Isaiah 65:11 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

Do not you that are idolaters think that these promises belong to you, ye are they that forsake the Lord, that is, the way of the Lord; it is a phrase opposed to a walking with God. Our walking with God is in the way of his statutes, forsaking of him signifieth a declining or turning aside from that way. To forget God's holy mountain, signifies not to regard the true worship of God, or not to mind it. God calleth Zion his holy mountain, Joel 3:17, and Jerusalem is called God's holy mountain. The hill of Zion is called the mountain of God's holiness, Psalms 48:1; as the temple is called the beauty of holiness, Psalms 29:2, Psalms 96:9: their not regarding the worship of God there, but worshipping God or idols in gardens, amongst the graves and monuments, is what is here called a forgetting his holy mountain. Isaiah prophesied in the time of Ahaz, Isaiah 1:1; of whom it is said, 2 Chronicles 28:23-25, that he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, that he cut in pieces the vessels of the Lord's house, shut the doors of the house of the Lord, and made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem; and in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods. See also more of his practices 2 Chronicles 28:2-4, and 2 Kings 16:3,2 Kings 16:10-12. And there were certainly many of his people that joined with him in his worship, who are all here said to forget God's holy mountain, and to prepare a table for that troop; the idols of the ten tribes, 2 Kings 16:3, and of the Assyrians, 2 Chronicles 28:23, which were a troop, whereas the God of Israel was one God. And as God had altars, which are sometimes called a table, as in Ezekiel 41:22; so they prepared altars for the idols, as may be read in the aforementioned story of Ahaz; though by preparing a table here seems rather to be meant the feasts they made upon their sacrifices in their festival days, which was in imitation of what the true God had commanded his people, Deuteronomy 16:14,15. Idolaters also made feasts in honour to their idols, as appears from Judges 9:27 Ezekiel 18:6,11 Am 2:8 1 Corinthians 8:10. Nor did they only feast in honour to the idols, but they furnished drink-offerings unto their number. God had appointed drink-offerings for his honour, and as a piece of homage to him, Exodus 29:40,41 Le 23:18,37; these people had paid this homage to idols. See Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah 19:13 32:29. What we translate number in the Hebrew is la Meni, to Meni. Avenarius translates it Mercury, an idol whom merchants worshipped for good success in trading; others understand it of the host of heaven; others of the multitude of their idols; our translation reads it their number. The word coming from a Hebrew root, which signifieth to number, is no where else found in Scripture, which makes it hard too positively to assert the true meaning of it.

Isaiah 65:11

11 But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop,c and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.