Isaiah 66 is the sixty-sixth and final chapter of the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century B ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

, and is one of the Book of the Prophets.Theodore Hiebert, et al. 1996. ''The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume VI''. Nashville: Abingdon. Chapters 56–66 are often referred to as ''Trito-Isaiah''. This chapter contains an oracle delivered after the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

had been re-built following the Jewish peoples' return from

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, and warns against "an unduly materialistic" approach to the

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogni ...

of God.

Text

The original text was written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserve ...

. This chapter is divided into 24 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

(3rd century BC or later): * 1QIsa^a: complete * 1QIsa^b: extant verses 1‑24 * 4QIsa^b (4Q56): extant verse 24 * 4QIsa^c (4Q57): extant verses 20‑24 There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographicall ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The ''

parashah The term ''parashah'' ( he, פָּרָשָׁה ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian , Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (He ...

'' sections listed here are based on the

. Isaiah 66 is a part of the ''Consolations (

Isaiah 40 Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and the first chapter of the section known as "Deutero-Isaiah" (Isaiah 40- 55), dating from the time of the Israelites' ex ...

–66)''. : closed ''parashah''. : 66:1-4 66:5-9 66:10-11 66:12-14 66:15-24

Worshippers, welcome and unwelcome (66:1–5)

This part contains the rebuke to "ecclesiasticism" – 'the spirit that would build human walls around God' (verses 1–2a; cf. ; and 'breed unreality' (verse 3) and 'intolerance' (verse 5). It is not a protest against the rebuilding of the temple, because it was the command of God ().

The last intervention (66:6–17)

The focus of this section is the end time, where ''the nation.. brought forth in a moment'' (cf. ) with a final divine intervention.

Verse 12

:''For thus saith the LORD,'' ::''Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: ::''then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.'' *Cross reference for "glory of the Gentiles": Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 60:3

Verse 17

:''They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, ::''eating swine's flesh, and the detestable thing, and the mouse,'' :''shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.'' The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...

describes this verse as "a fragment condemning pagan mysteries" linked with verses 3 and 4.

The nations gathered in (66:18–24)

God states his purpose for the world to gather them (verse 18) with his means to carry it out into Jerusalem (verses 19–21), to witness the final glory and perdition. In Christian apocalyptic view, this can be connected to the first and second comings (or only the second coming) of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Verse 19

:''And I will set a sign among them,'' ::''and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations,'' :''to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow,'' ::''to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off,'' :''that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory;'' ::''and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.'' The names listed here represent the distant outposts of the world known to Israel at the time.

Verse 24

:''And they shall go forth,'' ::''and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me:'' :''for their worm shall not die,'' ::''neither shall their fire be quenched;'' :''and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.'' This is virtually the only passage to speak of lasting judgment, and comparable to "

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

", which is described by

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

as the place "where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" in . *"Quench": Illusion of a fire which cannot be 'quenched', from the Hebrew root: k-b-h (, ''kabah'', "to be quenched or extinguished, to go out"), links this verse (the last verse of the ending chapter) to the last verse of the beginning chapter of the whole book ( Isaiah 1:31: "none shall quench"). Moreover, it is also used in three other places: (1) of the servant in Isaiah 42:3, that "a dimly burning wick ('smoking flax') he will not quench"; (2) that 'the fire devouring Edom "will not be quenched"' ( 34:10), and (3) 'those who oppose the LORD'S path are "quenched like a wick"' ( 43:17).

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Jewish

Isaiah 66 Original Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

Isaiah 66 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaiah, Book Of 66