When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
Parallel Translations
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When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
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When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
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When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts?
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Isaiah 1:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 34:23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.
- Exodus 23:17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
- Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
- Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.
- Isaiah 58:1-2 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God.
- Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Matthew 23:5 But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
- Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 1:12 When ye come to appear before me,…
Isa 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Ver. 12. When ye come to appear before me.] Heb., To be seen; else all had been lost. Hypocrisy is very ostentous, it would be noted and noticed; whereas true devotion desireth not to be seen of any save him who seeth in secret.
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Who hath required this at your hand?] This is God’s voice to all superstitious will-worshippers and carnal gospellers. "Friend, how camest thou in hither?" Who sent for thee to my service? Who hath forewarned this generation of vipers to flee from the wrath to come? What hast thou to do to take up my name? &c., {Psa 50:16} to tread my courts, to pollute my presence? "This is the gate of the Lord, into which the righteous" only "should enter." {Psa 118:20} "The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination; how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind." {Pro 21:27}
To tread my courts.] Or, Trample on; {as Isa 63:3} to foul it, and wear it out with their feet, {a} as in some places marble crosses graven in pavements of Popish churches, with indulgences annexed for every time they are kissed, are even worn by the kisses of the devouter sex especially. {b} Diodate noteth here that a phrase is picked out on purpose to show that these false appearances were rather acts of profane contempt than of right religion. The Greeks gave such honour to their temples that they durst not tread on the threshold thereof, but leap over it. The priests at their solemn services cried aloud εκας εκας οστις αλιτρος, Gressus removete prophani. The Jews at this day, before they come to the synagogue, wash themselves, and scrape their shoes with an iron fastened in a wall at the entrance. The Habassines, a mongrel kind of Christians in Africa, do neither walk, nor talk, nor sit, nor spit, nor laugh in the church, nor admit dogs into the churchyards. Sed quorsum haec omnia? to what end is all this, without an honest care to lift up pure hands and holy hearts in God’s presence? See Jer 7:3-4; Jer 7:9-11.
{a} Calcatis atria et teritis pavimentum. - A Lap.
{b} Sandys’s Relat, of West. Relig., sec. 8.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain When ye come to appear before me, upon the…
When ye come to appear before me, upon the three solemn feasts, Exo 23:17; 34:23, or upon other occasions.
Who hath required this at your hands, to wit, in this manner, and upon these terms? The thing that I commanded was not only nor chiefly that you should offer external sacrifices to me, but that you should do it with true repentance for all your sins, with faith in my promises, with hearty love to me, and sincere resolutions of devoting yourselves to my service, without which you offer me a dead carcass instead of a living sacrifice.
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My courts; the courts of my temple, which were two, that of the priests, and that where the people assembled, 2Ch 4:9. So this reproof seems to be directed against both priests and people, as unworthy to enjoy this privilege.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain When ye come to appear before me,.... At the…
When ye come to appear before me,.... At the grand festivals of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at which times all the males in Israel appeared before God, Exo 23:17.
who hath required this at your hand; either to appear at such times, these feasts being no more to be observed; or to offer the above sacrifices; these were not required of the Israelites when they first came out of Egypt, Jer 7:22 nor were they necessary to appear before God with, or to introduce them to the throne of his grace, Mic 6:6 and much less under the Gospel dispensation, being abolished by the sacrifice of Christ; or this relates to what follows,
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to tread my courts? in that unbecoming and hypocritical way they did, and with such wicked hearts and bloody hands. "Courts" are mentioned, because, as Kimchi observes, the Israelites stood in the courts of the Lord's house, and did not go into the temple, only the priests.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To appear - Upon the three solemn feasts, or…
To appear - Upon the three solemn feasts, or upon other occasions. Who required - The thing I commanded, was not only, nor chiefly, that you should offer external sacrifices, but that you should do it with true repentance, with faith in my promises, and sincere resolutions of devoting yourselves to my service.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. When ye come to appear] Instead of…
Verse 12. When ye come to appear] Instead of לראות leraoth, to appear, one MS. has לראות liroth, to see. See De Rossi. The appearing before God here refers chiefly to the three solemn annual festivals. See Ex 23:14.
Tread my courts (no more)] So the Septuagint divide the sentence, joining the end of this verse to the beginning of the next: Πατειν την αυλην μου, ου προσθησεσθε; "To tread my court ye shall not add-ye shall not be again accepted in worship."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain When you come to appear before me - The…
When you come to appear before me - The temple was in Jerusalem, and was regarded as the habitation, or dwelling-place, of the God of Israel. Particularly, the most holy place of the temple was deemed the place of his sacred abode. The Shekinah - from שׁכן shâkan, to dwell - the visible symbol of his presence, rested on the cover of the ark, and from this place he was accustomed to commune with his people, and to give responses to their requests. Hence, ‘to appear before God,’ Hebrew ‘to be seen before my face,’ פני לראות lerâ'ôth pânāy for פני את 'et pânāy, means to appear in his temple as a worshipper. The phrase occurs in this sense in the following places: Exo 34:23-24; Deu 31:11; 1Sa 1:22; Psa 42:3.
