Isaiah 66: Heaven Is My Throne
No house can hold God, Zion's sudden birth, a mother's comfort, all flesh worshipping, and the last disturbing verse
"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made… but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck" (66:1–3).
"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing?… shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (vv. 7–8). "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her… that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations… As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem" (vv. 10–13).
"For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind… For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh" (vv. 15–16). "It shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory… and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations… And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD" (vv. 18–21).
"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh" (vv. 22–24).
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 66:1–2a | Heaven my throne, earth my footstool; what house could you build? My hand made all these | Compare Solomon's prayer, 1 Kings 8:27. Quoted by Stephen, Acts 7:49–50. |
| 66:2b | I look to the poor, the broken in spirit, who tremble at my word | Charedim, "tremblers" (also v. 5; Ezra 9:4; 10:3). |
| 66:3–4 | Slaughtering an ox / killing a man; sacrificing a lamb / breaking a dog's neck; offering grain / pig's blood; incense / blessing an idol: they chose their ways | The Hebrew sets the pairs side by side without "as if": either sacrifice is equated with crimes, or the same people do both. 1QIsa-a has "as" with the first pair. |
| 66:5 | Hear, you who tremble: your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name's sake say "Let the LORD be glorified"; they will be shamed | A split in the community; the excluded are the faithful. |
| 66:6 | A noise from the city, a voice from the temple: the LORD repaying his enemies | The temple is standing here, or being rebuilt. |
| 66:7–9 | Before labor she gave birth to a son; a land born in a day? a nation at once? Zion's children born; will I open the womb and not deliver? | Zion as mother; compare 54:1; 49:20–21. Revelation 12 uses a related image. |
| 66:10–11 | Rejoice with Jerusalem, all who mourned her; nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breasts | Jerusalem as nursing mother. |
| 66:12–13 | I extend peace to her like a river, the nations' wealth like a flood; you will be carried on the hip; as a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you | God compared to a mother: also 42:14; 49:15. |
| 66:14 | You will see and rejoice; your bones flourish like grass; the LORD's hand known to his servants, his indignation to his enemies | The servants/enemies division of 65. |
| 66:15–17 | The LORD comes in fire and storm chariots; by fire and sword he judges all flesh; those who sanctify themselves in gardens, following one in the middle, eating pork, vermin and mice, will end together | Ritual references obscure ("behind one in the midst"). |
| 66:18–19 | I will gather all nations and tongues to see my glory; a sign; survivors sent to Tarshish, Pul (Put), Lud, Meshech, Tubal, Javan, the far coastlands, to declare my glory | Peoples from Spain to Anatolia and Greece (Javan, the Ionians). |
| 66:20 | They will bring your brothers from all nations as an offering on horses, chariots, litters, mules and camels to my holy mountain | Israel's exiles brought like a grain offering in clean vessels. |
| 66:21 | Some of them I will take as priests and Levites | "Of them": the nations, or the returning exiles? Debated. |
| 66:22–23 | As the new heavens and earth endure, so your seed and name; new moon and sabbath, all flesh comes to worship | Universal worship in Jerusalem. |
| 66:24 | They will go out and see the corpses of those who rebelled; their worm will not die, their fire not be quenched; an abhorrence (dera'on) to all flesh | Mark 9:48. In synagogue reading v. 23 is repeated after v. 24 (reported). |
Corpses outside the city
Isaiah 66:24 describes worshippers leaving Jerusalem and seeing the bodies of the slain (pigrim, "corpses"; the word of 34:3 and 37:36). Unburied corpses consumed by worms and fire were the ultimate disgrace in the ancient world (Jeremiah 7:32–33; 1 Kings 14:11). The verse does not say where the bodies lie; later Jewish and Christian tradition located the scene in the Valley of Hinnom (Ge Hinnom, Gehenna) south of Jerusalem, which Jeremiah had already called "the valley of slaughter" (Jeremiah 7:32; 19:6).
