Chapter Sixty-Five

In the logical sequence of the thoughts of the prophet Isaiah, the present chapter has the closest connection with the preceding narrative: in it the question was raised, why did the Lord allow His chosen people to fall into such a universally tragic state? And the very posing of the question was as if making Him a reproach of insufficiency of love and mercy toward His people. The present chapter gives a clear and positive answer to all of this, from which it is evident that God, of course, has no lack of compassion and love; but these Divine blessings are poured out only upon those who seek them, and not upon those who blindly and foolishly reject them, as Israel does. In general, the example of Israel is the best and most eloquent proof of the righteousness of God’s Judgment—the wicked and criminal majority of it bears the deserved punishment, and the faithful and obedient remnant receives the fulfillment of all promises. The full and final accomplishment of these promises requires the creation of new especially favorable conditions, which will come to pass in the New Covenant period.

1–7. The righteousness of God’s judgment over disobedient and treacherous Israel. 8–10. Promise of mercy and salvation to its faithful “remnant.” 11–16. A comparative juxtaposition of the deserved fate of one and the other; 17–25. the creation of a new theocratic community of spiritual Israel, that is, the New Covenant church.

Isaiah 65:1. I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. “Behold Me! Behold Me!” I said to a people that did not call upon My name. “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.” By “those who asked” and “those who sought” the Lord, but not in the right way and place, are meant the Jews who boasted in their false, outward righteousness (See Isa 58:2-4). “Behold Me! Behold Me! I said to a people that did not call upon My name.” A people that bore the name of the Lord was Israel, of whom the Lord Himself, through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, spoke with complete certainty, as a people “who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made” (Isa 43:7). The opposite of the people of Israel in this respect was the entire pagan world, to which the Lord now reveals Himself, having hidden His face from unworthy Israel. The meaning of this indication can be understood as follows. The Jews, as is partly evident from the preceding context, were inclined to accuse the Almighty that He had abandoned His people and ceased to care for them. The prophet now raises a counter-fact, from which it is evident that the Lord never ceased to provide for mankind, and that He does this even now, only in relation to another people, more worthy than Israel.

Isaiah 65:2. All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient people.” It is vain, then, that Israel laments that the Lord has forgotten it, that “His arm is too short to save, and His ear too heavy to hear” (Isa 59:1). On the contrary, the Almighty “all day long stretched out... His hands... to a disobedient people,” that is, manifested constant, lovingly tender concern for Israel’s conversion (Isa 50:2). But Israel remained dumb and deaf to this Divine calling, for which it fully deserved the name “disobedient people” (Isa 30:1; Jer 5:23; Jer 6:28; Hos 4:16), “walking in a way that is not good,” that is, contrary to the will and law of God, and “following their own thoughts,” or, as the prophet Isaiah expressed it more vividly in another place, gratifying “their own desires” (Isa 58:13; cf. Isa 53:6; Isa 55:7; Isa 56:11; Isa 57:17 and others).

Isaiah 65:3. to a people who provoke Me to My face continually, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks; Verses 3–4 give factual proof that Israel “walked in a way that is not good,” namely in the way of idolatry and moral corruption. “To a people who provoke Me to My face continually,” that is, who boldly and openly trample upon the laws of the Lord, thereby inflicting upon Him the greatest insult (Isa 58:9; Jer 7:19; Jer 32:30 and others). Furthermore, the prophet goes on to enumerate in more detail particular kinds of pagan cults that were practiced among the Hebrews in his time. “Sacrificing in gardens.” This is the cult of sacred trees, or groves, connected with immoral service to the goddess Astarte; it was practiced among the Jews in the pre-exilic period especially widely, for which reason it earned sharp condemnation from many prophets (Isa 1:29; Isa 57:5; Isa 66:17; Hos 4:13 and others). “And burning incense on bricks.” The commentators of the St. Petersburg Academy believe that by “bricks,” or “shards,” are meant bricks or stones with mysterious signs (Isa 57:6), the veneration of which was widespread among the Canaanite peoples (Lev 26:1; Num 33:52), remains of which have been found up to the present time in the Trans-Jordan region of Palestine and stony Arabia; in scholarship they are known by the names—menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs, and Moabite bricks.” But the English Bible Commentary, referring to clearer indications of other prophets, sees here an indication of a special kind of astral worship carried out on tile roofs of houses (Jer 32:29 and Zeph 1:5 – The Pulp. Com. – 470 p.).

