, After the rites of Achad. Jerome renders it, In hortis post januam intrinsecus – In the gardens they sanctify themselves behind the gate within. The Septuagint, Who consecrate and purify themselves ( , , … eis tous kepous, kai en tois prothurois hesthontes, etc.) for the gardens, and they who, in the outer courts, eat swines flesh, etc. The Chaldee renders the phrase siya’ bachar siya’ – Multitude after multitude. The vexed Hebrew phrase used here, ‘achar ‘achad, it is very difficult to explain. The word ‘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 – opiso allelon. Luther renders it, Einer hier, der andere da – one here, another there.
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: Understand 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. That the passage before us refers to this divinity is the opinion of Lowth, Grotius, Bochart, Vitringa, Dathe, and others. The image of Adad, Macrobius adds, was 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. 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 The veins of Adad, the eye of Adad, the finger of Adad; and he adds, This god was worshipped by the Syrians. 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 Those who sanctify and purify themselves in the (idol) groves after one in the midst; 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 swines flesh – That is, in connection with their public worship (see the notes at Isa 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 Lev 11:41-42. They were not to be eaten; still less were they to be offered in sacrifice (compare Exo 8:26; Deu 20:16; Deu 29:17; see the notes at Isa 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 1Sa 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 Isa 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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 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: ; “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 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That the Jews might not think that the judgments threatened concerned only the heathen, he tells them they concerned them, the idol worshippers amongst them; and not idolaters only, but such as broke his laws about meats, which he had prohibited them to eat. Those that sanctified and purified themselves in gardens, gardens in which they worshipped idols, Isa 1:29; 65:3,4; 1Ki 14:23; 15:13; the word translated gardens signifieth such as were thick planted with trees, and had groves in them, where they set their idols, 1Ki 15:13; hence the idol is called the grove, 2Ki 23:6; they had also in these gardens pools, where they washed themselves in a way of preparation for their idol worship, as the priest by Gods ordinance was to bathe himself, Num 19:7.
Behind one tree in the midst; behind one of the trees, or one by one behind the trees. Some think that Achar is here a proper name of an idol, behind which or behind whose temple these idolaters were wont to purify themselves. These gardens were places too as well for brutish lusts as idol worship, as may be learned from 1Ki 14:24; 2Ki 23:7, and they by these washings thought to make themselves clean.
Eating swine s flesh, forbidden Lev 11:7; Deu 14:8.
And the abomination; either any abominable things, or all those beasts forbidden the Jews for meat, Lev 11:9,10, &c. Some think a particular abominable thing is here meant, and think it is the weasel, which, Lev 11:29, is joined with the mouse, which is here next mentioned. The word which we translate mouse being no where found but there, and here, and 1Sa 6:4,5,11,18, some think it is not that creature we call a mouse, (because a mouse is properly no creeping thing; but the word, Lev 11:29, signifieth a creeping thing,) they therefore think it rather signifieth some serpent. It is a matter of no great consequence. The sense is, that God would not only destroy the open and gross idolaters and superstitious persons, but all those also who had made no conscience of yielding obedience to the law of God in such things as seemed to them of a minute nature, and such as they easily might have yielded obedience to; he saith that they shall all perish together. In the day of judgment, the idolatrous pagan and papist, and the lewd anti disobedient protestant, shall fare alike. It will be a hard thing for a thinking soul to see how baptism, and a membership in the Christian church, should save men from Gods wrath, without holiness, more than circumcision and membership in the Jewish church.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. in . . . gardensHebrewand the Septuagint rather require, “for (entering into)gardens,” namely, to sacrifice there [MAURER].
behind one treerather,”following one,” that is, some idol or other, which, fromcontempt, he does not name [MAURER].VITRINGA, c., think theHebrew for “one,” Ahhadh, to be the name ofthe god called Adad (meaning One) in Syria (compare Ac17:23). The idol’s power was represented by inclined rays, as ofthe sun shining on the earth. GESENIUStranslates, “following one,” namely, Hierophant(“priest”), who led the rest in performing the sacredrites.
in . . . midstnamely,of the garden (see on Isa 65:3, 4).
