Isaiah 66:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 66:3
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
to slaughter (in sacrifice or massacre) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
ox
הַשּׁ֜וֹרha.Shor
H7794
a bullock (as a traveller) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
slew
מַכֵּהma.keh-
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct
man
אִ֗ישׁ'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sacrificeth
זוֹבֵ֤חַzo.Ve.ach
H2076
to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
lamb
הַשֶּׂה֙ha.Seh
H7716
a member of a flock · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
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
Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
Isaiah 1:11-15 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed be…
Amos 5:21-22 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Leviticus 2:2 And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with…
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…
Isaiah 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination,…
Deuteronomy 14:8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch the…
Deuteronomy 23:18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 66:1-4
Here, I. The temple is slighted in comparison with a gracious soul, Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2. The Jews in the prophet's time, and afterwards in Christ's time, gloried much in the temple and promised themselves great things from it; to humble them therefore, and to shake their vain confidence, both the prophets and Christ foretold the ruin of the temple, that God would leave it and then it would soon be desolate. After it was destroyed by the Chaldeans it soon recovered itself and the ceremonial services were revived with it; but by the Romans it was made a perpetual desolation, and the ceremonial law was abolished with it. That the world might be prepared for this, they were often told, as here, o…
God loathes even the sacrifices of the wicked (Isa 1:11; Pro 15:8; Pro 28:9).
is as if--LOWTH not so well omits these words: "He that killeth an ox (presently after) murders a man" (as in Eze 23:39). But the omission in the Hebrew of "is as if"--increases the force of the comparison. Human victims were often offered by the heathen.
dog's neck--an abomination according to the Jewish law (Deu 23:18); perhaps made so, because dogs were venerated in Egypt. He does not honor this abomination by using the word "sacrifice," but uses the degrading term, "cut off a dog's neck" (Exo 13:13; Exo 34:20). Dogs as unclean are associated with swine (Mat 7:6; Pe2 2:22).
oblation--unbloody: in antithesi…
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man "He that slayeth an ox killeth a man" - These are instances of wickedness joined with hypocrisy; of the most flagitious crimes committed by those who at the same time affected great strictness in the performance of all the external services of religion. God, by the Prophet Ezekiel, upbraids the Jews with the same practices: "When they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it," Eze 23:39. Of the same kind was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in our Savior's time:" who devoured widows' houses, and for a pretense made long prayers," Mat 23:14.
The generality of interpreters, by departing from…
The Church Fathers
By these words he rejected the worship prescribed by the law by teaching this; it was for their sake that he had established this legislation from early times, not because he took pleasure in their sacrifices but because he was exercising forethought for them in their weakness. That is why he put side by side what was allowed and what was forbidden, for to sacrifice an ox or give a sheep as a burnt offering, to offer the fruit of corn and frankincense—these were in former times permitted by God, but to start a fight and lose one's tongue to blasphemy was totally forbidden.
He is angry with them, saying by Isaiah, "Who has required these of your hands?" And by Jeremiah, since they were very bold, he threatens, "Gather together your whole burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh, for I did not speak to your ancestors or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." For they did not act as was right, neither was their zeal according to law, but they rather sought their own pleasure in such days, as the prophet accuses them, beating down their bondsmen and gathering themselves together for strifes and quarrels, and they struck the lowly with the fist and did all things that tended to their own gratification. For this cause, they continue without a feast until the end, although they make a display now of eating flesh, out of place and out of season. For, instead of the legally appointed lamb, they have learned to sacrifice to Baal; instead of the true unleavened bread, "they collect the wood, and their fathers kindle the fire, and their wives prepare the dough, that they make cakes to the host of heaven and pour out libations to strange gods, that they may provoke me to anger, says the Lord." … Therefore now, "he who among them sacrifices an ox is as he who strikes a man, and he who sacrifices a lamb is as he who kills a dog, he that offers fine flour, it is as [if he offered] swine's blood.…" Now these things will never please God, neither has the Word required this of them. But he says, "These have chosen their own ways, and their abominations are what their soul delights in."
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
Abomination — This word is used, (1.) To express the idea that the Egyptians considered themselves as defiled when they ate with strangers (Gen. 43:32). The Jews subsequently followed the same practice, holding it…
Boar — Occurs only in Ps. 80:13. The same Hebrew word is elsewhere rendered “swine” (Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8; Prov. 11:22; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17). The Hebrews abhorred swine’s flesh, and accordingly none of…
Dog — Frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments. Dogs were used by the Hebrews as a watch for their houses (Isa. 56:10), and for guarding their flocks (Job 30:1). There were also then as now…
Herd — Gen. 13:5; Deut. 7:14. (See CATTLE.)
