Yesaya 1:11

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ¹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ²  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ³ 

Yesaya 34:6

34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,

it is covered ⁴  with fat;

it drips ⁵  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ⁶  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁷  in Bozrah, ⁸ 

a bloody ⁹  slaughter in the land of Edom.

Yesaya 36:8

36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  sn In this section the Lord refutes a potential objection that his sinful people might offer in their defense. He has charged them with rebellion (vv. 2-3), but they might respond that they have brought him many sacrifices. So he points out that he requires social justice first and foremost, not empty ritual.

[1:11]  ² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[34:6]  ⁴ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ⁵ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁶ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ⁸ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).