King James Version
Isaiah 64
12 verses with commentary
Prayer for God's Mercy
Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
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KJV Study Commentary
'Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence.' This passionate prayer continues from chapter 63. The Hebrew 'qara' (rend/tear) expresses violent breaking through. 'Come down' (yarad) requests theophany - divine appearance. Mountains flowing recalls Sinai's trembling (Exodus 19:18).
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
LXIV.
(1) **Oh that thou wouldest rend . . .**—The division of chapters hinders the English reader from seeing that this is really a continuation of the prayer of Isaiah 63:15-19. The prophet asks that Jehovan may not only “look down” from heaven, but may rend, as it were, the dark clouds that hide the light of His countenance from His people, and that the mountains might *tremble *at His presence...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. Fury is not in me--**that is, I entertain no longer anger towards my vine.
**who would set ... in battle--**that is, would that I had the briers, &c. (the wicked foe; Is 9:18; 10:17; 2Sa 23:6), before me! "I would go through," or rather, "against them."
As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! the melting: Heb. the fire of meltings
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KJV Study Commentary
'As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!' Fire imagery intensifies - melting, burning, boiling. The purpose: making God's name known and causing nations to tremble. Divine intervention serves revelatory purposes.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **As when the melting fire burneth . . .**—Better, *as when fire Kindleth brushwood, as when fire causeth the water to boil. *The two-fold action of material fire is used, as elsewhere, as a symbol of the “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) of the wrath of Jehovah.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. Or--**Else; the only alternative, if Israel's enemies wish to escape being "burnt together."
**strength--**rather, "the refuge which I afford" [Maurer]. "Take hold," refers to the horns of the altar which fugitives often laid hold of as an asylum (1Ki 1:50; 2:28). Jesus is God's "strength," or "refuge" which sinners must repair to and take hold of, if they are to have "peace" with God (Is 4...
Read full commentary →When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
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KJV Study Commentary
'When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence.' Memory of past unexpected interventions grounds present hope. 'Terrible things' (yare - fear-inspiring) exceeded expectation. The Hebrew 'lo-qivinu' (we looked not for) emphasizes surprise - God exceeded their imagination.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **When thou didst terrible things . . .**—The latter clause, “thou camest down **. . .**” is supposed by some critics to be an accidental repetition from Isaiah 64:1. By others it is taken as an intentional repetition, emphasising the previous assertion, after the manner of Hebrew poetry. The latter view seems to have most in its favour.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. He--**Jehovah. Here the song of the Lord as to His vineyard (Is 27:2-5) ends; and the prophet confirms the sentiment in the song, under the same image of a vine (compare Psa 92:13-15; Ho 14:5, 6).
**Israel ... fill ... world--**(Ro 11:12).
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. seen: or, seen a God beside thee, which doeth so for him, etc
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KJV Study Commentary
'For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.' Paul quotes this in 1 Corinthians 2:9 regarding the Spirit's revelation. No eye has seen, no ear heard what God prepares for those who wait. The Hebrew 'chakah' (wait) implies patient expectation.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee . . .**—The best commentators are in favour of rendering, *Neither hath the eye seen a God beside Thee, who will work for him that waiteth for Him. *The sense is not that God alone knows what He hath prepared, but that no man knows (sight and hearing being used as including all forms of spiritual apprehension) any god who does such great things a...
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**7. him ... those--**Israel--Israel's enemies. Has God punished His people as severely as He has those enemies whom He employed to chastise Israel? No! Far from it. Israel, after trials, He will restore; Israel's enemies He will utterly destroy at last.
**the slaughter of them that are slain by him--**rather, "Is Israel slain according to the slaughter of the enemy slain?" the slaughter wherewi...
Read full commentary →Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.' God meets those who work righteousness joyfully and remember His ways. Yet here is confession: 'thou art wroth; for we have sinned.' Despite sin, 'we shall be saved' - grace exceeds judgment.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Thou meetest him . . .**—The “meeting” is obviously one of favour. That was the law of God’s dealings with men. He met, in this sense, those who at once rejoiced in righteousness and practised it. But with Israel it was not so. Their sins had brought them under His anger, not under His favour.
In **those is continuance . . .**—The clause is difficult, and has been variously interpreted—(1) “...
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**8. In measure--**not beyond measure; in moderation (Job 23:6; Psa 6:1; Jr 10:24; 30:11; 46:28).
**when it shooteth--**image from the vine; rather, passing from the image to the thing itself, "when sending her away (namely, Israel to exile; Is 50:1, God only putting the adulteress away when He might justly have put her to death), Thou didst punish her" [Gesenius].
**stayeth--**rather, as Marg...
Read full commentary →But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
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KJV Study Commentary
'But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.' The Hebrew 'tame' (unclean) indicates ritual defilement. Even 'righteousnesses' (plural - best efforts) are 'filthy rags' ('ed' - menstrual cloths, ceremonially defiling). Sin's effects are universal ('all') and comprehensive.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **We are all as an unclean thing . . .**—Better, *as he who is unclean, scil., *like the leper of Leviticus 13:45.
**Filthy rags **point to that which to the Israelite was the other extremest form of ceremonial uncleanness, as in Ezekiel 36:17.
**Have taken us away**—*scil., *afar off from the light and favour of Jehovah.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. By this--**exile of Israel (the "sending away," Is 27:8).
