A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face: that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks.

“They have sought. Here the judge, namely God, gives the sentence concerning the distinguishing of the evil from the good, in the receiving of the promised salvation. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he pronounces the sentence of distinction; in the second he determines the manner of its execution, chapter 66: Thus says the Lord. Concerning the first, two things. First he promises a response, showing the fitting occasion for responding: They have sought; as if he were to say: until now you Jews were not seeking from me, but from idols. Since you now seek, I will respond. Mystically, concerning the conversion of the Gentiles. Romans 10: I was found by those who did not seek. And he sets down the promise: I said: Behold, I am to a nation: I will respond, namely, to the Jews, or I will turn to the nations that have been converted. Song of Songs 6: I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. Second, he pronounces the sentence of distinction: I have spread out my hands; and first he pronounces the distinguishing of the evil from the good on account of the sins of transgression; second, on account of the sins of omission: And you who have forsaken. The first is divided into two. In the first he threatens the wicked with punishments; in the second he promises the good their rewards: Thus says the Lord. Concerning the first, two things. First he charges them with the fault of transgression; second he threatens the punishment: These shall be smoke. He charges them with their fault on three grounds. First, from ingratitude for his benefits: I have spread out — by giving many benefits — all the day, that is, the whole time since I took them to myself. Mystically, on the cross. Jeremiah 16: Each one walks. Second, from the continuity of their sinning: a people before the face, because all things are naked and open to his eyes. Hebrews 4. Or because they set up an idol in the temple. Deuteronomy 32: They have provoked me with that which is not God. Third, from the diversity or gravity of their sins, with respect to four things. First, with respect to the worship of idols: who sacrifice — to idols — in gardens, because they worshipped idols in pleasurable places; upon bricks — upon altars built out of bricks, so that they could sustain the fire of the sacrifice. Above, chapter 1: They shall be confounded by their idols. Second, with respect to their pursuit of divinations: who dwell among the tombs, so that they might have answers from the dead; and in shrines — temples of idols, so called from diluendo, washing away, because there they thought all things were washed clean. Or because of the fountains that were there for washing the victims. And the priests sleep — upon the skins of the victims, for the sake of divination. Ezekiel 6: Your shrines shall be broken down. Third, with respect to the uncleanness of foods: who eat; and a profane broth, of swine. Below, the last chapter: those who ate swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together. Fourth, with respect to their contempt of the just, who say — namely, to those not adoring idols; Wisdom 2: He is grievous to us; or who say — to God, Job 21: who say to God: Depart from us, we do not desire the knowledge of your ways. These shall be smoke. Here he threatens the punishment: and first the length of the punishment: smoke; that is, as smoke is consumed by fire; and they shall be kindled in my wrath. Deuteronomy 32: A fire is kindled in my fury, and shall burn even to the depths of hell. Second, the certainty of the punishment: Behold, it is written; because the sin is fixed firmly in memory, and the punishment in predetermination. I will not keep silence, dissembling. Jeremiah 17: The sin of Judah is written; above, chapter 42: I have kept silence, I have always held my peace. Third, the multitude of the punishments, because for all the sins of the fathers: but I will repay. Exodus 20: I am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children. They have reproached — by adoring idols upon the high places; and for the sins also of their youth: and I will measure back — as if to say, I will measure the punishment to match the fault. Above, chapter 40: She has received double from the hand of the Lord. Thus says the Lord. Here he promises the good their rewards: and first, with respect to their preservation from evils: the grain, of the grape, a blessing; that is, it pleases God that it be kept in reserve as a blessing, for the sake of the servants: our fathers, that is, the whole race of the Jews. Above, chapter 17: It shall be like one gathering. Second, with respect to their advancement in goods: and first with respect to the multiplying of seed: And I will bring forth from Jacob. Above, chapter 1: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we