What does the chapter actually say?
Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
ISAIAH • CHAPTER 63
Isaiah 63
Judgment, holiness, Jerusalem, Assyria, exile, restoration, the servant songs, hope, nations, and new creation.
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Isaiah 63
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1
Who is this who comes from Edom,
with dyed garments from Bozrah?
Who is this who is glorious in his clothing,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I who speak in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
with dyed garments from Bozrah?
Who is this who is glorious in his clothing,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I who speak in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2
Why is your clothing red,
and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?
and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?
3
“I have trodden the wine press alone.
Of the peoples, no one was with me.
Yes, I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath.
Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments,
and I have stained all my clothing.
Of the peoples, no one was with me.
Yes, I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath.
Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments,
and I have stained all my clothing.
4
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redeemed has come.
and the year of my redeemed has come.
5
I looked, and there was no one to help;
and I wondered that there was no one to uphold.
Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me.
My own wrath upheld me.
and I wondered that there was no one to uphold.
Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me.
My own wrath upheld me.
6
I trod down the peoples in my anger
and made them drunk in my wrath.
I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”
and made them drunk in my wrath.
I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”
7
I will tell of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh
and the praises of Yahweh,
according to all that Yahweh has given to us,
and the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
which he has given to them according to his mercies,
and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
and the praises of Yahweh,
according to all that Yahweh has given to us,
and the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
which he has given to them according to his mercies,
and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
8
For he said, “Surely, they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely;”
so he became their Savior.
children who will not deal falsely;”
so he became their Savior.
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.
He bore them,
and carried them all the days of old.
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and in his pity he redeemed them.
He bore them,
and carried them all the days of old.
10
But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
Therefore he turned and became their enemy,
and he himself fought against them.
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
Therefore he turned and became their enemy,
and he himself fought against them.
11
Then he remembered the days of old,
Moses and his people, saying,
“Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
Moses and his people, saying,
“Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
12
Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand?
Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13
Who led them through the depths,
like a horse in the wilderness,
so that they didn’t stumble?
like a horse in the wilderness,
so that they didn’t stumble?
14
As the livestock that go down into the valley,
Yahweh’s Spirit caused them to rest.
So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name.
Yahweh’s Spirit caused them to rest.
So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name.
15
Look down from heaven,
and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory.
Where are your zeal and your mighty acts?
The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory.
Where are your zeal and your mighty acts?
The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
16
For you are our Father,
though Abraham doesn’t know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, Yahweh, are our Father.
Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
though Abraham doesn’t know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, Yahweh, are our Father.
Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
17
O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways,
and harden our heart from your fear?
Return for your servants’ sake,
the tribes of your inheritance.
and harden our heart from your fear?
Return for your servants’ sake,
the tribes of your inheritance.
18
Your holy people possessed it but a little while.
Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
19
We have become like those over whom you never ruled,
like those who were not called by your name.
like those who were not called by your name.
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Isaiah uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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