Imamat 17:7

17:7 So they must no longer offer ¹  their sacrifices to the goat demons, ²  acting like prostitutes by going after them. ³  This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations. ⁴ 

Yesaya 1:21

Purifying Judgment

1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute! ⁵ 

She was once a center of ⁶  justice,

fairness resided in her,

but now only murderers. ⁷ 

[17:7]  ¹ tn Heb “sacrifice.” This has been translated as “offer” for stylistic reasons to avoid the redundancy of “sacrifice their sacrifices.”

[17:7]  ² tn On “goat demons” of the desert regions see the note on Lev 16:8.

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “which they are committing harlotry after them.”

[17:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “for your generations.”

[1:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.

[1:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “filled with.”

[1:21]  ⁷ tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.