Ezekiel 20:28

20:28 I brought them to the land which I swore ¹  to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings.

Ezekiel 20:1

Israel’s Rebellion

20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, ²  some of the elders ³  of Israel came to seek ⁴  the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.

Ezekiel 14:23

14:23 They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 14:2

14:2 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 16:4

16:4 As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water; ⁵  you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets. ⁶ 

Isaiah 1:29

1:29 Indeed, they ⁷  will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you ⁸  find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards ⁹ 

where you choose to worship.

Isaiah 57:5-7

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ¹⁰  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ¹¹ 

57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;

they, they are the object of your devotion. ¹² 

You pour out liquid offerings to them,

you make an offering.

Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ¹³ 

57:7 On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed;

you go up there to offer sacrifices.

Isaiah 65:3-4

65:3 These people continually and blatantly offend me ¹⁴ 

as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards ¹⁵ 

and burn incense on brick altars. ¹⁶ 

65:4 They sit among the tombs ¹⁷ 

and keep watch all night long. ¹⁸ 

They eat pork, ¹⁹ 

and broth ²⁰  from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.

Isaiah 66:17

66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, ²¹  those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice ²²  – they will all be destroyed together,” ²³  says the Lord.

Jeremiah 2:20

The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

2:20 “Indeed, ²⁴  long ago you threw off my authority

and refused to be subject to me. ²⁵ 

You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ ²⁶ 

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 3:6

3:6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. ²⁸  You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. ²⁹ 

Hosea 4:13

4:13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops,

and burn offerings on the hills;

they sacrifice ³⁰  under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is so pleasant.

As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes,

and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

[20:28]  ¹ tn Heb “which I lifted up my hand.”

[20:1]  ² sn The date would be August 14th, 591 b.c. The seventh year is the seventh year of Jehoiachin’s exile.

[20:1]  ³ tn Heb “men from the elders.”

[20:1]  ⁴ tn See the note at 14:3.

[16:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “in water you were not washed for cleansing” or “with water you were not washed smooth” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:473, n. 57, for a discussion of possible meanings of this hapax legomenon).

[16:4]  ⁶ sn Arab midwives still cut the umbilical cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.

[1:29]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (3rd plural) to a 2nd plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the 2nd plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the 2nd person verbs in 1:29-31 to 3rd person verbs. It is likely that the change to a 2nd person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from 3rd person to 2nd person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the 3rd person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from 3^rd to 2^nd person) in the middle of his sentence.

[1:29]  ⁸ tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.

[1:29]  ⁹ tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”

[57:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ¹¹ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[57:6]  ¹² tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.

[57:6]  ¹³ tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.

[65:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the people who provoke me to anger to my face continually.”

[65:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “gardens” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[65:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps, “on tiles.”

[65:4]  ¹⁷ sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.

[65:4]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (nÿtsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).

[65:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”

[65:4]  ²⁰ tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, reads מְרַק (mÿraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).

[66:17]  ²¹ 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.

[66:17]  ²² tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”

[66:17]  ²³ tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”

[2:20]  ²⁴ tn Or “For.” The Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) here introduces the evidence that they had no respect for him.

[2:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.

[2:20]  ²⁶ tc The MT of this verse has two examples of the old second feminine singular perfect, שָׁבַרְתִּי (shavarti) and נִתַּקְתִּי (nittaqti), which the Masoretes mistook for first singulars leading to the proposal to read אֶעֱבוֹר (’e’evor, “I will not transgress”) for אֶעֱבֹד (’e’evod, “I will not serve”). The latter understanding of the forms is accepted in KJV but rejected by almost all modern English versions as being less appropriate to the context than the reading accepted in the translation given here.

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you sprawled as a prostitute on….” The translation reflects the meaning of the metaphor.

[3:6]  ²⁸ tn “Have you seen…” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[3:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.

[4:13]  ³⁰ tn The phrase “they sacrifice” is not repeated in the Hebrew text here but is implied by parallelism; it is provided in the translation for the sake of clarity.