Remembering God's Mercy and Plea for Restoration
Isaiah 63:7-64:12
Isa.63.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חסדי: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אזכיר: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,sg
- תהלת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כעל: PREP
- כל: DET
- אשר: PRON,rel
- גמלנו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ורב: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- לבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cns
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- גמלם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כרחמיו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וכרב: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חסדיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 106:1 (verbal): Both open with praise/thanksgiving to Yahweh and explicitly invoke his steadfast love (hesed) as the basis for praising God’s deeds for Israel.
- Psalm 107:8 (thematic): Calls for giving thanks to the LORD for his steadfast love and wondrous deeds—paralleling Isaiah’s intent to recount Yahweh’s mercies and mighty acts on behalf of Israel.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 (verbal): Emphasizes that the LORD’s mercies/steadfast love are enduring and repeatedly renewed, echoing Isaiah’s focus on God’s abundant mercies toward Israel.
- Psalm 103:2 (structural): Both verses urge remembering and recounting the benefits/mercies of the LORD (a call to recollect and praise God for his gracious acts toward his people).
Alternative generated candidates
- I will recall the mercies of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has dealt to us—yes, the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has dealt to them according to his compassions, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
- I will recount the LORD's mercies; I will sing the LORD's praise—for all that the LORD has shown us, and the abundant goodness he has shown to the house of Israel, according to his compassions and the multitude of his steadfast love.
Isa.63.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אך: PART
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- המה: PRON,3,m,pl
- בנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- ישקרו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- למושיע: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 4:22 (verbal): God designates Israel as his son/firstborn — similar familial language ('my people, children') describing Israel's special status.
- Hosea 11:1 (allusion): Speaks of Israel as God's child and recounts God's saving acts (calling his son out of Egypt), echoing the child‑language and salvation motif.
- Isaiah 63:9 (structural): Immediate context: continues the thought that in their affliction God was their savior — directly parallels 'and he became their savior.'
- Jeremiah 31:33 (thematic): Covenantal formula ('I will be their God, and they shall be my people') parallels the theme of belonging and God's saving relationship with Israel.
- Psalm 78:6-7 (thematic): Emphasizes teaching future generations so they 'put their hope in God' and remain faithful — links the idea of people/children who do not fail or deceive God's purpose.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said, "Surely they are my people—children who will not deal falsely"—and he became their savior.
- And he said, 'Surely they are my people—children who will not deal falsely'; and he became their Savior.
Isa.63.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צרתם: NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומלאך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- פניו: NOUN,m,pl,cons+3,m,sg
- הושיעם: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg,3,pl
- באהבתו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- ובחמלתו: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,3,ms
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- גאלם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg,3,pl
- וינטלם: CONJ+VERB,qal,wayyiq,3,m,sg,3,pl
- וינשאם: CONJ+VERB,qal,wayyiq,3,m,sg,3,pl
- כל: DET
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 3:7-8 (thematic): God sees Israel's affliction and comes to deliver them—theme of divine pity and redemption matching 'in all their affliction... he saved them.'
- Psalm 34:7 (verbal): 'The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them' parallels 'the angel of his presence saved them' (angelic rescuer language).
- Deuteronomy 1:31 (verbal): 'As a man carries his son... the LORD your God carried you' echoes the image 'he bare them, and carried them.'
- Exodus 34:6-7 (thematic): God’s self-revelation as merciful, gracious, and compassionate corresponds to 'in his love and in his pity he redeemed them.'
- Isaiah 46:4 (allusion): Promises of God sustaining and carrying his people 'I will carry you... even to old age' resonate with 'and he bare them... all the days of old.'
Alternative generated candidates
- In all their distress he too was distressed; the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- In all their distress he was distressed; the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and his pity he redeemed them; he bore them and carried them all the days of old.
Isa.63.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והמה: PRON,3,m,pl
- מרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl,m
- ועצבו: CONJ+VERB,piel,impf,3,pl,m
- את: PRT,acc
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קדשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ויהפך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- לאויב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- נלחם: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- בם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 78:40-41 (thematic): Recounts Israel's repeated rebellion and testing of God in the wilderness—parallels Isa.63:10's charge that the people rebelled against God and brought his displeasure.