Who hath required this - The Jews were required to appear there to worship God Exo 23:17; Deu 16:16; but it was not required that they should appear with that spirit and temper. A similar sentiment is expressed in Psa 50:16.
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At your hand - From you. The emphasis in this expression is to be laid on your. ‘Who has asked it of you?’ It was indeed the duty of the humble, and the sincere, to tread those courts, but who had required such hypocrites as they were to do it? God sought the offerings of pure worshippers, not those of the hypocritical and the profane.
To tread my courts - The courts of the temple were the different areas or open spaces which surrounded it. None entered the temple itself but the priests. The people worshipped God in the courts assigned them around the temple. In one of those courts was the altar of burnt-offerings; and the sacrifices were all made there; see the notes at Mat 21:12. To tread his courts was an expression therefore, equivalent to, to worship. To tread the courts of the Lord here, has the idea of profanation. Who has required you to tread those courts with this hollow, heartless service? It is often used in the sense of treading down, or trampling on, 2Ki 7:17-20; Dan 8:7-10; Isa 63:3-16.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain appear before me--in the temple where the Shekinah, resting…
appear before me--in the temple where the Shekinah, resting on the ark, was the symbol of God's presence (Exo 23:15; Psa 42:2).
who hath required this--as if you were doing God a service by such hypocritical offerings (Job 35:7). God did require it (Exo 23:17), but not in this spirit (Mic 6:6-7).
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courts--areas, in which the worshippers were. None but priests entered the temple itself.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Who hath required this — That is, to…
12. Who hath required this — That is, to appear in this formal, heartless, undevout way. The true way of appearing before the Lord is prescribed in Exo_34:23-24; Deu_16:16-17.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. to appear before me] R.V. marg. (following one…
12. to appear before me] R.V. marg. (following one Hebr. MS.) suggests to see my face, which is grammatically easier. It is thought that here and elsewhere the traditional text has substituted the passive for the active so as to avoid the appearance of anthropomorphism. On either view the phrase is a technical one, denoting the act of worship in the sanctuary: Exo_23:15; Exo_23:17; Exo_34:20; Exo_34:23; Deu_16:16; Deu_31:11; 1Sa_1:22.
to tread] Better to trample; the idea of desecration is implied. This ending of the question seems weak: LXX. transfers the clause to the beginning of the next verse: “My courts ye shall no more trample; to bring oblations is vain, &c.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) When ye come to appear before me.—Literally, before…
(12) When ye come to appear before me.—Literally, before my face. This is the meaning given by the present Hebrew text, and it is, of course, adequate. The Syriac version and some modern scholars (e.g., Cheyne) adopt a reading which gives to see my face. In either case the implied thought is that the worshippers believed they came into the more immediate presence of Jehovah when, they entered the Temple courts. To “appear before God” was the normal phrase for visiting the Temple at the three great Feasts and other solemn occasions (Exo_34:23; Psa_42:3; Psa_84:7).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain When ye come to appear before me. Mr. Cheyne…
When ye come to appear before me. Mr. Cheyne translates, "to see my face;" but most other commentators (Gesenius, Delitzsch, Ewald, Kay) regard the phrase used as equivalent to that employed in Exo_23:17 Exo_34:23 Deu_16:16; and the passage as referring to that attendance in the temple at the three great annual festivals, which was required of all adult male Israelites. The requirement of the Law was still observed in the letter, but not in the spirit. They came with no true religious object. Hence the question which follows: Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? This was not what God had enjoined a mere bodily attendance, a trampling of his courts with their feet, when their hearts were far from him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah speaks Yahweh's words to the people of Judah in the form of a poem. (See: Parallelism)
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who has required this of you, to trample my courts?
The word "trample" means to step on and crush with one's feet. God is using a question to scold the people who live in Judah. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "no one told you to stomp around in my courtyards!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Bring no more meaningless offerings
"Do not bring me any more of your worthless gifts"
incense is an abomination to me
Here the abstract noun "abomination" can expressed as the verb "hate." AT: "I hate the incense the priests burn" (See: Abstract Nouns)
I cannot tolerate these wicked assemblies
Possible meanings are 1) "I cannot allow you to gather together because of the wicked things you do" or 2) "I cannot allow myself to watch you gather together because of the wicked things you do."
translationWords
court
sacrifice
incense
abomination
new moon
Sabbath
assembly
evil
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.