Chapter Sixty-Three

1–6. The solemn appearance of the Messiah in the world as the moment of revelation of God’s righteous judgment over Edom, the personification of the dark forces of the pagan world. 7–19. A penitent-thanksgiving prayer to God on behalf of His unfaithful people.

The last verse of the previous chapter (verse 11 of chapter 62) spoke of the coming of the promised Messiah to fulfill His chief task—the justification and salvation of the new Zion or spiritual Israel. The beginning of the present chapter, continuing the same prophetic speech, points also to another, so to speak, negative purpose of this coming, consisting in the punishment of all enemies of the Kingdom of God, personified here in Edom. Therefore the first six verses of the present chapter are among the important Messianic passages of the book of the prophet Isaiah. Also deserving serious attention is the very form of exposition of this section; it represents a vivid, deeply dramatic dialogue which the Messiah and certain mysterious interlocutors conduct between themselves.

Isaiah 63:1. Who is this that comes from Edom, in garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. “Who is this that comes from Edom, in crimson garments... striding forward in the greatness of his strength?” The Messiah-Savior, of whose solemn coming the prophet has just announced (Isa 62:11), is here depicted to his mind’s eye in a new form—in the image of a glorious conqueror returning from a victorious battle. Full of consciousness of his all-crushing power, the Conqueror strides forth majestically in his war garments, bespattered, like grape juice, with the blood of his numerous enemies. The enemy country from which the Conqueror returns is named here “Edom” and “Bozrah,” that is, the country of the Idumeans, with its chief city Bozrah. Based on one of the earliest similar narratives of the prophet Isaiah, we are justified in concluding that “Edom” and “Bozrah” here are “collective” concepts, symbolizing paganism in general or more precisely—those dark forces of evil in the pre-Christian world that especially actively opposed the growth of Divine truth and goodness on earth (Isa 34:6). “Blessed Jerome, blessed Theodoret and holy Cyril of Alexandria refer this prophetic vision to the time of the ascension of Christ the Savior to heaven, after His resurrection, when the Angels and heavenly powers asked Him in astonishment about His crimson appearance” (cf. Ps 23:7-8, Commentary of the St. Petersburg Academy, p. 904). But it is closer to the text to think that the questioners through the prophet here are the sons of Israel, or even the representatives of humanity contemporary with Christ in general, who, seeing the radical transformation produced by Christianity in all areas of life (Luke 1:51-53), ask themselves the natural question—who then is He—the Author of all that has happened? The very structure of this phrase (question), as well as the one that follows it (answer), closely resembles an analogous passage from a psalm: “Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle... Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory” (Ps 23:7-10). “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” Here is the clear answer to the question posed above, given by the Hero-Conqueror Himself. The returning triumphant one calls Himself “speaking in righteousness,” “mighty to save.” We have already had many occasions to clarify the “righteousness” to the extent of this fundamental point of the entire Old Testament-theocratic worldview, about which the prophet Isaiah speaks especially often (Isa 1:17; Isa 5:16; Isa 32:1; Isa 45:24-25; Isa 48:18; Isa 51:5; Isa 53:11; Isa 57:12; Isa 58:8; Isa 59:3 and others). The coming Conqueror is called here only “speaking” righteousness. But we know well that for the Messiah (the Servant of Jehovah) “word” equals “deed,” according to the categorical declaration of the Almighty Himself: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa 55:11). The concrete type of “righteousness” here in view, judging from the context, is—the execution of righteous retribution to the God-hostile forces of the pagan world, personified in the form of Edom. “Mighty to save,” that is, having power and strength not only to judge but also to have mercy and to save: to judge and punish the stubborn, unrepentant sinners, and to have mercy and save the sincerely repentant and those who have turned to God. The right of pardon is higher than the right of judgment: anyone appointed to judge can judge, but only the Highest Authority has the right to pardon. The combination of the functions of “judgment” and “mercy,” according to the Old Testament worldview, can only be conceived in the hands of God Himself (Ps 88:15; Ps 91:3). From this, consequently, the answer of the Conqueror leaves no doubt about His Divine essence.

