After the question that opened verse 11, Yahweh asks a second rhetorical question here. The pronoun you is plural in the Hebrew. Revised English Bible attaches the first line of this verse to the end of verse 11: “11 … I have no desire for the blood of bulls, of sheep, and of he-goats, 12 when you come into my presence. Who has asked you for all this? No more shall you tread my courts.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version follow this interpretation, with an additional slight rearrangement in verse 12. Translators have a choice between an arrangement of verses 11-12 that gives the meaning as in Revised Standard Version, and one that links the two verses in the way Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version do.
There is also a difference in the way verse 12 can be linked to verse 13. Most versions end verse 12 with the rhetorical question regarding the trampling of the LORD’s courts. But some treat the words who requires of you this as the last part of the question, and they begin a new sentence on the topic of the trampling of the courts. This new sentence links with verse 13 and makes the phrase “no more” a part of verse 12. For example, New Revised Standard Version renders verses 12-13 as follows: “12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; 13 bringing offerings is futile….” The arrangement of verses 12b-13 in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation is the more usual one, and the one we recommend.
The initial Hebrew particle in When you come … has the sense of “Whenever you come…” or “Each time you come….” This introductory time clause can be placed after the question for those languages that prefer such a sentence structure; for example, “Who requires … when you come…?”
To appear before me is literally “to be seen [before] my face.” This refers to coming into the divine presence in the Temple and participating in the sacrifices and liturgy. It is an act of worship. For the first line New American Bible has “When you come in to visit me,” which changes the perspective slightly. Revised English Bible suggests “when you come into my presence,” while Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “when you come to worship me.”
Who requires of you this trampling of my courts? is literally “who seeks [or, desires] this from your hand to tread my courts?” “This” points to the supplementary object, “to tread my courts.” (For Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version “this” refers back to the particular sacrifices listed in verse 11; see above.) The word courts refers to open spaces enclosed by walls. Here it is a reference to such spaces within the Temple area, especially the inner court where the main altar stood. My courts may be rendered “the open spaces inside my Temple/house” or “the courtyards….” If my courts is difficult to render, however, or if the use of a plural noun might lead the reader to think that there was more than one temple in Jerusalem, it is possible to say simply “my Temple” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant). If “Temple” is translated “God’s house,” the last two lines may be rendered “Who asked you to trample about my house?”
Trampling means to tread heavily, for example, to crush something. Here it evokes the way many people move about busily in a confined area. It is a negative way of referring to the people’s religious activities, indicating their lack of respect for God. In 16.4 the Hebrew verb rendered trampling is used to refer to the trampling done by an enemy. Most versions use the verb “trample”; Good News Translation has “tramping around.”
The question here may be rendered as a negative command: “Don’t trample [or, tramp around in] my courts.” Contemporary English Version says “Stay out of my temple!” However, many will find Contemporary English Version‘s rendering too brief and direct.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• Whenever you come to worship me,
has anyone asked you to treat my courts disrespectfully?
• Nobody has asked you to trample around my Temple like that when you have come to worship!
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .