On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
Parallel Translations
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On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
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Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
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Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Isaiah 57:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 16:16 You took some of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them. This shall not happen, neither shall it be.
- Ezekiel 23:41 and sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.
- Jeremiah 2:20 “For long ago I broke off your yoke, and burst your bonds. You said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.
- Jeremiah 3:6 Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
- Ezekiel 16:25 You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.
- Ezekiel 20:28-29 For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There they also made their pleasant aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings. Then I said to them, ‘What does the high place where you go mean?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.” ’
- Jeremiah 3:2 “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.
- Ezekiel 23:17 The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution. She was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To wit, thine altars in an open place, like…
To wit, thine altars in an open place, like an impudent harlot, that careth not for the sight of her husband.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 57:7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast…
Isa 57:7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
Ver. 7. Upon a lofty and high mountain.] In all places hast thou poured out thy whoredoms, setting thy sin "upon the cliff of the rock," as it were sunning, so shameless art thou grown.
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Thy bed,] i.e., Thy temples and altars; as likewise do the mass mongers to this day.
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 Upon a lofty and high mountain, in high places,…
Upon a lofty and high mountain, in high places, which were much used for religious worship, both by Israelites and by heathens,
hast thou set thy bed; thine altar, as appears from the sacrifice here following, in which thou didst commit spiritual whoredom with idols. Compare Eze 23:17,41.
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 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set…
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 worship under trees, in valleys, and under clifts of rocks, and such dark places; now, as not blushing at, or being ashamed of their actions, erect their altars in the most public places. Perhaps some reference may be had to the city of Rome itself, built on seven mountains, the seat of antichrist, and where the principal bed for idolatry is set up. The Targum is,
"on a high and lofty mountain thou hast the place of the house of thy dwelling;''
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which agrees very well with the great city, the seat of the beast.
Even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice; the sacrifice of the mass, to do which the idolaters go to their high places, their temples, and to their high altars, and especially in the great city.
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 Mountain - In high places, which were much used…
Mountain - In high places, which were much used for religious worship, both by Israelites and by Heathens. Thy bed - Thine altar, in which thou didst commit spiritual whoredom with idols.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 57:7-8. Upon a lofty and high mountain —…
Isa 57:7-8. Upon a lofty and high mountain — In high places, which were much used for religious worship, both by the Israelites and heathen: hast thou set thy bed — Thine altar, as appears from the sacrifice mentioned in the next clause, where thou didst commit spiritual whoredom with idols. Behind the doors also and the posts — Behind the posts of the doors of thy house; hast thou set up thy remembrance — That is, the images of their tutelary gods, or some monuments or tokens, placed there as memorials of them, in direct opposition to the law of God, which commanded them to write upon the door-posts of their houses, and upon their gates, the words of his law, Deu 6:9; Deu 11:20. If they chose for them such a situation as more private, it was in defiance of a particular curse denounced in the law against the man who should make a graven or a molten image, and put it in a secret place, Deu 27:15. For thou hast discovered thyself, &c. — “The prophet describes their idolatry under the metaphor of a woman’s being false to her husband’s bed, Isa 57:3. So he tells them that they had committed spiritual adultery, when they went up to the high places to sacrifice, Isa 57:7. That they had multiplied their idolatries, as an unchaste woman does her lovers; that they had broken their covenant with God, whom they had acknowledged to be their lord and husband, and made a new contract with idols to serve them.” — Lowth. Thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it — No sooner didst thou see the heathen idols, but thou wast enamoured with them, and didst fall down and worship them, like a lewd woman, who is inflamed with lust toward almost every man she sees.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Upon a lofty and high mountain - The design…
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 the people of God, with unfaithfulness to the marriage vow. The declaration that they had placed their bed on a high mountain, means, that in the rites of idolatrous worship, there was no concealment. It was public and shameless.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Bed, like a shameless prostitute. The idols are generally…
Bed, like a shameless prostitute. The idols are generally represented in this light, as corrupting God’s people. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Upon . . . high mountain . . .…
Upon . . . high mountain . . . bed--image from adultery, open and shameless (Eze 23:7); the "bed" answers to the idolatrous altar, the scene of their spiritual unfaithfulness to their divine husband (Eze 16:16, Eze 16:25; Eze 23:41).
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 7, 8. High mountain… thy bed — Places of…
7, 8. High mountain… thy bed — Places of idol and adulterous worship. Accounts of dells also, as such places are obscure. Groves in either place were doubtless sought.
Behind the doors… posts — Namely, of houses.
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Hast thou set up thy remembrance — Perhaps inscriptions are meant, in allusion to God’s command, (Deu_6:9,) to write the great words of their creed, their duty also, upon the door-posts. The same was practised, it may be, also in idolaters’ houses. Possibly, however, lascivious sketches, drawn on these “doors” and “posts,” are intended.
Another than me — For thy divinity.
Enlarged thy bed — Of whoredoms.
Covenant with them — Seeking safety under their protection instead of that of Jehovah.
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 7. As in the valleys, so on the hill-tops,…
7. As in the valleys, so on the hill-tops, the people had sacrificed to strange gods. Cf. Hos_4:13; Jer_2:20; Eze_6:13.
hast thou set thy bed] The image is suggested by the frequent comparison of idolatry (in Israel) to adultery. Cf. Hos_4:12; Jer_2:20; Jer_3:2; Eze_16:25.
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 (7) Set thy bed . . .—Idolatry being as…
(7) Set thy bed . . .—Idolatry being as adultery, the “bed” follows naturally as representing the locality of the idol-worship. Comp. Eze_16:31; Eze_23:17.
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 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set…
Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed. Instead of reserving thy marriage-bed for me, Jehovah, (Isa_54:5) thou hast set it up on those "high places," with which the hill-tops of Judaea are everywhere crowned. (see 1Ki_14:23 1Ki_16:4 2Ch_33:17 Eze 15:16, etc.) Almost every hill-top is still, in a sense, held sacred in Palestine (Conder, in "Quarterly Statement of Palest. Explor. Fund," 1875, p. 39). Even thither wentest thou up, etc. (On the persistency of the Jews in maintaining the high-place worship, see 1Ki_14:23 1Ki_15:14 1Ki_22:43 2Ki_12:3 2Ki_14:4 2Ki_15:4 2Ki_21:3, etc.) The best kings failed in their attempts to put it down
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:
Yahweh continues speaking to the unfaithful people of Israel.
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You prepared your bed
This refers to sleeping with prostitutes as a part of worshiping false gods. (See: Euphemism)
on a high mountain
People often went on top of hills and mountains to worship false gods. They thought those were the best places for worship. This might even refer to Jerusalem, too. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
You made a covenant with them
"You made a contract with them"
translationWords
sacrifice
doorpost
covenant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.