Isaiah 65:4. sitting in the graves and spending the night in the hidden places; eating swine’s flesh, and the broth of unclean meat is in their vessels; “Sitting in the graves and spending the night in the hidden places,” that is, practicing necromancy and incubation, to which the Hebrew people indeed became much addicted, following the example of the surrounding pagans (Isa 8:19; Isa 29:4). A vivid example of this is given in the story of Saul with the witch of Endor (1 Sam 28). “Eating swine’s flesh” contrary to the direct prohibition of the Mosaic law (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8), but apparently depending on pagan sacrifices and superstitious rites (Isa 66:17; 1 Macc 1:41-64; 2 Macc 6:18). “And the broth of unclean meat is in their vessels.” This is either a general, concluding indication of all “idolatrous offerings,” or a new indication of some particular kind of idol’s meal, such as, for instance, what Vlastov mentions—a special broth made from various grains, offered in sacrifice to the Earth—Demeter, later Hecate (that is, Persephone—Hecate—Selene), the giver of gifts (407 p.).

Isaiah 65:5. who say, “Stay away from me, for I am holier than you.” These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Matthew 9:11. “Stay away from me, for I am holier than you.” A very characteristic trait, showing that the Jews’ involvement with paganism was not only under outward influence, but also resulted from a deeper, internal assimilation of it, whereby one permeated with pagan spirit considered himself more perfect and pure than one who remained a faithful servant of the Lord. One can even establish here a direct connection with the cult of Astarte, in which women who gave themselves up in honor of this goddess to immorality bore the name “kedesha,” which means “sacred, holy.” Blessed Theodoret sees here a prototype of the Gospel Pharisees, who were likewise especially vain about their supposed “cleanness”—pharisees—“clean”—Matt. 9:11 and others.). “These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.” The proper understanding of this passage is, in our view, established by the following parallels: “smoke rose from His nostrils, and fire from His mouth consumed” (Ps 17:9; cf. also Rev 14:11) and further: “and they will see the corpses of the people who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched” (Isa 66:24; cf. Isa 1:31). Consequently, here is given the beginning of that dread judgment over wicked Israel, the continuation and conclusion of which follows in the two subsequent verses.

Isaiah 65:6. Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but I will repay, repay into their bosom: Isaiah 65:7. your iniquities, says the Lord, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says the Lord; because they burned incense on the mountains and reviled Me on the hills, I will measure into their bosom the deeds they did. “I will not keep silence, but I will repay, repay into their bosom... and I will measure into their bosom the deeds they did.” “We know Him who said, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay”—the Apostle Paul comments on this well-known Old Testament expression in his two epistles (Heb 10:30 and Rom 12:19; cf. Deut 32:35; Isa 49:4; Isa 62:11; Jer 16:18; Rev 22 and others). “To measure,” or “to repay with a certain measure” and precisely “into the bosom, or bosoms,”—is also a characteristic biblical expression (Ps 78:12; Jer 32:18). The image itself is taken from the primitive custom of the ancient inhabitants of the East to receive grain poured out directly into their lap. The moral meaning of it is also clear and is explained by the Lord Himself in the words of the Sermon on the Mount: “whatever measure you use to measure, will be measured back to you” (Matt 7:2). In this case, these words mean that the Lord commits no injustice against the Israeli people when He now punishes it: thereby He is simply settling his account with Israel in full measure for all that the latter has caused Him throughout the course of all his preceding and present history.

Isaiah 65:8. Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it,’ so I will do for the sake of My servants, that I may not destroy all of them. From verse 8 to verse 10, as is usual for the prophet Isaiah and characteristic of him, the picture suddenly changes: the announcement of punishment is followed by a promise of rewards; punishment—to all wicked Jewish people, and rewards—to the righteous “remnant” of the sons of Jacob and Judah. The basic idea of the section—the preservation of some from the greater number perished—is expressively conveyed in the image of a healthy, succulent grape cluster, apparently on an infected tree. Both the image itself and the idea contained within it are undoubtedly connected to the earlier chapters of the same prophet “On God’s Vineyard” (chapters 5–6). One can even establish a connection between these discourses and the well-known Gospel parable images (Matt 21:37-41; John 15 chs.).

Isaiah 65:9. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah an heir of My mountains; and My chosen shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. Isaiah 9:8. “I will bring forth seed from Jacob and from Judah—an heir of My mountains.” Scarcely should we find here a detailed indication of the two divided Hebrew kingdoms. It is better to see here the usual biblical pleonasm, especially characteristic for the prophet Isaiah precisely in this respect (that is, in the designation of God’s people). Isaiah 9:8; Isa 10:21-22; Isa 27:6; Isa 29:23; Isa 40:27; Isa 41:8; Isa 48:1; Isa 60:14 and others.). Not once does the prophet Isaiah also speak of the mountain or mountains of the Lord (Isa 2; Isa 14:25; Isa 57:13; Isa 60:21), clearly meaning thereby the entire promised land, that is, Palestine, as a country extremely mountainous. Indeed, one only needs to look at the geographical map of Palestine to be fully convinced of the validity of such a name. Palestine is crossed by three main groups of mountains: 1) the mountains of Galilee with the highest peak Hermon—9400 feet above sea level, 2) the mountains of Samaria and Judea—with peaks Gebal and Gerizim about 2700 ft. and 3) the mountains of the Trans-Jordan region, some of which similarly reach 2000–3000 feet in height. “My chosen shall inherit it... My servants.” In the general sense, such epithets are applied in the Bible to all Israel (1 Chr 16:13; Ps 104:6 and others.). But here the limiting sense of interpretation is clear, pointing only to the righteous “remnant” of Israel (Isa 43:20; Isa 45:4; cf. Ps 14:1-2 and Ps 23:3-5), to those chosen from among the chosen people.

Isaiah 65:10. And Sharon shall be a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me. The geographical names of the valleys mentioned in it: “Sharon” and “Achor”—have in the Bible and other, more precise definitions: the first lay along the southwest coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the second ran to the southeast, not far from Jericho (Josh 7:24; Josh 15:7 and Hos 2:15). Isa 65:11-16. A new section of prophetic-denunciatory discourse begins, in which a series of sharp contrasts is given, speaking of the blessedness of the righteous and pious and the sufferings of the wicked and sinful.

Isaiah 65:11. But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, “You prepare a table for Gad and fill a full cup for Meni.” The text of the LXX and our Slavonic translation render this place as follows: “you who set a table for the demon and fill a portion for destiny.” It is easy to see that in the latter text the proper names of Syrian deities—Gad, or Gadad, and Meni, or Meni, Anu-el—are replaced by their common noun translations. The Tell Amarna correspondence and Phoenician excavations have established that “Gad” is a Phoenician deity, “good god of fortune” (Cheyne), derived from ancient Canaanite—Addi, or Adael—“the deity of thunder,” related to Greek Zeus and Latin Jupiter, whose name is found quite often even in the Tell Amarna letters (names Iadi-Addi, Amun-Addi, Nathan-Addi and others). “Meni” is a Syrian deity, found in the inscriptions of the so-called Aramaic-Persian, or Achaemenid period. Scholars bring it close to the Arabic deity Mant, which, according to the Koran, as a mediating deity, vaguely resembles the Messiah. The English Bible Commentary believes that at the basis of this name lies the Semitic root manât, which means “number, portion” and indicates such a deity that oversaw the distribution of the corresponding share of happiness to each person (τύχη μοῖρα).

