Isaiah 57:8 kjv
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 nkjv
Also behind the doors and their posts You have set up your remembrance; For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, And have gone up to them; You have enlarged your bed And made a covenant with them; You have loved their bed, Where you saw their nudity.
Isaiah 57:8 niv
Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.
Isaiah 57:8 esv
Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial; for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have looked on nakedness.
Isaiah 57:8 nlt
You have put pagan symbols
on your doorposts and behind your doors.
You have left me
and climbed into bed with these detestable gods.
You have committed yourselves to them.
You love to look at their naked bodies.
Isaiah 57 8 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah 57:3 | "But come here, you sons of a sorceress, offspring of an adulterer and a loose woman." | Polemic against idolatry |
| Jeremiah 3:1 | "“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, will he return to her? Will not that land be greatly polluted?" | Analogy of marital unfaithfulness |
| Ezekiel 16:15 | "“But you put your trust in your own beauty and played the harlot because of your renown and poured out your promiscuous acts to every passerby; you became his." | Description of Israel's spiritual prostitution |
| Hosea 1:2 | "When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, take to yourself an unfaithful wife and children born of unfaithfulness, for the land is guilty of great unfaithfulness to the LORD.”" | Prophet symbolizing Israel's infidelity |
| Romans 7:2-3 | "For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her. So then, if she has relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry another man, and is not an adulterer even if she remarries." | Law concerning marital fidelity |
| 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 | "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You do not belong to yourselves; for you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." | Warning against spiritual harlotry |
| James 4:4 | "You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." | Warning against worldly alliances |
| Psalm 106:35-36 | "They mingled with the nations and learned their ways. They served their idols, which became a snare to them." | Israelite entanglements leading to sin |
| Deuteronomy 31:20 | "When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their ancestors, they will eat and be satisfied, and will become wealthy. But then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant." | Foreshadowing of apostasy after prosperity |
| Jeremiah 2:32 | "Does a maiden forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding silks? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number." | Forgetting God leading to misplaced affections |
| Isaiah 1:21 | "See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She was once full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers." | Daughter Zion depicted as a harlot |
| Hosea 2:2-5 | "Accuse your mother of sin; banish her, for she is no longer my wife and I am not her husband. May she purge the filth from her immorcal presence and the adulterous marks from between her breasts. Otherwise I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, like a parched and thirsty land. I will not show compassion to her children, for they are children of infidelity. Her mother was unfaithful; she who conceived them acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers; they give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’" | God's complaint against unfaithful Israel |
| Galatians 5:13 | "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." | Warning against using freedom for sinful purposes |
| 1 Kings 11:4 | "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been." | Kings succumbing to foreign influence |
| Psalm 73:27 | "For behold, those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You." | Consequence of turning away from God |
| Isaiah 30:22 | "You will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will scatter them like filthy rags and say to them, 'Be gone!'" | Rejection of idolatry |
| 2 Corinthians 6:14 | "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness, or what communion has light with darkness?" | Prohibition of yoking with the ungodly |
| Isaiah 44:17 | "The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it, he prays to it and calls out, ‘Save me! You are my god.’" | The futility of idols |
| Nahum 3:4 | "Because of the multitude of the prostitution of the brazen harlot, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations with her prostitutions and families with her sorceries." | Prophetic judgment on a spiritually harlotrous city |
| Jeremiah 44:17 | "but we will carry out every word that has proceeded out of our own mouth, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem." | Apostasy in the context of "queen of heaven" worship |
| Revelation 17:5 | "And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT, MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND EARTHS ABOMINATIONS." | Symbolism of spiritual fornication |
Isaiah 57 verses
Isaiah 57 8 Meaning
Isaiah 57:8 declares that hidden away and secretly pursued were the Israelites, establishing their own forbidden pacts and finding delight in illicit relationships, likened to those found within their very homes. This verse condemns spiritual adultery, where the people sought alliance with other nations and deities instead of their covenant God, Jehovah.
