Isaiah 66:17
in Isaiah 66“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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, saith Jehovah.
KJV
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 66
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 17.) Those who were sanctified and considered themselves clean in gardens afterwards: those who ate pork, abomination, and mouse, will be consumed together, says the Lord. LXX: Those who are sanctified and purified in gardens and thresholds: eating pork, abominations, and mouse: they will be consumed together, says the Lord.
This site's exposition
For behold, the LORD will come with fire
on Isaiah 66:15-17
“For behold, the LORD will come with fire” sets fire against the nursing pictures of verses 11 to 13. Those judged are named by their rites: they eat “swine and vermin and rats”, animals the law forbids at Leviticus 11:7 and 11:29.
This site's exposition
Those who consecrate and purify themselves
Barnes reads consecrate and purify as the washings of idol rites. Clarke takes the one they follow as Adad, a Syrian god whose name means one. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown take it as an idol left unnamed in contempt.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he reproaches their fault: they that were sanctified, thinking to cleanse themselves of uncleanness by the waters, or even by the sacrifices of idols, in the gardens, in which they worshipped idols, or occupied themselves with pleasure; behind one woman, copulating with women in …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Gardens - In which they worshipped idols. In the midst - Behind one of the trees, or one by one behind the trees. The abominations - All those beasts forbidden the Jews for meat.
They that sanctify themselves,....
But the prophecy may refer to all those judgments which the wrath of God, according to the word of God, will bring upon provoking sinners, that live in contempt of God and are devoted to the world and the flesh: They shall be consumed together.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They that sanctify themselves - That is, who attempt to purify themselves by idolatrous rites, by ablutions, and lustrations. The design here is, to describe those who will be exposed to the wrath of God when he shall come to execute vengeance. And purify themselves in the gardens - (See the notes at Isa 65:3). Behind one tree in the midst - This passage has not a little exercised the ingenuity of commentators. It is quite evident that our translators were not able to satisfy themselves with regard to its meaning.
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)
proposed
in . . . gardens--Hebrew and the Septuagint rather require, "for (entering into) gardens," namely, to sacrifice there [MAURER]. behind one tree--rather, "following one," that is, some idol or other, which, from contempt, he does not name [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Behind one tree “After the rites of Achad” - The Syrians worshipped a god called Adad, Plin. Nat. Hist. 37:11; Macrob. Sat. 1:23. They held him to be the highest and greatest of the gods, and to be the same with Jupiter and the sun; and the name Adad, says Macrobius, signifies one; as likewise does the word Achad in Isaiah. Many learned men therefore have supposed, and with some probability, that the prophet means the same pretended deity. אחד achad, in the Syrian and Chaldean dialects, is חד chad; and perhaps by reduplication of the last letter to express perfect unity, it may have become חדד chadad, not improperly expressed by Macrobius Adad, without the aspirate. It was also pronounced by the Syrians themselves, with a weaker aspirate, הדד hadad, as in Benhadad, Hadadezer, names of their kings, which were certainly taken from their chief object of worship. This seems to me to be a probable account of this name. But the Masoretes correct the text in this place. Their marginal reading is אחת achath which is the same word, only in the feminine form; and so read thirty MSS. (six ancient) and the two oldest editions. This Le Clerc approves, and supposes it to mean Hecate, or the moon; and he supports his hypothesis by arguments not at all improbable. See his note on the place. Whatever the particular mode of idolatry which the prophet refers to might be, the general sense of the place is perfectly clear. […]
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַמִּתְקַדְּשִׁ֨ים | hamitkadeshim | who consecrate themselves | H6942 → | 171 times |
| וְהַמִּֽטַּהֲרִ֜ים | vehamitaharim | and who purify themselves | H2891 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַגַּנּ֗וֹת | haganot | the gardens | H1593 → | 12 times |
| אַחַ֤ר | ʾachar | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| אַחַת֙ | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| בַּתָּ֔וֶךְ | batavekh | in the middle | H8432 → | 418 times |
| אֹֽכְלֵי֙ | ʾokhelei | [those who] eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| בְּשַׂ֣ר | besar | <of> [the] flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| הַחֲזִ֔יר | hachazir | the pig | H2386 → | 7 times |
| וְהַשֶּׁ֖קֶץ | vehasheketz | and the detestable thing | H8263 → | |
| וְהָעַכְבָּ֑ר | vehaakhbar | and the mouse | H5909 → | |
| יַחְדָּ֥ו | yachdav | all together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| יָסֻ֖פוּ | yasufu | they will come to an end | H5486 → | |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
הַמִּתְקַדְּשִׁ֨יםwho consecrate themselves
hamitkadeshimH6942 →171 times
וְהַמִּֽטַּהֲרִ֜יםand who purify themselves
vehamitaharimH2891 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַגַּנּ֗וֹתthe gardens
haganotH1593 →12 times
אַחַ֤רafter
ʾacharH310 →715 times
אַחַת֙one
ʾechadH259 →971 times
בַּתָּ֔וֶךְin the middle
batavekhH8432 →418 times
אֹֽכְלֵי֙[those who] eat
ʾokheleiH398 →810 times
בְּשַׂ֣ר<of> [the] flesh of
besarH1320 →270 times
הַחֲזִ֔ירthe pig
hachazirH2386 →7 times
וְהַשֶּׁ֖קֶץand the detestable thing
vehasheketzH8263 →
וְהָעַכְבָּ֑רand the mouse
vehaakhbarH5909 →
יַחְדָּ֥וall together
yachdavH3162 →141 times
יָסֻ֖פוּthey will come to an end
yasufuH5486 →
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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); 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.