Isaiah 65:12. I will destine you for the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in. “I destine you to the sword.” “I destine”—in Hebrew expressed by יתיכב, that is, the same root תכב is used, which is also contained in the name of the deity just named—“Meni.” With such understanding of the matter, we have a strong antithesis of the true God with one of the false gods, which in general constitutes the distinctive trait of the style of the prophet Isaiah. “Slaughter by the sword,” “bending to the earth,” as the punishment for disobedience to God—all these are images well known to us from the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 10:4; Isa 46:1; Isa 50:2; Isa 53:7; Isa 56:4; Isa 66:4 and others.). And the sole cause of all this, the prophet Isaiah again emphasizes from the mouth of the Lord Himself, is the behavior of the disobedient Israel (see verse 2).

Isaiah 65:13. Therefore thus says the Lord God: My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; Isaiah 65:14. my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit. A series of special contrasts, in which various types of blessedness of the righteous are opposed to the opposite types of suffering of the sinful. “This entire series of contrasts can be understood in two ways: literally—in relation to two classes of captive Israelites, some of whom remained faithful to the Lord and others who turned away from Him; and metaphorically in relation to the servants of the Lord and His enemies of all times and all places” (The Pulp. Comm. 472 p.).

Isaiah 65:15. You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord God will slay you; but to his servants he will give a different name, “And you shall leave your name to My chosen for a curse.” The calamities that are to befall the head of disobedient Israel will be so terrible and merciless that they will even make its very name as if it were a common designation of God’s punishment in general (cf. Jer 29:22). “And the Lord God will slay you.” A repetition and strengthening of the thought of verse 12. The very text of this phrase is taken, according to the English Bible Commentary, from a special curse formula.

Isaiah 62:2. “But to his servants he will give a different name,” that is, “a holy people,” “spiritual Israel,” “Christians” (See commentary on Isaiah 62:2, 12), and “a seed blessed by the Lord” (see below, Isa 65:23). Isaiah 65:16. whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth; and whoever takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes. “And whoever takes an oath in the land, shall swear by the God of truth.” Most exegetes, beginning with blessed Jerome, preferably stop at the interpretation of this passage on the text of the Vulgate, where the latter half of the mentioned phrase is translated as: jurabit in Deo amen. The word “amen” in biblical, and later in liturgical usage, is a solemn affirmation of a certain covenant and as if its justification (Deut 28:14-26; Josh 8:32-34). Therefore, the use of this word here is very significant. “In the Old Testament salvation is promised, accomplished in the New, when God, who had spoken by the prophets, in the last days has spoken to us by a Son (Heb 1:1-2): ‘for all the promises of God find their Yes in him, and in him the Amen is amen’ (2 Cor 1:20)” (Vlastov). The meaning of the use of such a phrase precisely here can be explained as follows. The benefits that will be liberally poured out by the Lord upon faithful Israel and its spiritual posterity will give such a brilliant confirmation of the absolute truth and righteousness of the Almighty, that His very Name will make for all an irrefutable sign of the highest oath-taking assurance (cf. John 17:3; 1 John 5:20; Rev 3:14). Isa 65:17-25. The last part of the Lord’s answer to the preceding prayer of Israel. After the announcement of righteous judgment by God on wicked sinners, this part of the discourse imparts comfort and joyful hope for the blessedness of the Messianic kingdom. In its content and character, it belongs to the section of prophecies about the glorious Messianic times and comes particularly close to some of them (Isa 2:1-4; Isa 11:6-9; Isa 25:6-9; Isa 35:1-10; Isa 40:3-5; Isa 55:1-5; Isa 58:11; Isa 59:21). Even in the preceding verse (16) it was already said about the cessation of sufferings and sorrows. Now the creation of a new order of things is proclaimed, which is to come about in the renewed Messianic kingdom. Expressing his thought in vivid, plastic images, the prophet now speaks of the creation of new heavens and earth (verse 17), of universal joy and gladness, of the absence of weeping and crying (verse 18), of the disappearance of all defects of human ages (verse 20), of peaceful enjoyment of all the fruits of one’s hands (verses 21–23), of the constant closeness of divine help (verse 24), and of corresponding, radical changes in the entire animal world (verse 25).

