7 I will make mention of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh, [and] the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
When I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, [Though you are] in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, [Though you are] in your blood, live. I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare. Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine. Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and ear-rings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus was you decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you did prosper to royal estate. Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh.
to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, which he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Remember his marvelous works that he has done; His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, You seed of Abraham, his servant, You children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is Yahweh, our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered his covenant forever, The word which he commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which he made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac, And confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; To Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance;" When they were but a few men in number, Yes, very few, and foreigners in it. They went about from nation to nation, From one kingdom to another people. He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, "Don't touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!" He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies. He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons, Until the time that his word happened, And Yahweh's word proved him true. The king sent and freed him; Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, And ruler of all of his possessions; To discipline his princes at his pleasure, And to teach his elders wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. He increased his people greatly, And made them stronger than their adversaries. He turned their heart to hate his people, To conspire against his servants. He sent Moses, his servant, And Aaron, whom he had chosen. They performed miracles among them, And wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn't rebel against his words. He turned their waters into blood, And killed their fish. Their land swarmed with frogs, Even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and swarms of flies came, And lice in all their borders. He gave them hail for rain, With lightning in their land. He struck their vines and also their fig trees, And shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came, And the grasshoppers, without number, Ate up every plant in their land; And ate up the fruit of their ground. He struck also all the firstborn in their land, The first fruits of all their manhood. He brought them forth with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen on them. He spread a cloud for a covering, Fire to give light in the night. They asked, and he brought quails, And satisfied them with the bread of the sky. He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places. For he remembered his holy word, And Abraham, his servant. He brought forth his people with joy, His chosen with singing. He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession, That they might keep his statutes, And observe his laws. Praise Yah!
Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation. Pardon, Please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
You are Yahweh the God, who did choose Abram, and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham, and found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words; for you are righteous. You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea, and shown signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and did get you a name, as it is this day. You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their pursuers you did cast into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go. You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, and statutes, and a law, by Moses your servant, and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commanded those who they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.
yet you in your manifold mercies didn't forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud didn't depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go. You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn't withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Yes, forty years did you sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell.
They forgot his doings, His wondrous works that he had shown them. He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He split the sea, and caused them to pass through; He made the waters stand as a heap. In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, And all night with a light of fire. He split rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they still went on to sin against him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. They tempted God in their heart By asking food according to their desire. Yes, they spoke against God. They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, Streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?" Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, Anger also went up against Israel, Because they didn't believe in God, And didn't trust in his salvation. Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna on them to eat, And gave them food from the sky. Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full. He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. By his power he guided the south wind. He rained also flesh on them as the dust; Winged birds as the sand of the seas. He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their habitations. So they ate, and were well filled. He gave them their own desire. They didn't turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths, When the anger of God went up against them, Killed some of the fattest of them, And struck down the young men of Israel. For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works. Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, And their years in terror. When he killed them, then they inquired after him. They returned and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, The Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied to him with their tongue. For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant. But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn't destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, And didn't stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, And grieved him in the desert! They turned again and tempted God, And provoked the Holy One of Israel. They didn't remember his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary; How he set his signs in Egypt, His wonders in the field of Zoan, Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink. He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs, which destroyed them. He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, Their sycamore-fig trees with frost. He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, And a band of angels of evil. He made a path for his anger. He didn't spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence, And struck all the firstborn in Egypt, The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham. But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain, which his right hand had taken. He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And didn't keep his testimonies; But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images. When God heard this, he was angry, And greatly abhorred Israel; So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men; And delivered his strength into captivity, His glory into the adversary's hand. He also gave his people over to the sword, And was angry with his inheritance. Fire devoured their young men; Their virgins had no wedding song. Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows couldn't weep. Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine. He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, And didn't choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he has established forever. He also chose David his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From following the ewes that have their young, He brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, And Israel, his inheritance. So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children's children, on the third and on the fourth generation."
Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; For his loving kindness endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods; For his loving kindness endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who alone does great wonders; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who by understanding made the heavens; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who spread out the earth above the waters; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who made the great lights; For his loving kindness endures forever: The sun to rule by day; For his loving kindness endures forever; The moon and stars to rule by night; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who struck down the Egyptian firstborn; For his loving kindness endures forever; And brought out Israel from among them; For his loving kindness endures forever; With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who divided the Red Sea apart; For his loving kindness endures forever; And made Israel to pass through the midst of it; For his loving kindness endures forever; But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who led his people through the wilderness; For his loving kindness endures forever: To him who struck great kings; For his loving kindness endures forever; And killed mighty kings; For his loving kindness endures forever: Sihon king of the Amorites; For his loving kindness endures forever; Og king of Bashan; For his loving kindness endures forever; And gave their land as an inheritance; For his loving kindness endures forever; Even a heritage to Israel his servant; For his loving kindness endures forever: Who remembered us in our low estate; For his loving kindness endures forever; And has delivered us from our adversaries; For his loving kindness endures forever: Who gives food to every creature; For his loving kindness endures forever. Oh give thanks to the God of heaven; For his loving kindness endures forever.
He shows his word to Jacob; His statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done this for just any nation. They don't know his ordinances. Praise Yah!
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, you whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners of it, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 63
Commentary on Isaiah 63 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 63
Isa 63:1-19. Messiah Coming as the Avenger, in Answer to His People's Prayers.
Messiah, approaching Jerusalem after having avenged His people on His and their enemies, is represented under imagery taken from the destruction of "Edom," the type of the last and most bitter foes of God and His people (see Isa 34:5, &c.).
1. Who—the question of the prophet in prophetic vision.
dyed—scarlet with blood (Isa 63:2, 3; Re 19:13).
Bozrah—(See on Isa 34:6).
travelling—rather, stately; literally, "throwing back the head" [Gesenius].
speak in righteousness—answer of Messiah. I, who have in faithfulness given a promise of deliverance, am now about to fulfil it. Rather, speak of righteousness (Isa 45:19; 46:13); salvation being meant as the result of His "righteousness" [Maurer].
save—The same Messiah that destroys the unbeliever saves the believer.
2. The prophet asks why His garments are "dyed" and "red."
winefat—rather, the "wine-press," wherein the grapes were trodden with the feet; the juice would stain the garment of him who trod them (Re 14:19, 20; 19:15). The image was appropriate, as the country round Bozrah abounded in grapes. This final blow inflicted by Messiah and His armies (Re 19:13-15) shall decide His claim to the kingdoms usurped by Satan, and by the "beast," to whom Satan delegates his power. It will be a day of judgment to the hostile Gentiles, as His first coming was a day of judgment to the unbelieving Jews.
3. Reply of Messiah. For the image, see La 1:15. He "treads the wine-press" here not as a sufferer, but as an inflicter of vengeance.
will tread … shall be … will stain—rather preterites, "I trod … trampled … was sprinkled … I stained."
blood—literally, "spirited juice" of the grape, pressed out by treading [Gesenius].
4. is—rather, "was." This assigns the reason why He has thus destroyed the foe (Zep 3:8).
my redeemed—My people to be redeemed.
day … year—here, as in Isa 34:8; 61:2, the time of "vengeance" is described as a "day"; that of grace and of "recompense" to the "redeemed," as a "year."
5. The same words as in Isa 59:16, except that there it is His "righteousness," here it is His "fury," which is said to have upheld Him.
6. Rather, preterites, "I trod down … made them drunk." The same image occurs Isa 51:17, 21-23; Ps 75:8; Jer 25:26, 27.
will bring down … strength to … earth—rather, "I spilled their life-blood (the same Hebrew words as in Isa 63:3) on the earth" [Lowth and Septuagint].
7. Israel's penitential confession and prayer for restoration (Ps 102:17, 20), extending from Isa 63:7 to 64:12.
loving-kindnesses … praises … mercies … loving-kindnesses—The plurals and the repetitions imply that language is inadequate to express the full extent of God's goodness.
us—the dispersed Jews at the time just preceding their final restoration.
house of Israel—of all ages; God was good not merely to the Jews now dispersed, but to Israel in every age of its history.
8. he—Jehovah "said," that is, thought, in choosing them as His covenant-people; so "said" (Ps 95:10). Not that God was ignorant that the Jews would not keep faith with Him; but God is here said, according to human modes of thought to say within Himself what He might naturally have expected, as the result of His goodness to the Jews; thus the enormity of their unnatural perversity is the more vividly set forth.
lie—prove false to Me (compare Ps 44:17).
so—in virtue of His having chosen them, He became their Saviour. So the "therefore" (Jer 31:33). His eternal choice is the ground of His actually saving men (Eph 1:3, 4).
