Isaiah 65:4

4 who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels;

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 I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;

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

4 who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels;

5 who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

6 See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps