Isaiah 66:4 · Bible study
Isaiah 66:4 Commentary: When God Chooses Their Delusions and Fears
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 66:4 describes God's judicial response to those who ignore His call: He gives them over to what they feared, choosing their own calamities.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God judges persistent rejection by giving people over to the very consequences they chose to ignore.
- Key words: choose (בָּחַר), delusions/punishments (תַּעֲלוּלִים), fears (מְגוּרָה), called (קָרָא), listened (שָׁמַע).
- Main debate: Does God actively inflict deception (as in 1 Kings 22 and 2 Thess 2:11) or passively hand sinners over to their own self-deception?
- Theological theme: The justice of God responds proportionally to human choices, what we choose determines what we receive.
- Best use: A warning against treating God's call lightly; a call to examine whether our worship and obedience are genuine or merely ritual.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn’t listen, but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”
KJV King James Version 1769
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
I also--I fix on their vexations, And their fears I bring in to them, Because I have called, and there is none answering, I spake, and they have not hearkened, And they do the evil things in Mine eyes, And on that which I desired not--fixed.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
I also will choose their calamities, and will bring their fears upon them; because I called, and none answered, I spoke, and they did not hear, but did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delight not.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Wherefore I also will choose their mockeries, and will bring upon them the things they feared: because I called, and there was none that would answer; I have spoken, and they heard not; and they have done evil in my eyes, and have chosen the things that displease me.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
También yo escogeré sus escarnios, y traeré sobre ellos lo que temieron; porque llamé, y nadie respondió; hablé, y no oyeron; antes hicieron lo malo delante de mis ojos, y escogieron lo que á mí desagrada|strong="H3808, H2654".
Eu, então, escolherei a punição para eles, e farei vir sobre eles os seus temores; pois clamei, mas ninguém respondeu; falei, mas não escutaram; ao invés disso fizeram o que era mal aos meus olhos, e escolheram aquilo que não me agrada.
Moi aussi, je me complairai dans leur infortune,
Darum will ich auch erwählen, was ihnen wehe tut; und was sie scheuen, will ich über sie kommen lassen, darum daß ich rief, und niemand antwortete, daß ich redete, und sie hörten nicht und taten, was mir übel gefiel, und erwählten, was mir nicht gefiel.
Ik zal ook verkiezen het loon hunner handelingen, en hun vreze zal Ik over hen doen komen, omdat Ik geroepen heb, en niemand antwoordde, Ik gesproken heb, en zij niet hoorden, maar deden dat kwaad is in Mijn ogen, en verkoren hetgeen waartoe Ik geen lust had.
così sceglierò io la loro sventura, e farò piombar loro addosso quel che paventano; poiché io ho chiamato, e nessuno ha risposto; ho parlato, ed essi non han dato ascolto; ma han fatto ciò ch’è male agli occhi miei, e han preferito ciò che mi dispiace.
Tak i Ja obiorę za wynalazki ich, a to, czego się boją, przywiodę na nich, przeto, że gdym wołał, żaden się nie ozwał, gdym mówił, nie słuchali, ale czynili to, co złego jest przed oczyma mojemi, a to, czegom nie chciał, obierali.
так и Я употреблю их обольщение и наведу на них ужасное для них: потому что Я звал, и не было отвечающего, говорил, и они не слушали, а делали злое в очах Моих и избирали то, что неугодно Мне.
我 也 必揀選 迷惑他們的事，使他們所懼怕的 臨到 他們；因為 我呼喚，無人 答應；我說話，他們不 聽從；反倒行 我眼中 看為惡的，揀選 我所 不 喜悅的。
So I will go after trouble for them, and will send on them what they are fearing: because no one made answer to my voice, or gave ear to my word; but they did what was evil in my eyes, going after that in which I took no pleasure.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 66:4
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse pronounces a reciprocal divine judgment. The people had persistently refused God's call, choosing evil and delighting in what He abhors (v.4b, e). In response, God 'chooses their delusions', a Hebrew word that likely means 'vexations' or 'calamities' (Barnes, JFB, Keil). The same word appears in Lamentations 1:22, where context demands 'punishment.' The thought mirrors Proverbs 1:31: they eat the fruit of their own way. Wesley captures it: 'They have chosen to mock and delude me, I will choose to suffer them to delude themselves.' The verb 'choose' (־בָּחַר) is the same the people used for their evil, God returns their own logic against them (Gill). All sources note the parallel with Isaiah 65:12, where the same accusation of unanswered call appears. The judgment is not capricious; it matches their decisions.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Active divine deception: God 'chooses delusions' suggests He sends lying spirits or falsehoods as punishment (cf. 1 Kings 22:23, 2 Thess 2:11).
