Isaiah 57 · Verse 8

Isaiah 57:8

Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
Isaiah 57:8, King James Version

Isaiah 57:8 in other translations

BSBBehind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness.
WEBYou have set up your memorial behind the doors and the posts, for you have exposed yourself to someone besides me, and have gone up. You have enlarged your bed and made a covenant for yourself with them. You loved what you saw on their bed.
ASVAnd behind the doors and the posts hast thou set up thy memorial: for thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them: thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.
YLTAnd behind the door, and the post, Thou hast set up thy memorial, For from Me thou hast removed, and goest up, Thou hast enlarged thy couch, And dost covenant for thyself among them, Thou hast loved their couch, the station thou sawest,
DARBYBehind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for apart from me, thou hast uncovered thyself, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and hast made agreement with them; thou lovedst their bed, thou sawest their nakedness.
BBEAnd on the back of the doors and on the pillars you have put your sign: for you have been false to me with another; you have made your bed wide, and made an agreement with them; you had a desire for their bed where you saw it
WebsterBehind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me, and hast gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

What does Isaiah 57:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. "Remembrance," that is, memorials of thy idolatry: the objects which thou holdest in remembrance. They hung up household tutelary gods "behind the doors"; the very place where God has directed them to write His laws "on the posts and gates" (De 6:9; 11:20); a curse, too, was pronounced on putting up an image "in a secret place" (De 27:15). discovered thyself--image from an adulteress. enlarged ... bed--so as to receive the more paramours. made ... covenant--with idols: in open violation of thy "covenant" with God (Ex 19:5; 23:32). Or, "hast made assignations with them for thyself" [Horsley]. thy bed ... their bed--The Jews' sin was twofold; they resorted to places of idolatry ("their bed"), and they received idols into the temple of God ("thy bed"). where--rather, "ever since that" [Horsley]. The Hebrew for "where" means "room" (Margin), a place; therefore, translate, "thou hast provided a place for it" (for "their bed"), namely, by admitting idolatrous altars in thy land [Barnes]; or "thou choosest a (convenient) place for thyself" in their bed [Maurer] (Is 56:5).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance "Behind the door, and the door-posts, hast thou set up thy memorial" - That is, the image of their tutelary gods, or something dedicated to them; in direct opposition to the law of God, which commanded them to write upon the door-posts of their house, and upon their gates, the words of God's law; Deu 6:9; Deu 11:20. If they chose for them such a situation as more private, it was in defiance of a particular curse denounced in the law against the man who should make a graven or a molten image, and put it in a secret place; Deu 27:15. An ancient MS., with another, has אחר achar, without the conjunction ו vau, and.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 57:3-12

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…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 57:3-12 →

Isaiah 57:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאַחַ֤רve.'a.Charand behindH310
הַדֶּ֙לֶת֙ha.De.letthe doorH1817
וְהַמְּזוּזָ֔הve.ha.me.zu.Zahand the doorpostH4201
שַׂ֖מְתְּsamtyou have set upH7760
זִכְרוֹנֵ֑ךְzikh.ro.Nekhmemorial yourH2146
כִּ֣יkiforH3588
מֵאִתִּ֞יme.'i.Tifrom with <the> meH854
גִּלִּ֣יתgi.Lityou have uncoveredH1540
וַֽתַּעֲלִ֗יva.ta.'a.Liand you have gone upH5927
הִרְחַ֤בְתְּhir.Chavtyou have made wideH7337
מִשְׁכָּבֵךְ֙mish.ka.veKhbed yourH4904
וַתִּכְרָת\־va.tikh.rot-and you have cut offH3772
לָ֣ךְlakhfor <the> yourself
מֵהֶ֔םme.Hemfrom <the> them
אָהַ֥בְתְּ'a.Havtyou have lovedH157
מִשְׁכָּבָ֖םmish.ka.Vambed theirH4904
יָ֥דyada handH3027
חָזִֽית\׃cha.Zityou have seenH2372

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 57:8

  • Ezekiel 23:41

    And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.

  • Ezekiel 23:2-20

    Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, …

  • Ezekiel 8:8-12

    Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. …

  • Ezekiel 16:32

    But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

  • Ezekiel 16:25-28

    Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the doors.
Eze 8:8-12; 23:14,41
for.
Eze 16:32
made thee a covenant with them. or, hewed it for thyselflarger than theirs. thou lovedst.
Eze 16:25-28; 23:2-20
where thou sawest it. or, thou providest room.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 57:7

    Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

  • Isaiah 57:8

    Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

  • Isaiah 57:9

    And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

Read all of Isaiah 57

Isaiah 57:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y tras la puerta y el umbral pusiste tu recuerdo: porque á otro que á mí te descubriste, y subiste, y ensanchaste tu cama, é hiciste con ellos alianza: amaste su cama donde quiera que la veías.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et tu as mis ton mémorial derrière la porte et les poteaux; car, t’éloignant de moi, tu t’es découverte; et tu es montée, tu as élargi ton lit, et tu les as obligés envers toi par un accord; tu as aimé leur lit, tu as vu leur nudité.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und hinter die Tür und den Pfosten setztest du dein Gedächtnis. Denn von mir abgewendet decktest du auf und bestiegest, machtest breit dein Lager, und du bedingtest dir Lohn von ihnen aus; du liebtest ihr Beilager, schautest ihre Blöße.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et post ostium, et retro postem, posuisti memoriale tuum. Quia juxta me discooperuisti, et suscepisti adulterum, dilatasti cubile tuum, et pepigisti cum eis fœdus; dilexisti stratum eorum manu aperta.