Isaiah 57:5

"Ye that inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered an oblation. Shall I be appeased for these things? Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. And behind the doors and the posts hast thou set up thy memorial; for thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them: thou lovest their bed where thou sawest it."

These verses are a description of the conduct of God's people who forsook him and "went whoring" after false gods. Many commentators stress that this was "merely spiritual adultery"; but the truth is that, although it was indeed spiritual adultery, it was also actual adultery and fornication of the most perverted and shameful kind. The old fertility rites of Canaanite Baalism were as licentious, vulgar, sensuous and degrading as any conduct ever known.

"Ye that inflame yourselves ..." (Isaiah 57:5). "This describes the excitement that attended the orgies which accompanied the celebration of heathen rites."[9] "The `memorial' of Isaiah 57:8 was probably a phallic symbol."[10]

"Shall I be appeased for these things? ..." (Isaiah 57:6). This is a positive statement made in the form of a question which is common in Hebrew; and it has the meaning of, "I will certainly not be appeased for these things."

Notice the reference in Isaiah 57:7 to the "high and lofty mountain," a geographical feature of Judah, not Babylon. It is this feature of these chapters that exploded the theory of "Two Isaiahs" and led to the invention of what Wardle called "Trito-Isaiah";<10b> and, as noted in our Introduction to this prophecy, once the unity of Isaiah is denied, not two, nor three, but a dozen divisions will inevitably follow.

"Among the smooth stones of the valley ..." (Isaiah 57:6). "Smooth stones, rounded by water-action were among the objects worshipped by many Semitic peoples; and they were worshipped with libations of wine and oil from their worshippers."[11] Some believe that the statues of the idol Molech were constructed of such smooth stones, that being the reason for the proximity of "slaying the children" (by which Molech was worshipped) and the "smooth stones of the valley" in adjacent Isaiah 57:5,6, in this passage. The Jews described in this chapter widely practiced the worship of Molech, some of their kings making their sons "pass through the fire to Molech," as did Manasseh. "The Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Cretans and other pagan nations practiced this barbarous rite; and although some have attempted to deny that the children were actually burned to death, such passages as Psalms 106:37,38; Jeremiah 7:31; and Jeremiah 19:5 prove that they were burned to death. It was practiced by the Jews in the valley of Hinnom (2 Chronicles 3; 33:6); and as would appear from this text, in other valleys also."[12] Of course, there is absolutely nothing in the post-exilic history of the Jews that even remotely suggests the type of behavior described here.