Isaiah 57 8 Context
Isaiah 57 describes the judgment and impending desolation awaiting Judah due to its pervasive sin and idolatry. In this chapter, Isaiah confronts the nation for its spiritual unfaithfulness. They engaged in illicit alliances with foreign nations and worshipped foreign gods, paralleling their moral and religious decay. The prophecy addresses both individual and collective sin, highlighting a society that had deeply compromised its covenant with God. The historical backdrop is the period leading up to the Babylonian exile, where outward prosperity masked a profound inner spiritual rot. The audience would have understood these references to “lovers,” “homes,” and secret worship as indictments of their syncretistic practices and their pursuit of human strength over divine reliance.
Isaiah 57 8 Word Analysis
- אחַר (achar): Behind, after. Implies pursuing something furtively or in secret.
- וְנָתַתָּ (venatatata): And you have given, and you shall give. Indicates the act of granting or surrendering something precious, in this case, access and favor.
- שׂוֹרֵר (sorehr): Wicked, rebellious, plotting. Describes the underlying character of their pursuits.
- בֵּיתְךָ (beit'cha): Your house, your home. Refers to their private dwelling places, suggesting the corruption had permeated the domestic sphere, or the temple (as God's house).
- הַחֶרְפָּה (hacherpah): The reproach, the shame, the disgrace. Highlights the ignominious nature of their actions.
- חָשִׂית (chasith): You have hidden, you have concealed. Points to the secretive, clandestine nature of their illicit alliances and worship.
- נַעֲרִי (na'ari): My young man, my youth. This term, spoken by God, addresses His people as a beloved entity, perhaps emphasizing the tragic betrayal of His affections.
- מַלְקוּחַ (malqoaḥ): Chosen, selected, acquired. Suggests deliberate choice and appropriation.
- נִכְרוּ (nichru): You have estranged yourself, you have dealt treacherously. This points to breaking faith and becoming foreign to God.
- תִּשְׂטֶה (tishteh): You have gone astray, you have turned aside. Denotes deviation from the right path and the covenant.
- תִּבְשְׁתָּ (tivshehtah): You have been ashamed. Implies a failure to maintain loyalty and honor.
Words Group Analysis
- "את ביתך החרפה" (et beit'cha hacherpah): Your house [is] shame. This phrase powerfully encapsulates the idea that their domestic life or sacred space had become a source of disgrace due to their hidden sins. It implies that their worship and associations, conducted even within their homes or the house of God, were shameful acts of covenant-breaking.
- "בחוּץ הנשׂה" (beḥutz hanesah): You are to be found in the open, abroad, or going after something abroad. This refers to their venturing out and seeking out forbidden relationships or deities away from proper fellowship.
Isaiah 57 8 Bonus Section
The metaphor of a spouse is consistently used in scripture to depict God's covenant relationship with Israel. This intimate imagery highlights the gravity of their "going astray" as a profound act of betrayal. The "lovers" represent pagan deities, their gods, and the allure of foreign nations, all of which promised provision or security but delivered only ruin. The verse's mention of "houses" can also allude to the Temple itself becoming defiled through syncretistic practices or private idolatrous worship conducted within its precincts, a deeply offensive act to a holy God. This verse resonates with the New Testament's condemnation of "friendship with the world" (James 4:4) and the call to maintain a pure, undivided devotion to Christ, the true Bridegroom of the Church.
Isaiah 57 8 Commentary
Isaiah 57:8 vividly illustrates spiritual adultery. The people of Judah, despite their covenant with Jehovah, actively sought out other lovers—both human alliances and pagan deities. This seeking was not public but secretive ("you have hidden"). Their homes and the very place designated for worship became venues for these shameful connections. It was a betrayal of the deep intimacy God desired with His people, reducing the relationship to one of infidelity and chosen deceit. They pursued these relationships, estranged themselves from God, and turned aside, demonstrating a wilful disregard for the covenant blessings and protections offered by faithfulness. This verse underscores that turning from God is not merely an absence of worship but an active pursuit of detrimental alliances that ultimately bring shame and destruction.