Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 57:3-12

We have here a high charge, but a just one no doubt, drawn up against that wicked generation out of which God's righteous ones were removed, because the world was not worthy of them. Observe, I. The general character here given of them, or the name and title by which they stand indicted, Isa. 57:3. They are told to draw near and hear the charge, are set to the bar, and arraigned there as sons of the sorceress, or of a witch, the seed of an adulterer and a whore, that is, they were such... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 57:7

Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed ,.... Temples and altars, which are usually built on high places, where they commit spiritual adultery; that is, idolatry, in imitation of the Heathens, who had their temples and altars on high places; and the idolatry of the church of Rome, in this context, is all along expressed in language agreeable to the Heathen idolatry, and in allusion to it. Some think this phrase denotes impudence in their idolatrous worship; for not content to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 57:8

Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance ,.... The memorial of thine idols, as the Targum. As the Heathens had their "lares" and "penates", their household gods, so the Papists have their tutelar images, which they place in their houses, and in their bedchambers; their images of saints, their crucifixes and superstitious pictures, which they call "memories", and "laymen's books": for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me ; or, "from me" F14 מאתי... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 57:8

Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance "Behind the door, and the door-posts, hast thou set up thy memorial" - That is, the image of their tutelary gods, or something dedicated to them; in direct opposition to the law of God, which commanded them to write upon the door-posts of their house, and upon their gates, the words of God's law; Deuteronomy 6:9 ; Deuteronomy 11:20 . If they chose for them such a situation as more private, it was in defiance of a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 57:3-10

Pictures of idolatry. The idolaters are summoned to hear the judgment upon them. They are characterized as "sons of a sorceress, seed of an adulterer." The source of all idolatry is unfaithfulness to God regarded as the Husband of his people ( Ezekiel 16:44 , Ezekiel 16:45 ). Yet, in their pride, these idolaters make sport of and scoff at the true servants of God. I. THE RITES OF IDOLATRY . There were enthusiastic orgies in the sacred groves of oak and in the gardens ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 57:3-14

ISRAEL SEVERELY REBUKED FOR IDOLATRY . Though Hezekiah had made a great reformation of religion when he ascended the throne( 2 Kings 18:4 ; 2 Chronicles 29:3-19 ), and had done his best to put down idolatry, yet it was still dear to large numbers among the people, and was easily revived by Manasseh in the earlier portion of his reign ( 2 Chronicles 33:2-9 ). Isaiah now rebukes various kinds of idolatrous practices, and shows the vanity of them. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 57:7

Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed . Instead of reserving thy marriage-bed for me, Jehovah ( Isaiah 54:5 ), thou hast set it up on those "high places," with which the hill-tops of Judaea are everywhere crowned (see 1 Kings 14:23 ; 1 Kings 16:4 ; 2 Chronicles 33:17 ; Ezekiel 15:1-8 :16, etc.). Almost every hill-top is still, in a sense, held sacred in Palestine. Even thither wentest thou up, etc. (On the persistency of the Jews in maintaining the high-place... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 57:8

Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance. It has been usual to explain this of a removal from its proper place into an obscure position of the formulae which the Israelites were commanded in the Law to write on their doorposts and on their gates ( Deuteronomy 6:9 ; Deuteronomy 11:20 ). But, in the first place, there is no evidence that anciently these passages were understood literally, or that such inscriptions were ever set up; and secondly, as Mr. Cheyne... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 57:7

Upon a lofty and high mountain - The design of this verse and the following, is, to show the extent, the prevalence, the publicity, and the grossness of their idolatry. The language is that which would appropriately express adulterous intercourse, and is designed to show the abhorrence in which God held their conduct. The language is easy to be understood, and it would not be proper to go into an extended explanation of the phrases used. It is common in the Scriptures to compare idolatry among... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 57:8

Behind the doors - In every part of their habitations - behind the doors and posts and beams of their houses, they had erected the memorials of idolatrous worship.Hast thou set up thy remembrance - That is, they had filled their houses with the images of tutelary gods, or with something dedicated to them. The Greeks and Romans had their Lares and Penates - their household or domestic gods - the images of which were in every family. The same was true of the apostate Hebrews. They had filled... read more

Group of Brands