- Psalm 106:40-43 (thematic): Narrates how Israel provoked the LORD to anger and suffered divine punishment; thematically parallels the idea that Israel's sin angered God and made him act against them.
- Numbers 14:11-12 (thematic): God's response to Israel's refusal to trust at Kadesh—He expresses wrath and threatens judgment; parallels Isaiah's depiction of God turning against his rebellious people.
- Hebrews 10:29 (verbal): Speaks of insulting ('outraging') the Spirit of grace—language closely echoing Isa.63:10's 'grieved his Holy Spirit,' used here in a New Testament moral/theological application.
- Hebrews 3:7-11 (quoting Psalm 95) (allusion): Uses the wilderness rebellion as a warning not to harden hearts, alluding to the same failure of Israel that in Isaiah brought divine anger and exclusion from God's rest.
Alternative generated candidates
- But they rebelled and provoked his holy spirit, and he turned to be their enemy; he himself fought against them.
- But they rebelled and grieved the Spirit of his holiness; he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
Isa.63.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויזכר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עמו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- איה: ADV,interr
- המעלם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- רעי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- צאנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUF,3,m,sg
- איה: ADV,interr
- השם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בקרבו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRS,3,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קדשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Exodus 14:21-31 (allusion): Isaiah 63:11 recalls God’s act of bringing Israel up out of the sea under Moses — directly alluding to the Red Sea crossing and deliverance narrated here.
- Numbers 11:16-17 (verbal): Isaiah’s question about God placing his ‘Holy Spirit in the midst of them’ echoes God’s promise to take of the spirit on Moses and put it on others ( Numbers 11:16–17 ).
- Psalm 106:7-12 (thematic): Psalm 106 recounts Israel’s forgetfulness and then remembers God’s saving acts—specifically the Red Sea deliverance under Moses—paralleling Isaiah’s recollection of ‘the days of old’.
- Psalm 78:13-16 (thematic): This psalm retells God’s wonders in leading Israel through the sea and shepherding them; it parallels Isaiah’s memory of Moses, the sea-deliverance, and God as shepherd of his flock.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then he remembered the days of old, the days of Moses his servant: "Where is he who brought them up out of the sea, the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set within him his Holy Spirit?"
- Then he remembered the days of old—Moses and his people: Where is he who brought out the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit in the midst of them?
Isa.63.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מוליך: VERB,hif,ptcp,3,m,sg
- לימין: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- זרוע: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תפארתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- בוקע: VERB,qal,ptcp,3,m,sg
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- מפניהם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- לעשות: VERB,qal,inf
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- שם: ADV
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 14:21 (verbal): Moses stretches out his hand and God divides the sea — direct picture of waters being cleaved before the people, paralleling 'breaking the waters before them.'
- Exodus 15:6 (verbal): Song of Moses speaks of the LORD's 'right hand' and 'glorious arm' that accomplishes victory, echoing the language of divine power in Isaiah 63:12.
- Psalm 77:20 (verbal): 'You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron' — explicit mention of guidance 'by the hand of Moses' analogous to Isaiah's 'led them by the right hand of Moses.'
- Psalm 78:13 (thematic): 'He divided the sea and made them pass through' — retells the Exodus motif of God making a way through the waters for Israel, thematically matching Isaiah 63:12.
- Isaiah 51:9-10 (allusion): Earlier Isaiah summons the LORD's arm that 'cut Rahab' and 'dried the sea,' using the same divine-arm/divided-waters imagery that Isaiah 63:12 invokes.
Alternative generated candidates
- He who led them by the right hand of Moses—by the glorious arm—dividing the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name.
- Who led Moses by his glorious arm, who cleaved the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name.
Isa.63.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מוליכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- בתהמות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- כסוס: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- במדבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יכשלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Exodus 15:13 (thematic): After the Exodus song God is praised for leading the redeemed by his steadfast love and guiding them to his dwelling—same tradition of divine guidance through danger that Isaiah invokes.
- Psalm 77:19-20 (thematic): Speaks of God’s way through the sea and then explicitly says he 'led his people like a flock'—echoes Isaiah’s image of the LORD leading his people through depths and wilderness without stumbling.
- Deuteronomy 8:15 (allusion): Describes God leading Israel through the 'great and terrifying wilderness' with scarce water and dangers—parallels Isaiah’s wilderness/sea guidance motif.
