Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 64:5
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
5. Thou meetest ] (a perf. of experience). The verb is obviously used here in a good sense, as Gen 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. Isa 26:8.
thou art wroth &c. ] R.V. thou wast wroth and we sinned. Cf. ch. Isa 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 . The last word suggests a satisfactory emendation (perhaps for ). Of further conjectural restorations one may be mentioned, due to Lowth. Instead of he reads = “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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou meetest him – Perhaps there are few verses in the Bible that have given more perplexity to interpreters than this; and after all that has been done, the general impression seems to be, that it is wholly inexplicable, or without meaning – as it certainly is in our translation. Noyes says of his own translation of the last member of the verse, I am not satisfied with this or any other translation of the line which I have seen. Lowth says, I am fully persuaded that these words as they stand at present in the Hebrew text are utterly unintelligible. There is no doubt of the meaning of each word separately, but put together they make no sense at all. I conclude, therefore, that the copy has suffered by transcribers in this place. And after proposing an important change in the text, without any authority, he says, perhaps these may not be the very words of the prophet, but, however, it is better than to impose upon him what makes no sense at all, as they generally do who pretend to render such corrupted passages. Arch. Secker also proposed an important change in the Hebrew text, but there is no good authority in the manuscripts, it is believed, for any change.
Without repeating what has been said by expositors on the text, I shall endeavor to state what seems to me to be its probable signification. Its general purpose, I think, is clear. It is to urge, as an argument for Gods interposition, the fact that he was accustomed to regard with pleasure those who did well; yet to admit that he was now justly angry on account of their sins, and that they had continued so long in them that they had no hope of being saved but in his mercy. An examination of the words and phrases which occur, will prepare us to present at a single view the probable meaning. The word rendered thou meetest, ( pagaetha) means probably to strike upon, to impinge; then to fall upon in a hostile manner, to urge in any way as with petitions and prayers; and then to strike a peace or league with anyone. See the word explained in the notes at Isa 47:3. Here it means, as I suppose, to meet for purposes of peace, friendship, protection; that is, it was a characteristic of God that he met such persons as are described for purposes of kindness and favor; and it expresses the belief of the petitioners that whatever they were suffering, still they had no doubt that it was the character of God to bless the righteous.
That rejoiceth – This translation evidently does not express the sense of the Hebrew, unless it be understood as meaning that God meets with favor those who rejoice in doing righteousness. So Gesenius translates it, Thou makest peace with him who rejoices to do justice; that is, with the just and upright man thou art in league, thou delightest in him. So Noyes renders it, Thou art the friend of those who joyfully do righteousness. Lowth Thou meetest with joy those who work righteousness. Jerome, Thou meetest him who rejoices and does right. The phrase used ( ‘eth–s’as’) seems to me to mean, With joy, and to denote the general habit of God. It was a characteristic of him to meet the just with joy, that is, joyfully.
And worketh righteousness – Hebrew, And him that doeth righteousness; that is, thou art accustomed to meet the just with joy, and him that does right. It was a pleasure for God to do it, and to impart to them his favors.
Those that remember thee in thy ways – On the word remember, used in this connection, see the notes at Isa 62:6. The idea is, that such persons remembered God in the modes which he had appointed; that is, by prayer, sacrifices, and praise. With such persons he delighted to meet, and such he was ever ready to succor.
Behold, thou art wroth – This is language of deep feeling on the part of the suppliants. Notwithstanding the mercy of God, and his readiness to meet and bless the just, they could not be ignorant of the fact that he was now angry with them. They were suffering under the tokens of his displeasure; but they were not now disposed to blame him. They felt the utmost assurance that he was just, whatever they might have endured. It is to be borne in mind, that this is language supposed to be used by the exiles in Babylon, near the close of the captivity; and the evidences that God was angry were to be seen in their heavy sorrows there, in their desolate land, and in the ruins of their prostrate city and temple (see the notes at Isa 64:10-11).