9. he was afflicted—English Version reads the Hebrew as the Keri (Margin), does, "There was affliction to Him." But the Chetib (text) reads, "There was no affliction" (the change in Hebrew being only of one letter); that is, "In all their affliction there was no (utterly overwhelming) affliction" [Gesenius]; or, for "Hardly had an affliction befallen them, when the angel of His presence saved them" [Maurer]; or, as best suits the parallelism, "In all their straits there was no straitness in His goodness to them" [Houbigant], (Jud 10:16; Mic 2:7; 2Co 6:12).
angel of his presence—literally, "of His face," that is, who stands before Him continually; Messiah (Ex 14:19; 23:20, 21; Pr 8:30), language applicable to no creature (Ex 32:34; 33:2, 14; Nu 20:16; Mal 3:1).
bare them—(Isa 46:3, 4; 40:11; Ex 19:4; De 32:11, 12).
10. vexed—grieved (Ps 78:40; 95:10; Ac 7:51; Eph 4:30; Heb 3:10, 17).
he fought—rather, "He it was that fought," namely, the angel of His presence [Horsley], (La 2:5).
11. remembered—Notwithstanding their perversity, He forgot not His covenant of old; therefore He did not wholly forsake them (Le 26:40-42, 44, 45; Ps 106:45, 46); the Jews make this their plea with God, that He should not now forsake them.
saying—God is represented, in human language, mentally speaking of Himself and His former acts of love to Israel, as His ground for pitying them notwithstanding their rebellion.
sea—Red Sea.
shepherd—Moses; or if the Hebrew be read plural, "shepherds," Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders (so Ps 77:20).
put … Spirit … within him—Hebrew, "in the inward parts of him," that is, Moses; or it refers to the flock, "in the midst of his people" (Nu 11:17, 25; Ne 9:20; Hag 2:5).
12. The right hand of Moses was but the instrument; the arm of God was the real mover (Ex 15:6; 14:21).
dividing the water—(Ne 9:11; Ps 78:13).
13. deep—literally, "the tossing and roaring sea."
wilderness—rather, the "open plain" [Horsley], wherein there is no obstacle to cause a horse in its course the danger of stumbling.
14. As a beast … rest—image from a herd led "down" from the hills to a fertile and well-watered "valley" (Ps 23:2); so God's Spirit "caused Israel to rest" in the promised land after their weary wanderings.
to make … name—(So Isa 63:12; 2Sa 7:23).
15. Here begins a fervent appeal to God to pity Israel now on the ground of His former benefits.
habitation of … holiness—(Isa 57:15; De 26:15; 2Ch 30:27; Ps 33:14; 80:14).
zeal … strength—evinced formerly for Thy people.
sounding of … bowels—Thine emotions of compassion (Isa 16:11; Jer 31:20; 48:36; Ho 11:8).
16. thou … father—of Israel, by right not merely of creation, but also of electing adoption (Isa 64:8; De 32:6; 1Ch 29:10).
though Abraham … Israel—It had been the besetting temptation of the Jews to rest on the mere privilege of their descent from faithful Abraham and Jacob (Mt 3:9; Joh 8:39; 4:12); now at last they renounce this, to trust in God alone as their Father, notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary. Even though Abraham, our earthly father, on whom we have prided ourselves, disown us, Thou wilt not (Isa 49:15; Ps 27:10). Isaac is not mentioned, because not all his posterity was admitted to the covenant, whereas all Jacob's was; Abraham is specified because he was the first father of the Jewish race.
everlasting—an argument why He should help them, namely, because of His everlasting immutability.
17. made us to err—that is, "suffer" us to err and to be hardened in our heart. They do not mean to deny their own blameworthiness, but confess that through their own fault God gave them over to a reprobate mind (Isa 6:9, 10; Ps 119:10; Ro 1:28).
Return—(Nu 10:36; Ps 90:13).
18. people of … holiness—Israel dedicated as holy unto God (Isa 62:12; De 7:6).
possessed—namely, the Holy Land, or Thy "sanctuary," taken from the following clause, which is parallel to this (compare Isa 64:10, 11; Ps 74:6-8).
thy—an argument why God should help them; their cause is His cause.
19. thine … never—rather, "We are Thine from of old; Thou barest not rule over them" [Barnes]. Lowth translates, "We for long have been as those over whom Thou hast not ruled, who are not called by Thy name"; "for long" thus stands in contrast to "but a little while" (Isa 63:18). But the analogy of Isa 63:18 makes it likely that the first clause in this verse refers to the Jews, and the second to their foes, as English Version and Barnes translate it. The Jews' foes are aliens who have unjustly intruded into the Lord's heritage.