- Psalm 114:3-4 (structural): Depicts the sea and waters reacting to Israel’s God (sea fled, Jordan turned back), resonating with Isaiah’s use of the crossing/waters motif to portray divine deliverance through perilous depths.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who led them through the deeps like a horse in the wilderness; they did not stumble.
- You led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness; they did not stumble.
Isa.63.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כבהמה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בבקעה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תרד: VERB,qal,juss,2,m,sg
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- תניחנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- כן: ADV
- נהגת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- לעשות: VERB,qal,inf
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- שם: ADV
- תפארת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 33:14 (verbal): Both passages speak of God’s presence giving rest (Exod. 33:14 “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest”)—paralleling Isaiah’s statement that the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
- Exodus 13:21-22 (thematic): God leading Israel through the wilderness by a guiding presence (pillar of cloud/fire) parallels Isaiah’s theme of God guiding his people and conducting them to a place of safety and honor.
- Psalm 77:20 (verbal): Psalm 77:20 says God “led your people like a flock,” echoing Isaiah’s language of God’s guidance (‘so you led your people’) and the pastoral imagery of divine leading.
- Psalm 78:52-53 (thematic): These verses recount God bringing Israel out and guiding them like a flock into his sanctuary/boundary, thematically echoing Isaiah’s depiction of God guiding and settling his people and granting them rest.
- Isaiah 63:9-11 (structural): Immediate context within the same chapter recalls God’s compassionate presence, the Spirit’s action, and past leading of Israel—Isa. 63:14 functions as part of this larger unit describing how God led and gave rest to his people.
Alternative generated candidates
- Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest; so you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.
- As a beast goes down into the valley, so the Spirit of the LORD caused them to rest. Thus you guided your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.
Isa.63.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הבט: VERB,piel,impv,2,m,sg
- משמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וראה: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- מזבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קדשך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2,ms
- ותפארתך: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss,2,m,sg
- איה: ADV,interr
- קנאתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss,2,m,sg
- וגבורתך: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs,2ms
- המון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מעיך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- ורחמיך: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss,2,m,sg
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- התאפקו: VERB,hitpael,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 64:1-3 (thematic): A closely related plea for God to come down from heaven and display divine power; both passages long for visible divine intervention and might.
- Psalm 80:14-19 (verbal): Uses the same appeal 'look down from heaven' and petitions God to see and restore his people—parallel language and lament over apparent divine absence.
- Psalm 42:9 (thematic): A personal lament asking why God seems forgotten or distant; shares the tone of questioning God's presence and compassion.
- Habakkuk 1:2-4 (thematic): A prophetic complaint about divine silence and injustice—asks why God allows oppression, echoing Isaiah's questioning of God's zeal and mercy.
- Hosea 11:8-9 (allusion): Speaks of God's inward compassion and 'heart' being moved ('bowels' imagery); provides a theological counterpoint to Isaiah's question about where God's mercy and inward feelings have gone.
Alternative generated candidates
- Look down from heaven and see from your holy and glorious habitation: where are your zeal and your mighty deeds? The outpouring of your compassion and your mercies are withheld from me.
- Look down from heaven and see from your holy and glorious habitation: where are your zeal and your might, the inward springs of compassion and mercy—are they withheld from me?
Isa.63.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- אבינו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,prsuf1pl
- כי: CONJ
- אברהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידענו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- וישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יכירנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg,obj:1pl
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אבינו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,prsuf1pl
- גאלנו: NOUN,m,sg,suff1pl
- מעולם: ADV
- שמך: NOUN,m,sg,cs,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 64:8 (verbal): Directly echoes the address 'You are our Father' (נְאָבִינּוּ/אָבִינוּ), repeating the same confession of God as Father and creator.
- Isaiah 43:14 (verbal): Uses the title 'your Redeemer' (גואל), paralleling 'our Redeemer from of old'—both passages identify the LORD as Israel's redeemer.
- Deuteronomy 32:6 (thematic): Speaks of God as a father figure who 'created/bought' Israel—anticipates the motif of God as Israel's Father and protector invoked in Isa 63:16.
- Psalm 103:13 (thematic): Portrays God's compassionate, fatherly care ('As a father has compassion on his children'), resonating with Isa 63:16's appeal to God as Father.