Isaiah 63:2. Why are your garments red, and your clothes like one who treads in the wine press? Isaiah 63:3. “I trod the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and I stained all my clothing. These continue the dialogue begun. “Why are your garments red, and your clothes—like one who treads in the wine press?” the perplexed ones question the Conqueror again. And to this they receive the answer: “I trod the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger... their blood spattered on my garments.” In the answer, that same image is used which was given in the question—namely, a comparison with the practice then current in the East of squeezing grape juice, in which there was naturally and inevitably a certain staining of the clothes of the person engaged in this work. This comparison cannot be denied to be especially expressive and powerful for the thought it contains—about the punishment of God’s enemies. “The questioner answers that He also trod the wine press in which, instead of grape clusters, were enclosed His enemies, that He trampled them in His anger, their blood spattered on His garments and stained them (Rev 19:13). The wine press of God’s wrath which Christ the Savior trod was hell, which He trampled (Eph 4:8-9), after His crucifixion. In this struggle with hell Christ, like Samson fighting the Philistines or David fighting Goliath, was alone and had no helper from men” (Matt 26:56; John 16:32—Commentary of the St. Petersburg Academy, 905). Although the speech continues here as if about a past event, this is evidently only for the sake of giving it greater imagery and vividness, greater persuasiveness and power. The actual fulfillment of this prophecy, like many other prophecies of Isaiah, can be referred to two historical epochs: first, to the beginning of the Christian era, which coincided with the end of many ancient pagan monarchies, and second, to its completion, at the moment of the Last Judgment, when the final and ultimate settlement will be made with all dark forces of evil (1 Cor 15:24-28). Isa 63:4-6. These three verses give a fine exposition of the above image from them; the first says that the trampling in the wine press means the day of God’s judgment over the nations (verse 4); the second that this judgment will be a decisive single combat of the Conqueror with his enemies (verse 5); and in the third that the results of this fierce struggle will be terrible for the vanquished (verse 6).

Isaiah 63:4. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come. “For the day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed has come,” or, as it is even clearer in the Slavonic text, “For the day of retribution has come upon them, and the season of deliverance has arrived.” The character of the victorious coming of the Messiah is completely clearly defined, which will be the day of righteous retribution, terrible vengeance for all enemies of God and at the same time the season of redemption, “the acceptable year” (Isa 61:2) for all those who have turned to Him (cf. Isa 34:8; Isa 59:17).

Isaiah 63:5. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to support. So my own arm brought me victory, and my own wrath supported me. “I looked, and there was no one to help; I was astonished that there was no one to uphold.” The present verse is almost a literal repetition of a previous one: “And he saw that there was no man, and was appalled that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him” (Isa 59:16, see our commentary). As additional commentary to both can be cited another parallel place from the same prophet: “I looked, and there was no one; among them there was no counselor who, when I asked, gave an answer” (Isa 41:28). The particular feature of this—verse 5 compared to the cited parallels is that it speaks of God’s judgment over pagan nations, while the latter speak of judgment over Israel. The moment of this judgment, according to the meaning of this image, is anthropomorphically brought near to the single combat of the Messiah against the hordes of His enemies.

