Yesaya 66:3

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ¹ 

the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ² 

the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ³ 

the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ⁴ 

They have decided to behave this way; ⁵ 

they enjoy these disgusting practices. ⁶ 

Yesaya 66:1

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest?

1 Samuel 15:22

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ⁷ 

Certainly, ⁸  obedience ⁹  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ¹⁰  the fat of rams.

Mazmur 50:8

50:8 I am not condemning ¹¹  you because of your sacrifices,

or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me. ¹² 

Mazmur 51:16

51:16 Certainly ¹³  you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; ¹⁴ 

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. ¹⁵ 

Amsal 15:8

15:8 The Lord abhors ¹⁶  the sacrifices ¹⁷  of the wicked, ¹⁸ 

but the prayer ¹⁹  of the upright pleases him. ²⁰ 

Amsal 21:27

21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice ²¹  is an abomination;

how much more ²²  when he brings it with evil intent! ²³ 

Yeremia 6:20

6:20 I take no delight ²⁴  when they offer up to me ²⁵ 

frankincense that comes from Sheba

or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.

I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.

I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’ ²⁶ 

Yeremia 7:21

7:21 The Lord said to the people of Judah, ²⁷  “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²⁸  says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! ²⁹ 

Amos 5:21

5:21 “I absolutely despise ³⁰  your festivals!

I get no pleasure ³¹  from your religious assemblies!

Mikha 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ³² 

Matius 9:13

9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ³³  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

[66:3]  ¹ tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

[66:3]  ² tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

[66:3]  sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.

[66:3]  ³ tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

[66:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

[66:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

[66:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

[15:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ¹⁰ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[50:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “rebuking.”

[50:8]  ¹² tn Heb “and your burnt sacrifices before me continually.”

[51:16]  ¹³ tn Or “For.” The translation assumes the particle is asseverative (i.e., emphasizing: “certainly”). (Some translations that consider the particle asseverative leave it untranslated.) If taken as causal or explanatory (“for”, cf. NRSV), the verse would explain why the psalmist is pleading for forgiveness, rather than merely offering a sacrifice.

[51:16]  ¹⁴ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative is used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “You do not want a sacrifice, should I offer [it]” (cf. NEB). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortative is part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.)

[51:16]  ¹⁵ sn You do not desire a burnt sacrifice. The terminology used in v. 16 does not refer to expiatory sacrifices, but to dedication and communion offerings. This is not a categorical denial of the sacrificial system in general or of the importance of such offerings. The psalmist is talking about his specific situation. Dedication and communion offerings have their proper place in worship (see v. 19), but God requires something more fundamental, a repentant and humble attitude (see v. 17), before these offerings can have real meaning.

[15:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.” Cf. NIV “the Lord detests”; NCV, NLT “the Lord hates”; CEV “the Lord is disgusted.”

[15:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sacrifice” (so many English versions).

[15:8]  ¹⁸ sn The sacrifices of the wicked are hated by the Lord because the worshipers are insincere and blasphemous (e.g., Prov 15:29; 21:3; 28:9; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:10-17). In other words, the spiritual condition of the worshiper determines whether or not the worship is acceptable to God.

[15:8]  ¹⁹ sn J. H. Greenstone notes that if God will accept the prayers of the upright, he will accept their sacrifices; for sacrifice is an outer ritual and easily performed even by the wicked, but prayer is a private and inward act and not usually fabricated by unbelievers (Proverbs, 162).

[15:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

[21:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “the sacrifice of the wicked” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This is a subjective genitive. The foundational clause states that ritual acts of worship brought by the wicked (thus a subjective genitive) are detestable to God. The “wicked” refers here to people who are not members of the covenant (no faith) and are not following after righteousness (no acceptable works). But often they participate in sanctuary ritual, which amounts to hypocrisy.

[21:27]  ²² sn This rhetorical device shows that if the act is abomination, the wicked heart is an even greater sin. It argues from the lesser to the greater.

[21:27]  ²³ tn The noun זִמָּה (zimmah) means “plan; device; wickedness”; here it indicates that the person is coming to the ritual with “sinful purpose.” Some commentators suggest that this would mean he comes with the sacrifice as a bribe to pacify his conscience for a crime committed, over which he has little remorse or intent to cease (cf. NLT “with ulterior motives”). In this view, people in ancient Israel came to think that sacrifices could be given for any reason without genuine submission to God.

[6:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[6:20]  ²⁵ tn The words “when they offer up to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the following context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.” “The shift from “your” to “their” is an example of the figure of speech (apostrophe) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to addressing him/her directly. Though common in Hebrew style, it is not common in English. The shift to the third person in the translation is an accommodation to English style.

[7:21]  ²⁷ tn The words “The Lord said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift in addressee between vv. 16-20 and vv. 21-26.

[7:21]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[7:21]  sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3.

[7:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following sn for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. GKC 324 §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!”

[7:21]  sn All of the burnt offering, including the meat, was to be consumed on the altar (e.g., Lev 1:6-9). The meat of the other sacrifices could be eaten by the priest who offered the sacrifice and the person who brought it (e.g., Lev 7:16-18, 32). Since, however, the people of Judah were making a mockery of the sacrificial system by offering sacrifices while disobeying the law, the Lord rejected the sacrifices (cf. 6:20). Since they were violating the moral law they might as well go ahead and violate the cultic law by eating the meat dedicated to God because he rejected it anyway.

[5:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”

[5:21]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22-23.

[6:7]  ³² tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”

[9:13]  ³³ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).