Isaiah 57:5-10

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ¹  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ² 

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

they, they are the object of your devotion. ³ 

You pour out liquid offerings to them,

you make an offering.

Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ⁴ 

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

you go up there to offer sacrifices.

57:8 Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols. ⁵ 

Indeed, ⁶  you depart from me ⁷  and go up

and invite them into bed with you. ⁸ 

You purchase favors from them, ⁹ 

you love their bed,

and gaze longingly ¹⁰  on their genitals. ¹¹ 

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ¹²  to your king, ¹³ 

along with many perfumes. ¹⁴ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹⁵ 

57:10 Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired, ¹⁶ 

but you do not say, ‘I give up.’ ¹⁷ 

You get renewed energy, ¹⁸ 

so you don’t collapse. ¹⁹ 

Deuteronomy 32:17

32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God,

to gods they had not known;

to new gods who had recently come along,

gods your ancestors ²⁰  had not known about.

Jeremiah 2:28

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ²¹  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

Ezekiel 23:41-42

23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil. 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, ²²  including all kinds of men; ²³  even Sabeans ²⁴  were brought from the desert. The sisters ²⁵  put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Ezekiel 23:1

Two Sisters

23:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Colossians 1:20-21

1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ²⁶  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ²⁷  minds ²⁸  as expressed through ²⁹  your evil deeds,

[57:5]  ¹ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ² sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[57:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[57:8]  ⁵ tn The precise referent of זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron) in this context is uncertain. Elsewhere the word refers to a memorial or commemorative sign. Here it likely refers to some type of idolatrous symbol.

[57:8]  ⁶ tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).

[57:8]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “from me you uncover.” The translation assumes an emendation of the Piel form גִּלִּית (gillit, “you uncover”), which has no object expressed here, to the Qal גָּלִית (galit, “you depart”).

[57:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “you make wide your bed” (NASB similar).

[57:8]  ⁹ tc Heb “and you [second masculine singular, unless the form be taken as third feminine singular] cut for yourself [feminine singular] from them.” Most English translations retain the MT reading in spite of at least three problems. This section makes significant use of feminine verbs and noun suffixes because of the sexual imagery. The verb in question is likely a 2nd person masculine singular verb. Nevertheless, this kind of fluctuation in gender appears elsewhere (GKC 127-28 §47.k and 462 §144.p; cf. Jer 3:5; Ezek 22:4; 23:32; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:473, n. 13). Secondly, when this verbal root signifies establishing a covenant, it is normally accompanied by the noun for “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit). Finally, this juxtaposition of the verb “to cut” and “covenant” normally is followed by the preposition “with,” while here it is “from.” The translation above assumes an emendation of וַתִּכְרָת (vatikhrah, “and you cut”) to וְכָרִית (vÿkharit, “and you purchase”) from the root כָּרָה (kharah); see HALOT 497 s.v. II כרה.

[57:8]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has simply חָזָה (khazah, “gaze”). The adverb “longingly” is interpretive (see the context, where sexual lust is depicted).

[57:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[at] a hand you gaze.” The term יָד (yad, “hand”) probably has the sense of “power, manhood” here, where it is used, as in Ugaritic, as a euphemism for the genitals. See HALOT 387 s.v. I יָד.

[57:9]  ¹² tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹⁵ sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[57:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “by the greatness [i.e., “length,” see BDB 914 s.v. רֹב 2] of your way you get tired.”

[57:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it is hopeless” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “It is useless.”

[57:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the life of your hand you find.” The term חַיָּה (khayyah, “life”) is here used in the sense of “renewal” (see BDB 312 s.v.) while יָד (yad) is used of “strength.”

[57:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you do not grow weak.”

[32:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[2:28]  ²¹ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[23:42]  ²² tn Heb “(was) in her.”

[23:42]  ²³ tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”

[23:42]  ²⁴ tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.

[23:42]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:20]  ²⁶ tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì⁴⁶ א A C D¹ Ψ 048^vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.

[1:21]  ²⁷ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ²⁸ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ²⁹ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.