อิสยาห์ 63:5 วิจารณ์

In this chapter we have, I. God coming towards his people in ways of mercy and deliverance, and this is to be joined to the close of the foregoing chapter, where it was said to Zion, "Behold, thy salvation comes;" for here it is shown how it comes (Isa 63:1-6). II. God's people meeting him with their devotions, and addressing themselves to him with suitable affections; and this part of the chapter is carried on to the close of the next. In this we have, 1. A thankful acknowledgment of the great favours God had bestowed upon them (Isa 63:7). 2. The magnifying of these favours, from the consideration of God's relation to them (Isa 63:8), his compassionate concern for them (Isa 63:9), their unworthiness (Isa 63:10), and the occasion which it gave both him and them to call to mind former mercies (Isa 63:11-14). 3. A very humble and earnest prayer to God to appear for them in their present distress, pleading God's mercy (Isa 63:15), their relation to him (Isa 63:16), their desire towards him (Isa 63:17), and the insolence of their enemies (Isa 63:18, Isa 63:19). So that, upon the whole, we learn to embrace God's promises with an active faith, and then to improve them, and make use of them, both in prayers and praises.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 63 This chapter contains a prophecy of the vengeance of Christ upon the enemies of his church in the latter day, whereby complete salvation would be obtained for them; and this illustrated by the mercies of God to the people of Israel of old; and is concluded with the church s prayer to him. The account of the vengeance taken by Christ on his enemies is introduced by a colloquy between him and his church; who puts a question, in which he is described by the places from whence he came, by his apparel, and by his manner of walking; to which he returns an answer, Isa 63:1, then a second question is put, about the colour of his garments; for which he gives a reason, Isa 63:2 it being the time of his vengeance on his enemies, and of the redemption of his people, Isa 63:4 the manner in which he performed both is observed, Isa 63:5 and the thorough work he would make; and the entire riddance of all his enemies is determined upon, Isa 63:6, which puts the prophet, or the church, in mind of former mercies bestowed upon Israel of old, the peculiar people and children of God, the Lord had a great opinion of, and favour for, whom he dealt very tenderly with, and redeemed, and saved, and preserved, Isa 63:7 though they acted an ungrateful part to him, which is aggravated by the various kind steps of Providence, in leading them through the Red sea, guiding them in the wilderness, and bringing them to rest safely in Canaan's land, for his own glory, Isa 63:10 and all is closed with the church's prayer to God, imploring his grace and mercy; pleading relation to him; expostulating with him about their present case, and observing the difference between them and their enemies, Isa 63:15 and which prayer is continued in the next chapter.

And I looked, and there was none to help,.... As, in the first redemption and salvation by Christ here on earth, there were none among the angels, nor any of the sons of men, to help him and assist him therein, none but Jehovah the Father; so, in this latter salvation, the church and people of God will be reduced to such a low, helpless, and forlorn condition, that there will be none to lend an assisting hand; their deliverance will appear most manifestly to be the sole work of almighty power: and I wondered that there was none to uphold; not the Saviour and Redeemer, he needed none; but his people under their sufferings, trials, and exercises, and his sinking, dying, cause and interest: this is spoken after the manner of men, and to make the salvation appear the more remarkable, distinguishing, and great, and solely his own work; for otherwise expectation and disappointment, consternation and amazement, as the word (r) signifies, cannot be properly ascribed to this great Redeemer: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; to himself, his mystical self, his church and people, and for his own glory; a salvation which his own omnipotent arm could only effect; See Gill on Isa 59:16, and my fury it upheld me; his zeal for his church and people, and his indignation against their enemies, excited his almighty power on their behalf, and carried him through the work of their deliverance and salvation he engaged in; see Isa 9:7. (r) "et obstupui, Musculus; stupefactus sum", Vatablus; "et obstupesceban", Cocceius; "stupebam", Vitringa.