should have been like Sodom. Second, with respect to the restoring of their ancestral inheritance: And they shall inherit. Ezekiel 36: They shall possess you as an inheritance, and you shall be their inheritance. Third, with respect to the abundance of pastures: and there shall be plains, and the valley of Achor — named from him who was stoned there, Joshua 7. Hosea 2: I will give them the valley of Achor, to open hope. And you who have forsaken. Here he distinguishes the wicked from the consolation of the good, on account of their sins of omission: and first he threatens the wicked with punishments; second, the good with rewards, because to oblivion. Concerning the first, two things. First he threatens them because they have forsaken God, setting down the fault: and you, O Jews, to Fortune — the god of the Egyptians — a table: he touches upon the rite by which it was worshipped, because at the end of the year a table was prepared for it, laden with every kind of food. Deuteronomy 32: They forsook God who made them, and departed from God their savior. Setting down also the punishment: I will number; as if to say: so that none shall remain who is not oppressed. Jeremiah 44: They shall fall by the sword and by famine. Second, because they did not obey him calling them back, setting down the fault: because I called. Proverbs 1: I called, and you refused; and he threatens the punishment of this distinction, first in the satiety of the body: therefore thus says the Lord, Psalm 33: The rich have wanted and suffered hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good. Second, in the gladness of heart: Behold, my servants shall rejoice. Wisdom 5: Doing penance. Third, in the difference of name. And first he sets down what the name of the impious shall be: and you shall leave — as an oath, so that they might confirm their words thus: if it is not so, may it happen to me just as to them. Jeremiah 44: They shall die by the sword and by famine; and they shall be for an oath, and for a wonder, and for a curse, and for a reproach. And then he sets down what the name of the good shall be: and his servants — in which name, namely, the name is Jesus — Amen, that is, faithfully. Above, chapter 62: You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord has named. Because to oblivion. Here he promises the seen rewards. And first, in general, with respect to the removal of evils: because to oblivion — not from a defect of knowledge, but from the succession of goods. Above, chapter 54: You shall forget the confusion of your youth. And with respect to the restoring of goods: for behold, I create new heavens — new helps from heaven; a new earth — new benefits from the earth. Or with reference to the day of judgment, when the world shall be renewed unto the glory of the saints. Apocalypse 21: The former things have passed away. Second, in particular: for behold, I create Jerusalem. And first, with respect to the gladness of hearts: Jerusalem — the earthly one; but rather heavenly exultation, emphatically, so that it might be wholly absorbed in joy. Above, chapter 35: They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee from them. Second, with respect to the length of life: there shall no longer be one who does not fulfill — dying before his time; but the child shall die at a hundred years old, that is, when he has come to such an age; and if there be a sinner, although he has lived so long, he shall be subject to a curse. Genesis 25: Abraham died in a good old age. Mystically, in the heavenly Jerusalem all shall fulfill their days, because no one shall die. The child of a hundred years, that is, he who has lived childishly even up to the age of old age, shall die, with an eternal death. Wisdom 4: For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years. Third, with respect to the prosperity of goods: both with respect to the security of possessions, and they shall build. Psalm: And they built houses; Amos, the last chapter: They shall plant vineyards. And he assigns the reason: for according to the days, that is, because they shall live long, just as the wood of a tree lasts long. They shall grow old; that is, they shall remain for their use even unto old age. Psalm 1: He shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters. Above, chapter 49: They have labored in vain. And also with respect to the peace of their children: neither shall they beget in trouble, as those begetting children into the servitude of enemies. Ecclesiasticus 44: Good things continue with their seed. Fourth, with respect to the hearing of prayers: and it shall be, before they cry — with the mouth. Above, chapter 30: At the voice of your cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer you. Fifth, with respect to the tranquility of peace: the wolf and the lamb; because those who were formerly tyrants and evildoers shall dwell peaceably with others; above, chapter 11, the same.”