mouselegally unclean(Le 11:29) because it was anidol to the heathen (see on Isa37:36; 1Sa 6:4). Translate,”the field mouse,” or “dormouse” [BOCHART].The Pharisees with their self-righteous purifications, and all mereformalists, are included in the same condemnation, described inlanguage taken from the idolatries prevalent in Isaiah’s times.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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, Re 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,
Le 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,
Re 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 “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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The judgment predicted here is a judgment upon nations, and falls not only upon the heathen, but upon the great mass of Israel, who have fallen away from their election of grace and become like the heathen. “They that consecrate themselves and purify themselves for the gardens behind one in the midst, who eat swine’s flesh and abomination and the field-mouse-they will come to an end together, saith Jehovah.” The persons are first of all described; and then follows the judgment pronounced, as the predicate of the sentence. They subject themselves to the heathen rites of lustration, and that with truly bigoted thoroughness, as is clearly implied by the combination of the two synonyms hammithqadd e shm and hammittaharm ( hithpael with an assimilated tav), which, like the Arabic qadusa and tahura , are both traceable to the radical idea . The of is to be understood as relating to the object or behoof: their intention being directed to the gardens as places of worship (Isa 1:29; Isa 65:3), ad sacra in lucis obeunda , as Shelling correctly explains. In the chethib , the (for which we may also read , the form of connection, although the two pathachs of the text belong to the keri) is in all probability the hierophant , who leads the people in the performances of the rites of religious worship and as he is represented as standing in the midst ( ) of the worshipping crowd that surrounds him, ‘achar (behind, after) cannot be understood locally, as if they formed his train or tail, but temporally or in the way of imitation. He who stands in their midst performs the ceremonies before them, and they follow him, i.e., perform them after him. This explanation leaves nothing to be desired. The keri, ‘achath , is based upon the assumption that ‘achad must refer to the idol, and substitutes therefore the feminine, no doubt with an allusion to ‘asherah , so that battavekh (in the midst) is to be taken as referring not to the midst of the worshipping congregation, but to the midst of the gardens. This would be quite as suitable; for even if it were not expressly stated, we should have to assume that the sacred tree of Astarte, or her statue, occupied the post of honour in the midst of the garden, and ‘achar would correspond to the phrase in the Pentateuch, . But the foregoing expression, sanctificantes et mundantes se (consecrating and purifying), does not favour this sense of the word ‘achar (why not = ?), nor do we see why the name of the goddess should be suppressed, or why she should be simply hinted at in the word (one). ( ) has its sufficient explanation in the antithesis between the one choir-leader and the many followers; but if we take ‘achath as referring to the goddess, we can find no intelligible reason or object.
Some again have taken both ‘achad and ‘achath to be the proper name of the idol. Ever since the time of Scaliger and Groitus, ‘achad has been associated with the Phoenician mentioned by Sanchuniathon in Euseb. praep. ev. 1, 10, 21, or with the Assyrian sun-god Adad, of whom Macrobius says ( Saturn. 1, 23), Ejus nominis interpretatio significat unus ; but we should expect the name of a Babylonian god here, and not of a Phoenician or Assyrian (Syrian) deity. Moreover, Macrobius’ combination of the Syrian Hadad with ‘achad was a mere fancy, arising from an imperfect knowledge of the language. Clericus’ combination of ‘achath with Hecate, who certainly appears to have been worshipped by the Harranians as a monster, though not under this name, and not in gardens (which would not have suited her character), is also untenable. Now as ‘achath cannot be explained as a proper name, and the form of the statement does not favour the idea that ‘achar ‘achath or ‘achar ‘achad refers to an idol, we adopt the reading ‘achad , and understand it to refer to the hierophant or mystagogue. Jerome follows the keri, and renders it post unam intrinsecus . The reading post januam is an ancient correction, which is not worth tracing to the Aramaean interpretation of ‘achar ‘achad , “behind a closed door,” and merely rests upon some rectification of the unintelligible post unam . The Targum renders it, “one division after another,” and omits battavekh . The lxx, on the other hand, omits ‘achar ‘achad , reads ubhattavekh , and renders it (in the inner court). Symmachus and Theodoret follow the Targum and Syriac, and render it , and then pointing the next word (which Schelling and Bttcher approve), render the rest (in the midst of those who eat, etc.). But commences the further description of those who were indicated first of all by their zealous adoption of heathen customs. Whilst, on the one hand, they readily adopt the heathen ritual; they set themselves on the other hand, in the most daring way, altogether above the law of Jehovah, by eating swine’s flesh (Isa 65:4) and reptiles ( sheqets , abomination, used for disgusting animals, such as lizards, snails, etc., Lev 7:21; Lev 11:11),
(Note: See Levysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, pp. 218-9.)