- Permissive judgment: God allows people to be deceived by their own choices and by false teachers, without directly causing the deception (Wesley, Gill).
- Retributive calamity: 'Delusions' means 'calamities' — God brings the disasters they feared, punishing evil with evil consequences (Barnes, JFB, Keil).
What is clear: God's judgment is a direct and proportionate response to the people's deliberate rejection of His call and their choice of evil.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'delusions' (תַּעֲלוּלִים) | The word denotes something negative that God brings as judgment, either calamities or deceptive illusions. | Some commentators (Barnes, JFB, Keil) argue it means 'calamities' or 'vexations,' parallel to 'fears.' Others (Gill, Wesley, the Septuagint and Vulgate) read it as 'delusions' or 'mockeries,' implying God gives them over to falsehood. |
| God's role in the judgment | God actively responds to human sin with a fitting punishment. | One view (often Reformed) sees God actively sending deluding influences (cf. 1 Kings 22:23, 2 Thess 2:11). Another view (Wesley, Gill) sees God passively 'choosing to suffer them to delude themselves', He lets the natural consequences of their choices unfold. |
| Human responsibility | The people deliberately rejected God's call and chose evil. | All agree on human responsibility, but debate arises over whether God's 'choosing' somehow overrides their freedom or simply confirms their own prior choice. |
| The nature of the punishment | It consists of experiencing the things they feared. | Is it primarily external calamity (sword, famine, exile) or internal deception (spiritual blindness)? Both are supported by the text and cross-references. |
| Temporal reference | The verse addresses the generation that rejected prophetic calls. | Some (Keil, Matthew Henry) see it fulfilled in the Babylonian exile and post-exilic period. Others (Gill) see a primary reference to the rejection of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 66 closes the book by drawing a sharp line between two groups: those who tremble at God's word (v.2, 5) and those who go their own way (v.3, 4). The opening verses confront misplaced trust in temple-building; God declares heaven His throne and earth His footstool, dismissing any notion that He needs a building (v.1, 2). True worship does not consist in sacrifice but in a contrite spirit. Verse 3 depicts people offering ritual sacrifices but with the heart of an idolater, their worship is abomination because their souls 'delight in abominations.' This is the community addressed in chapter 65: some had abandoned Yahweh for fortune gods (Isa 65:11).
Into this divided setting comes verse 4. God had called through prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah, extended invitations, but 'no one answered.' The people chose evil 'before mine eyes', openly, deliberately. Their 'fears' were the disasters they tried to avert through idolatrous rites (JFB). Now God brings those very disasters upon them. Matthew Henry notes that when people wilfully reject divine instruction, God sometimes gives them over to the fruit of their own choices. The historical backdrop is the exilic and post-exilic experience: the destruction of Jerusalem, the collapse of the theocracy, and the painful lesson that God will not be manipulated by ritual.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts.
Reception History
Isaiah 66:4 has been read across Christian tradition as a solemn example of God’s judicial response to persistent unrepentance. Early church writers such as Jerome understood it as a prophecy of Israel’s rejection of Christ, leading to the delusion that would culminate in the final judgment. In the Reformation, Calvin and Luther used it to illustrate the biblical theme that God sometimes ‘gives people over’ to their own sinful desires as an act of judgment (cf. Romans 1:24, 28). Later Wesleyan and Arminian traditions emphasised the voluntary nature of the delusion: God does not create unbelief but permits sinners to follow its tragic path. The verse has also been sung in hymns of warning and used in sermons to call hearers to respond while God’s call still sounds.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God’s call is clear and persistent. He 'called' and 'spoke', through prophets, through Scripture, through circumstances. Yet the people answered none (v.4b-c). The issue is not lack of communication but refusal to listen.
- Sin is a deliberate choice. They 'did evil before mine eyes' and 'chose that in which I delighted not' (v.4d-e). Their rebellion was not accidental but willful, preferring darkness over light.
- God’s judgment fits the crime. 'I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them' (v.4a). Because they chose evil, God chooses the consequences, the very things they dreaded to avert by their false worship become their inheritance.
Five-point outline
- The divine call (v.4b, 'I called, no one answered')
- The human response (v.4c, 'they did not listen')
- The conscious rejection (v.4d, 'they did evil before mine eyes')
- The deliberate preference (v.4e, 'chose that in which I delighted not')
- The corresponding judgment (v.4a, 'I also will choose their delusions')
Illustration hooks
- A driver ignores repeated warnings signs about a washed-out bridge and insists on his route, ending up in the river. The thing he feared, the danger, becomes his reality.
- A person refuses a doctor's diagnosis and treatment plan, choosing unproven remedies instead. When the disease worsens, they face exactly what they had hoped to avoid.
- A child plugged into headphones refuses a parent's call to come inside from a storm, only to be caught in the downpour. The parent’s warning was the very protection they ignored.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God really cause people to be deceived, or does He simply let them face the results of their own choices?
- How can we tell if we are 'choosing our own ways' while still going through religious motions?
- Is there a point where God stops calling and judgment becomes final?
Leading a Discussion
This verse raises sobering questions about the connection between human choice and divine judgment. It comes in a chapter that contrasts true humility (trembling at God's word) with empty religiosity. Use the following questions to help your group explore the passage and its implications for how we respond to God's call.
Discussion questions
- Read the verse aloud. What stands out to you about the way God describes both His actions and the people's actions?
- The Hebrew word for 'delusions' can mean 'calamities' or 'vexations' (Barnes). What difference does that make in understanding the verse?
- Why does God emphasize that He called and no one answered? What does that tell us about His character?
- In what ways do people today 'choose that in which I delighted not' while still attending worship services (see also v.3)?
- Wesley comments that God 'chooses to suffer them to delude themselves.' How does this balance divine sovereignty and human responsibility?
- The verse pairs 'delusions' and 'fears.' What fears might people try to escape through sinful choices, only to have those very fears become real?
- How does this passage challenge or comfort you in your own walk with God?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Kings 22:19 | Micaiah said, “Therefore hear Yahweh’s word. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. |
| I Kings 22:23 | Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you.” |
| II Kings 21:2 | He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel. |
| II Kings 21:6 | He made his son to pass through the fire, practiced sorcery, used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits and with wizards. He did much evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. |
| Psalms 81:12 | So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels. |
| Proverbs 1:24 | Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention; |
| Proverbs 1:31 | Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes. |
| Proverbs 1:32 | For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes argues that the Hebrew word often translated as "delusions" in this verse actually means calamity or punishment. He points out that the parallelism demands this reading, showing God brings the very punishment they dreaded instead of mere illusions.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator interprets "delusions" not as mental deceptions but as calamities or "freaks of fortune," picturing disaster like a petulant child. "Their fears" refers to the very things they dread and try to ward off with magical rites. The closing words repeat a phrase from Isaiah 65:12.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
God gives sinners over to the very delusions they prefer, making their worst fears become real punishment. Because they refused to answer when He called and chose what displeased Him, He lets them suffer the consequences of their own evil choices.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill sees this as God's just response to Israel's deliberate rejection of Christ and His Gospel. Because they refused to answer when Christ called them and chose evil and self-righteousness over what pleased God, He gave them over to deluding teachers and the very disasters they feared.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that the Hebrew word often translated "delusions" in this verse actually means "vexations" or "calamities," a reading supported by the parallel line about "fears." The people deliberately chose their own idolatrous practices, and God responds by giving them the very calamities they tried so hard to avoid.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch contends that the passage rebukes the un
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the prophet is not forbidding the exiles from rebuilding the temple. He is looking ahead to the final age of new heavens and earth, when no physical temple or animal sacrifice will exist, because God will dwell directly in humble, contrite hearts.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry downplays the temple's significance by contrasting it with a humble heart. He argues that God, who fills heaven and earth, does not need a human-built house. Instead, God looks favorably on the person who is poor, contrite, and reverent toward his word.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley draws a direct parallel between human choices and divine response: because the people chose to mock and work wickedness, God chooses to let them face the natural consequences of their own delusion. He also notes that in Scripture, to not hear means the same as to not obey God's will.