In those is continuance – Lowth has correctly remarked that this conveys no idea. To what does the word those refer? No antecedent is mentioned, and expositors have been greatly perplexed with the passage. Lowth, in accordance with his too usual custom, seems to suppose that the text is corrupted, but is not satisfied with any proposed mode of amending it. He renders it, because of our deeds, for we have been rebellious; changing entirely the text – though following substantially the sense of the Septuagint. Noyes renders it, Long doth the punishment endure, until we be delivered; but expresses, as has been already remarked, dissatisfaction even with this translation, and with all others which he has seen. Jerome renders it, In ipsis fuimus semper – We have always been in them, that is, in our sins. The Septuagint, Dia touto eplanethemen, etc. Because of this we wandered, and became all of us as unclean, and all our righteousness as a filthy rag. It seems to me that the phrase bahem, in them, or in those, refers to sins understood; and that the word rendered continuance ( olam) is equivalent to a long former period; meaning that their sins had been of long continuance, or as we would express it, we have been always sinners. It is the language of humble confession, denoting that this had been the characteristic of the nation, and that this was the reason why God was angry at them.
And we shall be saved – Lowth renders this, or rather substitutes a phrase for it, thus, For we have been rebellious – amending it wholly by conjecture. But it seems to me that Castellio has given an intelligible and obvious interpretation by regarding it as a question: Jamdiu peccavimus, et serv-abimur? Long time have we sinned, and shall we be saved? That is, we have sinned so long, our offences have been so aggravated, how can we hope to be saved? Is salvation possible for such sinners? It indicates a deep consciousness of guilt, and is language such as is used by all who feel their deep depravity before God. Nothing is more common in conviction for sin, or when suffering under great calamities as a consequence of sin, than to ask the question whether it is possible for such sinners to be saved. I have thus given, perhaps at tedious length, my view of this verse, which has so much perplexed commentators. And though the view must be submitted with great diffidence after such a man as Lowth has declared it to be without sense as the Hebrew text now stands, and though no important doctrine of religion is involved by the exposition, yet some service is rendered if a plausible and probable interpretation is given to a much disputed passage of the sacred Scriptures, and if we are saved from the necessity of supposing a corruption in the Hebrew text.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 64:5
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth
The godly man
I.
THE GODLY MANS CONDUCT.
1. He worketh righteousness. He does not confine himself to any department of action, it may be manual, commercial, literary, scientific, professional; but in all he worketh righteousness. He is right in all; rectitude, and not expediency, is his law.
2. He is happy in his work. He rejoiceth and worketh. A man that worketh righteousness is sure to be happy; his affections will be harmonious, his conscience will smile on him, his God will bless him. There is no happiness, but in work; and there is no happiness in work that is not the work of Thy ways. God has His ways and His methods of action, and they are manifold. He remembers God in His ways in nature, in the government of man, in the dispensations of redeeming grace.
II. THE GODLY MANS COMPANION. Thou (i.e. God) meetest him that rejoiceth. Such men have meetings with God.
1. Conscious meetings. All men meet with God, but they, are unconscious of it. The good man knows it; he can say, God is in this place.
2. Loving meetings. He meets him as the father met the prodigal son on his return, overflowing with love and joy.
3. Preparatory meetings. He meets them to prepare them for a meeting with Him that shall be uninterupted, beatific, and eternal. Conclusion: What a noble life is the life of godliness! Godliness is profitable unto all things, etc. (Homilist.)
How to meet God
In these ancient words, in very different phraseology indeed, we see a strikingly accurate and full anticipation of the very central teaching of Paul and his brother apostles, as to the way by which God and man come into union with one another. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth–that joy is to be manifested by working righteousness, but the joywhich is the parent of righteousness is the child of something else–those that remember Thee in Thy ways. If we ponder these words, and carefully mark their relation to each other, we may discern, as it were, a great staircase with three flights in it, and at the top Gods face.
I. WE HAVE TO BEGIN WITH THE LAST CLAUSE OF OUR TEXT. Thou meetest him . . . that remembers Thee in Thy ways. The first stage on the road which will bring any man into, and keep any man in, contact with God, and loving fellowship- with Him, is the contemplation of His character, as it is made known to us by His acts. God, like man, is known by His fruits. You cannot get at a clear conception of God by speculation, or by thinking about Him or about what He is in Himself. Lay hold of the clue of His acts, and it leads you straight into His heart. But the act of acts, in which the whole Godhead concurs, in which all its depths and preciousness are concentrated, like wine in a golden cup, is the incarnation and life and death of Jesus Christ our Lord. But note that word Remember, for it suggests the warning that such contemplation of the ways of the Lord will not be realized by us without effort. There are so many things within us to draw us away; the duties and joys and sorrows of life so insist upon having a place in our hearts and thoughts, that assuredly, unless by resolute effort, frequently repeated, we clear a space in this crowded and chattering marketplace of life, where we can stand and gaze on the white summits far beyond the bustling crowd, we shall never see them, though they are visible from every place. Unless you try to remember, you will certainly forget.
II. THE SECOND FLIGHT OF THIS GREAT STAIRCASE IS POINTED OUT IN THE FIRST CLAUSE OF MY TEXT, Thou meetest him that rejoiceth. That meditative remembrance of the ways of God will be the parent of holy joy which will bring God near to our heart. Alas, it is too often the very opposite of true that mens joys are such as to bring God to them. The excitement and often the impure elements that mingle with what the world calls joy are such as to shut Him out from us. But there is a gladness which comes from the contemplation of Him as He is, and as He is known by His ways to be, which brings us very near to God, and God very near to us. I think that we have largely lost the very thought that gladness is a plain Christian duty, to be striven after in the appropriate manner which my text suggests, and certainly to be secured if we seek it in the right way.
III. THE THIRD STAGE IS WORKING RIGHTEOUSNESS BECAUSE OF SUCH JOY. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and–because he does–worketh righteousness. Every master knows how much more work can be got out of a servant that works with a cheery heart than out of one that is driven reluctantly to his task. You remember our Lords parable where He traces idleness to fear: I knew thee that thou wast an austere man, gathering where thou didst not strew, and I was afraid, and I went and hid thy talent. No work was got out of that servant because there was no joy in him. The opposite state of mind–diligence in righteous work, inspired by gladness which in its turn is inspired by the remembrance of Gods ways–is the mark of a true servant of God. And the gladness which is wholesome and blessed, and is joy in the Lord, will manifest itself by efflorescing into all holiness and all loftiness and largeness of obedience.
IV. WE HAVE THE LANDING-PLACE TO WHICH THE STAIR LEADS. God comes to such a man. He meets him indeed at all the stages, for there is a blessed communion with God that springs immediately from remembering Him in His ways, and a still more blessed one that springs from rejoicing in His felt friendship and Fatherhood, and a yet more blessed one that comes from practical righteousness. For if there is anything that breaks our communion with God, it is that there linger in our lives evils which make it impossible for God and us to come close together. Remember if there is the practice of evil there cannot be the sunshine of the presence of God. But remember, too, that the commonest, homeliest, smallest, most secular tasks may become the very highest steps of the staircase that brings us into His presence. Conclusion: There are two kinds of meeting God. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, and that is blessed, as when Christ met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. There is another kind of meeting with God. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, and that is blessed, as when Christ met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. There is another kind of meeting with God. Who, making war, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Behold, Thou art wroth
An obscure passage
Text obscure. Possibly, Behold Thou wast wroth, and we sinned; Thy wrath was for ever, and we became transgressors. The general idea is that, through Gods wrath long continued, the people have sunk ever deeper into sin (cf. Isa 57:17; Isa 63:17; Koran, 27:4). (A. B.Davidson, D. D.)
Behold, Thou, Thou wast entered, and we stood as sinners; already we have long been in this state; and shall we be saved? (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness – “Thou meetest with joy those who work righteousness”] The Syriac reads poga attah shesh baashi, as above.
In those is continuance, and we shall be saved – “Because of our deeds, for we have been rebellious”] bahem olam venivvashea. I am fully persuaded that these words as they stand in the present Hebrew text are utterly unintelligible; there is no doubt of the meaning of each word separately; but put together they make no sense at all. I conclude, therefore, that the copy has suffered by mistakes of transcribers in this place. The corruption is of long standing, for the ancient interpreters were as much at a loss for the meaning as the moderns, and give nothing satisfactory. The Septuagint render these words by , therefore we have erred: they seem to have read aleyhem niphsha, without helping the sense. In this difficulty what remains but to have recourse to conjecture? Archbishop Secker was dissatisfied with the present reading: he proposed hebet aleynu venivvashea; “look upon us, and we shall, or that we may, be saved:” which gives a very good sense, but seems to have no sufficient foundation. Besides, the word venivvashea, which is attended with great difficulties, seems to be corrupted as well as the two preceding; and the true reading of it is, I think, given by the Septuagint, veniphsha, , we have erred, (so they render the verb pasha, Isa 46:8, and Eze 23:12,) parallel to vannecheta, , we have sinned. For bahem olam, which means nothing, I would propose hammaaleleynu, “because of our deeds; which I presume was first altered to bemaaleleyhem, an easy and common mistake of the third person plural of the pronoun for the first, (See Clarke on Isa 33:2,) and then with some farther alteration to behem olam. The aleyhem, which the Septuagint probably found in their copy, seems to be a remnant of bemaaleleyhem.
This, it may be said, is imposing your sense upon the prophet. It may be so; for perhaps these may not be the very words of the prophet: but however it is better than to impose upon him what makes no sense at all; as they generally do, who pretend to render such corrupted passages. For instance, our own translators: “in those is continuance, and we shall be saved:” in those in whom, or what? There is no antecedent to the relative. “In the ways of God,” say some: “with our fathers,” says Vitringa, joining it in construction with the verb, katsaphta, “thou hast been angry with them, our fathers;” and putting vannecheta, “for we have sinned,” in a parenthesis. But there has not been any mention of our fathers: and the whole sentence, thus disposed, is utterly discordant from the Hebrew idiom and construction. In those is continuance; olam means a destined but hidden and unknown portion of time; but cannot mean continuation of time, or continuance, as it is here rendered. Such forced interpretations are equally conjectural with the boldest critical emendation; and generally have this farther disadvantage, that they are altogether unworthy of the sacred writers. – L.
Coverdale renders the passage thus: – But lo, thou art angrie, for we offende, and have been ever in synne; and there is not one whole. This is, I am afraid, making a sense.
After all that this very learned prelate has done to reduce these words to sense and meaning, I am afraid we are still far from the prophet’s mind. Probably bahem, in them, refers to deracheycha, thy ways, above. olam may be rendered of old, or during the whole of the Jewish economy; and venivvashea, “and shall we be saved?” Thus: – Thou art wroth, for we have sinned in them (thy ways) of old; and can we be saved? For we are all as an unclean thing, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou meetest him; or, wast wont to meet him; or, thou preventest him, Isa 65:24; Psa 21:2,3, as the father the prodigal. That rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, viz. that rejoice to work righteousness; the same thing expressed by two words, by a figure called hendiadis.
That remember thee in thy ways; an amplification of the former words: q.d. To walk in thy ways, whether of providence, precept, or counsel, by virtue of the covenant they have with thee.
Thou art wroth; for we have sinned: or, greatly angry; for or because we have sinned, and provoked thee to wrath thereby, 1Ki 8:46.
In those is continuance, i.e. to those that work righteousness; in for to.
We shall be saved, viz. in so doing, in working righteousness. Or, as some, by way of interrogation; in those, i.e. in our sins, is continuance, and shall we be saved? Or, in those, viz. works of righteousness, in keeping in them, is our continuance and means to be saved. Or, thou continuest to show mercy, and or therefore we shall be saved. The meaning of the place is to comfort the godly, that though they may have provoked God by their sins, yet, looking upon the ways of Gods former proceedings, (in which he still continues, being unchangeable,) they may find hopes of salvation; and this is that which is amplified in the three following verses.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. meetestthat is, Thoumakest peace, or enterest into covenant with him (see on Isa47:3).
rejoiceth and workeththatis, who with joyful willingness worketh [GESENIUS](Act 10:35; Joh 7:17).
thoseThou meetest”those,” in apposition to “him” who represents aclass whose characteristics “those that,” c., more fullydescribes.
remember thee in thy ways(Isa 26:8).
sinnedliterally,”tripped,” carrying on the figure in “ways.”
in those is continuanceaplea to deprecate the continuance of God’s wrath it isnot in Thy wrath that there is continuance (Isa 54:7;Isa 54:8; Psa 30:5;Psa 103:9), but in Thyways (“those”), namely, of covenant mercy to Thy people(Mic 7:18-20; Mal 3:6);on the strength of the everlasting continuance of His covenant theyinfer by faith, “we shall be saved.” God “remembered”for them His covenant (Ps106:45), though they often “remembered not” Him(Ps 78:42). CASTELLIOtranslates, “we have sinned for long in them (‘thy ways’), andcould we then be saved?” But they hardly would use such a pleawhen their very object was to be saved.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth,…. Not in a carnal way, nor in a sinful manner, nor in a hypocritical one, or in vain boastings, all such rejoicing is evil: but in the Lord, in the person of Christ; in the greatness, glory, and fullness of his person; at the promise, and in the view, of his coming in the flesh, as Abraham did; in the grace of God displayed in him, and in hope of the glory of God by him; such a frame of spirit is agreeable to the Lord:
and worketh righteousness; a truly gracious soul is not idle, but works; not in his own strength, nor for life, or anything but what is just and right; no man indeed can work out a perfect righteousness, nor should men attempt to work out one for justification before God; but should lay hold by faith on the righteousness of Christ, which is the evangelical and best way of working righteousness; and such do works of righteousness in faith, which is doing them in the best manner, and the course of life of such is righteous; and these are regarded by the Lord, especially such who rejoice to work righteousness, or do it, in a cheerful joyful manner, which perhaps is the sense of the words: now such the Lord “meeteth”, or has been used to meet, in former ages, in all generations, even in a way of love, grace, and mercy; and prevents them with the blessings of his goodness; indulges them with communion with himself through his Son, typified by the mercyseat; and at the throne of his grace, and in his house and ordinances. The Jewish commentators understand this phrase in a different manner. R. Jonah and Jarchi interpret it of God’s meeting the righteous, and removing them out of the world by death, according to 1Ki 2:25 and Aben Ezra of his receiving their prayers and intercessions for others, according to Isa 47:3. Kimchi joins both senses together,
“the righteous, who were doing thy commandments with joy, are not now in the world, to stand in the gap for us.”
Those that remember thee in thy ways; they remember there is a God, and worship him; the perfections of his nature, and adore them; his works of providence, and admire them; and his blessings of grace and goodness, and are thankful for them: they remember him “in [his] ways”; in the ways of his providence, which are unsearchable, and past finding out; in the ways of his grace and mercy, so the Targum; or “for” or “because” q of these, and praise his name; and in the ways of his commandments, which they observe.
Behold, thou art wroth, and we have sinned; or because we have sinned r; as for us, we have sinned, and justly incurred the displeasure of God; and it is no wonder he hides his face from us, and does not meet us, as he has been used to meet his people formerly. The people of God sin, and this is taken notice of by him, and resented; and which is the cause of all their afflictions, in which the Lord appears to be “wroth” with them; not that he is properly so, for afflictions to them are not in vindictive wrath; but he seems to be wroth with them, he carries it towards them as if he was, when he chastises them, and hides his face from them. In those is continuance, and we shall be saved: or “in these we have been of old” s; that is, in these sins; we are old sinners, sinners in Adam, sinners from our birth, and so in these sins is continuance: saints indeed do not continue in a course of sin, yet sin continues in them, and they are continually sinning in thought, word, or deed; yet nevertheless there is salvation from all their sins in Christ, in whom they shall be saved: or there is continuance in works of righteousness, and in the cheerful performance of them; the principle of well doing continues in believers, which is the grace of God, and spiritual strength, by which they do well; and through the grace of Christ they persevere in faith and holiness, and, persevering herein, shall be saved. Or rather there is continuance in the ways of God, in the ways of his grace and mercy; in them there is constancy, perpetuity, and eternity, as the word signifies; his love is an everlasting love; his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting, and endures for ever; he is unchangeable in his grace and promises, and hence his people shall not be consumed in their sins by his wrath, but shall be everlastingly saved; which is entirely owing to his permanent and immutable grace, and not to their works of righteousness, as appears by what follows.
q “propter vias tuas”, Piscator. r “quia [vel] nam peccavimus”, Vatablus, Grotius, Forerius, Gataker. So some in Munster, , “vau”, is often causal. s “in his [peccatis] consenuimus”, Tigurine version some in Munster; “in ipsis [peccatis] semper [fuimus]”, Forerius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6)
The people who ask the question in Isa 64:5 do not regard themselves as worthy of redemption, as their self-righteousness has been so thoroughly put to shame. “We all became like the unclean thing, and all our virtues like a garment soiled with blood; and we all faded away together like the leaves; and our iniquities, like the storm they carried us away.” The whole nation is like one whom the law pronounces unclean, like a leper, who has to cry “ tame , tame “as he goes along, that men may get out of his way (Lev 13:45). Doing right in all its manifold forms ( ts e daqoth , like Isa 33:15, used elsewhere of the manifestations of divine righteousness), which once made Israel well-pleasing to God (Isa 1:21), has disappeared and become like a garment stained with menstruous discharge (cf., Eze 36:17); (lxx = dava , Isa 30:22; niddah , Lam 1:17; t e me’ah , Lev 15:33). Iddm (used thus in the plural in the Talmud also) signifies the monthly period ( menstrua ). In the third figure, that of fading falling foliage, the form vannabhel is not kal (= vannibbol or vannibbal ; Ewald, 232, b), which would be an impossibility according to the laws of inflexion; still less is it niphal = vanninnabhel (which Kimchi suggests as an alternative); but certainly a hiphil. It is not, however, from nabhel = vannabbel , “with the reduplication dropped to express the idea of something gradual,” as Bttcher proposes (a new and arbitrary explanation in the place of one founded upon the simple laws of inflexion), but either from balal (compare the remarks on bell in Isa 30:24, which hardly signifies “ripe barley” however), after the form (from ) (from ), or from bul , after the form , etc. In any case, therefore, it is a metaplastic formation, whether from balal or bul = nabhel , like (in 1Ch 20:3, after the form , from = , or after the form , from = (compare the rabbinical explanation of the name of the month Bul from the falling of the leaves, in Buxtorf, Lex. talm. col. 271). The hiphil or is to be compared to , to stream out red (= to be red); , to make an extension (= to be long); , to strike root (= to root), etc., and signifies literally to produce a fading (= to fade away). In the fourth figure, (as it is also written in Isa 64:6 according to correct codices) is a defective plural (as in Jer 14:7; Eze 28:18; Dan 9:13) for the more usual (Isa 59:12). is the usual term applied to sin regarded as guilt, which produces punishment of itself. The people were robbed by their sins of all vital strength and energy, like dry leaves, which the guilt and punishment springing from sin carried off as a very easy prey.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
5. Thou hast met. He proceeds with the same subject; for the people deplore their hard lot, that they feel no alleviation in their adversity, although formerly God was wont to stretch out the hand to the fathers. Believers, therefore, speak in this manner: “Thou wast wont to meet our fathers; now thy face is turned away from us; and thou appearest to be irreconcilable:, because we gain nothing by calling on thee. Whence comes this diversity, as if thy nature had been changed, and thou wert now different from what thou hast been?” They next add, and make an acknowledgment, that they are punished justly, because “they have sinned.” I have formerly stated that nothing is better in adversity than to remember God’s benefits, and not only those which we have ourselves experienced, but likewise those which are related in Scripture; for we cannot be armed by a stronger shield against temptations of every kind.
This verse, in my opinion, is inaccurately explained by those who think that we ought to read those words as closely connected, Him that rejoiceth and doeth righteousness, as if he had said, “Thou hast met them that willingly serve thee, and whose highest pleasure is to do what is right.” I think that rejoicing denotes here those who were glad in prosperity; for at that time the people were in sadness and mourning. There is an implied contrast. “Formerly thou wast wont to meet the fathers, before they were distressed by any affliction, and to cheer them by thy approach; now thou art far distant, and permittest us to languish in mourning and grief.”
In thy ways they remembered thee. In accordance with what he has now said, he adds that they “remembered God,” because they enjoyed his present grace, and felt that he was the author and director of their salvation; and so by “the ways of God,” he means prosperity; either that in this way he was near to them, when he treated them softly and gently as his children, or because God is by nature inclined to acts of kindness. But since he said that God was wont to “meet him that doeth righteousness,” the “remembrance” may relate to the practice of piety, that is, that they devoted themselves earnestly to the worship of God; and so it will be an explanation of the former clause, for the prophets frequently confirm by a variety of expressions what they have formerly said. To “remember” God, is to be captivated by the pleasant remembrance of him, so that we shall desire nothing more, and to place all our happiness in him. There is nothing that delights us more than the remembrance of the mercy of God; and, on the other hand, if we feel that God is angry, the mention of him fills us with alarm.
And we have sinned. The reason is assigned; for, when they find that God is so unlike what he formerly was, they do not murmur against him, but throw all the blame on themselves. Let us learn from this, that we ought never to think of the chastisements which the Lord inflicts, without at the same time calling to mind our sins, that we may confess that we are justly punished, and may acknowledge our guilt.
In them is perpetuity. In this passage עולם ( gnolam) denotes nothing else than “long duration;” but it may refer either to “sins” or to “the ways of the Lord.” To sins it may refer in this way, “Though we obstinately persisted in our sins, and deserved that thou shouldst destroy us a thousand times, yet hitherto we have been saved by thy mercy.” If we understand it to relate to “the ways of the Lord,” it will assign the reason why the people did not perish, because “the ways of the Lord” are steadfast and perpetual, and his mercy never comes to an end; and that meaning appears to me to agree best with this passage. Some supply the words, that “the age,” or “perpetuity,” is founded on the ways of the Lord. But I prefer to take the words in their literal acceptation, as when David says that the Lord “is not angry but for a moment,” (Psa 30:5,) that he is easy to be reconciled, and always compassionate; for his anger is not suddenly kindled, or with immoderate rage, after the manner of men, but he is unchangeable in benevolence and favor.
And we shall be saved, or, we have been saved We have not yet got at the whole of the Prophet’s statement; for he says that the people “are saved,” although they had been led into captivity, as into a grave, and deplored their calamity. On that account I consider the preterite to be put for the future, for it is rather a wish or a prayer than an affirmation. Nor do the saints boast that they have obtained salvation, but, deploring their misery, they betake themselves to God’s everlasting mercy; and consequently, they praise that which they wish, and not that which they have already obtained.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Thou meetest him . . .The meeting is obviously one of favour. That was the law of Gods dealings with men. He met, in this sense, those who at once rejoiced in righteousness and practised it. But with Israel it was not so. Their sins had brought them under His anger, not under His favour.
