Isaiah 57:7
in Isaiah 57On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifices.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
KJV
Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
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This verse in Isaiah 57
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Upon a lofty and high mountain - The design of this verse and the following, is, to show the extent, the prevalence, the publicity, and the grossness of their idolatry. The language is that which would appropriately express adulterous intercourse, and is designed to show the abhorrence in which God held their conduct. The language is easy to be understood, and it would not be proper to go into an extended explanation of the phrases used. It is common in the Scriptures to compare idolatry among the people of God, with unfaithfulness to the marriage vow.
This site's exposition
Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley
on Isaiah 57:6-10
“Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley” names stones taken as gods, chosen over the LORD, the portion of Psalm 16:5. Verses 7 and 8 carry the adultery figure into an open affair: “On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed”.
This site's exposition
On a high and lofty hill
Wesley reads the bed as the altar, set in the high places used by Israel and the nations alike. Thomas Aquinas ties the hill to 2 Kings 17:10, where Israel set up sacred pillars on every high hill. Barnes reads it as idolatry in full public view.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7.) You have placed your dwelling on a high and lofty mountain, and there you ascended to offer sacrifices. And behind the door and beyond the threshold, you have set up your memorial. The Septuagint says the same. The sacred history tells that on high mountains and hills, the gods of the nations offered sacrifices to Israel, and like a shameless prostitute, spread her legs for all the demons.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Upon a high and lofty mountain. Here he sets out the lofty places in which they sacrificed: your bed; he says this in likeness to a harlot, who prostitutes herself to lovers: they made them statues (2 Kgs 17:10) and committed fornication in them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Mountain - In high places, which were much used for religious worship, both by Israelites and by Heathens. Thy bed - Thine altar, in which thou didst commit spiritual whoredom with idols.
Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed,.... Temples and altars, which are usually built on high places, where they commit spiritual adultery; that is, idolatry, in imitation of the Heathens, who had their temples and altars on high places; and the idolatry of the church of Rome, in this context, is all along expressed in language agreeable to the Heathen idolatry, and in allusion to it.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֤ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַר־ | har- | a mountain | H2022 → | 546 times |
| גָּבֹ֙הַּ֙ | gavoah | high | H1364 → | 41 times |
| וְנִשָּׂ֔א | venisa' | and lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| שַׂ֖מְתְּ | samt | you have set | H7760 → | 584 times |
| מִשְׁכָּבֵ֑ךְ | mishkavekh | bed your | H4904 → | 46 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| שָׁ֥ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| עָלִ֖ית | ʾalit | you have gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| לִזְבֹּ֥חַ | lizboach | to sacrifice | H2076 → | 134 times |
| זָֽבַח׃ | zavach | a sacrifice | H2077 → | 162 times |
עַ֤לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
הַר־a mountain
har-H2022 →546 times
גָּבֹ֙הַּ֙high
gavoahH1364 →41 times
וְנִשָּׂ֔אand lifted up
venisa'H5375 →656 times
שַׂ֖מְתְּyou have set
samtH7760 →584 times
מִשְׁכָּבֵ֑ךְbed your
mishkavekhH4904 →46 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
שָׁ֥םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
עָלִ֖יתyou have gone up
ʾalitH5927 →890 times
לִזְבֹּ֥חַto sacrifice
lizboachH2076 →134 times
זָֽבַח׃a sacrifice
zavachH2077 →162 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 2:20“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Leviticus 26:13
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and…
- Jeremiah 17:2
Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles by the green trees and on the high hills.
- Deuteronomy 12:2
Through
Ezekiel 23:41You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,
it leads to
- Esther 1:6
Hangings of white and blue linen were fastened with cords of fine white and purple material to silver rings on the marble pillars. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of…
- Ezekiel 44:16
They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.
- Jeremiah 44:17
Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials…
- Amos 6:4
You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
- Isaiah 65:11
But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
- Esther 1:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.