Text -- Isaiah 66:1-20 (NET)

66:1 This is what the Lord says: “The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is the house you will build for me? Where is the place where I will rest? 66:2 My hand made them; that is how they came to be,” says the Lord. I show special favor to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say. 66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; the one who offers incense also praises an idol. They have decided to behave this way; they enjoy these disgusting practices. 66:4 So I will choose severe punishment for them; I will bring on them what they dread, because I called, and no one responded, I spoke and they did not listen. They did evil before me; they chose to do what displeases me.” 66:5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who respect what he has to say! Your countrymen, who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, “May the Lord be glorified, then we will witness your joy.” But they will be put to shame. 66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city; the sound comes from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies. 66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy! 66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons! 66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your God. 66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem and rejoice with her, all you who love her! Share in her great joy, all you who have mourned over her! 66:11 For you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. 66:12 For this is what the Lord says: “Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. You will nurse from her breast and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees. 66:13 As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.” 66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, and you will be revived. The Lord will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies. 66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire, his chariots come like a windstorm, to reveal his raging anger, his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. 66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity with fire and his sword; the Lord will kill many. 66:17 “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. 66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them and then send some of those who remain to the nations– to Tarshish, Pul, Lud (known for its archers), Tubal, Javan, and to the distant coastlands that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 66:2

¹ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

² tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

³ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

⁴ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:3

¹ tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

² tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.

³ tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

⁴ tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

⁵ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

⁶ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

NET Notes: Isa 66:4

¹ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

² tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:5

¹ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

² tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

³ tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.

NET Notes: Isa 66:8

¹ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).

NET Notes: Isa 66:9

¹ sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”

NET Notes: Isa 66:11

¹ tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”

² tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”

³ tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”

sn Zion’s residents will benefit from and enjoy her great material prosperity. See v. 12.

NET Notes: Isa 66:12

¹ tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

² tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).

NET Notes: Isa 66:13

¹ tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:14

¹ tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

² tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

³ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:15

¹ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

² tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:16

¹ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

² tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:17

¹ tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.

² tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”

³ tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:18

¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

² tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

NET Notes: Isa 66:19

¹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

² tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

³ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

⁴ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

⁵ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

⁶ tn Or “islands” (NIV).

NET Notes: Isa 66:20

¹ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

² tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.