Isaiah 22:13

22:13 But look, there is outright celebration!

You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,

eat meat and drink wine.

Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Isaiah 65:4

65:4 They sit among the tombs

and keep watch all night long.

They eat pork,

and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.


tn Heb “happiness and joy.”

tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.

sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.

tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (nÿtsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).

tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”

tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, reads מְרַק (mÿraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).