Isaiah 1:11

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ¹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ³ 

Isaiah 14:9

14:9 Sheol ⁴  below is stirred up about you,

ready to meet you when you arrive.

It rouses ⁵  the spirits of the dead for you,

all the former leaders of the earth; ⁶ 

it makes all the former kings of the nations

rise from their thrones. ⁷ 

Isaiah 34:6

34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,

it is covered ⁸  with fat;

it drips ⁹  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ¹⁰  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ¹¹  in Bozrah, ¹² 

a bloody ¹³  slaughter in the land of Edom.

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  ² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[14:9]  ⁴ sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead.

[14:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “arousing.” The form is probably a Polel infinitive absolute, rather than a third masculine singular perfect, for Sheol is grammatically feminine (note “stirred up”). See GKC 466 §145.t.

[14:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the rams of the earth.” The animal epithet is used metaphorically here for leaders. See HALOT 903 s.v. *עַתּוּד.

[14:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “lifting from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” הֵקִים (heqim, a Hiphil perfect third masculine singular) should be emended to an infinitive absolute (הָקֵים, haqem). See the note on “rouses” earlier in the verse.

[34:6]  ⁷ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ⁸ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁹ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ¹¹ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ¹² tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).