- Malachi 2:10 (thematic): Rhetorically asks 'Have we not all one Father?'—a related theological claim about God's fatherhood over Israel that underlies Isa 63:16's address.
Alternative generated candidates
- For you are our Father—though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us—O LORD, you are our Father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.
- For you are our Father; though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.
Isa.63.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- למה: ADV
- תתענו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מדרכיך: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs,2,m
- תקשיח: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- לבנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מיראתך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,m
- שוב: ADV
- למען: PREP
- עבדיך: NOUN,m,pl,abs,2ms
- שבטי: NOUN,m,pl,con
- נחלתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,m
Parallels
- Psalm 80:14-19 (thematic): A communal plea for God to 'return' and revive his people/vineyard; both Isaiah 63:17 and Psalm 80 appeal for restoration on behalf of God's people and ask God to look down and restore his heritage.
- Isaiah 64:9 (verbal): Immediate Isaiah parallel that likewise pleads 'Return for the sake of your servants' (שובה למען עבדיך), echoing the same request that God turn back to his people despite their sin.
- Jeremiah 14:19-21 (thematic): A prophetic lament asking why God has rejected or caused Judah to wander and pleading for restoration for the sake of God's name and people—similar language of accusation, distress, and urgent request for God to return.
- Exodus 32:11-14 (allusion): Moses' intercession asking God to 'turn from his fierce anger' and spare the tribes of Israel resonates with Isaiah's appeal that God return for the sake of his servants/tribes, invoking corporate covenantal mercy.
Alternative generated candidates
- Why, O LORD, do you make us to err from your ways? Why have you hardened our heart from fearing you? Return for the sake of your servants, for the tribes of your heritage.
- Why have you made us wander, O LORD, from your ways? Why have you hardened our heart so that we fear you no more? Turn back, for the sake of your servants—the tribes of your inheritance.
Isa.63.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- למצער: PREP
- ירשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- עם: PREP
- קדשך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2,ms
- צרינו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,m,pl
- בוססו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מקדשך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 79:1-2 (verbal): Laments nations invading God’s inheritance and defiling the holy temple—directly parallels the image of enemies trampling/profaning God’s sanctuary and dispossessing his people.
- Psalm 74:3-7 (verbal): Describes adversaries roaring in the meeting place and casting fire into the sanctuary; closely echoes the language and theme of the sanctuary being trampled and profaned.
- Lamentations 2:6 (thematic): Speaks of the LORD removing and destroying his sanctuary and the devastation of Judah; thematically parallels the ruin and dispossession of God’s holy people and place.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17-19 (structural): Narrates the historical consequence—Babylonian destruction of the temple and exile—providing the historical/structural fulfilment behind images of enemies trampling the sanctuary and the loss of God’s inheritance.
Alternative generated candidates
- For a little while your people possessed your sanctuary; our adversaries trod down your sanctuary.
- For a little while your people possessed your holy place; your holy people have become a spoil; our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
Isa.63.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- היינו: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- מעולם: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- משלת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- נקרא: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- שמך: NOUN,m,sg,cs,2,m,sg
- עליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- לוא: NEG
- קרעת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- שמים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ירדת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- מפניך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2m
- הרים: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- נזלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 64:1-3 (verbal): Immediate parallel/echo in the next chapter: the plea 'Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down' repeats the same verb and imagery of God tearing the heavens and descending.
- Habakkuk 3:3-6 (thematic): Theophanic language of God coming from heaven and causing mountains to quake and nations to tremble — parallels the expectation and cosmic effects of divine descent in Isa 63:19.
- Psalm 18:7-16 (verbal): Vivid theophany: heavens open, smoke, earthquake, and mountains trembling when God appears — shares much of the same vocabulary and imagery of divine coming down.
- Exodus 19:16-20 (structural): The Sinai theophany (YHWH descending on the mountain with thunder, smoke, and quake) provides an older narrative paradigm for prophetic depictions of God 'coming down' and shaking the mountains.
Alternative generated candidates
- We have been as in former times; you did not rule over them, and they were not called by your name. Did you not rend the heavens and come down? The mountains melted at your presence.
- Was it from of old that you did not rule over them, that your name was not called upon them? Did you not come down, O LORD, when you cleaved the heavens? Did the mountains melt before you?
