Isaiah 64:1-4 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 64:1-5

Here, I. The petition is that God would appear wonderfully for them now, Isa. 63:1, 2. Their case was represented in the close of the foregoing chapter as very sad and very hard, and in this case it was time to cry, ?Help, Lord; O that God would manifest his zeal and his strength!? They had prayed (Isa. 63:15) that God would look down from heaven; here they pray that he would come down to deliver them, as he had said, Exod. 3:8. 1. They desire that God would in his providence manifest himself... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down ,.... Before, the church prayed that the Lord would look down from heaven and behold, Isaiah 63:15 , now that he would open the heavens, and descend from thence; not by change of place, for he fills heaven and earth with his presence; but by some visible display of his power, in destroying her enemies, and delivering her from them. Some take this to be a prayer for the first coming of Christ from heaven to earth, by his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:2

As when the melting fire burneth ,.... Or, "the fire of melting" F11 אש המסיס "ignis liquefactionum", Calvin, Vatablus; "igne liquationum", Cocceius. ; a strong vehement fire, as Kimchi, such as is used under a furnace for melting metals; though De Dieu thinks a slow gentle fire is intended, such as is sufficient to keep the liquor boiling; which he concludes from the use of the word in the Arabic language, which, according to an Arabic lexicographer F12 Eliduri in Lexico... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:3

When thou didst terrible things, which we looked not for, thou camest down ,.... Referring to the wonderful things God did in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and particularly at Mount Sinai, things that were unexpected, and not looked for; then the Lord came down, and made visible displays of his power and presence, especially on Mount Sinai; see Exodus 19:18 , the mountains flowed down at thy presence ; not Sinai only, but others also; Kimchi says Seir and Paran; Judges... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:4

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear ,.... Not only the things unexpected, undesired, and undeserved, had been done for the Lord's people of old; but there were other things, unheard of and unseen, which God, in his secret counsels, had prepared for them; and for which reason his appearance in his providential dispensations was the more to be desired and entreated. The Apostle Paul has cited this passage in 1 Corinthians 2:9 and applied it to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:1

O that thou wouldest rend the heavens - This seems to allude to the wonderful manifestation of God upon Mount Sinai. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:2

As when the melting fire burneth "As the fire kindleth the dry fuel" - המסים hamasim . "It means dry stubble, and the root is המס hamas , "says Rabbi Jonah, apud Sal ben Belec in loc . Which is approved by Schultens, Orig. Hebrews p. 30. "The fire kindling the stubble does not seem like enough to the melting of the mountains to be brought as a simile to it. What if thus? - 'That the mountains might flow down at thy presence! As the fire of things smelted burneth, As the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:4

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard "For never have men heard" - St. Paul is generally supposed to have quoted this passage of Isaiah, 1 Corinthians 2:9 ; and Clemens Romanus in his first epistle has made the same quotation, very nearly in the same words with the apostle. But the citation is so very different both from the Hebrew text and the version of the Septuagint, that it seems very difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile them by any literal emendation, without... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens! God "dwells in the thick darkness'' ( 2 Chronicles 6:1 ). "Thick clouds are a covering to him" as he "walketh in the circuit of heaven" ( Job 22:14 ). The Church would have the covering "rent," and God show himself openly, both to his people and to their enemies. That thou wouldest come down! God" came down" ou Sinai in the sight of all the people ( Exodus 19:11 , Exodus 19:20 ). David saw him in vision "bow the heavens and come down ; ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

Prayer for humbling manifestations of God. " Isaiah 64:1-3 are parallel to Isaiah 63:15 , but grander and bolder. There the prophet, in the name of the Church, petitioned that Jehovah would look down on the misery of his people. Here a look is felt to be insufficient, so widely yawns the gulf between Israel and his God. A revelation on the largest possible scale is necessary to smite down unbelief and annihilate opposition; God himself must appear" (Naegelsbach). The prayer is for a... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 64:1-5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 64:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 64:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 64:1

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