Isaiah 63:6. And I trampled down the peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. “And I trampled the nations in my anger... and I poured out their blood on the earth.” Here is the terrible but fully deserved outcome of that struggle into which the nations risked entering against the “Mighty One” (verse 1). The prophet Isaiah has spoken more than once before about this punishment of hostile pagan nations, and the following parallel is especially close, for example: “and I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (Isa 49:26; cf. Isa 42:25; Isa 51:23; Isa 59:17-18 and others). Isa 63:7-9. From verses 7–9 inclusive goes the first half of the thanksgiving-penitential prayer to God on behalf of His stiff-necked people, in which glory and thanksgiving are raised to the Almighty for all the historical (“ancient days”—verse 9) benefits of His revealed to the chosen people. The connection of this section with the previous one is not difficult to establish. That judgment over the nations, of which the prophet spoke in such vivid an image at the beginning of the chapter, was also the day of righteous retribution for all the violence done to the enemies of the Israelite people. From this it is natural that Israel, in the contemplation of this, should have been filled with feelings of joy and gratitude to the Lord, and at the same time with a special intensified penitential exultation, which found its appropriate expression in this prayer, or psalm, uttered by the prophet himself on behalf of the ideal Israel, deeply feeling its own sinfulness and highly valuing the greatness and power of Divine mercy and love. Commentators of the prophet Isaiah also point out that this prayer, beginning with verse 7 of the given chapter, goes to the end of it and continues through the whole next chapter (chapter 64). Analyzing the content of this prayer, they find it possible to divide it into the following four parts: the first—verses 7–14 of chapter 63; the second—verses 15 to the end of the chapter; the third—verses 1–7 of chapter 64, and the fourth—from verse 8 to the end of this chapter. In particular, in the first of the indicated sections is given a compressed, schematic outline of the history of the chosen people, in which throughout are visible the traces of the special Divine guidance of Israel and the stiff-neckedness of the latter toward the Lord.

Isaiah 63:8. He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not prove false”; and he became their Savior. “Surely they are my people, children who will not prove false.” In light of the earlier very clear words of the prophet about historical Israel: “we have transgressed and denied the Lord, and have turned away from our God; we conceive and utter from our heart false things, and we are afflicted” (Isa 59:13), there is no possibility to see in the above text a historical characterization of the Jewish people. Evidently, this is an ideal characterization of Israel, an indication of what the chosen people of God should be if it had remained faithful to its special calling. One can understand these words also only as a statement of the fact of God’s choosing of Jews by the Almighty (Exod 19:5-6), serving as it were the “starting point” for all subsequent historical references. “And he became their Savior.” The last word in the Hebrew text is expressed by the form עישומל, which in literal translation means “as a Messiah.” Thus here is used the significant word “Messiah,” in application to the Lord Himself, who was the leader of Israel.

Isaiah 63:9. In all their distress he was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and pity he redeemed them, he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. “And the angel of his face saved them.” “The angel of his face” is a unique expression in the Bible, having no parallels, at least in external form. On the other hand, in its internal content, it is probably equivalent to such terms used in the Bible as “the angel of God” or “the angel of the Lord” (Exod 14:19). It is not uninteresting to compare the expression under consideration with the following passage from the book of Exodus, in which a personal difference is maintained, if not substantial then personal, between the Lord Himself and His Angel: “and I will send an Angel before you... but I myself shall not go up in your midst, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way” (Exod 33:2-3). Most correctly, in our opinion, one should think that the prophet Isaiah here has in mind exactly the fact of which the just cited passage from the book of Exodus speaks. Above, the prophet Isaiah noted the fact of the solemn choosing of Israel by God at Sinai (verse 8), and now, in order of sequence, he points to the fact of the tangible guidance of the Hebrews by God in the course of their forty-year wandering through the Arabian desert (Exod 14:19-20; Exod 33:9-10). “He lifted them up and carried them.” An allusion to the well-known biblical image in which the tender-providential relation of the Lord to Israel is compared to the relation of an eagle to its eaglets. It was first given in the same book of Exodus (Exod 19:4), and subsequently was developed in greater detail by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Matt 23:37).