(Verse 3 and following) I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me. I have trodden them in my anger, and trampled them in my fury: and their blood has stained my garments, and all my clothing is polluted. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked around, and there was no helper: I sought, and there was no one to assist. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my own wrath supported me. And I have trampled upon the peoples in my anger, and I have made them drunk in my indignation, and I have brought down their strength to the earth. Seventy times because of what we said, I alone have trampled the winepress, they have interpreted, a full trampling, which is more to be read with the previous chapter than as the beginning of the following one. The rest they have translated thus. And there is no one among the nations with me, and I have trampled upon them in my anger, and I have crushed them like the ground, and I have poured out their blood upon the earth, and I have defiled all my garments. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. For the press is called Geth in Hebrew, as Theodotion has translated the Hebrew word in Greek. But Symmachus, whom we also follow, renders it better in this place. For the word Phura is ambiguous, and usually signifies both a winepress and a jug. It must be said, therefore, about the winepress, that according to the custom of Holy Scripture, sometimes it is used for vengeance and punishments of sins, sometimes for the gathering of new fruits. It is used for punishments and torments, when Jeremiah, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, speaks: The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah with the winepress, therefore I mourn (Lam. 1:15-16). The psalms for those who are assigned to the winepresses are written in a favorable light in the eighth and eighty-third. Concerning them, if life accompanies them, with the Lord's help, they will be said. This winepress, in which both punishments for the wicked and rewards for the good are trampled on by the Savior himself, he alone trampled on, and he had no helper. For neither an Angel, nor an Archangel, Thrones, Dominions, or any celestial powers assumed a human body and suffered for us, and he trampled on opposing forces and shattered them, except for the one who speaks in the psalm: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed (Psalm 11:1); to such an extent that even the most confident and firmly established in the truth of faith, the apostle Peter, afraid, fled, rather denied the Lord (Matthew 27). And what follows: And their blood was sprinkled upon my garments, and all my raiments are defiled, should not be understood in such a way that we believe that demons and adversarial powers have blood. But everything should be understood tropologically, when the most merciful God is compelled to strike enemies in order to instruct His people and liberate them from the bonds of captivity. For He says: "The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption has come. About which we also read above (In chapter LXI), to preach in a favorable way the accepted year of the Lord, and the day of retribution to our God; both now in the bad and in the good. In the bad: For the day of vengeance is in my heart. In the good: The year of my redemption has come; so that at the time when the adversaries are punished, the people of God may be liberated, or rather redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb who is said to be slain in the Apocalypse of John. Moses prophesied about this day of retribution by the Holy Spirit: And he will repay vengeance to his enemies, and will restore to those who hate him. I looked around, and there was no helper; I sought, and there was no one to assist. (Deuteronomy XXXII, 41). He also said in the psalm: And I waited for one who would grieve, but there was none; and for one who would comfort, but I found none. (Psalm LXVIII, 21). For even though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God as something to be seized, but emptied himself (Philippians II), taking the form of a servant, and being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And because of this, God exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Whether he extirpated believers in his arm, and did not delay his fury beyond: and he led their blood unto the ground, whether in a figurative sense of demons, or certainly the blood of the Jews: for this reason, other interpreters have transferred the dispute; who were exerting every effort to release the captive people.

He calls "arm" the power of righteousness, for he guarded spotless and free from sin the nature that he assumed. We who have benefited from this good work and have been delivered from that bitter slavery, let us sing praises to the author of these things. He was the one who underwent the battle and provided us with the gift of victory and peace. Let us hope that we can enjoy this victory until the end, by the grace of the one who has conquered.

Second, he sets out the necessity of salvation: I looked about, and there was none to help, the human race, who could save it, above: he saw that there is not a man (Isa 59:16); or there was none to help, me on the cross: my brethren have withdrawn from me, and my acquaintance have departed from me (Job 19:13); I looked on my right hand, and beheld, and there was no one that would know me (Ps 141:5[142:4]); they compassed me on every side (Sir 51:10[7]). Third, the completion of salvation: and my own arm, my power, has saved for me, that is, accomplished the salvation of resurrection for me, or the salvation of the human race: his right hand has wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy (Ps 97[98]:1).

