Isaiah 65:12
in Isaiah 65I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will destine 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 ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 65
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(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.
This site's exposition
But you who forsake the LORD
on Isaiah 65:11-12
Those “who set a table for Fortune” keep a rival cult of fate. The Hebrew names the gods Gad, fortune, and Meni, destiny, and plays on the second name: “I will destine you for the sword”. The charge is their silence: “because I called and you did not answer”.
This site's exposition
I will destine you for the sword
Barnes hears a play on words, for the Hebrew verb behind destine shares its root with Meni, the god of destiny. Wesley sets the kneeling against their bowing to idols. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown set the unanswered call beside 64:7, where no one called on the name of the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11, 12.) And you who have forsaken the Lord, and have forgotten my holy mountain. You who set a table for fortune, and pour out libations upon it. I will number you for the sword, and you shall all fall in the slaughter. LXX: But you who have forsaken me, and have forgotten my holy mountain, and prepare a table for fortune, and fill a cup for the demon: I will deliver you to the sword; you shall all be killed. In the former wilderness and chaos. In the lands of the Gentiles there will be sheepfolds, that is, the Churches of all believers from the whole world. But you, O people of Israel, who have forsaken the Lord and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, who have forgotten His holy mountain, of which we have frequently spoken, or the Lord Savior, who is the mountain of mountains, and all holy ones, or Mount Zion, and the heavenly city of the living God, Jerusalem, who do these things and these things, I will deliver you to the sword, so that you all may be killed together. If you ask what the sword is, we shall say later: You set out a table for Fortune, he says, and pour libations on it; or, according to the Seventy: You prepare a table for Fortune, and fill a cup for a demon, or κέρασμα, as all the translators similarly rendered it, that is, a mixed potion. Now, in all cities, especially in Egypt and Alexandria, there is an ancient custom of idolatry, that on the last day of the year and month, which is the last, they set out a table filled with various kinds of food, and a cup mixed with honeyed wine, either wishing for the fertility of the past year or that of the coming year. But the Israelites were doing this, venerating the monstrous images of all the idols at once, and not offering sacrifices on the altar, but pouring out this kind of offering on the table. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he sets out the punishment: I will number you in the sword, as if to say: so that none remain who will not be crushed: they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine (Jer 44:12). Second, because they did not obey when …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The strongest and most stout-hearted sinners shall be forced to bow before them; for none ever hardened their hearts against God and prospered. What the sins are that number them to the sword. (1.) Idolatry was the ancient sin (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Bow down - As you have bowed down to idols. I called - By my prophets, you did not answer by doing the things which I enjoined. Chuse - You sinned deliberately chusing sinful courses, the things which I hated.
Therefore will I number you to the sword,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.”
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Retribution in kind, the punishment answering to the sin (compare 2Ch 36:14-17). I called, ye . . . not answer--"I called," though "none had called" upon Me (Isa 64:7); yet even then none "answered" (Pr 1:24). Contrast with this God and His people's mutual fellowship in prayer (Isa 65:24).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore will I number you to the sword - There is undoubtedly an allusion here to the idol Meni mentioned in Isa 65:11, and a play upon the name, in accordance with a custom quite common in the sacred Scriptures. The word מניתי mâniytiy, ‘I will number,’ is derived from מנה mânâh, the same word from which מני menı̂y, is derived. The idea is, since they worshipped a god whose name denoted number - perhaps one who was supposed to number or appoint the fates of people - God would number them. He would determine their destiny. It would not be done by any idol that was supposed to preside over the destinies of people; not by blind fate, or by anyone of the heavenly bodies, but it would be by an intelligent and holy God. And thus numbering or determining their lot would not be in accordance with their expectations, imparting to them a happy fortune, but would be devoting them to the sword; that is, to destruction. The allusion is, probably, to the calamities which God afterward brought on them by the invasion of the Chaldeans. And ye shall all bow down to the slaughter - This is evidently strong, and probably hyperbolic language, meaning that a large portion of the nation would be cut off by the sword. The allusion here is, I think, to the slaughter of the Jewish people in the invasion of the Chaldeans. The evil of idolatry prevailed, in the time of Isaiah, under the reign of Manasseh; and in the time of Zedekiah it had increased so much even in Jerusalem, that it was said, ‘All the chief priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the pagan; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem .... And they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
who forsake the Lord The wicked of Israel who adopted paganism and died in their wickedness.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמָנִ֨יתִי | umaniti | and I will appoint | H4487 → | |
| אֶתְכֶ֜ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לַחֶ֗רֶב | lacherev | to the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וְכֻלְּכֶם֙ | vekhulekhem | and all of you | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לַטֶּ֣בַח | latevach | to the slaughter | H2874 → | 12 times |
| תִּכְרָ֔עוּ | tikhrau | you will bow down | H3766 → | 36 times |
| יַ֤עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| קָרָ֙אתִי֙ | karati | I called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עֲנִיתֶ֔ם | ʾanitem | you answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי | dibarti | I spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שְׁמַעְתֶּ֑ם | shema'tem | you listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וַתַּעֲשׂ֤וּ | vataasu | and you did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הָרַע֙ | hara' | the evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּעֵינַ֔י | beeinai | in view my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּבַאֲשֶׁ֥ר | uvaasher | and <in> [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָפַ֖צְתִּי | chafatzti | I desired | H2654 → | 74 times |
| בְּחַרְתֶּֽם׃ פ | bechartem | you chose | H977 → | 171 times |
וּמָנִ֨יתִיand I will appoint
umanitiH4487 →
אֶתְכֶ֜ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
לַחֶ֗רֶבto the sword
lacherevH2719 →413 times
וְכֻלְּכֶם֙and all of you
vekhulekhemH3605 →5413 times
לַטֶּ֣בַחto the slaughter
latevachH2874 →12 times
תִּכְרָ֔עוּyou will bow down
tikhrauH3766 →36 times
יַ֤עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
קָרָ֙אתִי֙I called
karatiH7121 →733 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
עֲנִיתֶ֔םyou answered
ʾanitemH6030 →331 times
דִּבַּ֖רְתִּיI spoke
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֑םyou listened
shema'temH8085 →1159 times
וַתַּעֲשׂ֤וּand you did
vataasuH6213 →2628 times
הָרַע֙the evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
בְּעֵינַ֔יin view my
beeinaiH5869 →887 times
וּבַאֲשֶׁ֥רand <in> [that] which
uvaasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
חָפַ֖צְתִּיI desired
chafatztiH2654 →74 times
בְּחַרְתֶּֽם׃ פyou chose
bechartemH977 →171 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
Isaiah 50:2Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:1
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Numbers 11:23
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
- Isaiah 66:4
So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
- Joshua 3:16
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
- Genesis 18:14
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Isaiah 59:1
Through
Jeremiah 7:13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
- Jeremiah 7:25
From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.
- Proverbs 1:24
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
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, 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; 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.