Isaiah 64
CambridgeIsaiah 64:1-3
Isaiah 64:1-3. The language of complaint again gives place (as in Isaiah 63:15) to impatient prayer for a Theophany,—an imposing manifestation of Jehovah in His might. It is the great “day of the Lord” towards which the desire of the people reaches forward. In the Hebr., ch. 64 begins with Isaiah 64:2 of our version, Isaiah 64:1 forming the conclusion of Isa 63:19.
Isaiah 64:2
- Render: As fire kindleth brushwood, as fire maketh water boil, &c. to make thy name known to thine adversaries &c.]—the purpose of the Theophany. Cf. ch. Isaiah 59:18-19.
Isaiah 64:3
- The second part of the verse, being (in the original) verbally repeated from Isaiah 64:1, ought probably to be omitted as a copyist’s error. The passage gains in compactness by its excision. Isaiah 64:1-3 will then form a single sentence, the last clause of which runs: while thou doest terrible things which we hoped not for; i.e. surpassing all our expectations. terrible things] A standing phrase, as Cheyne remarks, for the marvels of the Exodus, the type of the great final deliverance. Cf. Deuteronomy 10:21; 2 Samuel 7:23; Psalms 106:22.
Isaiah 64:4-7
4–7. This difficult passage contains (1) an appeal to that which distinguishes Jehovah from all other deities: He is the only God who works for them that wait for Him in the way of righteousness; (2) a confession of the people’s sinful condition due to the persistency of the divine wrath. A contrast between these thoughts is probably intended; the severity of Jehovah’s dealings with Israel seems at variance with His known character. But the text is in some places hopelessly corrupt, and the exact sense is somewhat uncertain. For since the beginning … heard] Lit. “And from of old they have not heard.” It is tempting (with Duhm) to take this as a relative clause parallel to and continuing Isaiah 64:3 (“… terrible things which we hoped not for, and which from of old men have not heard”). There is an awkwardness, however, in commencing a new sentence with the next clause, and still greater difficulty in carrying on the sentence of Isa 64:3 to the word “seen” (Hitzig). Accepting the traditional division, Isaiah 64:4 will read nearly as in R.V., And from of old men have not heard, have not perceived by the ear, no eye hath seen a God beside Thee, Who worketh for him that waiteth for Him. The rendering of A.V. is partly accommodated to St Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 2:9, where, however, a different text (not the LXX.) seems to be followed. Jerome says that the Apostle’s words are found in certain Apocalyptic books, although he will not admit that they are quoted from them. “Worketh for”=“sheweth Himself active on behalf of”; without obj., as Genesis 30:30; Psalms 37:5.
Isaiah 64:5
- Thou meetest] (a perf. of experience). The verb is obviously used here in a good sense, as Genesis 32:1. that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness] i.e. that joyfully worketh righteousness. The words rejoiceth and are not in the LXX. those that remember thee in thy ways] Cf. ch. Isaiah 26:8. thou art wroth &c.] R.V. thou wast wroth and we sinned. Cf. ch. Isaiah 57:17. in those is continuance and we shall be saved] R.V. “in them have we been of long time, and shall we be saved?” The text is quite unintelligible. LXX. has simply διὰτοῦτοἐπλανήθημεν. The last word suggests a satisfactory emendation (perhaps επτως for επεως). Of further conjectural restorations one may be mentioned, due to Lowth. Instead of αδνςεμν he reads αְּ ?δַ ?ξְ ?ςַ ?εְ ?μν = “against the evil-doers”; thus obtaining a parallelism with the preceding line. “Behold Thou wast wroth and we sinned, Against the evildoers, and we fell away.” This is at least a meaning, though not one that is altogether convincing.
Isaiah 64:6-7
6, 7. A pathetic description of the degeneracy and spiritual lethargy of the people, caused by the divine wrath.
Isaiah 64:7
- And there is none that calleth, &c.] an easily intelligible hyperbole. stirreth himself up] “arouseth himself,” the same verb as in Isaiah 51:17. consumed us, because of our iniquities] lit. “melted us by the hand of our iniquities.” Cf. Ezekiel 33:10, “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them, how should we then live?” A better reading, supported by LXX., Pesh. and Targ., is delivered us into the hand (i.e. the power) of our iniquities. Cf. Job 8:4.
Isaiah 64:8-12
8–12. The prayer now ends in a direct and touching supplication, supported by various pleas, that Jehovah will at last cause His wrath against His people to cease.
Isaiah 64:9
- neither remember iniquity for ever] Psalms 79:8. The nation feels that it is bearing the inexhaustible penalty of past sins. Such a thought was specially natural after the Restoration, when it appeared as if even the immeasurable calamity of the Exile had not wiped out the arrears of hereditary guilt (cf. Zechariah 1:12).
Isaiah 64:10-11
10, 11. The evidences of Jehovah’s displeasure are to be seen on every hand, in the desolation and ruin of the sacred places.
Isaiah 64:11
- The reference must apparently be to the first Temple and its destruction by the Chaldæans. The expression, and indeed the whole tone of the passage, suggest an event not quite recent; it is not the present generation, but their fathers who praised God in the “holy and beautiful house.” The question then comes to be whether this could have been said after the erection of Zerubbabel’s Temple. In spite of the tendency to hyperbolical language which marks the prayer, and the painful contrast between the magnificence of the first Temple and the poverty of the second, it is difficult to think that the author should absolutely ignore the existence of the sanctuary if it had been restored. See Introductory note. is burned with fire] Lit. “has become a burning of fire”; cf. ch. Isaiah 9:5. our pleasant things] Rather, our desirable places; cf. 2 Chronicles 36:19; Lamentations 1:10; Ezekiel 24:21; Ezekiel 24:25.
Isaiah 64:12
- refrain thyself] See ch. Isaiah 63:15.