The prophet, (or rather the Church he represents), sees the great Deliverer, long promised and expected, making his appearance, after having crushed his enemies, like grapes in the wine-vat. The comparison suggests a lively idea of the wrath of Omnipotence, which its unhappy objects can no more resist than the grapes can resist the treader. Indeed, there is so much pathos, energy, and sublimity in this remarkable passage, as hardly any thing can be conceived to exceed. The period to which it refers must be the same with that predicted in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation, some parts of which are expressed in the same terms with this, and plainly enough refer to the very sudden and total overthrow of Antichrist, and of all his adherents and auxiliaries, of which the destruction of Babylon, the capital of Chaldea, and of Bozra, the chief city of the Edomites, was the prototype, Isa 63:1-6. At the seventh verse commences a penitential confession and supplication of the Jews, as uttered in their present dispersion, Isa 63:7-19. The very remarkable passage with which this chapter begins seems to me to be, in a manner, detached from the rest, and to stand singly by itself; having no immediate connection with what goes before, or with what follows, otherwise than as it may pursue the general design, and stand in its proper place in the order of prophecy. It is by many learned interpreters supposed that Judas Maccabeus and his victories make the subject of it. What claim Judas can have to so great an honor will, I think, be very difficult to make out; or how the attributes of the great person introduced can possibly suit him. Could Judas call himself the announcer of righteousness, mighty to save? Could he talk of the day of vengeance being in his heart, and the year of his redeemed being come? or that his own arm wrought salvation for him? Besides, what were the great exploits of Judas in regard to the Idumeans? He overcame them in battle, and slew twenty thousand of them. And John Hyrcanus, his brother Simon's son and successor, who is called in to help out the accomplishment of the prophecy, gave them another defeat some time afterward, and compelled them by force to become proselytes to the Jewish religion, and to submit to circumcision: after which they were incorporated with the Jews, and became one people with them. Are these events adequate to the prophet's lofty prediction? Was it so great an action to win a battle with considerable slaughter of the enemy or to force a whole nation by dint of the sword into Judaism? or was the conversion of the Idumeans, however effected, and their admission into the Church of God, equivalent to a most grievous judgment and destruction, threatened in the severest terms? But here is another very material circumstance to be considered, which, I presume, entirely excludes Judas Maccabeus, and even the Idumeans, properly so called. For the Idumea of the prophet's time was quite a different country from that which Judas conquered. For during the Babylonish captivity the Nabatheans had driven the Edomites out of their country; who upon that took possession of the southern parts of Judea, and settled themselves there; that is, in the country of the whole tribe of Simeon and in half of that of Judah. See Prideaux, ad. an. 740 and 165. And the metropolis of the Edomites, and of the country thence called Idumea, which Judas took, was Hebron 1 Maccabees 5:65, not Bozrah. I conclude, therefore, that this prophecy has not the least relation to Judas Maccabeus. It may be asked, to whom, and to what event does it relate? I can only answer, that I know of no event in history to which, from its importance and circumstances, it can be applied: unless, perhaps, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity; which in the Gospel is called the coming of Christ and the days of vengeance, Mat 16:28; Luk 21:22. But though this prophecy must have its accomplishment, there is no necessity for supposing that it has been already accomplished. There are prophecies, which intimate a great slaughter of the enemies of God and his people, which remain to be fulfilled; these in Ezekiel, chap. 38, and in the Revelation of St. John, Rev 20:1-15, are called Gog and Magog. This prophecy of Isaiah may possibly refer to the same or the like event. We need not be at a loss to determine the person who is here introduced, as stained with treading the wine-press, if we consider how St. John in the Revelation has applied this image of the prophet, Rev 19:13, Rev 19:15, Rev 19:16. Compare chap. 34. - L.

And my fury "And mine indignation" - For וחמתי vachamathi, nineteen MSS. (three ancient) of Kennicott's, nine of De Rossi's, and one of mine, and four editions, have וצדקתי vetsidkathi, and my righteousness; from Isa 59:16, which I suppose the transcriber retained in his memory. It is true that the Versions are in favor of the common reading; but that noticed above seems to stand on good authority, and is a reading both pleasing and impressive. Opposite, in the margin, my MS. has the common reading by a later hand.

MESSIAH COMING AS THE AVENGER, IN ANSWER TO HIS PEOPLE'S PRAYERS. (Isa. 63:1-19) Who--the question of the prophet in prophetic vision. dyed--scarlet with blood (Isa 63:2-3; Rev 19:13). Bozrah--(See on Isa 34:6). travelling--rather, stately; literally, "throwing back the head" [GESENIUS]. speak in righteousness--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; Isa 46:13); salvation being meant as the result of His "righteousness" [MAURER]. save--The same Messiah that destroys the unbeliever saves the believer.

The same words as in Isa 59:16, except that there it is His "righteousness," here it is His "fury," which is said to have upheld Him.