Isaiah 63:10. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; so he turned and became their enemy and fought against them. “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.” Here one should see, first of all, a reference to the numerous individual instances of rebellion of the Hebrews against the Almighty, occurring both during Moses’ time (Exod 32:7-10; Num 14:11; Num 20:24; Num 25:6), and after him (Judg 2:11; Judg 3:7; Judg 4:1; Judg 6:1; Judg 8:33; and others). And then, of course, one cannot but find here a more general definition of the characteristic feature of the “stiff-necked” Israel, which, in approximately the same expressions, was repeated later by the protomartyr archdeacon Stephen in his well-known missionary-condemnatory speech (Acts 7:51). “He fought against them.” By their treacherous behavior Israel, speaking anthropomorphically, provoked the Lord, and He, from being its ally and friend, as it were became its opponent and enemy. However, even this righteous wrath of the Almighty always pursued positive, educational goals: it forced Israel to think about its behavior, to recover from errors and again to seek union with the abandoned Lord. One might even suppose that the prophet Isaiah contains here and a more concrete allusion to the nearest political troubles of the people of God, in view of the threatening specter of Assyro-Babylonian captivity, which produced the most powerful sobering effect on the Jews. Post-exilic Jews no longer turned to idolatry and, at least from an external standpoint, became more zealous observers of the law of Moses, of which, one must think, the prophet speaks further. Isa 63:11-14. Under the influence, principally, of the grave political troubles which, on the one hand, were an expression of God’s wrath upon His people (Deut 31:27; Deut 32:20; Lam 2:5), and on the other—a means of his theocratic education, Israel, little by little, came to consciousness of the full criminality of its behavior and began to show signs of repentance and turning to God.

Isaiah 63:11. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people: where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, “Then his people remembered the ancient days, the days of Moses.” “Then,” that is, in the moment of these troubles, or even after their ending, but especially this became noticeable in the last, post-exilic period. In what follows in this verse, as well as in the three verses following it (12, 13 and 14), are briefly recalled the chief Divine benefits granted to Israel in the time of Moses and his successors, namely: deliverance from Egyptian slavery, the crossing of the Red Sea and salvation from the pursuit of Pharaoh, the Sinai legislation and guidance through the Arabian desert, with settlement in the Promised Land as its desired end.

Isaiah 63:14. Like cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people to make for yourself a glorious name. “To make for yourself a glorious name.” or, as in verse 12, “an eternal name.” The magnificent series of benefits and miracles revealed by the Lord to Israel, as we know from history, indeed made the “glorious and famous” name of the Almighty among all peoples (Exod 9:16; Exod 15:11-16). But the “glory of the Lord” has nothing to do with human vanity; it is only the attainment by people of the final goal of their existence, as this is beautifully expressed in the first very petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “hallowed be your name” (Matt 6:9). In general, it should be noted that according to the meaning of the biblical worldview, the relation to the “name of the Lord”—that is, its glorification or blasphemy—is the main criterion of all the moral behavior of man (cf. verse 19). Isa 63:15-19. If the section just considered, by its character, can be called historical, then the present section is most correctly designated as supplicatory-expiatory and deeply penitential.

Isaiah 63:15. Look down from heaven, and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The yearning of your heart and your compassion are held back from me. “Look down from heaven and see... where is your zeal and your might?” In this fervent prayer for the people of God, the prophet Isaiah, like Moses (Num 14:13-18), with a “strong cry” turns to the Lord and begs Him to look down compassionately from His heavenly height upon the extremely distressed state of His people. The weight of such a position is especially aggravated by the fact that the Israelite people now appears to be as if abandoned by God: His “zeal” and “might,” His “merciful heart” and “mercies” are not now poured out as abundantly and visibly to all, as it was before, in the “ancient days of Moses.” Like a husband who has lost confidence in the propriety of his wife, ceases to be jealous of her and becomes completely indifferent to her, so the Lord, grieves the prophet, has lost his historical “zeal” for Israel (Exod 20:5) and ceased to care for it.