Idol — (1.) Heb. aven, “nothingness;” “vanity” (Isa. 66:3; 41:29; Deut. 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19, etc.). (2.) ‘Elil, “a thing of naught” (Ps. 97:7; Isa. 19:3); a word of contempt, used of…
Swine — (Heb. hazir), regarded as the most unclean and the most abhorred of all animals (Lev. 11:7; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17; Luke 15:15, 16). A herd of swine were drowned in the Sea of Galilee (Luke 8:32, 33).…
Dog, The · Sacrificing of, an abomination — Sacrificing of, an abomination
Frankincense · Used as an incense — Used as an incense
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Incense · The Jews: Not accepted in offering, on account of sin — The Jews: Not accepted in offering, on account of sin
Lamb, The · Offered in sacrifice: By the wicked not accepted — Offered in sacrifice: By the wicked not accepted
off
עֹ֣רֵֽף'O.ref
H6202
to break the neck · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
dog’s
כֶּ֔לֶבKe.lev
H3611
a dog · noun, common masculine singular absolute
neck
עָרַףʻâraph
H6202
to break the neck
offereth
מַעֲלֵ֤הma.'a.Leh
H5927
to ascend · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct
oblation
מִנְחָה֙min.Chah
H4503
a donation · noun, common feminine singular absolute
swine’s
חֲזִ֔ירcha.Zir
H2386
a hog (perhaps as penned) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
blood
דַּםdam-
H1818
blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · noun, common masculine singular construct
burneth
מַזְכִּ֥ירmaz.Kir
H2142
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
incense
לְבֹנָ֖הle.vo.Nah
H3828
frankincense (from its whiteness or perhaps that of its… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
blessed
מְבָ֣רֵֽךְme.Va.rekh
H1288
to kneel · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
idol
אָ֑וֶן'A.ven
H205
strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
chosen
בָּֽחֲרוּ֙ba.cha.Ru
H977
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
ways
בְּדַרְכֵיהֶ֔םbe.dar.khei.Hem
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
soul
נַפְשָׁ֥םnaf.Sham
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
delighteth
חָפֵֽצָהcha.Fe.tzah
H2654
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
abominations
וּבְשִׁקּוּצֵיהֶ֖םu.ve.shi.ku.tzei.Hem
H8251
disgusting · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man,.... Not that killed the ox of his neighbour, which, according to law, he was to pay for; or that killed one for food, which was lawful to be done; but that slew one, and offered it as a sacrifice; not blamed because blind or lame, or had any blemish in it, and so unfit for sacrifice; or because not rightly offered, under a due sense of sin, and with repentance for it, and faith in Christ; but because all sacrifices of this kind are now abolished in Gospel times, to which this prophecy belongs; Christ the great sacrifice being offered up; and therefore to offer sacrifice, which, notwithstanding the unbelieving Jews continued daily, till it was ma…
He that killeth an ox, as if he slew a man. There are two clauses in this verse. In the former, Isaiah plainly declares that all the sacrifices of his nation are of no value in the sight of God, but are held by him in abomination; in the latter, he describes the dreadful corruption by which they mingled the ceremonies of the Gentiles with the sacrifices of the Law, and in this way corrupted and perverted everything. The greater part of commentators think that these words repeal the sacrifices of the Law, but this is a mistake; for Isaiah, in this passage, treats of the same subject of which he had formerly treated in the first and fifty-eighth chapters, and does not absolutely condemn sacrif…
Although the note on which this prophecy opens is a different one from any that has yet been struck, there are many points in which it coincides with the preceding prophecy. For not only is Isa 65:12 repeated here in Isa 66:4, but the sharp line of demarcation drawn in chapter 65, between the servants of Jehovah and the worldly majority of the nation with reference to the approaching return to the Holy Land, is continued here. As the idea of their return is associated immediately with that of the erection of a new temple, there is nothing at all to surprise us, after what we have read in Isa 65:8., in the fact that Jehovah expresses His abhorrence at the thought of having a temple built by t…
delighting in their detestable sins: Literally delighting in abominations, which refers to pagan worship practices. • sacrifice a bull . . . blessed an idol: Wicked people brought sacrifices as prescribed by the law, but their sin rendered those sacrifices equivalent to pagan offerings (see 1:11-17).
Rashi on Isaiah 66:3
brings a gift of violence Heb. מְבָרֵךְ, blesses Me with a gift of violence, brings a gift of violence. This is its explanation, and the expression of בְּרָכָה applies to a gift that is for a reception. Comp. (Gen. 33: 11) “Please take my gift (בִּרְכָתִי).” Also (supra 36:16), “Make peace (בְרָכָה) with me and come out to me.”
they, too, chose their ways They desire these evil ways, and I, too, will choose and desire their mockeries. Now if you ask the meaning of גַּם, too, so is the style of the Hebrew language to say twice גַּם one next to the other. Comp. (Deut. 32:25) “Both a young man and a virgin (גַּם בָּחוּר גַּם בְּתוּלָה)”; (I Kings 3:26) “neither mine nor yours (גַּם לִי גַּם לָ…
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).