“A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face,.... They committed their sins openly, without any fear of the divine Being, and in defiance of him, not at all awed by his omniscience and omnipresence; they committed them in the open streets, and even in the temple, the place of the divine residence; and these they did constantly, which provoked him to anger and wrath against them; particularly the following sins: that sacrificeth in gardens; to idols, as the Targum, placed there, as they were under every green tree; or in groves, where idols were worshipped. Fortunatus Scacchus (h) thinks this refers to their having their sepulchres in their gardens, where they consulted the dead; which is favoured by a clause in the next verse: and burneth incense on altars of brick: or, "upon bricks" (i). Kimchi says, when they made bricks, they put upon them incense for idols; or, "upon tiles"; upon the roofs of their houses, which were covered with tiles; see Jer 19:13 when incense should only have been burnt upon the golden altar erected for that purpose, Exo 30:1, not that these idolatrous actions were committed by the Jews in the times of Christ and his apostles, the times preceding their last destruction; for, after their return front the Babylonish captivity, they were not guilty of idolatry; but these were the sins of their fathers, which God would recompense into their bosoms, according to Isa 65:7 they now filling up the measure of their iniquities, Mat 23:32. (h) Sacr. Eleaochr. Myrothec. I. 2. c. 55. col. 580. (i) "super lateres", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vitringa.”

“P. "Burneth incense." R. thinks that a superstitious rite is pointed out, by which incense was burnt on bricks marked with certain letters or magical signs in honor of an idol. " They united luxury with idolatry, pleasure with sacrifice, and instead of one altar of rough stones erected according to the law of God, they stained with the blood of victims burnt bricks, and mounds of earth." St. Jerome.”

“continually--answering to "all the day" (Isa 65:2). God was continually inviting them, and they continually offending Him (Deu 32:21). to my face--They made no attempt to hide their sin (Isa 3:9). Compare "before Me" (Exo 20:3). in gardens--(See on Isa 1:29; Isa 66:17; Lev 17:5). altars of brick--Hebrew, "bricks." God had commanded His altars to be of unhewn stone (Exo 20:25). This was in order to separate them, even in external respects, from idolaters; also, as all chiselling was forbidden, they could not inscribe superstitious symbols on them as the heathen did. Bricks were more easily so inscribed than stone; hence their use for the cuneiform inscriptions at Babylon, and also for idolatrous altars. Some, not so well, have supposed that the "bricks" here mean the flat brick-paved roofs of houses on which they sacrificed to the sun, &c. (Kg2 23:12; Jer 19:13).”

“But through this obstinate and unyielding rejection of His love they have excited wrath, which, though long and patiently suppressed, now bursts forth with irresistible violence. "The people that continually provoketh me by defying me to my face, sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense upon the tiles; who sit in the graves, and spend the night in closed places; to eat the flesh of swine, and broken pieces of abominations is in their dishes; who say, Stop! come not too near me; for I am holy to thee: they are a smoke in my nose, a fire blazing continually." אלּה (these) in Isa 65:5 is retrospective, summing up the subject as described in Isa 65:3-5, and what follows in Isa 65:5 contains the predicate. The heathenish practices of the exiles are here depicted, and in Isa 65:7 they are expressly distinguished from those of their fathers. Hence there is something so peculiar in the description, that we look in vain for parallels among those connected with the idolatry of the Israelites before the time of the captivity. There is only one point of resemblance, viz., the allusion to gardens as places of worship, which only occurs in the book of Isaiah, and in which our passage, together with Isa 57:5 and Isa 66:17, strikingly coincides with Isa 1:29. "Upon my face" (‛al-pânai) is equivalent to "freely and openly, without being ashamed of me, or fearing me;" cf., Job 1:11; Job 6:28; Job 21:31. "Burning incense upon the bricks" carries us to Babylonia, the true home of the cocti lateres (laterculi). The thorah only mentions lebhēnı̄m in connection with Babylonian and Egyptian buildings. The only altars that it allows are altars of earth thrown up, or of unhewn stones and wooden beams with a brazen covering. "They who sit in the graves," according to Vitringa, are they who sacrifice to the dead. He