Isaiah 63:16. But 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. “Only You, our Father... You, O Lord, our Father.” Here is the most fervent and strong confession of the Lord on behalf of the best sons of faithful Israel. Despite, as it were, God’s apparent forgetfulness of His people, the best sons of the latter do not cease to turn to Him as to their only protector and Father. This strong and firm confession of Israel’s chosen-ness by God should be connected with the equally firmly convinced assertion of it in the earlier words of the prophet spoken on behalf of the Almighty Himself (verse 8). “Israel does not acknowledge us.” “Abraham” and “Israel” here are evidently synonyms: they are a common designation of historical Israel, or, more precisely, of that majority of the Jewish people which in their blindness did not recognize the Messiah and did not believe in Him when He came. In such understanding of this passage, the persons speaking through the prophet stand out noticeably from this majority; they are precisely the representatives of that faithful minority of Israel which recognized the Messiah and thereby justified its Divine choosing, though for this it suffered hatred from its own countrymen. “From of old your name is ‘our Redeemer.’” The highly significant term “redeemer” was first used in the book of Job (Job 19:25), and then in the Psalter (Ps 73:2) and repeatedly in the prophet Isaiah (Isa 41:14; Isa 43:3; Isa 47:4; Isa 59:20; Isa 62:11 and others). At the same time it is important to note that in the latter it is indifferently applied both to the Lord Himself and to the Messiah-Christ.

Isaiah 63:17. Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you no more? Return for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage. “Why, O Lord, do you let us stray from your ways, you hardened our hearts from your fear?” The Bible speaks more than once of God’s permission for the hardening of confirmed sinners (Exod 4:21; Exod 7:3; Exod 9:12; Exod 10:1 and others). In this one cannot but see one of the most convincing proofs of human freedom of will, as well as the necessity of personal efforts for everyone’s salvation. Historically, here is meant, probably, that “hardening” of Israel, from which the prophets warned him (Isa 6:10; Isa 29:10 and others) and in which the apostles reproached him (Rom 11:7). “Return for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes of your inheritance.” Since above (verse 15) the Lord seemed to have forsaken Israel and turned away from him, now the prophet begs Him to look kindly again upon His people and turn His face to him. By “servants” and “tribes of inheritance” should be understood the “faithful servants of the Lord,” who have recognized the Savior and laid the foundation of the New Testament church. For the merits of these “righteous ones,” the prophet dares to pray for the salvation of the whole people, like Abraham once prayed to the Lord for the salvation of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, for the sake of a certain number of righteous, which, however, were not found there (Gen 18:23-32). One can attribute to these words also the meaning which one of our commentators gives them: “they ask His mercy for His servants and for the tribes of His inheritance, that is, so that He might have the full fruit of the choosing of Israelites as His servants and as His inheritance. And if God does not turn them, it will appear that He chose the Judeans for His people in vain, did not achieve the desired goal of choosing them for His inheritance” (Bishop Peter—“Explanation of the book of the prophet Isaiah,” Chapter 323 p.).

Isaiah 63:18. A short time your holy people possessed your holy place; our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary. “For a short time the people of your holiness inherited the land, your enemies trampled your sanctuary.” Under the “inheritance” or portion which the Israelite people possessed, it is most suitable to understand the “Promised Land,” that is, Palestine, in which the Jews were, if not complete owners, then at least politically independent. And then they gradually passed from hand to hand, from Assyro-Babylonians, to Medes-Persians, Greeks and Romans. Under the “sanctuary,” desecrated by enemies, should be understood the Old Testament temple, twice destroyed and profaned (Ewald, Orelli, Duhm, etc.).

Isaiah 63:19. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those not called by your name. Isaiah 64:10–11. “We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, and over whom your name was not invoked.” One can give a twofold meaning to these words: either moral-penitential, or prophetic-historical. In the first case we would see here the deepest degree of sinful self-condemnation, when people consider themselves the last of sinners. In the second case we would find here the spiritual insight of the prophet into the future history of Israel, namely into the epoch of the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, when, having lost political and religious existence, they in no way resembled the mighty theocratic state of which the Son of the Lord was the King. The latter interpretation, by its connection with the context of the speech (verse 18 speaks of the Old Testament temple), will be preferable (see also the following context Isaiah 64:10–11).