Isaiah 57:5
in Isaiah 57who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
ye that inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
KJV
Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
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This verse in Isaiah 57
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis shows them to be those who detest God, having a sick hatred for him and ready to eat blood. There was nothing new in this; it was a long established custom. For you are the ones who have from long ago called on idols under a leafy tree.… Your guilt is that you first think to kill your firstborn and then offer libations to impure demons and soulless idols; so slaying will also be your portion and your lot.… Should I not be angry with these people? Is there not a good cause for my anger?
This site's exposition
you sons of a sorceress
on Isaiah 57:3-5
The address turns sharply: “come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!” The names describe covenant unfaithfulness, Israel cast as a wife. The charge “who slaughter your children in the valleys” names child sacrifice, and Gill places it in the valley of Hinnom.
This site's exposition
who burn with lust among the oaks
Barnes gives the Hebrew verb as to burn with lust, the language of adultery used of idols among the oaks. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown name the valleys as Hinnom, where drums were beaten to drown the cries of the children. Cyril calls the slaughter of children a long-established custom.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 4, 5.) Are you not wicked children, a deceitful seed, who console yourselves in gods beneath every leafy tree, sacrificing little ones in the torrents under threatening ((Vulg. lofty)) rocks? LXX: Are you not sons of perdition: an unjust seed, who call upon idols beneath leafy trees, sacrificing your sons in the valleys amidst the rocks? You, he says, have done these things that the preceding discourse narrated.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he accuses them of idolatry. And first, he sets out the custom: are not you wicked children, above: woe to the sinful nation, a wicked people, ungracious children (Isa 1:4); second, he sets out the species of sin: who seek your comfort in idols. …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Enflaming - Lusting after them, and mad upon them. Slaying - In way of sacrifice to their idols. Valleys - He seems to allude to the valley of Hinnom in which these cruelties were practiced.
Inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Inflaming yourselves - Burning, that is, with lust. The whole language here is derived from adulterous intercourse. The sense is, that they were greatly addicted to idolatry, and that they used every means to increase and extend the practice of it. The Vulgate, however, renders this, ‘Who console yourselves.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘Invoking (παρακαλοῦντες parakalountes) idols.’ But the proper meaning of the Hebrew word חמם châmam is, “to become warm; to be inflamed, or to burn as with lust.” With idols - Margin, ‘Among the oaks.’ Hebrew, באלים bā'ēlı̂ym.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
33:6). in . . . valleys--the valley of the son of Hinnom. Fire was put within a hollow brazen statue, and the child was put in his heated arms; kettle drums (Hebrew, toph) were beaten to drown the child's cries; whence the valley was called Tophet (2Ch 33:6;
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַנֵּֽחָמִים֙ | hanechamim | who inflame yourselves | H2552 → | 21 times |
| בָּֽאֵלִ֔ים | baelim | among the oaks | H352 → | 187 times |
| תַּ֖חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵ֣ץ | ʾetz | tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| רַעֲנָ֑ן | raanan | luxuriant | H7488 → | |
| שֹׁחֲטֵ֤י | shochatei | [who] slaughter | H7819 → | 81 times |
| הַיְלָדִים֙ | hayladim | <of the> children | H3206 → | 89 times |
| בַּנְּחָלִ֔ים | banechalim | in the wadis | H5158 → | 141 times |
| תַּ֖חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| סְעִפֵ֥י | seifei | [the] clefts of | H5585 → | 6 times |
| הַסְּלָעִֽים׃ | haselaim | the cliffs | H5553 → | 58 times |
הַנֵּֽחָמִים֙who inflame yourselves
hanechamimH2552 →21 times
בָּֽאֵלִ֔יםamong the oaks
baelimH352 →187 times
תַּ֖חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֵ֣ץtree
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
רַעֲנָ֑ןluxuriant
raananH7488 →
שֹׁחֲטֵ֤י[who] slaughter
shochateiH7819 →81 times
הַיְלָדִים֙<of the> children
hayladimH3206 →89 times
בַּנְּחָלִ֔יםin the wadis
banechalimH5158 →141 times
תַּ֖חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
סְעִפֵ֥י[the] clefts of
seifeiH5585 →6 times
הַסְּלָעִֽים׃the cliffs
haselaimH5553 →58 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 7:31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 32:35
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 23:10
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
- 2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Leviticus 18:21
Through
2 Kings 23:10He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 19:6
So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
- Isaiah 30:33
For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a…
- Jeremiah 19:6
Through
Ezekiel 16:20You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:37
For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food…
- Ezekiel 23:37
Through
Isaiah 1:29Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:17
“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 66:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:3.57:5-7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.