Isaiah 65:3

That provoketh me. See Deut. 32:21; 2 Chron. 34:25. Verses 3-5 of Isa. 65 list a number of provocations by which the Jews brought about their downfall.

That sacrificeth in gardens. See Isa. 1:29; 57:5; 66:17; Eze. 20:28. The native inhabitants of Canaan carried on the most immoral forms of worship amidst beautiful gardens and groves, and the Hebrews frequently followed their example.

Upon altars of brick. Literally, “upon bricks.” Ancient Assyrian and Babylonian altars were generally constructed of stone. The Hebrews were instructed to use altars of earth, stone, or metal (see on Ex. 20:24). Altars of brick are not known. The reference here is probably to the tiled roofs of houses upon which the Jews, at least in Jeremiah’s time, offered incense unto the host of heaven (Jer. 19:13; cf. Jer. 32:29), or perhaps to the brick pavements of heathen shrines.

Dead Sea scroll 1QIs shows an interesting variation in this verse. Instead of “burneth incense upon altars of brick” there appears a clause whose meaning is not certain. The root of one of the words is not clear. One possibility is that the word comes from an Akkadian root meaning, “to pour out a drink offering.” The clause would then read, “Their hands pour out a drink offering upon the stones.” However, other derivations are possible; hence we are left in uncertainty regarding the exact nature of the pagan rite here referred to. The LXX also shows an interesting variation, with the reading, “they burn incense on bricks to devils, which exist not.”