Isaiah 57
ืืฉืขืืื ืคืจืง ื ืดื
Section: ื ืืืืื ยท ื ืืืืื ืืืจืื ืื | Book: Isaiah | Chapter: 57 of 66 | Day: 204 of 742
Date: September 3, 2026
ืงืืืื ืขื ืื ืดื
Chapter 57 begins with one of the quietest and most disquieting observations in all of Neviโim: the righteous person perishes and no one takes it to heart, the men of kindness are gathered in and no one understands that it is on account of the coming evil that the righteous one was taken away. Rashi identifies the righteous man as Yoshiyahu, whose death the chapterโs opening seems designed to explain, and Radak broadens it to all the righteous who passed from that generation, insisting on a careful distinction: the word โperishedโ (ืืื) does not mean the righteous man himself was lost, for his soul lives a life sweeter than the life of the body, but that he was lost to his generation, and the loss is theirs. Radak grounds the reading in the prophecy of Chuldah to Yoshiyahu, that he would be gathered to his fathers in peace and his eyes would not see all the evil God was bringing upon the place. Verse 2 completes the thought with its gentle promise that the one who walked in his uprightness (ืืืื ื ืืื) comes to peace and rests upon his bed. It is a theodicy of a particular kind, one that does not deny the injustice of a righteous death but reframes it as a mercy withheld from view, and Metzudat David adds a sobering second layer: because no one took the first death to heart and no one repented, many more were taken.
From verse 3 the tone changes utterly. Draw near here, you children of a sorceress, seed of an adulterer and a whore. Rashi reads the summons as addressed to the survivors, those who remain now that the righteous have departed, called forward to receive their sentence. The prophet then unleashes an idolatry polemic of unusual physical intensity, structured throughout on the metaphor of the adulterous wife, which as Radak observes is the standard prophetic idiom running through Hoshea and Yechezkel. They inflame themselves among the terebinths and under every leafy tree; they slaughter children in the wadis under the clefts of the rocks. Rashi and Metzudat David both take the slaughtered children literally as sacrifices offered to idols, and Radak cites Yechezkelโs parallel indictment of those who slaughtered their sons to their idols. In verse 6 the smooth stones of the wadi become both the object of worship and, in Rashiโs bitter wordplay, the instrument of punishment, the very stones with which they will be stoned; Godโs rhetorical question, should I relent over these, hangs unanswered.
The adultery metaphor is then developed with almost novelistic detail. On a high and lofty mountain you set your bed; behind the door and the doorpost you set your memorial. Rashiโs comment on verse 8 is a small masterpiece of psychological reading: he pictures the adulterous woman lying beside her husband while her heart and her attention are fixed on the door where her lovers wait, calculating how she will open it and go out. Radak turns the same phrase into a bitter inversion of the mitzvah of mezuzah, for God gave the doorpost so that His service would be constantly remembered, and instead they set a token of foreign worship there and displaced the memorial He had given. The polemic then widens from idolatry to foreign alliance. You traveled to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes, you sent your envoys far off and abased yourself down to Sheol. Metzudat David and Radak both identify the king as the king of Ashur, and Radak names the sin precisely: it was not enough to serve other gods, but you removed your trust from Me and trusted in an arm of flesh, invoking the curse on the man who trusts in man and turns his heart from God. Verse 10 catches the exhausting self-deception of that policy, wearied by the length of the road yet never saying โI give up,โ because you found the strength of your hand and so you did not fall ill. Verse 11 answers with the question that exposes the whole enterprise: whom did you dread and fear that you should lie, while Me you did not remember. Radak hears Godโs own long patience in the phrase โI have been silentโ (ืื ื ืืืฉื), which the people mistook for indifference.
