Isaiah 65:3

3 a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;

Isaiah 65:3 in Other Translations

3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;

3 All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars.

3 They get on my nerves, are rude to my face day after day, Make up their own kitchen religion, a potluck religious stew.

3 a people that provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks;

3 These people constantly and openly provoked me. They offered sacrifices in gardens and burnt incense on brick altars.

3 These people continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in gardens, burning incense on bricks,

3 They are always making me very angry. They do it right in front of me. They offer sacrifices in the gardens of other gods. They burn incense on altars that are made out of 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 revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

2 All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations—

3 a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;

4 who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me, for I am too sacred for you!’ Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.

Cross References

• 1. S Job 1:11
• 2. S Isaiah 1:29
• 3. S Leviticus 2:2; Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 44:17; Ezekiel 23:41