Isaiah 65:11-12

A renewed threat against the apostates, with a further allusion to their idolatry.

But ye are they that forsake &c. Render: But as for you that forsake Jehovah (ch. Isaiah 1:4) &c. The whole verse is a descriptive anticipation of the object of the verb "destine" in Isaiah 65:12 (see R.V.).

that forget my holy mountain The phrase may denote either simple indifference to the welfare of Zion (cf. Psalms 137:5), or deliberate abstention from the Temple ritual. The second view implies residence in Palestine at a time when the Temple services were in full operation; hence the other is necessarily adopted by all who hold the prophecy to have been written in Babylon. It is perhaps impossible to decide which is right, although those who recognise a Palestinian colouring throughout the chapter will naturally prefer the second as the more forcible interpretation, and find in it some confirmation of their theory.

that prepare a table &c. Better: that spread a table for Gad, and fill up mixed wine (see ch. Isaiah 5:22) to Meni. The rites described are the lectisternia, well known throughout the ancient world, in which a table was spread, furnished with meats and drinks as a meal for the gods (Liv. Isaiah 5:13; Herodot. 1:183; Ep. of Jeremiah, vv. 27 f.; Bel and the Dragon, v.11; cf. Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 19:13; Jeremiah 44:17; 1 Corinthians 10:21). A parallel in the O.T. religion is the Shewbread in the Temple (or Tabernacle), Exodus 25:30 &c. Gesenius remarks that the description of the complete lectisterniumextends over both members of the parallelism, and infers that the two deities were worshipped together. This is probable, being in accordance with ancient custom (Liv. Isaiah 5:13), but the laws of Hebrew parallelism hardly permit us to say that this must be the meaning.

That Gad and Meni are divine proper names is universally acknowledged, although neither has quite lost its appellative signification and both are here pointed with the article. Gad means "good fortune"; he is personified luck. [The rendering "troop" in A.V. is a mistake. Cf. Genesis 30:11, where "A troop cometh" should be "With fortune!" as R.V. marg. In Genesis 49:19, where a different etymology is supposed, the word for "troop" is not gadbut gĕdûd.] The existence of a Syrian god of this name (or the Greek equivalent Τύχη) is well established, and his worship is proved to have extended over a very wide area (see Baethgen, Beiträge zur Sem. Rel.-Gesch.pp. 76 80). It appears that the evidence is most copious amongst the Greek inscriptions of the Hauran (note the proximity to the Hebrew tribe of Gad) where there must have been numerous temples in his honour. But the name occurs also in Phœnician and Palmyrene inscriptions, and on coins of several cities, including Ashkelon, while a temple to the "Fortune" of Gaza is known to have existed in that city (Baethgen, p. 66). The place-names Baal-Gad (at the foot of Hermon, Joshua 11:17; Joshua 12:7; Joshua 13:5) and Migdal-Gad (in Judah, Joshua 15:37) seem to shew that his worship was practised in Palestine proper. There are besides frequent references in Syriac and later Jewish literature; a Syriac writer of the 5th century mentions that lectisterniawere still prepared for Gad in his time. The Jewish interpreters identified Gad with the planet Jupiter, called by the Arabs "the greater Luck," but this association may be more recent than our passage (Baethgen). Meni (Měnî) has left fewer traces. He is possibly identical with the goddess Manât, one of the three chief divinities of the pre-Mohammedan Arabs (Koran, Sura 53:19 23). A personal name -Abdmenî(Servant of Meni?) has been found on coins of the Achæmenidæ, but the accuracy of this is doubted by some (Delitzsch, Schrader in Riehm's Handwörterbuch). The meaning of the word is "Destiny," and the god has been identified with the planet Venus, "the lesser Luck" of the Arabs. It is quite as likely, however, that Meni is the antithesis of Gad, the god of evildestiny. [Observe that in the LXX. Gad is Δαιμόνιον and Meni Τύχη.] Nothing has yet been discovered to connect these deities with the Babylonian pantheon. Some think they may be Hebrew equivalents of Babylonian names (Dillmann), others that their worship was transported from Syria to Babylon (Baethgen). These are speculations, but the actual evidence points to Western Asia as the natural environment of this cult.