57.7
The Book of Isaiah 57.7 · On a high mountain you made your bed57.7On a high mountain you made your bed
The picture of unfaithfulness continues, with the high places as the setting for both bed and altar.
· · ·
עַל1
ʿal
Onupon
a
גָּבֹהַּ2
gāḇōah
high
וְנִשָּׂא3
wə-niśśāʾ
and loftyand lifted up
הַר־4
har-
mountain
שַׂמְתְּ5
śamt
you setyou placed
מִשְׁכָּבֵךְ6
miškāḇēḵ
your bed
; גַּם־7
gam-
evenalso
שָׁם8
šām
there
עָלִית9
ʿālîṯ
you went up
לִזְבֹּחַ10
lizbōaḥ
to offerto sacrifice
זָבַח׃11
zābaḥ
sacrificea sacrifice
. On a high and lofty mountain you set your bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifice.
On a high and lofty mountain you set your bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifice.
57.8
The Book of Isaiah 57.8 · Behind the door you set your memorial57.8Behind the door you set your memorial
The charge reaches the home: the memorial placed in the doorway, and a bed opened wide to others. This is the harshest verse of the passage.
· · ·
Behind the door and the doorpost you set your memorial. For away from me you uncovered yourself and went up; you widened your bed and made a bargain for yourself with them. You loved their bed; you saw a hand.
The “bed” on a high mountain is a shrine on a hilltop, the high places the books of Kings condemn, where the asherah stood “on every high hill and under every green tree” (2 Kings 17:10). The prophet paints it as a bed, a place of adultery.