What Does Isaiah 65:3 Mean in the King James?
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The offerings sit inside the accusation itself: the people keep provoking God “to my face” as these rites continue.
THE MEANING
This verse names devotion that remains in direct conflict with God: sacrifice continues in gardens and incense rises over bricks even as provocation continues before God’s face. It speaks now wherever ritual activity is treated as if it can cover an allegiance that remains exposed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Religious offerings do not make ongoing defiance invisible to God.
THE ROOT
הַמַּכְעִיסִים
hamak'isím
GROWS FROM
כעס
to vex or provoke anger
“provoketh me to anger” in this verse is hamak'isím. The people are named by the act of causing anger: this is active vexation, not a mood that falls on them. It continues “to my face,” placing their actions in direct confrontation rather than hidden distance.
ALSO GROWS
ka'as: anger, vexation
כַּעַס
The noun names the anger that the verb actively causes.
hik'is: to provoke, vex, or anger
הִכְעִיס
This causative verb makes the people’s active role in the offense clear.
זֹבְחִים
zovḥim
GROWS FROM
זבח
to slaughter for sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice
“sacrificeth” in this verse is zovḥim. The verse uses the verb zovḥim, “sacrificing.” Elsewhere, the same root forms mizbeach, “altar,” linking the offering to the place made for it.
ALSO GROWS
zevaḥ: sacrifice, offering
זֶבַח
This noun names the offering enacted by the verb in the verse.
mizbeach: altar
מִזְבֵּחַ
The related word for altar carries the same root as the act of sacrifice.
THE PATTERN
Outward offerings do not cancel the conflict disclosed by the way they are offered.
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.THE THREAD
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.Isaiah 1:11 uses the same זבח root when it names the people’s many sacrifices. The shared root makes the question “To what purpose?” an echo of this verse: sacrifice remains present while its relation to God is under scrutiny.
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