1. O that thou wouldest rend &c.] Lit. “hadst rent.” So “hadst come down,” “had quaked.” This use of the perf. in the expression of a real wish, whose realisation is contemplated, is unusual, and is only to be explained by the urgency of the speaker’s feeling. Driver, Tenses, § 140. see on ch. Isaiah 48:18.

rend the heavens] Cf. ch. Isaiah 51:6; Psalm 18:9; Psalm 144:5.

might flow down] Rather, might quake; cf. Jdg 5:5. For the general conception of the Theophany cf. Psalm 50:1-6; Habakkuk 3:3 ff.

Isaiah 64:1-3. The language of complaint again gives place (as in Isaiah 63:15) to impatient prayer for a Theophany,—an imposing manifestation of Jehovah in His might. It is the great “day of the Lord” towards which the desire of the people reaches forward. In the Hebr., ch. 64 begins with Isaiah 64:2 of our version, Isaiah 64:1 forming the conclusion of Isaiah 63:19.

2. Render: As fire kindleth brushwood, as fire maketh water boil, &c.

to make thy name known to thine adversaries &c.]—the purpose of the Theophany. Cf. ch. Isaiah 59:18-19.

3. The second part of the verse, being (in the original) verbally repeated from Isaiah 64:1, ought probably to be omitted as a copyist’s error. The passage gains in compactness by its excision. Isaiah 64:1-3 will then form a single sentence, the last clause of which runs: while thou doest terrible things which we hoped not for; i.e. surpassing all our expectations.

terrible things] A standing phrase, as Cheyne remarks, for the marvels of the Exodus, the type of the great final deliverance. Cf. Deuteronomy 10:21; 2 Samuel 7:23; Psalm 106:22.

4–7. This difficult passage contains (1) an appeal to that which distinguishes Jehovah from all other deities: He is the only God who works for them that wait for Him in the way of righteousness; (2) a confession of the people’s sinful condition due to the persistency of the divine wrath. A contrast between these thoughts is probably intended; the severity of Jehovah’s dealings with Israel seems at variance with His known character. But the text is in some places hopelessly corrupt, and the exact sense is somewhat uncertain.

For since the beginning … heard] Lit. “And from of old they have not heard.” It is tempting (with Duhm) to take this as a relative clause parallel to and continuing Isaiah 64:3 (“… terrible things which we hoped not for, and which from of old men have not heard”). There is an awkwardness, however, in commencing a new sentence with the next clause, and still greater difficulty in carrying on the sentence of Isaiah 64:3 to the word “seen” (Hitzig). Accepting the traditional division, Isaiah 64:4 will read nearly as in R.V., And from of old men have not heard, have not perceived by the ear, no eye hath seen a God beside Thee, Who worketh for him that waiteth for Him. The rendering of A.V. is partly accommodated to St Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 2:9, where, however, a different text (not the LXX.) seems to be followed. Jerome says that the Apostle’s words are found in certain Apocalyptic books, although he will not admit that they are quoted from them.

“Worketh for”=“sheweth Himself active on behalf of”; without obj., as Genesis 30:30; Psalm 37:5.

5. Thou meetest] (a perf. of experience). The verb is obviously used here in a good sense, as Genesis 32:1.

that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness] i.e. that joyfully worketh righteousness. The words rejoiceth and are not in the LXX.

those that remember thee in thy ways] Cf. ch. Isaiah 26:8.

thou art wroth &c.] R.V. thou wast wroth and we sinned. Cf. ch. Isaiah 57:17.

in those is continuance and we shall be saved] R.V. “in them have we been of long time, and shall we be saved?” The text is quite unintelligible. LXX. has simply διὰ τοῦτο ἐπλανήθημεν. The last word suggests a satisfactory emendation (perhaps ונפשע for ונושע). Of further conjectural restorations one may be mentioned, due to Lowth. Instead of בהם עולם he reads בְּהַמְעַוְלם = “against the evil-doers”; thus obtaining a parallelism with the preceding line.

“Behold Thou wast wroth and we sinned,

Against the evildoers, and we fell away.”

This is at least a meaning, though not one that is altogether convincing.

6. And we are all become as one unclean—in a ceremonial sense, like the leper.

and all our righteousnesses &c.] our righteous deeds,—our best efforts after the fulfilment of the divine will, are stained and rendered ineffective by our general sinful condition.

as filthy rags] as a polluted garment.

our iniquities, like the wind, &c.] cf. ch. Isaiah 57:13; Job 27:21; Job 30:22. The image is here that of the leaf, already sere and faded, swept from the tree by the winter blast: so our iniquities hurry us away to destruction.

6, 7. A pathetic description of the degeneracy and spiritual lethargy of the people, caused by the divine wrath.

7. And there is none that calleth, &c.] an easily intelligible hyperbole.

stirreth himself up] “arouseth himself,” the same verb as in Isaiah 51:17.

consumed us, because of our iniquities] lit. “melted us by the hand of our iniquities.” Cf. Ezekiel 33:10, “Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them, how should we then live?” A better reading, supported by LXX., Pesh. and Targ., is delivered us into the hand (i.e. the power) of our iniquities. Cf. Job 8:4.

8. thou art our father] See on Isaiah 63:16.

we are the clay, and thou our potter] The nearest parallel to this application of the common image of clay and potter is perhaps Job 10:9. It is the plea of the creature against seeming unreasonableness on the part of the Creator. Can the potter allow the work on which he has lavished his utmost skill and care to be broken in pieces?

8–12. The prayer now ends in a direct and touching supplication, supported by various pleas, that Jehovah will at last cause His wrath against His people to cease.

9. neither remember iniquity for ever] Psalm 79:8. The nation feels that it is bearing the inexhaustible penalty of past sins. Such a thought was specially natural after the Restoration, when it appeared as if even the immeasurable calamity of the Exile had not wiped out the arrears of hereditary guilt (cf. Zechariah 1:12).

10. Thy holy cities] is a phrase which does not occur elsewhere, and both LXX. and Vulg. substitute the sing. for the plur. It is not necessary, however, to follow them. If the land is holy (Zechariah 2:12) there is no reason why the epithet should not be applied to all its cities.

10, 11. The evidences of Jehovah’s displeasure are to be seen on every hand, in the desolation and ruin of the sacred places.

11. The reference must apparently be to the first Temple and its destruction by the Chaldæans. The expression, and indeed the whole tone of the passage, suggest an event not quite recent; it is not the present generation, but their fathers who praised God in the “holy and beautiful house.” The question then comes to be whether this could have been said after the erection of Zerubbabel’s Temple. In spite of the tendency to hyperbolical language which marks the prayer, and the painful contrast between the magnificence of the first Temple and the poverty of the second, it is difficult to think that the author should absolutely ignore the existence of the sanctuary if it had been restored. See Introductory note.

is burned with fire] Lit. “has become a burning of fire”; cf. ch. Isaiah 9:5.

our pleasant things] Rather, our desirable places; cf. 2 Chronicles 36:19; Lamentations 1:10; Ezekiel 24:21; Ezekiel 24:25.

12. refrain thyself] See ch. Isaiah 63:15.