They shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired.
God’s judgment of destruction
“For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths in which ye delighted, and ye must blush because of the gardens in which ye had pleasure” (Isa_1:29). The terebinths and gardens are not referred to as objects of luxury (as Hitzig and Drechsler suppose), but as unlawful places of worship (Deu_16:21), and objects of worship; both of them are frequently mentioned by the prophets with this meaning (57:5, 65:3, 66:17). (F. Delitzsch.)
Terebinth
“For ye shall be like a terebinth with withered leaves, and like a garden in which there is no water” (Isa_1:30). Their prosperity is being destroyed, and they are thus like a terebinth which is withered in its foliage; their sources of help are dried up, and thus they resemble a garden that has no water and is therefore waste. The terebinth (turpentine pistacia), a native of southern and eastern Palestine, casts its leaves (which are small, and resemble those of the walnut) in the autumn. In this dry and parched condition terebinth and garden, to which the idolaters are compared, are readily inflammable. There is but needed a spark to kindle, and then they are consumed in the flame. (F Delitzsch.)
