“But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
Parallel translations
- KJV But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
- BSB “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
- NKJV “But come here, You sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!
- NASB “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute!
- NLT “But you—come here, you witches’ children, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God calls the idolaters near, naming them children of a sorceress and offspring of adulterers. It matters because it begins a sharp indictment of the people's spiritual unfaithfulness.
Overview
Turning from the righteous to the wicked, God summons the guilty for judgment, branding them with the language of witchcraft and adultery to expose their idolatry. Spiritual unfaithfulness is portrayed as marital betrayal of God. This sets up the catalog of idolatrous sins that follows, against which God's grace will later shine all the brighter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Matt 16:4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” He left them, and departed.
- 1 Jn 3:10In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.
- Jas 4:4You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
- Hos 1:2When Yahweh spoke at first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yahweh.”
- Gen 3:15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
- John 8:40–44But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this.
- Luke 3:7He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- Isa 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
- Joel 3:9–11Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.
- Matt 12:34You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Matt 23:33You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
- Matt 3:7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- Rev 17:1–5One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
- Isa 1:21How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 57:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.