The judgment scene reaches its verdict in verses 12 and 13, where God says He will announce your righteousness and your deeds, and they will not avail you. When you cry out, let your collections save you, but the wind will carry them all off and a breath will take them. Rashi understands the collections as the assembled idols and graven images the people had gathered; Metzudat David reads them as the assembled chariots and horsemen of foreign armies summoned to help against the enemy. Against that emptiness stands the single counterweight of the chapter: whoever takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land and possess My holy mountain. Metzudat David and Radak both identify that refuge-taker as Chizkiyahu, who trusted in God and did not budge from his place, contrary to everything Sancheriv had calculated. Verse 14, with its cry to build up, build up, clear the road, remove the stumbling block from the way of My people, then reads on two levels at once. Radak takes the removed obstacle as the enemy himself, now struck down so that Israel can travel to Jerusalem in safety; Rashi reads it inwardly, as clearing away the evil inclination and the stones of wicked thoughts from the road.
The chapterโs final movement is among the great consolation passages of Yeshayahu. Thus said the high and lofty One who dwells forever and whose name is holy: I dwell on high and in holiness, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit (ืืืช ืืื ืืฉืคื ืจืื), to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Rashiโs gloss is that from that very height God lowers His Presence upon the crushed; Radak makes the paradox explicit, that just as He dwells with the exalted and holy, the spheres and the angels, so He dwells with the lowly below, and he applies it directly to Israel in a long exile, who are like the dead and whom God will revive. Verse 16 grounds the mercy in the very structure of creation, for I will not contend forever nor be angry for all time, since the spirit is from before Me and the souls I Myself made. Verse 17 concedes that God did strike for the sin of greed and hid His face, and that Israel went on walking wayward in the way of its heart, and verse 18 answers with a sentence of extraordinary grace: I have seen his ways, and I will heal him, and I will lead him, and I will pay comforts to him and to his mourners. Then verse 19, creating the fruit of the lips, Peace, peace to the far and to the near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. Rashi reads far and near as the one who grew old in Torah and service from his youth and the one who has only now drawn near to repent of his evil way, and insists the two are equal. Radak records a dispute in Chazal that reverses the terms, reading โfarโ as the penitent and โnearโ as the wholly righteous, and deriving from the word order the famous teaching that penitents stand higher than the completely righteous, since โfarโ is mentioned first. The chapter closes by withdrawing that peace from those who refuse it. The wicked are like the churning sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and mud, and Rashi draws out the image with great force, for each wave sees the one before it break against the boundary of sand and still does not turn back, exactly as the wicked man watches his fellow punished and does not turn back; and just as the sea carries its filth on its surface, so the wicked carry their filth in their mouths. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked, a line that will return at the close of chapter 48โs counterpart and that Radak carefully distinguishes from it by its wording.
ืคืจืง ื ืดื ยท Chapter 57
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 1
Hebrew:
ืึทืฆึผึทืึผึดึฃืืง ืึธืึธึื ืึฐืึตึฅืื ืึดึืืฉื ืฉืึธึฃื ืขึทืึพืึตึื ืึฐืึทื ึฐืฉืึตืึพืึถึคืกึถื ื ึถืึฑืกึธืคึดืืึ ืึผึฐืึตึฃืื ืึตืึดึืื ืึผึดึฝืึพืึดืคึผึฐื ึตึฅื ืึธืจึธืขึธึื ื ึถืึฑืกึทึฅืฃ ืึทืฆึผึทืึผึดึฝืืงื
English:
A righteous person perishes, And no one considers; The pious are taken away, And no one gives thought That because of evil The righteous one was taken away.
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 2
Hebrew:
ืึธืึฃืึนื ืฉืึธืึืึนื ืึธื ึืึผืืึผ ืขึทืึพืึดืฉืึฐืึผึฐืืึนืชึธึื ืึนืึตึืึฐ ื ึฐืึนืึฝืึนืย {ืก} ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
English:
Yet one who walked straightforward Shall come to peace, Shall have rest on their couch.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 3
Hebrew:
ืึฐืึทืชึผึถึฅื ืงึดืจึฐืืึผึพืึตึื ึผึธื ืึผึฐื ึตึฃื ืขึนื ึฐื ึธึื ืึถึฅืจึทืข ืึฐื ึธืึตึืฃ ืึทืชึผึดืึฐื ึถึฝืื
English:
But as for you, come closer, You children of a sorceress, You offspring of an adulterer and a whore!
