What Does Isaiah 63:1 Mean?

LXIII. (1) **Who is this that cometh from Edom? . . .**—There is no apparent connection between Isaiah 63:1-6 and what precedes and follows. They must be dealt with, accordingly, as a separate section, though not, as some critics have suggested, by a different writer. To understand its relation to the prophet’s mind, we must remember the part which Edom had taken during the history of which Isaiah was cognisant, perhaps also that which he foresaw they would take in the period that was to follow. That part had been one of persistent hostility. They had been allied with the Tyrians against Judah, and had been guilty of ruthless atrocities (Amos 1:9-11). They had carried off Jewish prisoners as slaves (Obadiah 1:10-11). They had been allies of *the *Assyrian invaders (Psalm 83:6), and had smitten Judah in the days of Ahaz (2Chronicles 28:17). If we think of the prophet as seeing in spirit the working of the old enmity at a later period, we may extend the induction to their exultation at the capture of Jerusalem (Psalm 137:7; Lamentations 4:21). The memory of these things sank deep into the nation, and the first words of the last of the prophets echo the old hatred (Malachi 1:2-4). In the later days of Judaism, where Rabbis uttered their curses against their oppressors, Edom was substituted for Rome, as St. John substitutes Babylon (Revelation 18:2). Isaiah, possibly starting from the memory of some recent outrages in the reign of Hezekiah, and taking Edom as the representative of all the nearer hereditary enemies of Israel, into an ecstacy of jubilation, and sees the conquering king returning from his work of vengeance. The form is that of a warrior coming from the Idumsean Bozrah (as distinct from that in the Haurân, Jeremiah 48:24) in *bright-red *garments. And the colour (as in Revelation 19:13) is not that of the scarlet dress worn by soldiers (Nahum 2:3), but that of blood just shed. **Travelling.**—The Hebrew verb (*bending, or tossing *the head) indicates the movement and gestures of a conqueror exulting in his victory. **I that speak . . .**—The hero-avenger, the righteous king who represents Jehovah, hears the wondering question, and makes answer for himself. “Righteousness” and “salvation,” which he claims as his attributes, show that he is none other than the ideal Servant of the Lord of Hosts, sharing His attributes.