Isaiah 65:17. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” In view of the fact that the words of the prophecy are almost literally repeated with more detailed development in several New Testament parallels (2 Pet 3:10; Rev 21:1-4), which are undoubtedly historical in character, and do not represent any poetic allegory, most orthodox exegetes find that the full and final fulfillment of this prophecy refers to the moment of the second, glorious coming of the Lord. But insofar as the first coming of the Messiah is to a certain extent connected with the second, conditionally here is understood, of course, also the first; all the more so because chronologically it stood even closer to the prophet. Then, with respect to the first Messianic coming, these words take on a moral meaning, and with respect to the second—they retain their physical meaning.

Isaiah 65:18. But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for behold, I am creating Jerusalem as a joy, and her people as a gladness. Isaiah 65:19. I will be glad in Jerusalem, and rejoice in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the sound of a cry. “I am creating Jerusalem as a joy and... the sound of weeping shall not be heard in it anymore.” Blessed Theodoret understands by Jerusalem that higher Jerusalem, which, according to the apostle, is free: “she is our mother.” (Gal 4:26. – Commentary of the St. Petersburg Academy). Consequently, Jerusalem—the center of the former, historical Israel—is taken here as the center of the new, spiritually reborn Israel, that is, the New Covenant church. “I am creating... as a joy”—in the Hebrew text stands the verb ברא—“I create from nothing” (Gen 1:1), that is, I do this solely by the power of My divine love, and not by any ready, externally given motivations. 80. The thought of the Hebrew text here is much broader and deeper than its Russian Synodal translation: literally it should be conveyed in the sense that the sacred city—Jerusalem, and its holy people—Israel, from the object of former hatred and shame, will be transformed into the object of joy and gladness for all peoples (Isa 60:15 and Isa 61:9-11 and others.). The mention of “the sound of weeping and... crying” had special persuasiveness for the listeners of the prophet, who had just experienced the calamities of the Assyrian invasion (Isa 10:30; Isa 37:1-3).

Isaiah 65:20. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. “There shall no more be in it an infant and an old man,” that is, properly speaking, there shall be no defects peculiar to each of these extreme ages of human life: there shall be no lack of spiritual strength and power in the young and inexperienced youth, but neither shall there be a defect in the physical powers of the aged elder. Both these ages, freed from their defects but retaining the virtues inherent to them, will create the harmony of ideal earthly human life.

Proverbs 4:7–9. By way of commentary on the discourse about the elder see Proverbs 4:7–9. In the figurative sense, here we must evidently see an indication of the “fullness of days of each of us” in the measure of the age of “the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13-14), independent of our physical age, and solely determined by the degree of “spiritual and moral maturity. Isaiah 65:21. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Isaiah 65:22. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Isaiah 65:23. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them. A special discourse on the radical transformation of all social and economic relations. In this area among the Jews contemporary to the prophet, there reigned, as is known, the crudest despotism and merciless exploitation, under which no one could peacefully enjoy the fruits of his labor (Isa 58:6-7; Isa 59:2-8). In the renewed Messianic kingdom, complete opposite of all this will come about. One cannot help but see in the words of this prophetic blessing the repeal of the former curse (Deut 28:30).

Isaiah 65:24. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The words of this verse represent a direct answer to the complaints of the Jews who sought the Lord, that He supposedly abandoned them, hid His face from them, and does not stretch His beneficent hand upon them (Isa 58:2; Isa 59:1). The best commentary on them is given by Jesus Christ Himself (Matt 6:8).

Isaiah 65:25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord. An expressive image of the complete destruction of all evil on earth is given, when such irreconcilable extremes will be possible, as peacefully grazing together wolves and lambs, and when even all beasts will tame their predatory instincts, switching to plant food (cf. Isa 11:6-9). * * * In the Slavonic translation from the LXX: “I am creating joy for Jerusalem, and gladness for My people.” Editor’s note.