Isa.64.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כקדח: PREP
- אש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- המסים: VERB,piel,ptc,-,m,pl
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תבעה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- אש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- להודיע: VERB,hiph,inf,-,-,-
- שמך: NOUN,m,sg,cs,2,m,sg
- לצריך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+pr:2ms
- מפניך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2m
- גוים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ירגזו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 63:15 (thematic): A closely related plea for God to look down from heaven and manifest his saving power—same prophetic motif of longing for divine intervention and presence.
- Exodus 19:16-19 (verbal): The Sinai theophany (smoke, fire, trembling mountain) provides the paradigmatic OT image of God ‘coming down’ that Isaiah invokes.
- Psalm 18:7-15 (thematic): A vivid theophany picture of God descending in thunder, smoke, and earthquake—parallels the request that the heavens be torn open and mountains react to God's presence.
- Habakkuk 3:3-6 (allusion): Habakkuk’s prayer-song describes God’s dramatic descent with cosmic effects (mountains quaking, waterways disturbed), echoing Isaiah’s yearning for a visible divine intervention.
- Nahum 1:5-6 (verbal): Speaks of mountains quaking and hills melting before the LORD—language very close to Isaiah’s image of mountains reacting when God reveals his name.
Alternative generated candidates
- Like the heat of a furnace that melts metal—let fire be bidden, that your name may be made known to your adversary; before you the nations shall tremble.
- Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence! When you did awesome deeds to make your name known to your enemies, the nations trembled at your presence.
Isa.64.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בעשותך: PREP+VERB,qal,infc,2,m,sg
- נוראות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- נקוה: VERB,qal,impf,1,na,pl
- ירדת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- מפניך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,2m
- הרים: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- נזלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Exodus 19:18 (thematic): At Sinai the mountain quaked and was wrapped in smoke at God's coming—parallel the imagery of God descending and mountains trembling at His presence.
- Nahum 1:5-6 (verbal): Speaks of mountains quaking and hills melting at God's presence and wrath, using language very similar to Isaiah's depiction of fearful divine descent.
- Psalm 97:5 (verbal): Declares that the mountains melt like wax before the LORD—a close verbal parallel to Isaiah's 'mountains flowed' reaction to God's coming.
- Psalm 68:8 (Hebrew 68:7) (thematic): Describes earth and mountains trembling and waters pouring out at God's presence—echoes the cosmic, tectonic response to the divine theophany in Isaiah 64:2.
- Psalm 18:7-8 (thematic): Part of a vivid theophany where the earth shakes, mountains quake, and God comes down to save—thematically parallels Isaiah's image of God descending with earth-shaking effects.
Alternative generated candidates
- When you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down; the mountains flowed at your presence.
- When you came down, the mountains melted at your presence—while you performed deeds we did not expect, you made yourself known.
Isa.64.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ומעולם: CONJ+ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- האזינו: VERB,hiph,imp,2,m,pl
- עין: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- לא: PART_NEG
- ראתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- זולתך: PREP+2ms
- יעשה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- למחכה: PREP+PART,qal,ptc,act,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 1 Corinthians 2:9 (quotation): Paul echoes Isaiah's language—"what no eye has seen, nor ear heard"—to describe the hidden things God has prepared, directly citing the same tradition about divine acts beyond human perception.
- Exodus 15:11 (thematic): Both verses celebrate the uniqueness of YHWH among gods and his unmatched deeds ("Who is like you... doing wonders?"), resonating with Isaiah's claim that no eye has seen a God besides you who acts on behalf of those who wait.
- Isaiah 65:17 (allusion): Isaiah 65:17–25 presents an eschatological vision of new things God will do—an implicit parallel to 64:3's affirmation that God will accomplish unprecedented, unseen acts for his people.
- Isaiah 40:31 (thematic): The phrase "those who wait for the LORD" links 64:3 and 40:31 thematically: both promise that God acts to strengthen and vindicate those who patiently trust in him.
Alternative generated candidates
- From of old no ear has heard, no eye has seen a God besides you acting for the one who waits for him.
- From of old no ear has heard, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts for the one who waits for him.
