Isaiah 63 KJV
God's Day of Vengeance
Isaiah Chapter 63: God's Day of Vengeance
The chapter's opening theophany reworks ancient Near Eastern divine-warrior imagery by having Yahweh return alone from Edom's Bozrah, stained with the lifeblood of nations rather than accompanied by a divine council or human army, underscoring radical monotheistic sovereignty.
1ho is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servantsโ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.
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Did You Know?
The chapter's opening theophany reworks ancient Near Eastern divine-warrior imagery by having Yahweh return alone from Edom's Bozrah, stained with the lifeblood of nations rather than accompanied by a divine council or human army, underscoring radical monotheistic sovereignty.
Isaiah 63:16 contains one of the earliest explicit covenantal uses of 'Father' for Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible, invoking patriarchal language to appeal for mercy while deliberately distancing the plea from biological descent from Abraham and Jacob.
The prayer section (vv. 7-14) deliberately echoes the Song of the Sea and wilderness traditions by recalling 'the angel of his presence' and 'the Spirit of the LORD' guiding Israel, framing the current crisis as a reversal of the Exodus that invites renewed divine intervention.
Verse 3's solitary 'I have trodden the winepress alone' employs a rare first-person divine speech that excludes even the heavenly host from participating in eschatological judgment, a motif later expanded in Revelation 19 but rooted here in Isaiah's emphasis on unaided divine action.
The abrupt shift from cosmic vengeance (vv. 1-6) to communal lament without transitional formula mirrors the structure of certain communal laments in the Psalter, suggesting the chapter may preserve or imitate a liturgical sequence used in exilic or post-exilic worship.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain Who โ the question of the prophet in prophetic vision. dyed โ scarlet with blood (Isa 63:2, 3; Re 19:13). Bozrah โ (See on Isa 34:6). travelling โ rather, stately; literally, "throโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Isaiah 63 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Messiah coming as the avenger, in answer to his people's prayers.
- 1
- Who โ the question of the prophet in prophetic vision. dyed โ scarlet with blood (Isa 63:2, 3; Re 19:13). Bozrah โ (See on Isa 34:6). travelling โ rather, stately; literally, "throwing back the head" [GESENIUS]. speak in righteousness โ answer of Messiah. I, who have in faithfulness given a promise of deliverance, am now about to fulfil it. Rather, speak of righteousness (Isa 45:19; 46:13); salvation being meant as the result of His "righteousness" [MAURER]. save โ The same Messiah that destroys the unbeliever saves the believer.
- 2
- The prophet asks why His garments are "dyed" and "red." winefat โ rather, the "wine-press," wherein the grapes were trodden with the feet; the juice would stain the garment of him who trod them (Re 14:19, 20; 19:15). The image was appropriate, as the country round Bozrah abounded in grapes. This final blow inflicted by Messiah and His armies (Re 19:13-15) shall decide His claim to the kingdoms usurped by Satan, and by the "beast," to whom Satan delegates his power. It will be a day of judgment to the hostile Gentiles, as His first coming was a day of judgment to the unbelieving Jews.
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