Isaiah 57:6

Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? AMONG THE SMOOTH (STONES) OF THE STREAM (IS) THY PORTION. The Hebrew, chalqeey (H2511), smooth, is explained by Gesenius, 'in the bare places of the valley.' But what follows - "even to them hast thou poured a drink offering" - confirms the English version. The smooth stones, shaped as idols, are the gods chosen by thee as thy portion (Psalms 16:4). EVEN TO THEM ... THOU HAST OFFERED A MEAT OFFERING - not a bloody sacrifice, but one of meal and flour mingled with oil. "Meat," in Old English, meant food, not flesh, as it now means ...

6._Amidst polished stones, _or, _in parts of the valley. _He continues the same subject, and reproves in various ways the superstitions which abounded in Judea; for no place was altogether free from idolatry. There were no rocks, no rivers, no valleys, no corner whatever, in which they had not erected a monument of their superstition. They had their groves and mountains, in which they sacrificed after the manner of the Gentiles. Whether we here adopt the reading, “Polished stones,” or “Parts of the river,” the meaning will be the same. The Prophet means that the Jews chose their own method of worshipping God, and turned aside from the rule which he had laid down in his Law; and consequently that every kind of worship which they followed by their own choice was abominable and wicked; for in religion and in the worship of God it is only to the voice of God that we ought to listen. If it be...

3-12 The Lord here calls apostates and hypocrites to appear before him. When reproved for their sins, and threatened with judgments, they ridiculed the word of God. The Jews were guilty of idolatry before the captivity; but not after that affliction. Their zeal in the worship of false gods, may shame our indifference in the worship of the true God. The service of sin is disgraceful slavery; those who thus debase themselves to hell, will justly have their portion there. Men incline to a religion that inflames their unholy passions. They are led to do any evil, however great or vile, if they think it will atone for crimes, or purchase indulgence for some favourite lust. This explains idolatry, whether pagan, Jewish, or antichristian. But those who set up anything instead of God, for their hope and confidence, never will come to a right end. Those who forsake the only right way, wander in...

Verse Isaiah 57:6. _AMONG THE SMOOTH STONES OF THE STREAM_ - "Among the smooth stones of the valley"] The Jews were extremely addicted to the practice of many superstitious and idolatrous rites, which the prophet here inveighs against with great vehemence. Of the worship of rude stones consecrated, there are many testimonials of the ancients. They were called βαιτυλοι and βαιτυλια probably from the stone which Jacob erected at Beth-el, pouring oil upon the top of it. This practice was very common in different ages and places. _Arnobius_, lib. i., gives an account of his own practice in this respect before he became a Christian: Si quando conspexeram lubricatum lapidem, et ex olivi unguine sordidatum; tanquam inesset vis praesens, adulabar, affabar, et beneficia poscebam nihil sentiente de trunco. - "When I have met with a smooth stone, smeared with oil, supposing a spiritual power t...

AMONG THE SMOOTH STONES OF THE STREAMS - In the original here, there is a paronomasia, which cannot be fully retained in our English version. There has been also considerable diversity of opinion in regard to the sense of the passage, from the ambiguity of the words in the original. Jerome (the Vulgate) renders it, _In partibus torrentis pars tua_ - ‘Thy portion is in the parts of the torrent.’ The Septuagint translates it ‘This is thy portion; this is thy lot. The word rendered in our version, ‘smooth stones’ (חלק _chēleq_), means properly smoothness, hence, barrenness or bare place; and supposes that the idea is, their lot was in the bare places of the valley, that is, in the open (not wooded) places where they worshipped idols - an interpretation not very consistent with the fact that groves were commonly selected as the place where they worshipped idols. It seems to me, therefore, t...

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 57:1, ISAIAH 57:2 THE EARLY DEATH OF RIGHTEOUS MEN ACCOUNTED FOR. The Hebrews were given to expect that long life should, as a general rule, accompany righteousness (Exodus 20:12; 1 Kings 3:14; Psalms 91:16; Proverbs 3:1,...

AMONG THE SMOOTH STONES OF THE STREAM IS THY PORTION,.... Or thy god; but the portion of Jacob is not like them, stocks and stones, Jeremiah 10:16. Whenever they could pick up smooth stones, and such as were fit for their purpose, whether in the stream of a brook, or in a valley, as the word also signifies, they polished and formed them into an image, and made gods of them; and these were their portion and inheritance, and which they left to their children. There is an elegant play on words k in the Hebrew tongue, between the word for "smooth stones", and that for a "portion l", which cannot be expressed in our language: or, "in the smooth or slippery places of the valley shall be thy portions"; see Psalms 35:6. THEY, THEY ARE THY LOT; even those stones. Jarchi's note is, t

A lament for the death of the righteous many of them put to death by persecution. Isaiah 57:1. _The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness._ When there is a storm coming on, you may see the shepherds among the hills, gathering their sheep and taking them home, and when good men die in large numbers, and the Church's ranks are thinned, it is sometimes a token that bad times are coming on, and so God takes away the righteous from the evil to come. Oh! did men know what the world loses when a good man dies, they would regret it far more than the death of emperors and kings who fear not God. But as for those who are made righteous by the grace of God, they need no

Chapter s 56:9-57:14 must be read continuously. CHAPTER S 56:9-57:21 The Condition of the Apostate Nation and the two Classes 1. _The condition of the shepherds of Israel (Isaiah 56:9) _ 2. _Apostate Israel (Isaiah 57:1) _ 3. _The two classes (Isaiah 57:15) _ The final chapter of this second section corresponds to the last chapter of the first section (chapter 48). The sad condition of the people Israel is pictured. This is their national apostasy throughout this age, while strangers are joined to the Lord and the church is gathered. The worst is yet to come. Chapter 57:9 looks forward to the great apostasy during the great tribulation. The king is the Antichrist, who takes his seat in t

AN INVECTIVE AGAINST THE PRO-SAMARITANS. Yahweh turns now bitterly to upbraid the pro-Samaritan party in the community, among whom flourished many of the primitive Palestinian religious practices. To defame his mother was to an Eastern the most offensive of insults; but the terms used are figurative (idolatry being often in OT described as adultery). How can this false brood deride the pious! (Isaiah 57:5 is probably an illustrative quotation). The adulteress has chosen for her portion the smooth (perhaps slippery ones, _i.e._ false gods) in place of Yahweh. On the high places she has set her bed, _i.e._ practised heathen rites, which were in fact notoriously sensual. The memorial is probably a phallic symbol; incited by it (so read for to another than me) she strips and prepares her bed and hires for herself such as she loves intercourse with (slightly emending made thee a covenant).