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Isaiah 57 · under every green tree
Elijah’s contest on Mount Carmel ends in slaughter (1 Kings 18:40). The same chapter summons “the four hundred prophets of the Asherah” (18:19), one of the places where the Bible treats Asherah as a goddess with a staff. · Gustave Doré, “The Prophets of Baal Are Slaughtered”, La Sainte Bible, 1866, plate 90 · public domain
57.3
The Book of Isaiah 57.3 · Come here, you children of a sorceress57.3Come here, you children of a sorceress
In the third part of Isaiah, the righteous have just been described as taken away in peace (57:1-2). Now God summons those who have turned to other powers.
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וְאַתֶּם1
wə-ʾattem
But youand you
, קִרְבוּ־2
qirḇû-
come neardraw near
הֵנָּה3
hēnnâ
here
, בְּנֵי4
bənê
childrensons of
of
עֹנְנָה5
ʿōnənâ
a sorceresssoothsayer
, זֶרַע6
zeraʿ
offspringseed of
of
מְנָאֵף7
mənāʾēp̄
an adulterer
וַתִּזְנֶה׃8
wa-ttizneh
and a woman who prostitutes herselfand she whored
. But you, come here, children of a sorceress, offspring of an adulterer and a woman who prostitutes herself.
But you, come here, children of a sorceress, offspring of an adulterer and a woman who prostitutes herself.
57.4
The Book of Isaiah 57.4 · Whom are you mocking?57.4Whom are you mocking?
God is still addressing the accused. He turns their own gestures of contempt back on them.
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Over whom do you delight At whom do you open wide your mouth and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of rebellion, offspring of deceit?
Chapters 56 to 66 are usually dated after the return from exile, and here the prophet turns on people at home. He calls them children of a sorceress (ʿōnənâ, one who reads clouds or omens) and of an adulterer and a prostitute. In the prophets worship of other gods is adultery: Israel is YHWH’s wife, and these rites are unfaithfulness.