Isaiah 65:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 65:12
Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
sword
לַחֶ֗רֶבla.Che.rev
H2719
drought · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
down
תִּכְרָ֔עוּtikh.Ra.'u
H3766
to bend the knee · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
slaughter
לַטֶּ֣בַחla.Te.vach
H2874
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
called
קָרָ֙אתִי֙ka.Ra.ti
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
answer
עֲנִיתֶ֔ם'a.ni.Tem
H6030
properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
spake
דִּבַּ֖רְתִּיdi.Bar.ti
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 1st person common singular
hear
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֑םshe.ma'.Tem
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
did
וַתַּעֲשׂ֤וּva.ta.'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
evil
הָרַע֙ha.Ra'
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
eyes
בְּעֵינַ֔יbe.'ei.Nai
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix
choose
בְּחַרְתֶּֽםbe.char.Tem
H977
properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
delighted
חָפַ֖צְתִּיcha.Fatz.ti
H2654
properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 7:13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I c…
2 Chronicles 36:15-16 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, a…
Isaiah 50:2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or ha…
Zechariah 7:11-13 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
Matthew 21:34-43 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I wil…
Deuteronomy 32:25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
Proverbs 1:24-33 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 65:11-16
Here the different states of the godly and wicked, of the Jews that believed and of those that still persisted in unbelief, are set the one over - against the other, as life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse.
I. Here is the fearful doom of those that persisted in their idolatry after the deliverance out of Babylon, and in infidelity after the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Observe,
1. What the doom is that is here threatened: "I will number you to the sword as sheep for the slaughter, and there shall be no escaping, no standing out; you shall all bow down to it," Isa 65:12. God's judgments come, (1.) Regularly, and are executed according to the commission. Those fall b…
number--"doom" you. Alluding to the "number," as Meni (Isa 65:11) means. Retribution in kind, the punishment answering to the sin (compare Ch2 36:14-17).
I called, ye . . . not answer--"I called," though "none had called" upon Me (Isa 64:7); yet even then none "answered" (Pro 1:24). Contrast with this God and His people's mutual fellowship in prayer (Isa 65:24).
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 65:12
Therefore will I number you - Referring to Meni, which signifies number "Rabbi Eliezar said to his disciples, Turn to God one day before you die. His disciples said, How call a man know the day of his death? He answered, Therefore it is necessary that you should turn to God to-day, for possibly ye may die to-morrow."
John Gill on Isaiah 65:12
Therefore will I number you to the sword,.... There is an elegancy in the expression, alluding to Meni, that number, they furnished a drink offering for, or trusted in; and since they did, God would number them, or appoint a number of them to the sword; or suffer them to be slain in great numbers, even from one end of their land to another, Jeremiah 12:12, they should be numbered and told out, or care taken that none of them should escape the sword of the Romans, or not be taken by them:
and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; be obliged to submit to the conqueror, and lay down their necks to be sacrificed by him:
because, when I called, ye did not answer; when I spoke, ye did not hear…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 12.) Because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear. But you did evil in my sight and chose what I did not want. LXX: I called you and you did not hear, I spoke and you despised, and you did evil in my presence and chose what I did not want. You have been handed over to the sword, for not only have you forsaken me and forgotten me, but you have also mixed the cup of fortune. But when I was Emmanuel, that is, God with us, about whom John also writes: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), I called you in the present: Return to me, O returning children (Jeremiah 3:14). And: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened (Matth. XI, 28), and you did not want to respond. I have spoken in parables, and I have done everything that I should do, and you did not hear me, rather you despised me. For I am the one who said before: I came and there was no man: I called, and there was no one who obeyed (Isai. L, 2). And it was not enough for you to show impiety by despising me while I am present, and to send the heir, sent to you, to be killed; but you did evil in my sight, and you chose what I did not want, and you blasphemed the Son of God, so that you would choose Barabbas the thief, the author of murder and sedition; and yet you dare to say: Why did you make us stray from your way (Isai. LXIII, 17)? If those who did not know me found me, and those who did not call upon me received me, to whom you are worthy of tortures, who rejected me when I was sent to you and saying: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), but instead you crucified me? Let us consider what it means when he says: And you chose what I did not want; or what is the will of the Son of God, who speaks in the Gospel: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). About which God Himself says: 'I wanted to do Your will' (Ps. 39:9). This is the will about which the Lord Himself spoke: 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will' (Acts 13:22). Therefore the saint prays and says: 'Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God' (Ps. 143:10). For all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. And the Apostle says about virgins that he does not have a command from the Lord, but…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cattle — Abounded in the Holy Land. To the rearing and management of them the inhabitants chiefly devoted themselves (Deut. 8:13; 12:21; 1 Sam. 11:5; 12:3; Ps. 144:14; Jer. 3:24). They may be classified as,…
Apostasy · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Condescension Of God · Expostulates with backsliding Israel — Expostulates with backsliding Israel
God · By Israel — By Israel
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Law Of God, The · Punishment for disobeying — Punishment for disobeying
Reprobacy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Therefore I will number you to the sword. He alludes to the number of the gods; and the Lord declares that he will easily ascertain how numerous they are, for he "will number them to the sword." And hence we see that the Prophet, in the preceding verse, does not speak of the two planets, Jupiter and Mercury, as some think, but means that they were not satisfied with one God, and collected for themselves various idols. It is an idle conjecture that the word mny (meni) denotes Mercury, because mnh (manah) signifies "to number," and Mercury presided over numbers and merchants. [210] The design of the Prophet is manifest, who declares that the people "shall be numbered to the sword," because the…
The prophecy now turns again to those already indicated and threatened in Isa 65:1-7. "And ye, who are enemies to Jehovah, O ye that are unmindful of my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Gad, and fill up mixed drink for the goddess of destiny - I have destined you to the sword, and ye will all bow down to the slaughter, because I have called and ye have not replied, I have spoken and ye have not heard; and ye did evil in mine eyes, and ye chose that which I did not like." It may be taken for granted as a thing generally admitted, that Isa 65:11 refers to two deities, and to the lectisternia (meals of the gods, cf., Jer 7:18; Jer 51:44) held in their honour. שׁלחן ערך is the other side o…
‘destine’: This verb (Hebrew manithi) is a wordplay on Meni (see study note on 65:11). God alone controls human and national destinies.
Rashi on Isaiah 65:11
who forsake the Lord The wicked of Israel who adopted paganism and died in their wickedness.
who set a table for Gad The name of a pagan deity on the name of the zodiac, and in the language of the mishnah, (Shabbath 67b) “May my fate be lucky (גָד גַּדִּי) and not fatigued.”
for a number Heb. לַמְנִי . According to the number of the computation of the priests, they would fill basins of mingled wine.
mingled wine Heb. מִמְסָךְ, wine mingled with water as was customary. Comp. (Prov. 23:30) “To search for mingled wine (מִמְסָךְ).” Also (ibid. 9:2), “She mingled (מָסְכָה) her wine.” Some interpret לַמְנִי, to the pagan deities that you appointed (מִנִּיתֶם) over yourselves, but וּמָנִיתִי אֶת…