and more especially the mouse (Lev 11:29), or according to Jerome and Zwingli the dormouse ( glis esculentus ), which the Talmud also mentions under the name (wild mouse) as a dainty bit with epicures, and which was fattened, as is well known, by the Romans in their gliraria .
(Note: See Levysohn, id. pp. 108-9. A special delicacy was glires isicio porcino , dormice with pork stuffing; see Brillat-Savarin’s Physiologie des Geschmacks, by C. Vogt, p. 253.)
However inward and spiritual may be the interpretation given to the law in these prophecies, yet, as we see here, the whole of it, even the laws of food, were regarded as inviolable. So long as God Himself had not taken away the hedges set about His church, every wilful attempt to break through them was a sin, which brought down His wrath and indignation.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
17. They who sanctify themselves. He now describes those enemies of whom he said, that God’s anger would be kindled against them; for it might have been doubtful whether he spoke of foreign and avowed enemies, or directed his discourse to the despisers of God, although they had been mixed with those who were elect and holy; and therefore he plainly addresses the false and degenerate Jews. Nor have I any doubt that, in the first place, he rebukes hypocrites, and, in the second place, when he says, “Who eat swine’s flesh,” he describes men of immoral lives, that is, those who were openly wicked and grossly licentious. Hypocrites sanctified themselves, that is, assumed false disguises of holiness, and deceived many under this pretense.
They purified themselves in the gardens; that is, they polluted themselves with various superstitions, although they imagined that, by means of those superstitions, they rendered themselves pure in the sight of God. Others, without any reserve, despised God and all religion. It is therefore a general statement, in which he includes all the ungodly, to whatever class they may belong; that is, both those who openly display their wickedness, and those who hide and cover it by various disguises.
Behind one in the midst. (227) Some commentators supply the word “pool,” or “laver;” as if holy water had been placed “in the midst” of the garden for ablutions. But another meaning would be equally appropriate; that every one chose a God for himself exclusively, and therefore every one out of many trees had his own tree.
(227) “Gessenius attaches to it here (as he does in 2Sa 4:6) the sense of the interior or court of an oriental house, and applies it to the edifice in which the lustrations were performed before entering the gardens; which may also be the meaning of the Septuagint version, εἰς τοὺς κήπους, ἐν τοῖς προθύροις. Maurer and others follow Scaliger, who makes it mean the midst of the grove or garden, where the idol was commonly erected. But Knobel, by ingeniously combining Gen 42:5; Psa 42:5; Psa 68:26, makes it not improbable that “in the midst,” means in the crowd or procession of worshippers.” — Alexander.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) They that sanctify themselves . . .Better, they that consecrate themselves . . . As in Isa. 65:3-4, the prophet has in his thoughts the apostates, who gloried in mingling heathen rites with the worship of Jehovah. Such a blending of incompatible elements was, as we have seen, eminently characteristic of the reign of Manasseh. We have no trace of anything corresponding to it among the. Babylonian exiles, either before or after their return. The consecration and purification are the initiatory rites of heathen mysteries, connected probably with the worship of Baal or Ashtoreth, or, as the context, with its reference to gardens and swines flesh, renders probable, with that of Thammuz. (See Note on Isa. 64:4.)
Behind one tree in the midst.The noun tree is a conjectural explanation. The Hebrew text gives the one in the masculine, and is explained as referring either (1) to the Hierophant, who led the worshippers; or (2), as with a contemptuous reluctance to utter the name of the false deity, to Thammuz. The Hebrew margin gives one in the feminine, and this may have been meant for the Asherah, the grove, or Phallic symbol of idolatrous worship. If we adopt the masculine, and refer it to Thammuz, the word may connect itself with the lamentations of the Syrian maidens over Thammuz (Adonis) as over an only son. (Comp. Milton, Paradise Lost, i.)
