Isaiah 65:5

Stand by thyself Lit. "Draw near to thyself." Cf. Isaiah 49:20.

for I am holier than thou This construction of the accus. suffix is hardly admissible. The verb is to be pointed as Piel, and the clause rendered: else I sanctify thee (cf. the similar use of the perf. in 1 Samuel 2:16). The words express no Pharisaic sense of superior virtue; they are addressed by a Mystagogue (see on Isaiah 66:17), or at least a member of a special religious fellowship, to the uninitiated, warning them against the dangerous degree of holiness (taboo) which would be incurred by contact with the initiated (cf. Ezekiel 44:19). (See Rel. of Sem.2 pp. 343, 357 368). It is true we have no further evidence of the existence of such mystic societies in Palestine at any time. But the whole passage (Isaiah 65:3) is unique, and furnishes a startling revelation of a state of things without parallel in the O.T., although something similar may be inferred from Ezekiel 8:10. Its emergence at this particular period is no doubt to be explained by the collapse of the old national religions, which was the inevitable result of the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests. This naturally led to a recrudescence of primitive superstitions which had been handed down in obscure circles, but had been kept in check so long as the public religion of the state retained its vitality (Rel. of Sem.2 pp. 357 f.). But while this general explanation may be sufficient, the situation becomes perhaps still more intelligible if we suppose the description to apply to descendants of the colonists settled by Assyrian kings in Samaria (Cheyne, Introd.p. 369).

theseare a smoke in my nose If the clause stood alone it would be interpreted as a figurative expression of the idea of Isaiah 65:3 a, a smoke entering into and irritating the nostrils. The parallel clause, however, has led nearly all commentators to understand the "smoke" as a symbol of the Divine anger (cf. Psalms 18:8); and to paraphrase the line thus: "these are (the cause of) a smoke (proceeding from) my nostrils." This is certainly very unnatural. Why should not the second line be subordinate to the first, the continually burning fire being the source of the "smoke" as the emblem of provocation?

a fire that burneth all the day Probably a citation from Jeremiah 17:4; cf. Deuteronomy 32:22.