“Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.”
The elevation of idolatrous altars "on every high mountain" and their preparation upon hills reflects actual topographic religious practice in Second Temple Judaism and surrounding communities. The prophet's mention of such places suggests they were visible, organized, and normalized—a community practice rather than fringe behavior. The clause "there you went up to offer sacrifice" implicates not marginal figures but a community segment with cultic infrastructure. This evidence of organized, sustained idolatry frames the prophetic crisis: Trito-Isaiah must delegitimize and eradicate competitive religious systems to restore YHWH-exclusive monotheism.
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