Isaia 64:7 Commento

This chapter goes on with that pathetic pleading prayer which the church offered up to God in the latter part of the foregoing chapter. They had argued from their covenant-relation to God and his interest and concern in them; now here, I. They pray that God would appear in some remarkable and surprising manner for them against his and their enemies (Isa 64:1, Isa 64:2). II. They plead what God had formerly done, and was always ready to do, for his people (Isa 64:3-5). III. They confess themselves to be sinful and unworthy of God's favour, and that they had deserved the judgments they were now under (Isa 64:6, Isa 64:7). IV. They refer themselves to the mercy of God as a Father, and submit themselves to his sovereignty (Isa 64:8). V. They represent the very deplorable condition they were in, and earnestly pray for the pardon of sin and the turning away of God's anger (Isa 64:9-12). And this was not only intended for the use of the captive Jews, but may serve for direction to the church in other times of distress, what to ask of God and how to plead with him. Are God's people at any time in affliction, in great affliction? Let them pray, let them thus pray.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 64 The prayer of the church is continued in this chapter; in which she prays for some visible display of the power and presence of God, as in times past, Isa 64:1, and the rather, since unheard of and unseen things were prepared by the Lord for his people; and it was his usual way to meet those that were truly religious, Isa 64:4, and she acknowledges her sins and transgressions; the imperfections of her own righteousness, and remissness in duty, Isa 64:5, pleads relation to God, and implores his mercy, Isa 64:8, represents the desolate condition of Judea, Zion, Jerusalem, and the temple, and entreats divine commiseration, Isa 64:10.

And there is none that calleth upon thy name,.... Upon the Lord himself, who is gracious and merciful, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and all sufficient, a God hearing and answering prayer, and the Father of his people; all which should engage to call upon him: or, "there is none that prays in thy name", as the Targum; none that prays to God in the name of his Son, the only Mediator between God and men; he is the way of access to the Father; his name is to be used and made mention of in prayer; acceptance is only through him, and all favours are conveyed by him; see Joh 14:13, not that there were absolutely none at all that prayed to God, and called upon or in his name, but comparatively they were very few; for that there were some it is certain, since this very complaint is made in a prayer; but the number of such was small, especially that prayed in faith, in sincerity, with fervency and importunity; and, when this is the case, it is an argument and evidence of great declension: that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee; to exercise faith on God, as their covenant God; to lay hold on the covenant itself, the blessings and promises of it, and plead them with God: or to pray unto him, which is a wrestling with him, when faith lays hold upon God, and will not let him go without the blessing; and is an entreaty of him not to depart when he seems to be about it; or a detaining of him, as the disciples detained Christ, when he seemed as if he would go from them; and is also an importunate desire that he would return when he is departed; and an earnest request not to strike when his hand is lifted up: faith in prayer does, as it were, take hold of the hands of God, and will not suffer him to strike his children; just as a friend lays hold on a father's hand when he is about to give his child a blow with it for his correction; and such is the amazing condescension of God, that he suffers himself to be held after this manner; see Gen 32:26, now, to "stir up" a man's self to this is to make diligent use of the means in seeking the Lord; particularly a frequent use of the gift of prayer, and a stirring of that up; a calling upon a man's soul, and all within him, to engage therein; to which are opposed slothfulness, &c. cold, lukewarm, negligent performance of duty, which is here complained of; there were none, or at least but few, that stirred up or "aroused" (b) themselves. God's professing people are sometimes asleep; and though it is high time to awake out of sleep, yet no one arouses himself or others. For thou hast hid thy face from us: or removed the face of thy Shechinah, or divine Majesty from us, as the Targum; being provoked by such a conduct towards him, as before expressed: for it may be rendered, "therefore thou hast hid"; &c.; or "though", or "when" (c), this was the case, yet no man sought his face and favour, or entreated he would return again: and hast consumed us because of our iniquities; by the sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity. (b) "seipsum exsuscitat", Forerius; "excitans se", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius. So the Targum, "that awakes". (c) "quamvis", Gataker; "cum", Junius & Tremellius; "quando", Forerius.

“There is no one who calls on your name.” Since they worshiped the idols, they did not remember your name. “There is no one who bestirs himself to take hold of you.” They certainly put all their faith in the idols.

(Verse 7) There is no one who calls upon your name, who rises and holds on to you. You have hidden your face from us and have afflicted us in the hand of our iniquity. LXX: And there is no one who calls upon your name and remembers to grasp you. For you have turned your face away from us and have delivered us because of our iniquities. Like leaves from the trees, we have flowed and the dry wind has scattered us, therefore no one was found who would call upon your name and rising from the ruin of their iniquities, would grasp or hold on to you, and would say with the bride: I have found him whom my soul sought: I will hold on to him, and I will not let him go (Song of Solomon 3:4). The wind is mentioned in the Scriptures in three ways; either in the magnitude of temptations, or in the perversity of doctrine, or simply as the wind, by which clouds gather and the air is forced into clouds. Concerning temptations, there is this Gospel passage: The rivers came, the winds blew, and they beat against that house, but it did not collapse, because it was founded on a solid rock (Matthew 7:27). Concerning the perversity of doctrine: So that we may no longer be tossed around by every wind of doctrine in the wickedness of men (Ephesians 4:14). On wind in general: And they could not sail, for the wind was contrary (Mark 6:48): not that this cannot be understood metaphorically, but only that it bears a resemblance to our present experience. For when the Lord turns his face away from us, we are thrown into the hand of our own wickedness, or we are delivered to temptations because of our sins. From this we learn that wickedness also has a hand, and all the sins that strongly desire to keep us tightly bound. And in the hand of the tongue is both death and life (Prov. XVIII); and the holy one prays: Let not the foot of pride come to me (Psal. XXXV, 12). But we, because the Lord has turned his face away from us, knowing that which is written: Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel. II, 32), let us call upon his name and say: I have confessed my sin to you, and I have not covered up my iniquity. I said I will confess my iniquity to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart (Psal. XXXI, 56). And immediately we will have the Lord responding: I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist (Isaiah XLIV, 22), and we will say, Show us your face, and we shall be saved (Psalm LXXIX, 4): so that we may not be servants of sin, but servants of yours. For whoever commits sin is the servant of sin (John VIII).

Some translators try to alter the meaning of this passage.… For it is not, they say, that the divine anger was the cause of their misdeeds, but that because they misbehaved, God was angry. For they are afraid lest God's anger be thought of as the effector of sins. I think it ought to be said that there is no condemning the divine anger, if those receiving it were insufficiently motivated to flee the attack of sin. As long as the Savior is pleased in us, let us flee sin and forcefully leave the filth of vices and with increase be crowned in spiritual success.… For God is the Lord of powers.… Just as the kind clemency from above shows us how to be strong and brave for the resistance of evil, by the same reason when we fall under divine wrath, it is necessary that we bow in servile fashion.

1118. He shows the need of the petitioner as to lack of help. And first, lack of human help: "there is none that calls upon" and "takes hold of you," with prayers: "I held him: and I will not let him go" (Song 3:4); second, lack of divine help: "you have hid your face," of your mercy, "and have crushed us in the hand," that is, the work, of our iniquity; according to what it says in Proverbs 18:21: "I will hide my face from them" (Deut 32:20).

The whole of this chapter, which is very pathetic and tender, may be considered as a formulary of prayer and humiliation intended for the Jews in order to their conversion, Isa 64:1-12.

There is none - Twelve MSS. have אין ein, without the conjunction ו vau prefixed; and so read the Chaldee and Vulgate. And hast consumed us because of our iniquities "And hast delivered us up into the hands of our iniquities" - For ותמוגנו vattemugenu, "hast dissolved us," the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee had in their copies תמגננו temaggenenu, "hast delivered us up." Houbigant. Secker.

TRANSITION FROM COMPLAINT TO PRAYER. (Isa 64:1-12) rend . . . heavens--bursting forth to execute vengeance, suddenly descending on Thy people's foe (Psa 18:9; Psa 144:5; Hab 3:5-6). flow down-- (Jdg 5:5; Mic 1:4).

stirreth--rouseth himself from spiritual drowsiness. take hold-- (Isa 27:5).

The similes which follow cannot be attached to this nâzōllū, however we may explain it. Yet Isa 64:1 (2) does not form a new and independent sentence; but we must in thought repeat the word upon which the principal emphasis rests in Isa 63:19 (Isa 64:1). "(Wouldst come down) as fire kindles brushwood, fire causes water to boil; to make known Thy name to Thine adversaries, that the heathen may tremble before Thy face! When Thou doest terrible things which we hoped not for; wouldst come down, (and) mountains shake before Thy countenance!" The older expositors gave themselves a great deal of trouble in the attempt to trace hămâsı̄m to mâsas, to melt. But since Louis de Dieu and Albert Schultens have followed Saadia and Abulwlid in citing the Arabic hms, to crack, to mutter, to mumble, etc., and hšm, to break in pieces, confringere, from which comes hashim, broken, dry wood, it is generally admitted that hămâsim is from hemes (lit. crackling, rattling, Arab. hams), and signifies "dry twigs," arida sarmenta. The second simile might be rendered, "as water bubbles up in the fire;" and in that case mayim would be treated as a feminine (according to the rule in Ges. 146, 3), in support of which Job 14:19 may be adduced as an unquestionable example (although in other cases it is masculine), and אשׁ = בּאשׁ would be used in a local sense, like lehâbhâh, into flames, in Isa 5:24. But it is much more natural to take אשׁ, which is just as often a feminine as מים is a masculine, as the subject of תּבעה, and to give to the verb בּעה, which is originally intransitive, judging from the Arabic bgâ, to swell, the Chald. בּוּע, to spring up (compare אבעבּעות, blisters, pustules), the Syr. בּגא, to bubble up, etc., the transitive meaning to cause to boil or bubble up, rather than the intransitive to boil (comp. Isa 30:13, נבעה, swollen = bent forwards, as it were protumidus). Jehovah is to come down with the same irresistible force which fire exerts upon brushwood or water, when it sets the former in flames and makes the latter boil; in order that by such a display of might He may make His name known (viz., the name thus judicially revealing itself, hence "in fire," Isa 30:27; Isa 66:15) to His adversaries, and that nations (viz., those that are idolaters) may tremble before Him (מפּניך: cf., Psa 68:2-3). The infinitive clause denoting the purpose, like that indicating the comparison, passes into the finite (cf., Isa 10:2; Isa 13:9; Isa 14:25). Modern commentators for the most part now regard the optative lū' (O that) as extending to Isa 64:2 also; and, in fact, although this continued influence of lū' appears to overstep the bounds of the possible, we are forced to resort to this extremity. Isa 64:2 cannot contain a historical retrospect: the word "formerly" would be introduced if it did, and the order of the words would be a different one. Again, we cannot assume that נזלּוּ הרים מפּניך ירדתּ contains an expression of confidence, or that the prefects indicate certainty. Neither the context, the foregoing נוראות בּעשׂותך נו (why not עשׂה?), nor the parenthetical assertion נקוּה לא, permits of this. On the other hand, וגו בעשׂותך connects itself very appropriately with the purposes indicated in Isa 64:1 (2.): "may tremble when Thou doest terrible things, which we, i.e., such as we, do not look for," i.e., which surpass our expectations. And now nothing remains but to recognise the resumption of Isa 63:19 (Isa 64:1) in the clause "The mountains shake at Thy presence," in which case Isaiah 63:19b-64:2 (Isa 64:1-3) forms a grand period rounded off palindromically after Isaiah's peculiar style.

This was the case when the measure of Israel's sins had become full. They were carried into exile, where they sank deeper and deeper. The great mass of the people proved themselves to be really massa perdita, and perished among the heathen. But there were some, though a vanishingly small number, who humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God, and, when redemption could not be far off, wrestled in such prayers as these, that the nation might share it in its entirety, and if possible not one be left behind. With ועתּה the existing state of sin and punishment is placed among the things of the past, and the petition presented that the present moment of prayer may have all the significance of a turning-point in their history. "And now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father: we are the clay, and Thou our Maker; and we are all the work of Thy hand. Be not extremely angry, O Jehovah, and remember not the transgression for ever! Behold, consider, we beseech Thee, we are all Thy people." The state of things must change at last; for Israel is an image made by Jehovah; yea, more than this, Jehovah is the begetter of Israel, and loves Israel not merely as a sculptor, but as a father (compare Isa 45:9-10, and the unquestionable passage of Isaiah in Isa 29:16). Let Him then not be angry עד־מאד, "to the utmost measure" (cf., Psa 119:8), or if we paraphrase it according to the radical meaning of מד, "till the weight becomes intolerable." Let Him not keep in mind the guilt for ever, to punish it; but, in consideration of the fact that Israel is the nation of His choice, let mercy take the place of justice. הן strengthens the petition in its own way (see Gen 30:34), just as נא does; and הבּיט signifies here, as elsewhere, to fix the eye upon anything. The object, in this instance, is the existing fact expressed in "we are all Thy people." Hitzig is correct in regarding the repetition of "all of us" in this prayer as significant. The object throughout is to entreat that the whole nation may participate in the inheritance of the coming salvation, in order that the exodus from Babylonia may resemble the exodus from Egypt.