The abomination.The word stands in Lev. 7:21; Lev. 11:11, for various kinds of unclean beasts, among which the mouse, or jerboa, still eaten by the Arabs, was conspicuous (Lev. 11:29). It is probable that all these, as well as the swines flesh, were used in the idolfeasts. In any case the apostate worshippers would seem to have exulted in throwing off the restraints of the Mosaic law.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. The judgments of Isa 66:15-16, likewise fall on nations or heathen as well as on Jews who still voluntarily drop themselves from the election of grace, and become measurably like the heathen.
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens The same as described in Isa 65:3-4. These are the ancient idolaters among the Jews, of whom so much has been said in these prophecies. Their sins, past, present, and future, are considered as in one group, for which judgment of “fire” and “sword” is executed.
Gardens Enclosures containing trees and shrubs and aromatic plants, belonging to the wealthy, especially kings and nobles. When idolatry became common in Palestine these were used for polluting, idol worship.
Behind one tree in the midst The word “tree” is not in the Hebrew text, but the reading is: Behind one, one, or one after one. It is generally believed one file leader is the proper idea; he standing in the “midst,” giving instruction and direction in idolatrous procession along the groves of the garden, where swine’s flesh is sacrificed and eaten, with the abomination, and the mouse. What these were is very difficult to ascertain; but the sentiment indicates that nothing was too disgusting to be an object of idolatrous reverence in the days of the wicked kings of Israel and Judah. The retributive judgments of these verses are seemingly generic, and do their chastising work along the whole course of history pertaining to the abuses of Jehovah’s true religion. This entire subject is quite inscrutable still to the ablest critics.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Those Who Follow False Religion Will Come To An End Together ( Isa 66:17-18 a).
Isa 66:17-18
“Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves,
To go to the gardens behind one in the midst,
Eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse,
They will come to an end together,” says Yahweh.
“For I know their works and their thoughts.”
This judgment will come on all who follow false religion. They set themselves apart and purify themselves (by methods which we do not know) in readiness for their worship, and then they go to the sacred gardens. ‘Behind one in the midst’ clearly refers to some aspect of their rites, compare Eze 8:11. Possibly this was someone selected out to perform some special ceremony whom they take in triumph to their blasphemous rites. And there they eat swine’s flesh, and the abomination (insects and creeping things? Such constantly came in contact with what was unclean, especially dead bodies. Compare Eze 8:10) and rodents. But they will all come to an end together at the last judgment. For while they meet in secret, thinking that Yahweh does not see them (see Isa 29:15; Isa 30:1; Eze 8:12), Yahweh knows their works and their thoughts.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 66:17-18. They that sanctify themselves These verses specify the cause of the extreme severity denounced in those preceding, and are to be understood figuratively, like the expressions used in Isa 66:3 and in ch. Isa 65:3-4; Isa 65:11. achar achad, Behind one tree, may be rendered, After Hecate, or Ahad, which Ahad, or Adad, was an Assyrian idol. See Selden, and Macrob. Saturn. 23. In the midst, may either signify publicly, without any fear or shame, (see ch. Isa 19:19 Isa 61:9.) or it may refer to the idol’s being placed in the midst of the sacred grove.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 66:17 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.
Ver. 17. In the gardens. ] Where these idolaters had set up altars, offered sacrifices, and had their ponds, wherein, when they were about to sacrifice, heathen like, they washed and purified themselves one after another, and not together, which they held to be the best way of purifying. This they did also, not apart and in private, but in the midst, ut hoc mode oculos in nudis lavantium, praesertim muliercularum, corporibus pascerent, that they might feed their eyes with the sight of those parts which nature would have hid; for your pagan superstitions were ofttimes contrary to natural honesty. a
Behind one tree in the midst.
a Donec me flumine vivo Abluero. – Virg. Qui noctem in flumine purgas. – Pers.; i.e., nocturnam Venerem.
b Saturnal., lib. i. cap. 23.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
gardens. Compare Isa 1:29, and Isa 65:3.
