Isaiah 65 · Verse 4

Isaiah 65:4

Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

Isaiah 65:4, King James Version

Isaiah 65:4 in other translations

BSB	sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.
WEB	who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
ASV	that sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; that eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
YLT	Who are dwelling among sepulchres, And lodge in reserved places, Who are eating flesh of the sow, And a piece of abominable things--their vessels.
DARBY	who sit down among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
BBE	Who are seated in the resting-places of the dead, and by night are in the secret places; who take pig's flesh for food, and have the liquid of disgusting things in their vessels.
Webster	Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

What does Isaiah 65:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. remain among ... graves--namely, for purposes of necromancy, as if to hold converse with the dead (Is 8:19, 20; compare Mr 5:3); or, for the sake of purifications, usually performed at night among sepulchres, to appease the manes [Maurer]. monuments--Hebrew, "pass the night in hidden recesses," either the idol's inmost shrines ("consecrated precincts") [Horsley], where they used to sleep, in order to have divine communications in dreams [Jerome]; or better, on account of the parallel "graves," sepulchral caves [Maurer]. eat swine's flesh--To eat it at all was contrary to God's law (Le 11:7), but it much increased their guilt that they ate it in idolatrous sacrifices (compare Is 66:17). Varro (On Agriculture, 2.4) says that swine were first used in sacrifices; the Latins sacrificed a pig to Ceres; it was also offered on occasion of treaties and marriages. broth--so called from the "pieces" (Margin) or fragments of bread over which the broth was poured [Gesenius]; such broth, made of swine's flesh, offered in sacrifice, was thought to be especially acceptable to the idol and was used in magic rites. Or, "fragments (pieces) of abominable foods," &c. This fourth clause explains more fully the third, as the second does the first [Maurer]. is in--rather, literally, "is their vessels," that is, constitute their vessels' contents. The Jews, in our Lord's days, and ever since the return from Babylon, have been free from idolatry; still the imagery from idolatrous abominations, as being the sin most loathsome in God's eyes and that most prevalent in Isaiah's time, is employed to describe the foul sin of Israel in all ages, culminating in their killing Messiah, and still rejecting Him.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4 Which remain among the graves - "For the purpose of evoking the dead. They lodged in desert places that demons might appear to them; for demons do appear in such places, to those who do believe in them." - Kimchi. In the monuments "In the caverns" - בנצורים bannetsurim, a word of doubtful signification. An ancient MS. has בצורים batstsurim, another בצרים batstsurim, "in the rocks;" and Le Clec thinks the Septuagint had it so in their copy. They render it by εν τοις στηλαιοις, "in the caves." Which eat swine's flesh - This was expressly forbidden by the law, Lev 11:7, but among the heathen was in principal request in their sacrifices and feasts. Antiochus Epiphanes compelled the Jews to eat swine's flesh, as a full proof of their renouncing their religion, 2 Maccabees 6:18 and 7:1. "And the broth of abominable meats," for lustrations, magical arts, and other superstitious and abominable practices. In their vessels - For כליהם keleyhem, a MS. had at first בכליהם bichleyhem. So the Vulgate and Chaldee, (and the preposition seems necessary to the sense), "in their vessels."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 65:1-7

The calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. (Is. 65:1-7) The Lord would preserve a remnant. (Is. 65:8-10) Judgments upon the wicked. (Is. 65:11-16) The future happy and flourishing state of the church. (Is. 65:17-25) Verses 1-7 The Gentiles came to seek God, and find him, because they were first sought and found of him. Often he meets some thoughtless trifler or profligate opposer, and says to him…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 65:1-7 →

Isaiah 65:4 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.

הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙hai.yo.she.Vimwho sitH3427

בַּקְּבָרִ֔יםba.ke.va.Rimamong the gravesH6913

וּבַנְּצוּרִ֖יםu.va.ne.tzu.Rimand in <the> secret placesH5341

יָלִ֑ינוּya.Li.nuthey spend [the] nightH3885

הָאֹֽכְלִים֙ha.'o.khe.Limwho eatH398

בְּשַׂ֣רbe.Sar[the] flesh ofH1320

הַחֲזִ֔ירha.cha.Zirthe pigH2386

וּמְרַ֥קu.fe.rakand broth ofH4839

פִּגֻּלִ֖יםpi.gu.Limunclean meat<s>H6292

כְּלֵיהֶֽם\׃ke.lei.Hem[is] vessels theirH3627

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

Cross references for Isaiah 65:4

Isaiah 66:17
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
Leviticus 11:7
And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
Deuteronomy 14:8
And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.
Isaiah 66:3
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Matthew 8:28
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Deuteronomy 18:11
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Ezekiel 4:14
Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Mark 5:2-5
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
Deuteronomy 14:3
Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
Luke 8:27
And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
Exodus 34:26
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
Exodus 23:19
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

remain.
Nu 19:11,16-20; De 18:11; Mt 8:28; Mr 5:2-5; Lu 8:27
which eat.
66:3,17; Le 11:7; De 14:8
broth. or, pieces.
Ex 23:19; 34:26; De 14:3,21; Eze 4:14

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

Context

Isaiah 65:3
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
Isaiah 65:4
Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
Isaiah 65:5
Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.

Read all of Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Que se quedan en los sepulcros, y en los desiertos tienen la noche; que comen carne de puerco, y en sus ollas hay caldo de cosas inmundas;
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	qui habite les sépulcres et passe la nuit dans les lieux cachés; qui mange la chair du porc, et le jus des choses impures est dans leurs vases;
German Elberfelder 1871	welches in den Gräbern sitzt und in verborgenen Orten übernachtet; welches Schweinefleisch ißt und Greuelbrühe in seinen Gefäßen hat;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	qui habitant in sepulchris, et in delubris idolorum dormiunt; qui comedunt carnem suillam, et jus profanum in vasis eorum;