Isa.64.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- פגעת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- שש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- צדק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בדרכיך: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs,suff,2,m,sg
- יזכרוך: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl,ps,2,m,sg
- הן: PART
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- קצפת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ונחטא: VERB,qal,perf,1,pl
- בהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ונושע: VERB,niphal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 1 Corinthians 2:9 (quotation): Paul cites/echoes the OT motif 'eye has not seen, ear has not heard' and applies it to 'things God has prepared'—a direct New Testament quotation/allusion to the Isaiah tradition about God's unseen, surprising deeds for those who wait.
- Isaiah 64:3 (structural): Immediate context: verse 3 describes God's awesome, unexpected action coming down from heaven—helps explain verse 4's emphasis on deeds no ear has heard or eye seen.
- Isaiah 63:1-6 (thematic): Parallel theme of Yahweh's dramatic, salvific intervention (coming in judgment and deliverance). Both passages stress God's unique, mighty acts on behalf of his people.
- Isaiah 65:1 (allusion): Speaks of God revealing himself to those who did not seek him—similar theme of God's initiative and surprising revelation/salvation to those who wait or are unexpected recipients.
- Habakkuk 1:5 (thematic): Calls the audience to 'look among the nations... be astounded' at what God will do—echoes Isaiah's stress on God's acts that surpass human expectation and perception.
Alternative generated candidates
- You meet one who rejoices and does justice, who remembers you in your ways. Yet behold—you were angry, and we have sinned; for long have our transgressions endured, and in you alone is our deliverance.
- You meet the one who delights to do righteousness—those who remember you in your ways. Yet you were angry, and we sinned; in our sinfulness we have long endured, and you have nevertheless brought redemption.
Isa.64.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ונהי: CONJ+PRON,1,pl
- כטמא: PREP+ADJ,f,sg,abs
- כלנו: PRON,1,pl
- וכבגד: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כל: DET
- צדקתינו: NOUN,f,sg,suff-1pl
- ונבל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כעלה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כלנו: PRON,1,pl
- ועוננו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,suff-1pl
- כרוח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישאנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,ms,obj-1pl
Parallels
- Job 14:4 (verbal): Both speak to human impurity—'who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?' echoes Isaiah's verdict that all are unclean and their 'righteousnesses' are not truly pure.
- Zechariah 3:3-4 (verbal): Uses the image of 'filthy garments' to describe sinful condition; Zechariah removes filthy clothes from Joshua as a cleansing/forgiveness motif parallel to Isaiah's 'righteous deeds like a polluted garment.'
- Romans 3:10-12 (thematic): Paul's catalogue of universal sinfulness ('none righteous… no one does good') parallels Isaiah's assertion that human righteousness is worthless and people are morally corrupt.
- Romans 3:23 (thematic): 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' summarizes the same theme of universal moral failure that Isaiah expresses in this verse.
- Titus 3:5 (thematic): Contrasts human 'deeds of righteousness' with God's saving mercy—echoes Isaiah's point that human righteousness cannot merit acceptance, so salvation depends on God's action rather than our 'righteous' works.
Alternative generated candidates
- We have all become like one unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- We are all unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
Isa.64.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- קורא: VERB,qal,ptc,NA,m,sg
- בשמך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON:2ms
- מתעורר: VERB,hitpael,ptc,ms,sg
- להחזיק: VERB,hiphil,inf
- בך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- הסתרת: VERB,hiphil,perf,2,m,sg
- פניך: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- ממנו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ותמוגנו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg,obj:1pl
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עוננו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 59:2 (verbal): Direct verbal parallel: Israel’s sins have ‘hidden’ God’s face so he does not hear — same causal link between iniquity and God’s hidden face as in Isa 64:6.
- Psalm 30:7 (Heb. 30:8) (verbal): Uses the language of God hiding his face and the petitioner being distressed/consumed — echoes the motif of divine absence and its dire effects.
- Psalm 13:1 (thematic): A lament that asks why God has ‘forgotten’ or ‘hidden his face,’ thematically paralleling the complaint about divine absence in Isa 64:6.
- Psalm 44:24 (Heb. 44:24–25) (thematic): Corporate lament asking why God hides his face and seems to forget the community’s suffering, echoing Isa 64’s communal confession and plea.
Alternative generated candidates
- There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have consumed us because of our iniquities.
- There is none who calls on your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and you have consumed us by our iniquities.
