Isaiah 1:29

29 You will be sorry that you ever worshiped trees and planted sacred gardens. [a]

Isaiah 1:29 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 1:29

For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have
desired
Though there is a change of persons in the words, the same are intended; and design such, who being convinced of the idolatries of the church of Rome they have been fond of, and delighted in, will be ashamed of them, and relinquish them, and come out of Babylon a little before the destruction of it; for under oaks, and such like green trees, idolatry used to be committed, to which the allusion is; see ( Jeremiah 2:20 ) ( 3:6 ) and so the Targum interprets it of "trees of idols"; that is, under which idolatry was practised: and ye shall be confounded for the gardens ye have chosen;
where also idolatrous practices were used, see ( Isaiah 65:3 ) ( 66:17 ) and so the Targum paraphrases it,

``and ye shall be ashamed of the gardens of idols, from whom ye have sought help.''
The sense is the same as before; unless both clauses should rather be understood of the destruction of sinners, before spoken of, who at that time will be filled with shame and confusion, they in vain praying to their idols for help; which sense the following words incline to.

Isaiah 1:29 In-Context

27 Because the Lord is righteous, he will save Jerusalem and everyone there who repents.
28 But he will crush everyone who sins and rebels against him; he will kill everyone who forsakes him.
29 You will be sorry that you ever worshiped trees and planted sacred gardens.
30 You will wither like a dying oak, like a garden that no one waters.
31 Just as straw is set on fire by a spark, so powerful people will be destroyed by their own evil deeds, and no one will be able to stop the destruction.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. sacred gardens: [People believed that dedicating a garden to a fertility god would cause him to bless their crops.]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.