refers to the Greek and Roman inferiae and februationes, or expiations for the dead, as probably originating in the East. Sacrifices for the dead were offered, in fact, not only in India and Persia, but also in Hither Asia among the Ssabians, and therefore probably in ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonia. But were they offered in the graves themselves, as we must assume from בּקּברים (not על־קברים)? Nothing at all is known of this, and Bttcher (de inferis, 234) is correct in rendering it "among (inter) the graves," and supposing the object to be to hold intercourse there with the dead and with demons. The next point, viz., passing the night in closed places (i.e., places not accessible to every one: netsūrı̄m, custodita = clausa, like ne‛ı̄mı̄m, amaena), may refer to the mysteries celebrated in natural caves and artificial crypts (on the mysteries of the Ssabians, see Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier u. der Ssabismus, ii. 332ff.). But the lxx and Syriac render it ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις κοιμῶνται δι ̓ἐνύπνια, evidently understanding it to refer to the so-called incubare, ἐγκοιμᾶσθαι; and so Jerome explains it. "In the temples of idols," he says, "where they were accustomed to lie upon the skins of the victims stretched upon the ground, to gather future events from their dreams." The expression ubhannetsūrı̄m points not so much to open temples, as to inaccessible caves or subterraneous places. G. Rawlinson (Monarchies, ii. 269) mentions the discovery of "clay idols in holes below the pavement of palaces." From the next charge, "who eat there the flesh of the swine," we may infer that the Babylonians offered swine in sacrifice, if not as a common thing, yet like the Egyptians and other heathen, and ate their flesh ("the flesh taken from the sacrifice," 2 Macc. 6:21); whereas among the later Ssabians (Harranians) the swine was not regarded as either edible or fit for sacrifice. On the synecdochical character of the sentence כּליהם פּגּלים וּפרק, see at Isa 5:12, cf., Jer 24:2. Knobel's explanation, "pieces" (but it is not וּפרקי) "of abominations are their vessels, i.e., those of their ἱεροσκοπία," is a needless innovation. פּגּוּל signifies a stench, putrefaction (Eze 4:14, besar piggūl), then in a concrete sense anything corrupt or inedible, a thing to be abhorred according to the laws of food or the law generally (syn. פּסּוּל, פּצוּל); and when connected with פרק (chethib), which bears the same relation to מרק as crumbs or pieces (from פּרק, to crumble) to broth (from מתק, to rub off or scald off), it means a decoction, or broth made either of such kinds of flesh or such parts of the body as were forbidden by the law. The context also points to such heathen sacrifices and sacrificial meals as were altogether at variance with the Mosaic law. For the five following words proceed from the mouths of persons who fancy that they have derived a high degree of sanctity either from the mysteries, or from their participation in rites of peculiar sacredness, so that to every one who abstains from such rites, or does not enter so deeply into them as they do themselves, they call out their "odi profanum vulgus et arceo." אליך קרב, keep near to thyself, i.e., stay where you are, like the Arabic idhab ileika, go away to thyself, for take thyself off. על־תּגּשׁ־בּי (according to some MSS with mercha tifchah), do not push against me (equivalent to גּשׁ־הלאה or גּשׁה־לך, get away, make room; Gen 19:9; Isa 49:20), for qedashtikhâ, I am holy to thee, i.e., unapproachable. The verbal suffix is used for the dative, as in Isa 44:21 (Ges. 121, 4), for it never occurred to any of the Jewish expositors (all of whom give sanctus prae te as a gloss) that the kal qâdash was used in a transitive sense, like châzaq in Jer 20:7, as Luther, Calvin, and even Hitzig suppose. Nor is the exclamation the well-meant warning against the communication of a burdensome qedusshâh, which had to be removed by washing before a man could proceed to the duties of every-day life (such, for example, as the qedusshâh of the man who had touched the flesh of a sin-offering, or bee sprinkled with the blood of a sin-offering; Lev 6:20, cf., Eze 44:19; Eze 46:20). It is rather a proud demand to respect the sacro-sanctus, and not to draw down the chastisement of the gods by the want of reverential awe. After this elaborate picture, the men who are so degenerate receive their fitting predicate. They are fuel for the wrath of God, which manifests itself, as it were, in smoking breath. This does not now need for the first time to seize upon them; but they are already in the midst of the fire of wrath, and are burning there in inextinguishable flame.”