Isa.64.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועתה: CONJ
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אבינו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,prsuf1pl
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- אנחנו: PRON,1,pl
- החמר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- יצרנו: VERB,qal,ptcp,ms,sg,1pl-suff
- ומעשה: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ידך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:2,f,sg
- כלנו: PRON,1,pl
Parallels
- Jeremiah 18:1-6 (verbal): The potter-and-clay image: God instructs Jeremiah to observe a potter reshaping clay, using the metaphor of God shaping Israel—directly parallels Isaiah’s depiction of humans as clay and God as potter.
- Isaiah 45:9 (verbal): Rhetorical rebuke using the potter/clay motif—'Woe to him who strives with his Maker... Does the clay say to its potter, What are you making?'—echoes the theme of creaturely dependence on the Creator.
- Isaiah 29:16 (verbal): Another Isaiah passage reversing roles—'Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?'—uses the same potter imagery to stress God’s sovereignty over human affairs, closely related to Isa.64:7’s wording.
- Romans 9:20-21 (quotation): Paul adapts the potter/clay argument ('Who are you to talk back to the one who made you? Does the clay say to the potter...') to defend divine sovereignty—an explicit New Testament reuse of the OT motif reflected in Isa.64:7.
- Job 10:8-9 (thematic): Job describes God’s forming activity—'Your hands fashioned me and made me'—which thematically parallels Isaiah’s acknowledgement that humans are formed by God (clay/potter motif emphasizing divine craftsmanship).
Alternative generated candidates
- Yet now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter—we all are the work of your hand.
- Yet now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay and you are our potter—we are all the work of your hand.
Isa.64.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אל: NEG
- תקצף: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עד: PREP
- מאד: ADV
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- לעד: ADV
- תזכר: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- עון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הן: PART
- הבט: VERB,piel,impv,2,m,sg
- נא: PART
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- כלנו: PRON,1,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 79:5 (verbal): Direct verbal echo—both plead, “How long, O LORD? will you be angry forever?” (a lament asking God not to remain enraged).
- Jeremiah 31:34 (verbal): Explicit promise not to ‘remember’ sins — “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more,” paralleling the petition ‘do not remember iniquity forever.’
- Psalm 103:8–12 (thematic): Develops the same theme of divine mercy and the removal of transgression—God is compassionate, does not stay angry forever, and removes sins from the penitent.
- Micah 7:18–19 (thematic): Affirms God’s delight in mercy and the overthrow/forgetting of iniquity—God will have compassion and cast sins away, resonant with the plea not to remember iniquity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Behold—look: we are all your people.
- Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD; do not remember iniquity forever. Behold—look, we are all your people.
Isa.64.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ערי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- קדשך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2,ms
- היו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- ציון: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- מדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- היתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שממה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Lamentations 1:1 (thematic): Both portray Jerusalem as once populous and now solitary and ruined — a lament over the city's desolation and abandonment.
- Micah 3:12 (verbal): Uses similar imagery of Zion/Jerusalem turned into a ruin or heaps (‘Jerusalem shall become heaps’), a close verbal and thematic parallel about devastation.
- Psalm 79:1 (thematic): Speaks of foreign invasion, profaning the sanctuary and laying Jerusalem waste — echoing the theme of holy cities made a wilderness.
- Isaiah 1:7 (structural): An internal Isaiah parallel describing the land and cities as desolate and burned, reinforcing the prophet’s recurring motif of urban and cultic ruin.
- Jeremiah 4:26 (thematic): Portrays the land as void and desolate, resonating with the wilderness/desolation language applied to Zion and Jerusalem in Isaiah 64:9.
Alternative generated candidates
- Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness; Jerusalem lies desolate.
- Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wasteland; Jerusalem is desolate.
Isa.64.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קדשנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suf:1pl
- ותפארתנו: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs,suf:1pl
- אשר: PRON,rel
- הללוך: VERB,qal,ptcp,ms,sg
- אבתינו: NOUN,m,pl,suff:1pl
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לשרפת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- מחמדינו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,suf:1pl
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לחרבה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 52:13 (verbal): Explicit wording about burning the house of the LORD and Jerusalem’s devastation echoes Isaiah’s phrase “בית קדשנו… היה לשרפת אש” and the image of precious things laid waste.