tree: i.e. the Asherah.
tree, &c. See notes on next page.
abomination. Hebrew. shakaz. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 7:2). Occurs in Isaiah only here; Leviticus thirteen times (Isa 7:2; Isa 11:9, Isa 11:11, Isa 11:11, Isa 11:13, Isa 11:13, Isa 11:20, Isa 11:23, Isa 11:41, Isa 11:42, Isa 11:43; Isa 20:25); and Eze 8:10. Not the same word as in Isa 65:4. App-92.
mouse. Reference to Pentateuch, where it is forbidden (Lev 11:29). App-92. Elsewhere, only in 1Sa 6:4, 1Sa 6:6, 1Sa 6:11, 1Sa 6:18.
be consumed = come to an end.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sanctify: Isa 1:29, Isa 65:3, Isa 65:4
behind one tree in the midst: or, one after another, eating. Lev 11:2-8, Deu 14:3-8
Reciprocal: Lev 11:7 – swine Lev 11:19 – bat Deu 14:8 – the swine 2Ki 16:4 – on the hills Psa 110:6 – fill Isa 9:18 – wickedness Isa 66:3 – as if he offered Eze 4:14 – abominable Eze 6:13 – upon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 66:17. They that sanctify themselves, &c. Behold, says Vitringa, the reason of the great severity above mentioned, namely, a base and abominable departure from God, represented under a certain kind of idolatry and detestable superstition, of all others the most odious and contrary to the institutions of the ancient religion. It is evident the passage is to be understood figuratively, like those in Isa 66:3, and in Isa 65:3-4; Isa 65:11, on which see the notes. And purify themselves in the gardens There were several sorts of lustrations, or purifications, used among the heathen, from whence the Jews learned their idolatrous customs, some of which were performed by washings, for which purpose they had fountains in their sacred groves and gardens. Behind one tree The word tree is not in the Hebrew. The words are , achar achad, which may signify, after the manner of achad. Or, as Bishop Lowth renders it, after the rites of achad; observing, the Syrians worshipped a god called Adad, whom they held 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. But whatever the particular mode of idolatry might be, the general sense of the verse is perfectly clear. It is plainly a reproof of the wicked Jews for the many idolatries and superstitions of which they were guilty, and which are here set forth in figurative language, borrowed from the abominable practices to which many of the Jews were addicted in Isaiahs time; who privately, in enclosed gardens which were not exposed to view, performed the heathen lustrations, sacrificed in the heathen manner, and to their gods, and eat meats which were prohibited by the law as unclean, although in public they pretended to be true Jews, or strict observers of the law. Eating swines flesh Forbidden, Lev 11:7; Deu 14:8. And the abomination Other abominable meats forbidden to the Jews; and the mouse The word which we translate mouse being nowhere found but Lev 11:29; 1Sa 6:4-5; 1Sa 6:11; 1Sa 6:18, and here, some think it is not that creature which we call a mouse, but rather signifies some serpent. Be this as it may, the sense evidently is, that God would not only destroy the open and gross idolaters and superstitious persons, but all those who made no conscience of yielding obedience to the law of God in such things as seemed to them of a trivial nature, and in which they easily might have yielded obedience. The Lord here assures them that they should all perish together. Observe, reader, in the day of final judgment, the idolatrous pagan or Papist, and the ungodly Protestant, shall fare alike. For no man can reasonably imagine that either baptism, or a profession of Christianity, can save a man from Gods wrath without holiness, any more than circumcision, and the being reputed a member in the Jewish Church.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
66:17 They that sanctify {r} themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one [tree] in the midst, eating {s} swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
(r) Meaning, the hypocrites.
(s) By which are meant them that maliciously transgressed the law, by eating beasts forbidden, even to the mouse which nature abhors.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Those who pursue ritualistic idolatry then (cf. Isa 65:3), and follow the false prophet of that day, will come to their final end (cf. Rev 13:11-18; Rev 14:14-20; Rev 19:17-19).
". . . when people cease to heed the word of revelation, it is not that they then believe nothing but that they will believe anything-gardens, pigs, and rats included." [Note: Motyer, p. 540.]