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 4
Hebrew:
ืขึทืึพืึดืึ ืชึผึดืชึฐืขึทื ึผึธึืืึผ ืขึทืึพืึดึื ืชึผึทืจึฐืึดึฅืืืึผ ืคึถึื ืชึผึทืึฒืจึดึฃืืืึผ ืึธืฉืึืึนื ืึฒืืึนืึพืึทืชึผึถึฅื ืึดืึฐืึตืึพืคึถึืฉืึทืข ืึถึฅืจึทืข ืฉืึธึฝืงึถืจื
English:
With whom do you act so familiarly? At whom do you open your mouth And stick out your tongue? Why, you are children of iniquity, Offspring of treacheryโ
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 5
Hebrew:
ืึทื ึผึตึฝืึธืึดืืึ ืึผึธืึตืึดึืื ืชึผึทึืึทืช ืึผืืึพืขึตึฃืฅ ืจึทืขึฒื ึธึื ืฉืึนืึฒืึตึคื ืึทืึฐืึธืึดืืึ ืึผึทื ึผึฐืึธืึดึืื ืชึผึทึืึทืช ืกึฐืขึดืคึตึฅื ืึทืกึผึฐืึธืขึดึฝืืื
English:
You who inflame yourselves Among the terebinths, Under every verdant tree; Who slaughter children in the wadis, Among the clefts of the rocks.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 6
Hebrew:
ืึผึฐืึทืึผึฐืงึตืึพื ึทึฃืึทื ืึถืึฐืงึตึืึฐ ืึตึฅื ืึตึื ืึผืึนืจึธืึตึืึฐ ืึผึทืึพืึธืึถึื ืฉืึธืคึทึฅืึฐืชึผึฐ ื ึถึืกึถืึฐึ ืึถืขึฑืึดึฃืืช ืึดื ึฐืึธึื ืึทึฅืขึทื ืึตึืึผึถื ืึถื ึผึธืึตึฝืื
English:
With such are your share and portion, They, they are your allotment; To them you have poured out libations, Presented offerings. Should I relent in the face of this?
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 7
Hebrew:
ืขึทึคื ืึทืจึพืึผึธืึนึืึผึทึ ืึฐื ึดืฉืึผึธึื ืฉืึทึืึฐืชึผึฐ ืึดืฉืึฐืึผึธืึตึืึฐ ืึผึทืึพืฉืึธึฅื ืขึธืึดึืืช ืึดืึฐืึผึนึฅืึท ืึธึฝืึทืื
English:
On a high and lofty hill You have set your couch; There, too, you have gone up To perform sacrifices.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 8
Hebrew:
ืึฐืึทืึทึคืจ ืึทืึผึถึืึถืชึ ืึฐืึทืึผึฐืืึผืึธึื ืฉืึทึืึฐืชึผึฐ ืึดืึฐืจืึนื ึตึืึฐ ืึผึดึฃื ืึตืึดืชึผึดึื ืึผึดืึผึดึฃืืช ืึทึฝืชึผึทืขึฒืึดึื ืึดืจึฐืึทึคืึฐืชึผึฐ ืึดืฉืึฐืึผึธืึตืึฐึ ืึทืชึผึดืึฐืจืืชึพืึธึฃืึฐ ืึตืึถึื ืึธืึทึฅืึฐืชึผึฐ ืึดืฉืึฐืึผึธืึธึื ืึธึฅื ืึธืึดึฝืืชื
English:
Behind the door and doorpost You have directed your thoughts; Abandoning Me, you have gone up On the couch you made so wide. You have made a covenant with them; You have loved bedding with them; You have chosen lust.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 9
Hebrew:
ืึทืชึผึธืฉืึปึคืจึดื ืึทืึผึถึืึถืึฐึ ืึผึทืฉืึผึถึืึถื ืึทืชึผึทืจึฐืึผึดึื ืจึดืงึผึปืึธึืึดืึฐ ืึทืชึผึฐืฉืึทืึผึฐืึดึคื ืฆึดืจึทึืึดืึฐึ ืขึทืึพืึตึฃืจึธืึนึืง ืึทืชึผึทืฉืึฐืคึผึดึืืึดื ืขึทืึพืฉืึฐืึฝืึนืื
English:
You have approached the king with oil, You have provided many perfumes. And you have sent your envoys afar, Even down to the netherworld.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 10
Hebrew:
ืึผึฐืจึนึคื ืึผึทืจึฐืึผึตืึฐึ ืึธืึทึืขึทืชึผึฐ ืึนึฅื ืึธืึทึืจึฐืชึผึฐ ื ืึนืึธึืฉื ืึทืึผึทึคืช ืึธืึตืึฐึ ืึธืฆึธึืืช ืขึทืึพืึผึตึื ืึนึฅื ืึธืึดึฝืืชื
English:
Though wearied by much travel, You never said, โI give up!โ You found gratification for your lust, And so you never cared.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 11
Hebrew:
ืึฐืึถืชึพืึดึื ืึผึธืึทึคืึฐืชึผึฐ ืึทืชึผึดึฝืืจึฐืึดืึ ืึผึดึฃื ืชึฐืึทืึผึตึืึดื ืึฐืืึนืชึดืึ ืึนึฃื ืึธืึทึืจึฐืชึผึฐ ืึนืึพืฉืึทึืึฐืชึผึฐ ืขึทืึพืึดืึผึตึืึฐ ืึฒืึนึจื ืึฒื ึดึคื ืึทืึฐืฉืึถืึ ืึผืึตึฃืขึนืึธึื ืึฐืืึนืชึดึื ืึนึฅื ืชึดืืจึธึฝืึดืื
English:
Whom do you dread and fear, That you tell lies? But you gave no thought to Me, You paid no heed. It is because I have stood idly by so long That you have no fear of Me.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 12
Hebrew:
ืึฒื ึดึฅื ืึทืึผึดึืื ืฆึดืึฐืงึธืชึตึืึฐ ืึฐืึถึฝืชึพืึทืขึฒืฉืึทึืึดืึฐ ืึฐืึนึฅื ืืึนืขึดืืึฝืึผืึฐื
English:
I hereby pronounce judgment upon your deeds: Your assorted [idols] shall not avail you,
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 13
Hebrew:
ืึผึฐืึทึฝืขึฒืงึตืึฐึ ืึทืฆึผึดืืึปึฃืึฐ ืงึดืึผืึผืฆึทึืึดืึฐ ืึฐืึถืชึพืึผึปืึผึธึฅื ืึดืฉืึผึธืึพืจึืึผืึท ืึดืงึผึทืึพืึธึืึถื ืึฐืึทืืึนืกึถึฅื ืึดืึ ืึดื ึฐืึทืึพืึถึืจึถืฅ ืึฐืึดืืจึทึืฉื ืึทืจึพืงืืึฐืฉืึดึฝืื
English:
Shall not save you when you cry out. They shall all be borne off by the wind, Snatched away by a breeze. But those who trust in Me shall inherit the land And possess My sacred mount.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 14
Hebrew:
ืึฐืึธืึทึฅืจ ืกึนึฝืึผืึผึพืกึนึืึผืึผ ืคึผึทื ึผืึผึพืึธึืจึถืึฐ ืึธืจึดึฅืืืึผ ืึดืึฐืฉืึืึนื ืึดืึผึถึฅืจึถืึฐ ืขึทืึผึดึฝืืย {ืก} ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
English:
[GOD] says: Build up, build up a highway! Clear a road! Remove all obstacles From the road of My people!
