Isaiah 64:1-9

Isaiah 63:15 to Isaiah 64:9 . A Fervent Prayer to Yahweh to Intervene again for His Children.— The appeal rings like a litany, reminding Yahweh, who has withdrawn into His glorious heavenly palace, of His former compassion. To Abraham and Israel appeal has been made in vain (some approach to ancestor-worship seems to have been prevalent), but Yahweh is their father and redeemer. His severity has sent them wandering even further away, and hardened their heart so that they cannot “ fear Him,” i.e. carry out the duties of religion. If only He would come back from His seclusion! Isaiah 63:18 is corrupt; regrouping of consonants and very slight changes give the excellent sense, “ Why do the wicked despise thy Holy House, our enemies desecrate thy Sanctuary? “ The allusion is not to a destruction, but a profanation, of the Temple by the pro-Samaritans, who refused to accept the new standard of religious practice, adhering tenaciously to old usages now regarded as heathenish. The strict party is left, through Yahweh’ s seclusion, as a shepherdless flock. If Yahweh would but manifest Himself in a glorious theophany ( cf. Judges 5:4 f.), rending the heavens and causing the mountains to shake, even as fire makes brushwood crackle and blaze or water boil over, that He might “ put the fear of God” into His adversaries, and make the peoples tremble while He does “ terrible things”— the term used of the marvels of the Exodus— beyond the hopes of His people or the experience of men! (Delete Isaiah 64:3 b, “ thou camest . . . presence” an accidental repetition from Isaiah 63:1, and connect “ For from of old men have not heard” with what precedes, changing “ For” to “ and.” On the basis of LXX the rest of Isaiah 63:4 may possibly be reconstructed, “ Ear hath not heard and eye hath not seen the deeds and exploits which thou wilt work for those who wait on thee.” ) Oh! that He would meet, i.e. be gracious to, those who work righteousness and remember His ways ( cf. LXX). The remainder of this corrupt verse ( cf. mg.) may read, “ Behold, thou wast wroth and we sinned, wroth at our doings, so that we became guilty.” ) For we have become like the unclean, our righteous deeds like a polluted garment: we are withered like leaves, and our iniquity (read sing.) has whirled us away like the wind. So that hardly one among us calls on Thy name ( cf. Genesis 4:26), or is zealous to lay hold on Thee, because Thou hast withdrawn Thy countenance from us and delivered us up to the power of our sins ( mg.) . We are the clay which Thou hast fashioned; destroy not Thy work by unrelenting anger ( cf. Job 10:8-2 Kings :). Look at us, we entreat Thee, we are Thy people!