Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:11-15
Context1:11 “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
1:12 When you enter my presence,
do you actually think I want this –
animals trampling on my courtyards? 4
1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless 5 offerings;
I consider your incense detestable! 6
You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,
but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! 7
1:14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;
they are a burden
that I am tired of carrying.
1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I look the other way; 8
when you offer your many prayers,
I do not listen,
because your hands are covered with blood. 9
Proverbs 15:8
Context15:8 The Lord abhors 10 the sacrifices 11 of the wicked, 12
but the prayer 13 of the upright pleases him. 14
Proverbs 21:27
Context21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice 15 is an abomination;
how much more 16 when he brings it with evil intent! 17
Amos 5:21-22
Context5:21 “I absolutely despise 18 your festivals!
I get no pleasure 19 from your religious assemblies!
5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, 20 I will not be satisfied;
I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. 21
[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.
[1:12] 4 tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.
[1:13] 5 tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”
[1:13] 6 sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).
[1:13] 7 tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).
[1:15] 8 tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”
[1:15] 9 sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.
[15:8] 10 tn Heb “an abomination of the
[15:8] 11 tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).
[15:8] 12 sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the
[15:8] 13 sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).
[15:8] 14 tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.
[21:27] 15 tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.
[21:27] 16 sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.
[21:27] 17 tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.
[5:21] 18 tn Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”
[5:21] 19 tn Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22-23.
[5:22] 20 tn Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”
[5:22] 21 tn Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”