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 15
Hebrew:
ืึผึดืึฉ ืึนึจื ืึธืึทึืจ ืจึธึฃื ืึฐื ึดืฉืึผึธึื ืฉืึนืึตึฅื ืขึทืึ ืึฐืงึธืึฃืึนืฉื ืฉืึฐืึืึน ืึธืจึฅืึนื ืึฐืงึธืึืึนืฉื ืึถืฉืึฐืึผึืึนื ืึฐืึถืชึพืึผึทืึผึธืึ ืึผืฉืึฐืคึทืึพืจึืึผืึท ืึฐืึทืึฒืืึนืชึ ืจึฃืึผืึท ืฉืึฐืคึธืึดึืื ืึผึฝืึฐืึทืึฒืึืึนืช ืึตึฅื ื ึดืึฐืึผึธืึดึฝืืื
English:
For thus said the One who high aloft Forever dwells, whose name is holy: I dwell on high, in holiness; Yet with the contrite and the lowly in spiritโ Reviving the spirits of the lowly, Reviving the hearts of the contrite.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 16
Hebrew:
ืึผึดึฃื ืึนึคื ืึฐืขืึนืึธืึ ืึธืจึดึืื ืึฐืึนึฅื ืึธื ึถึืฆึทื ืึถืงึฐืฆึืึนืฃ ืึผึดืึพืจึืึผืึทึ ืึดืึผึฐืคึธื ึทึฃื ืึทืขึฒืึืึนืฃ ืึผื ึฐืฉืึธืึืึนืช ืึฒื ึดึฅื ืขึธืฉืึดึฝืืชึดืื
English:
For I will not always contend, I will not be angry forever: Nay, I who make spirits flag, Also create the breath of life.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 17
Hebrew:
ืึผึทืขึฒืึบึฅื ืึผึดืฆึฐืขึืึน ืงึธืฆึทึฅืคึฐืชึผึดื ืึฐืึทืึผึตึืืึผ ืึทืกึฐืชึผึตึฃืจ ืึฐืึถืงึฐืฆึนึืฃ ืึทืึผึตึฅืึถืึฐ ืฉืืึนืึธึื ืึผึฐืึถึฅืจึถืึฐ ืึดืึผึฝืึนื
English:
For their sinful greed I was angry; I struck them and turned away in My wrath. Though stubborn, they follow the way of their hearts,
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 18
Hebrew:
ืึผึฐืจึธืึธึฅืื ืจึธืึดึืืชึดื ืึฐืึถืจึฐืคึผึธืึตึืืึผ ืึฐืึทื ึฐืึตึืืึผ ืึทืึฒืฉืึทืึผึตึงื ื ึดืึปืึดึืื ืึืึน ืึฐืึทืึฒืึตืึธึฝืืื
English:
I note how they fare and will heal them: I will guide them and mete out solace to them, And to the mourners among them
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 19
Hebrew:
ืึผืึนืจึตึื (ื ืื) [ื ึดึฃืื] ืฉืึฐืคึธืชึธึืึดื ืฉืึธืึจืึนืโืโืฉืึธืึืึนื ืึธืจึธืึงืึนืง ืึฐืึทืงึผึธืจึืึนื ืึธืึทึฅืจ ืึฐืึนืึธึื ืึผืจึฐืคึธืืชึดึฝืืื
English:
heartening, comforting words: It shall be well, Well with the far and the near โsaid GODโ And I will heal them.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืณ ยท Verse 20
Hebrew:
ืึฐืึธืจึฐืฉืึธืขึดึืื ืึผึทืึผึธึฃื ื ึดืึฐืจึธึืฉื ืึผึดึคื ืึทืฉืึฐืงึตืึ ืึนึฃื ืืึผืึธึื ืึทืึผึดืึฐืจึฐืฉืึฅืึผ ืึตืืึธึืื ืจึถึฅืคึถืฉื ืึธืึดึฝืืื
English:
But the wicked are like the troubled sea That cannot rest, Whose waters toss up mire and mud.
โถCommentaries (1)
ืคืกืืง ืืดื ยท Verse 21
Hebrew:
ืึตึฃืื ืฉืึธืึืึนื ืึธืึทึฅืจ ืึฑืึนืึทึื ืึธืจึฐืฉืึธืขึดึฝืืืย {ืค}
English:
There is no safety โsaid my Godโ For the wicked.
โถCommentaries (1)