Isaiah 66:24 and Mark 9:48
In Mark 9:43–48 Jesus warns that it is better to enter life (or the kingdom of God) maimed, lame or one-eyed than to be thrown whole "into hell (Gehenna), into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark's wording is close to the Greek of Isaiah 66:24 and is the only explicit use of the verse in the New Testament. In the KJV the line also appears as Mark 9:44 and 9:46; those two verses are missing from the oldest manuscripts and are omitted by modern critical editions (including the library's Greek New Testament), having been added by scribes to make the sayings parallel. Matthew's parallels (5:29–30; 18:8–9) speak of Gehenna and "everlasting fire" but do not quote Isaiah 66:24.
| Text | Who or what is described | Where | Living or dead? | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah 66:24 | "The carcases of the men that have transgressed against me" | Outside the place of worship; no name | Dead bodies (pigrim), seen by the living | Worm and fire that do not stop; an abhorrence to all flesh |
| Daniel 12:2 (2nd century BC) | Some of those who sleep in the dust | Not stated | Raised from death | "Everlasting contempt" (dir'on, the same word): the dead raised for judgment |
| Judith 16:17 (2nd–1st century BC) | Nations that rise against Israel | Not stated | Living, punished | "Fire and worms… they shall feel them, and weep for ever": the bodies become persons who suffer |
| 1 Enoch 27:1–3 (3rd–1st century BC) | The accursed | A "cursed valley" near Jerusalem | Judged after death | A place of judgment in the sight of the righteous |
| Mark 9:43–48 (1st century AD) | Those who cause stumbling and do not cut it off | Gehenna | The hearers are warned while alive | A warning about entering life or Gehenna |
| Later Christian and Jewish teaching | The wicked after death | Hell, Gehenna | Souls or raised bodies | Doctrines of everlasting punishment, annihilation, or purification; rabbinic sources speak of Gehenna as limited for many (reported) |
What can and cannot be said
Isaiah describes corpses, not living souls, and does not say how long the worm and fire last beyond "shall not die… shall not be quenched." Daniel 12 and Judith 16 show that Jews were already rereading the verse before Jesus, in the direction of resurrection and conscious punishment. Mark reports Jesus using the verse for Gehenna, without describing what happens there. Later doctrines of hell, and debates among them, go beyond all of these texts, though they draw on them. The popular claim that Gehenna was a burning rubbish dump is first found in a medieval commentary (David Kimchi, c. AD 1200) and has no known ancient or archaeological support.
In the restoration period, the book's last chapter promises universal worship in Jerusalem and the gathering of Israel from the nations, warns the community's rebels, and ends with their corpses as a sight for the worshippers. Its setting includes disputes over the temple (66:1), over ritual (66:3, 17) and over who belongs (66:5).
Jewish readers repeated 66:23 after 66:24 in the synagogue reading so as not to end on the harsh line (reported; also for Malachi, Lamentations and Ecclesiastes). Daniel 12:2 and Judith 16:17 read the verse as punishment after death. The Mishnah (Eduyot 2:10) speaks of the judgment of the wicked in Gehenna as twelve months, citing Isaiah 66:23 (reported).
Mark 9:48 quotes 66:24 in words attributed to Jesus about Gehenna (Mark's report). Acts 7:49–50 quotes 66:1–2 (Stephen); Matthew 5:34–35 alludes to 66:1 (Jesus). Revelation 21:1 and 2 Peter 3:13 echo 66:22; Revelation 12:1–5 has a woman in labor who bears a male child.
Christian doctrines of everlasting punishment have used 66:24 and Mark 9:48; others have read the verse as destruction rather than endless torment, or as a warning rather than a description. Critical scholars often see 66:22–24 as a late addition framing the book with chapter 1 ("rebelled," 1:2, 28; "fire… none shall quench," 1:31). These are interpretations; the text gives the image without explaining it.
Foreigners as priests? (66:21)
"I will also take of them for priests and for Levites." If "them" means the nations of vv. 18–19, this is the most radical inclusion in the book, beyond 56:6–7. If it means the returning Israelites of v. 20, it promises that exiles of non-priestly families will serve. Both readings are defended; the Hebrew allows either. See "Inclusion, Exclusion and the Poor."
What the evidence shows
- Mark 9:48 quotes Isaiah 66:24 in words attributed to Jesus.
- Mark 9:44 and 9:46 are later additions.
- Isaiah 66:24 describes the punishment of living souls. It describes corpses; later readers reinterpreted it.
- Gehenna was a burning rubbish dump. A medieval explanation; no ancient evidence.
- 66:21 includes foreigners among the priests.
- Synagogue reading repeats 66:23 after 66:24. Reported; C check against a Masoretic or liturgical source.
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 66:1–2: "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool": Stephen and the Sermon on the Mount"Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me?… but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." The question may oppose temple-building, or only the idea that a temple could contain God (compare 1 Kings 8:27).More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- "The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee."
- Stephen: "heaven is my throne."
- "Where their worm dieth not."
- Everlasting contempt.
- Isaiah 1:2, 28–31The book's first chapter: rebels and unquenchable fire.