Isaiah 57:6
in Isaiah 57Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley; indeed, they are your lot. Even to them you have poured out a drink offering and offered a grain offering. Should I relent because of these?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered an oblation. Shall I be appeased for these things?
KJV
Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
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This verse in Isaiah 57
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAmong the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion,.... Or thy god; but the portion of Jacob is not like them, stocks and stones, Jer 10:16. Whenever they could pick up smooth stones, and such as were fit for their purpose, whether in the stream of a brook, or in a valley, as the word also signifies, they polished and formed them into an image, and made gods of them; and these were their portion and inheritance, and which they left to their children.
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”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 6.) In the parts of the torrent is your portion: this is your fate, and you have poured out libations for them, you have offered sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? LXX: This is your portion, this is your fate: and for them you have poured out libations and prepared sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things?
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, their love of sin: in the parts of the torrent is your portion, as if to say: you have reckoned this to be your lot: let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us every where leave tokens of joy: for …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Among the smooth stones of the valley, or brook, is thy portion. If they saw a smooth carved stone, though set up but for a way-mark or a mere-stone, they were ready to worship it, as the papists do crosses.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Portion - Thou hast chosen for thy portion those idols, which were worshipped by the sides of brooks or rivers where such smooth stones commonly lie. They - Thou hast forsaken me and chosen idols. Offered - For the devil is God's ape, and idolaters used the same rites and offerings in the worship of idols which God had prescribed in his own.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Among the smooth stones of the stream “Among the smooth stones of the valley” - The Jews were extremely addicted to the practice of many superstitious and idolatrous rites, which the prophet here inveighs against with great vehemence. Of the worship of rude stones consecrated, there are many testimonials of the ancients. They were called βαιτυλοι and βαιτυλια· probably from the stone which Jacob erected at Beth-el, pouring oil upon the top of it. This practice was very common in different ages and places.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The smooth stones, shaped as idols, are the gods chosen by thee as thy portion (Ps 16:5). meat offering--not a bloody sacrifice, but one of meal and flour mingled with oil. "Meat" in Old English meant food, not flesh, as it means now (Le 14:10).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Among the smooth stones of the streams - In the original here, there is a paronomasia, which cannot be fully retained in our English version. There has been also considerable diversity of opinion in regard to the sense of the passage, from the ambiguity of the words in the original. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, In partibus torrentis pars tua - ‘Thy portion is in the parts of the torrent.’ The Septuagint translates it ‘This is thy portion; this is thy lot. The word rendered in our version, ‘smooth stones’ (חלק chēleq), means properly smoothness, hence, barrenness or bare place; and supposes that the idea is, their lot was in the bare places of the valley, that is, in the open (not wooded) places where they worshipped idols - an interpretation not very consistent with the fact that groves were commonly selected as the place where they worshipped idols. It seems to me, therefore, that the idea of smoothness here, whether of the valley or of the stones, is not the idea intended. Indeed, in no place, it is believed, does the word mean ‘smooth stones;’ and it is difficult to conceive what was the exact idea which our translators intended to convey, or why they supposed that such worship was celebrated among the smooth or much-worn stones of the running stream. The true idea can probably be obtained by reverting to the primitive sense of the word as derived from the verb. The verb חלק châlaq means: 1. To smooth. 2. To divide, to distribute, to appropriate - as the dividing of spoil, etc. Hence, the noun also means dividing, or portion, as that which is divided - whether an inheritance, or whether the dividings of spoil after battle. […]
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּחַלְּקֵי־ | bechalekei- | [is] among [the] smooth [stones] of | H2511 → | |
| נַ֣חַל | nachal | [the] wadi | H5158 → | 141 times |
| חֶלְקֵ֔ךְ | chelkekh | portion your | H2506 → | 67 times |
| הֵ֥ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| הֵ֖ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| גּוֹרָלֵ֑ךְ | goralekh | [are] allotted portion your | H1486 → | 78 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| לָהֶ֞ם | lahem | to them | ||
| שָׁפַ֥כְתְּ | shafakht | you have poured out | H8210 → | 114 times |
| נֶ֙סֶךְ֙ | nesekh | a drink offering | H5262 → | 64 times |
| הֶעֱלִ֣ית | heelit | you have offered up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִנְחָ֔ה | minchah | a grain offering | H4503 → | 211 times |
| הַ֥עַל | haal | ¿ on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֖לֶּה | ʾeleh | these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
| אֶנָּחֵֽם׃ | ʾenachem | will I relent | H5162 → | 108 times |
בְּחַלְּקֵי־[is] among [the] smooth [stones] of
bechalekei-H2511 →
נַ֣חַל[the] wadi
nachalH5158 →141 times
חֶלְקֵ֔ךְportion your
chelkekhH2506 →67 times
הֵ֥םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
הֵ֖םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
גּוֹרָלֵ֑ךְ[are] allotted portion your
goralekhH1486 →78 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
לָהֶ֞םto them
lahem
שָׁפַ֥כְתְּyou have poured out
shafakhtH8210 →114 times
נֶ֙סֶךְ֙a drink offering
nesekhH5262 →64 times
הֶעֱלִ֣יתyou have offered up
heelitH5927 →890 times
מִנְחָ֔הa grain offering
minchahH4503 →211 times
הַ֥עַל¿ on
haalH5921 →5755 times
אֵ֖לֶּהthese [things]
ʾelehH428 →746 times
אֶנָּחֵֽם׃will I relent
ʾenachemH5162 →108 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
Habakkuk 2:19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
it leads to
- Psalms 135:17
they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.
- Jeremiah 10:4
They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- Jeremiah 10:9
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
- Psalms 135:17
Through
Jeremiah 3:9Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:27
say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble…
- Jeremiah 2:27
Through
Jeremiah 7:18The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 19:13
The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and…
- Jeremiah 44:17–19
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…
- Jeremiah 19:13
Through
Jeremiah 5:9Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:9
Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
- Jeremiah 5:29
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
- Jeremiah 9:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; 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.