Isaiah 63

Isaiah 63 belongs to the final section of Isaiah (chapters 56–66). Following Isaiah 62, which celebrates the restoration of Zion, this chapter depicts God returning after executing judgment on the enemies. The people's prayer of lament, which begins in verse 7, continues into Isaiah 64.

Outline

• Verses 1–6: One clothed in red garments comes from Bozrah in Edom. He declares that he has trampled the enemies alone, as one treads a winepress. The day of vengeance and the year of redemption have come, but because there was none to help, he has brought salvation by his own arm.
• Verses 7–10: The speaker recalls the lovingkindnesses of the LORD. The LORD shared in the afflictions of his people and saved them through "the angel of his presence." But when the people rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit, he became their enemy.
• Verses 11–14: The people remember the days of Moses and ask where he is now who divided the sea and led them through the deep.
• Verses 15–19: The people plead with God to look down from heaven and behold. They confess that although Abraham and Israel do not acknowledge them, the LORD is their Father and Redeemer, and they lament that adversaries have trodden down his sanctuary.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 63:3 "I have trodden the winepress alone" — An image that likens judgment to the treading of grapes; it is taken up again in the judgment scenes of Revelation.
• Isaiah 63:9 "In all their affliction he was afflicted" — Frequently cited to speak of a God who is present with his people in their suffering.
• Isaiah 63:16 "Thou, O LORD, art our father" — A prayer that, unusually for the Old Testament, addresses God as "Father."

People and Places

• Edom: A nation southeast of Israel founded by the descendants of Esau. In this chapter it is commonly read as representing the nations that oppose God.
• Bozrah: A principal city of Edom.
• Moses: The leader of the Exodus. Verses 11–13 recall the crossing of the Red Sea.
• Abraham and Israel: "Israel" in verse 16 is understood to refer to the patriarch Jacob.

Points for Reflection

• The warrior of verses 1–6: Many of the Church Fathers and Protestant commentators identified this warrior with Jesus Christ. Other interpreters, by contrast, read the passage as it stands, as a scene of the LORD judging the nations. In the text, the blood on the garments is the blood of the enemies. Some sermons interpret it as the blood shed on the cross, but this is an added interpretation that the text itself does not state.
• Connection with the New Testament: Revelation 19:13–15 applies the images of the vesture dipped in blood and the treading of the winepress to the returning Christ.
• Verse 4 and chapter 61: "The day of vengeance" and "the year of my redeemed" in verse 4 correspond to Isaiah 61:2. In Luke 4, Jesus reads from chapter 61 but stops at "the acceptable year of the Lord."
• The LORD, the angel, and the Holy Spirit in verses 9–10: These verses mention the LORD, the angel of his presence, and the holy Spirit together. One tradition reads this as an intimation of the Trinity, while another view regards it as a Hebraic way of expressing the presence of God. "Vexed his holy Spirit" in verse 10 is echoed in Ephesians 4:30.
• The question of authorship: Critical scholarship regards chapters 56–66 as "Third Isaiah" (Trito-Isaiah), written after the return from exile. Conservative evangelicals regard them as the work of the prophet Isaiah alone.