Isaiah 65:3

3 the people {who provoke} me to anger continually to my face, slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden, and making smoke offerings on bricks,

Isaiah 65:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 65:3

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face,
&c.] They committed their sins openly, without any fear of the divine Being, and in defiance of him, not at all awed by his omniscience and omnipresence; they committed them in the open streets, and even in the temple, the place of the divine residence; and these they did constantly, which provoked him to anger and wrath against them; particularly the following sins: that sacrificeth in gardens;
to idols, as the Targum, placed there, as they were under every green tree; or in groves, where idols were worshipped. Fortunatus Scacchus ^F8 thinks this refers to their having their sepulchres in their gardens, where they consulted the dead; which is favoured by a clause in the next verse: and burneth incense on altars of brick:
or, "upon bricks" ^F9. Kimchi says, when they made bricks, they put upon them incense for idols; or, "upon tiles"; upon the roofs of their houses, which were covered with tiles; see ( Jeremiah 19:13 ) when incense should only have been burnt upon the golden altar erected for that purpose, ( Exodus 30:1 Exodus 30:3 ) , not that these idolatrous actions were committed by the Jews in the times of Christ and his apostles, the times preceding their last destruction; for, after their return front the Babylonish captivity, they were not guilty of idolatry; but these were the sins of their fathers, which God would recompense into their bosoms, according to ( Isaiah 65:7 ) they now filling up the measure of their iniquities, ( Matthew 23:32 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Sacr. Eleaochr. Myrothec. I. 2. c. 55. col. 580.
F9 (Mynblh le) "super lateres", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vitringa.

Isaiah 65:3 In-Context

1 "I let myself be sought by [those who] did not ask; I let myself be found by [those who] did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am; here I am!' to a nation [that] did not call on my name;

2 I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people, those who walk after their thoughts [in] the way [that is] not good,

3 the people {who provoke} me to anger continually to my face, slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden, and making smoke offerings on bricks,

4 {who sit} in graves and spend the night in {secret places}, {who eat} the flesh of swine with a fragment of impurity [in] their vessels,

5 {who say}, "{Keep to yourself}! You must not come near me, for I am [too] holy for you!" These [are] a smoke in my {nostrils}, a fire burning all day.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "provoking"