Isaiah 65:21

Context

65:21 They will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Isaiah 1:11

Context

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

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with² burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want.³

Isaiah 37:30

Context

37:30 ⁴“This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth:⁵ This year you will eat what grows wild,⁶ and next year⁷ what grows on its own. But the year after that⁸ you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.⁹

[1:11] ¹tn 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] ²tn 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] ³sn 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.

[37:30] ¹tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).

[37:30] ²tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[37:30] ³sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[37:30] ⁴tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).

[37:30] ⁵tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).

[37:30] ⁶tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.