- 2 Kings 25:9 (structural): Parallel historical report of the Babylonian destruction of the temple and city; provides the same event/background that Isaiah laments (temple burned, Jerusalem desolate).
- Psalm 74:3-7 (thematic): A communal lament over the sanctuary defiled and enemies setting fire to God’s dwelling—same theme of the holy place and Zion laid waste.
- Lamentations 1:1 (thematic): Opening lament depicting Jerusalem as solitary and ruined (‘Zion a wilderness’), matching Isaiah’s portrayal of the city and its lost beauty and former praise.
- Psalm 79:1-2 (thematic): Complaint about foreign nations defiling the sanctuary and laying Jerusalem in heaps—parallels the imagery of holy cities turned to desolation and beloved things destroyed.
Alternative generated candidates
- Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned with fire; all our pleasant things have become a desolation.
- Our holy and glorious things, the place where our fathers praised you, have become a burning heap; all our desirable things lie in ruins.
Isa.64.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- העל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- תתאפק: VERB,hithpael,impf,3,fs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- תחשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,fs
- ותעננו: VERB,qal,impf,3,fs
- עד: PREP
- מאד: ADV
Parallels
- Isaiah 1:7-8 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language of city and Zion laid waste and the loss of the sanctuary’s safety — a close verbal/thematic parallel about desolation of Jerusalem and its holy places.
- Lamentations 2:1-9 (thematic): A communal lament describing Yahweh’s wrath on Zion, the destruction of the sanctuary, and the departure of God’s favor — thematically mirrors Isaiah’s complaint about ruined holy places.
- Psalm 79:1-5 (thematic): A psalmic lament over nations defiling and destroying Jerusalem and slaughtering its people; parallels the tone and theme of sacrilege and urban devastation in Isaiah 64.
- Ezekiel 10:18–19 (allusion): Ezekiel’s depiction of the glory departing the temple followed by devastation resonates with Isaiah’s image of holy places made desolate and the loss of divine presence.
- Jeremiah 52:12-14 (structural): The historical report of the Babylonians burning the temple (the 'holy and beautiful house') corresponds to Isaiah’s lament over the sanctuary being burned up and laid waste.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will you restrain yourself for these things, O LORD? Will you be silent and afflict us very sore?
- Will you hold yourself back because of these things, O LORD? Will you be silent and afflict us for so long?
I will recount the LORD’s mercies—declare the praises of the LORD—for all that the LORD has done for us, and the abundant good to the house of Israel; he treated them according to his compassions and the multitude of his steadfast love. And he said, “Surely they are my people—children who will not deal falsely”; and he became their Savior.
In all their distress he was distressed; the Angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and provoked his Holy Spirit, and he turned to be their enemy—he fought against them.
Then he remembered the days of old—Moses and his company: Where is he who led them, who caused the shepherd of his flock to pass on? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them?
He who led them by the right hand of Moses, by the arm of his glory—who cleft the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name.
He went before them through the deep—like horses in the wilderness—they did not stumble.
Like cattle going down into a valley, so the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. Thus you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.
Look down from heaven and see—have your holy and glorious ones been trampled? Where is your zeal and your might? The abundance of your tenderness and compassion—are they withheld from me?
For you are our Father; though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us, you, O LORD, are our Father—our Redeemer is your name from of old.
Why do you make us stray, O LORD, from your ways? Why do you harden our hearts so that we fear you no more? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.
For a little while your people possessed your holy place; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
Were you not their ruler from of old? Was your name not called upon them? Would you not have torn open the heavens and come down? The mountains would melt before you.
O that you would rend the heavens and come down; that the mountains might quake at your presence!
When you did awesome things we did not look for, you came down; the mountains melted at your presence.
From of old no ear has heard, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts for the one who waits for him.
You meet the one who gladly does right and who remembers you in your ways. Behold—you were angry, and we sinned; in our sin we have long endured—will salvation come?
We have all become like one unclean thing, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away.
There is no one calling on your name who stirs himself to take hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us and have consumed us because of our iniquities.
Yet now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay and you the potter—we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever; behold—look, we are all your people.
Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has become a thing of burning; all our pleasant places are laid waste.
Will you restrain yourself for these things, O LORD? Will you be silent and afflict us beyond measure?