Isaiah 65:4

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;

Isaiah 65:4 in Other Translations

4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

4 who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

4 At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods.

4 They spend the night in tombs to get messages from the dead, Eat forbidden foods and drink a witch's brew of potions and charms.

4 that sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; that eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

4 They sat among the graves and spent their nights in caves. They ate pork and in their pots made broth from unclean foods.

4 sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating swine's flesh, and putting polluted broth in their bowls.

4 They sit among the graves. They spend their nights talking to the spirits of the dead. They eat the meat of pigs. Their cooking pots hold soup that has 'unclean' meat in it.

Isaiah 65:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 65:4

Which remain among the graves
In order to practise necromancy, to consult the dead, where they imagined demons and departed spirits haunted, and of whom they fancied they might get knowledge of future things: and lodge in the monuments:
whole nights for the same purposes. The Vulgate Latin version is, "that sleep in the temples of idols"; after the manner of the Heathens, who used to sleep there in order to obtain dreams, whereby they might be able to foretell things to come, as they did in the temple of Aesculapius; or, "in desolate places" ^F11, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; where they expected to meet with demons and noxious spirits, to give them knowledge of things to come. The Targum paraphrases both clauses thus,

``who dwell in houses built of the dust of graves, and lodge with the corpse of the children of men;''

so corpse, according to Jarchi, are expressed by this word, which signifies "kept", or "preserved" ^F12, as in ( Isaiah 49:6 ) , because they are put in a strait place, from whence they cannot get out; though some think idols are meant, called so by way of derision, because kept for fear of being stolen, or because they cannot keep themselves, nor their votaries: which eat swine's flesh;
forbidden by the law, ( Leviticus 11:7 ) : and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
or "pots": broth made of swine's flesh, and of other sorts of flesh which were unclean by the law. Our version follows the marginal ^F13 reading; as do the Targum, Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; but the written text is, "a fragment" ^F14, or piece, or pieces, of abominable things; both may be retained in the sense of the passage; slices of flesh unclean, and so abominable by the law, were put into their pots and stewed, and made broth of, which they drank. Spencer ^F15 thinks the milk in which kids were boiled is meant, which the Zabians kept in vessels, and sprinkled on the trees in their gardens, to make them more fruitful; hence mention is made of idolatrous practices in gardens, in the preceding verse.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 "In desertis locis", Munster, Pagninus.
F12 (Myrwunb) "apud custodita", Junius & Tremellius; "custoditos", Piscator.
F13 (qrm) "jusculum".
F14 (qrp) "fragmentum".
F15 De Legibus Hebr. I. 2. c. 8. sect. 2. p. 275.

Isaiah 65:4 In-Context

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.

6 “See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps—

Cross References

• 1. S Leviticus 19:31; S Isaiah 8:19
• 2. S Leviticus 11:7