**purged--**expiated [Horsley].
**all the fruit--**This is the whole benefit designed to be brought about by the chastisement; namely, the removal of his (Israel's) sin (namely, object of idolatry; De 9:21; Ho 10:8).
**when he--**Jehovah; at the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, His instrument. The Jews ever since have ...
Read full commentary →And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. consumed: Heb. melted because: Heb. by the hand
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KJV Study Commentary
'And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.' The absence of genuine prayer compounds the problem - 'none that calleth...stirreth up himself.' Spiritual lethargy accompanies moral failure. God's hidden face is both judgment and experience.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.**—Better, *hast delivered us into the hand *(*scil., *the power) *of our iniquities. *The previous clause had pointed to the people s forgetfulness of God—what we should call their indifference—as the root-evil. This states that that sin led, in the righteous judgment of God, to open iniquities. The thought is parallel to that of Romans 1:21-24.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. city--**Jerusalem; the beating asunder of whose altars and images was mentioned in Is 27:9 (compare Is 24:10-12).
**calf feed--**(Is 17:2); it shall be a vast wild pasture.
**branches--**resuming the image of the vine (Is 27:2,6).
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
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KJV Study Commentary
'But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.' The 'but now' (attah) marks a turn from despair to hope. Despite everything, God remains 'our father.' The potter/clay imagery (see Jeremiah 18) acknowledges divine sovereignty and human dependence. We are His 'work' (ma'aseh).
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **We are the clay, and thou our potter . . .**—Commonly, partly, perhaps, from St. Paul’s application of the image in Romans 9:20-21, and Isaiah’s own use of it in Isaiah 29:16, we associate the idea of the potter with that of simple arbitrary sovereignty. Here, however (as in Jeremiah 18:6), another aspect is presented to us, and the power of the Great Potter is made the ground of prayer. The...
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**11. boughs ... broken off--**so the Jews are called (Ro 11:17, 19, 20).
**set ... on fire--**burn them as fuel; "women" are specified, as probably it was their office to collect fuel and kindle the fire for cooking.
**no understanding--**as to the ways of God (De 32:28, 29; Jr 5:21; Ho 4:6).
Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.' The prayer pleads for limited rather than permanent wrath. The Hebrew 'ad-me'od' (very sore) asks for moderation. 'Remember not iniquity forever' asks for forgiveness. The appeal is relational: 'we are all thy people.'
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Restoration of the Jews from their dispersion, described under the image of fruits shaken from trees and collected.
**beat off--**as fruit beaten off a tree with a stick (De 24:20), and then gathered.
**river--**Euphrates.
**stream of Egypt--**on the confines of Palestine and Egypt (Nu 34:5; Jos 15:4, 47), now Wady-el-Arish, Jehovah's vineyard, Israel, extended according to His purpose f...
Read full commentary →Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.' The concrete reality of judgment: holy cities ('arei qodsheka' - plural, referring to all significant places) have become wilderness. Zion and Jerusalem specifically named are 'desolation' (shemamah - horror, devastation). Physical reality matches spiritual condition.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Thy holy cities . . .**—There is no other instance of the plural, and this probably led the LXX. and Vulg. to substitute the singular. It probably rests on the thought that the whole land was holy (Zechariah 2:12), and that this attribute extended, therefore, to all its cities, especially to those which were connected with historical memories. Possibly, however, Zion and Jerusalem—the forme...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. great trumpet--**image from the trumpets blown on the first day of the seventh month to summon the people to a holy convocation (Le 23:24). Antitypically, the gospel trumpet (Re 11:15; 14:6) which the Jews shall hearken to in the last days (Zec 12:10; 13:1). As the passover in the first month answers to Christ's crucifixion, so the day of atonement and the idea of "salvation" connected with ...
Read full commentary →Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
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KJV Study Commentary
'Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.' The temple ('our holy and beautiful house') is specifically mourned. The Hebrew 'tiph'artenu' (our beauty/glory) emphasizes what the temple meant to them. 'Burned with fire' is devastating final judgment. 'All our pleasant things' (machmaddim - treasures, delights...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Our holy and our beautiful house . . .**—The destruction of the Temple, which, on the assumption of Isaiah’s authorship, the prophet sees in vision, with all its historic memories, comes as the climax of suffering, and, therefore, of the appeal to the compassion of Jehovah.
**All our pleasant things . . .**—Probably, as in 2Chronicles 36:19, the precincts, porticoes, and other “goodly build...
Read full commentary →Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
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KJV Study Commentary
'Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?' The prayer concludes with bold questioning: Will God 'refrain' (aphaq - restrain, hold back) given such devastation? Will He remain silent while affliction continues? The Hebrew 'anah ad-me'od' (afflict very sore) challenges divine passivity. This is bold, honest prayer.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Wilt thou refrain . . .**?—The final appeal to the fatherly compassion of Jehovah reminds us of the scene when Joseph could not “refrain” (Genesis 45:1), and natural tenderness would find a vent. Could the God of Israel look on the scene of desolation, and not be moved to pity?
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 28
Is 28:1-29.
The twenty-eighth through thirty-third chapters form almost one continuous prophecy concerning the destruction of Ephraim, the impiety and folly of Judah, the danger of their league with Egypt, the straits they would be reduced to by Assyria, from which Jehovah would deliver them on their turning to Him; the twenty-eighth chapter refers to the time just before the sixth...
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