Isaiah 17:8

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁶Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten-two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁷In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. ⁸They will not look to the altars they have made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he shall: Isaiah 1:29, Isaiah 2:18-21, Isaiah 27:9, Isaiah 30:22, 2 Chronicles 34:6, 2 Chronicles 34:7, Ezekiel 36:25, Hosea 14:8, Zephaniah 1:3, Zechariah 13:2

the work: Isaiah 2:8, Isaiah 31:6, Isaiah 31:7, Isaiah 44:15, Isaiah 44:19, Isaiah 44:20, Hosea 8:4-6, Hosea 10:1, Hosea 10:2, Hosea 13:1, Hosea 13:2, Micah 5:13, Micah 5:14

images: or, sun-images, 2 Chronicles 14:5, 2 Chronicles 34:4, *marg.

Reciprocal: Isaiah 10:20 - but shall stay Isaiah 31:1 - stay on horses Jeremiah 17:2 - their altars Hosea 3:1 - look Zechariah 9:1 - when

Cross-References

Genesis 13:15
For all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

Genesis 13:17
Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width-for I will give it to you."

Genesis 17:7
I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Genesis 17:16
And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her."

Genesis 17:17
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?"

Genesis 17:21
But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."

Genesis 23:4
"I am a stranger and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead."

Genesis 28:4
And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham."

Genesis 48:4
and told me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'

Exodus 6:7
I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he shall not took to the altars, the work of his hands,.... That is, to altars erected to the worship of idols, which are both the works of men's hands, so as to serve at them, and sacrifice upon them. Kimchi observes, that the latter clause is not to be understood as belonging to the former, but as distinct from it, and signifies idols which men have made; otherwise all altars, even the altars of God, were the works of men, which yet it was right to look unto, and offer sacrifice upon; but idol altars, and idols themselves, are here meant: and a good man will not look unto his good works as altars to atone for sin; he knows that nothing that a creature can do can expiate sin; that his best works are such as are due to God, and therefore can never atone for past crimes; that Jesus Christ is only the altar, sacrifice, and priest, to whom he looks for, and from whom he receives the atonement:

neither shall respect [that] which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images; both might be said to be made by the fingers of men, the former being planted, and, the latter carved and fashioned by them; whether by groves are meant clusters of trees, where idols and altars were placed, or medals struck with such a representation on them, and also whatever images are here designed: the word signifies sun images, images made to represent the sun, or for the honour and worship of it. Aben Ezra says they were images made according to the likeness of chariots for the sun. The Targum renders it "temples", such as were dedicated to the sun; though some understand by it sunny places, where their idols were set and sunburnt, as distinct from shady groves. Good men will not took to their own works, what their fingers have wrought, as groves to shelter them from divine wrath and vengeance, or as idols to bow down to, trust in, and depend upon for salvation; but reject them, and look to Christ only.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he shall not look to the altars - That is, the altars of the gods which the Syrians worshipped, and the altars of the false gods which had been erected in the land of Israel or Samaria by its wicked kings, and particularly by Ahaz. Ahaz fancied an altar which he saw at Damascus when on a visit to Tiglath-pileser, and ordered Urijah the priest to construct one like it in Samaria, on which he subsequently offered sacrifice 2 Kings 16:10-13. It is well known, also, that the kings of Israel and Judah often reared altars to false gods in the high places and the groves of the land (see 2 Kings 21:3-5). The Ephraimites were particularly guilty in this respect Hosea 8:11 : ‘Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.’

Which his fingers have made - Perhaps indicating that the idols which they worshipped had been constructed with special art and skill (see Isaiah 2:8).

Either the groves - The altars of idols were usually erected in groves, and idols were worshipped there before temples were raised (see Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3; Judges 3:7; 1 Kings 14:23; 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Chronicles 33:3; compare the notes at Isaiah 1:29).

Or the images - Margin, ‘Sun images’ (חמנים chamānı̂ym). This word is used to denote idols in general in Leviticus 26:30; 2 Chronicles 24:4. But it is supposed to denote properly images erected to the sun, and to be derived from חמה chamāh, “the sun.” Thus the word is used in Job 30:28; Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 30:26; Song of Solomon 6:10. The word, according to Gesenius, is of Persian origin (Commentary in loc.) The sun was undoubtedly worshipped by the ancient idolaters, and altars or images would be erected to it (see the notes at Job 31:26).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 17:8. The altars, the work of his hands - "The altars dedicated to the work of his hands"] The construction of the words, and the meaning of the sentence, in this place are not obvious; all the ancient Versions, and most of the modern, have mistaken it. The word מעשה maaseh, "the work," stands in regimine with מזבחות mizbechoth, "altars," not in opposition to it; it means the, altars of the work of their hand; that is of the idols, which are the work of their hands. Thus Kimchi has explained it, and Le Clerc has followed him.