In those is continuance . . .The clause is difficult, and has been variously interpreted(1) In these (the ways of God) there is permanence (literally, eternity), that we may be saved; and (2) In these (the ways of evil) have we been a long time, and shall we be saved? The latter seems preferable. So taken, the clause carries on the confession of the peoples sinfulness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Not to dwell on the many views of critics on the construction here, let it suffice to say that the probable meaning may be gained in a translation and paraphrase as follows: Thou didst favorably meet him (singular for plural) that rejoiced to work righteousness, when they remembered thee in thy ways. If this be put in the present tense, as it may be, it would read to us a general truth, useful to all: Behold, thou gracious as thou art wast angry, for we were guilty.
In those Thy ways above mentioned.
Is continuance Or, eternal permanence.
And we shall be saved Namely, by trusting in thee.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah Admits The Utter Unworthiness of Those Whom He Represents ( Isa 64:5-7 ).
Isa 64:5
‘You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness,
Those who remember you in your ways,
Behold you were wrathful, and we sinned,
We have been in our sins a long time, and shall we be saved?’
But there is a problem. He acknowledges that the great Responder responds to (meets) those who rejoice and work righteousness, to those whose hearts and wills are right towards Him and whose lives reveal it in obedience to His covenant. But he admits that those on whose behalf he prays are not like this. They are those who are aware that God has been wrathful with them, and yet they still continue to sin. They are therefore wilful sinners, yes, deeply ingrained sinners. They have been sinning for a long time. Can they then indeed be saved? But worse is to come.
Isa 64:6
‘For we have all become like someone who is unclean,
And all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment,
And we all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities like the wind take us away.
There is no one who calls on your name,
Who stirs up himself to take hold of you,
For you have hid your face from us,
And have melted us by means of our iniquities.’
Linking himself with those for whom he prays he describes their total undeserving. ‘Unclean’ is the leper’s cry (Lev 13:45), thus they are to be seen as spiritual lepers. They are all like someone who is unclean, spiritually untouchable, their righteousnesses, their behaviour, which they themselves consider to be good, are in reality ‘like a polluted garment’, that is, like a garment rendered unclean by menstruation (the idea behind the Hebrew), something to be avoided with horror (which is how such garments were then seen).
This sense of uncleanness was something he understood very well, for when he had seen the glory of Yahweh in the Temple he had seen himself as totally morally unclean (Isa 6:5). He is not thus describing a ritual state, even though he is using such as an illustration, but speaking of a genuine spiritual and moral uncleanness in the sight of God from which men would withdraw with loathing. It refers to something that is within men, and which affects how they are seen outwardly, a moral pollution. Their righteousnesses, all their efforts to please God, are but like leprosy and like clothes which are polluted and fit only to be cast off and burned.
‘And we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind take us away.’ The dried up leaf is the result of the lack of sustenance, the lack of what is good, because contact with the source of its life has been blocked. Thus these people have become spiritually and morally withered because they lack the flow of goodness from the source, from God. And as the wind takes such leaves away, so do their iniquities, the sins that are part of their very nature, carry them away too.
‘There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs up himself to take hold of you.’ Furthermore they all are so deep in sin that they do not even call on Yahweh’s name, they make no real effort to attract His interest in prayer. So not one of them has any real desire to attract God’s attention.
‘For you have hid your face from us, and have melted us by means of our iniquities.’ And the reason is because God has hid His face from them. There is no stirring within them. They are spiritually dead. Indeed their sins mean that whenever there is a suggestion of God’s approach they recoil from Him, He has made them to melt away from before Him, and this is in a sense God’s doing because of what He essentially is.
So Isaiah pulls no punches. He is quite frank and plain about those for whom he prays. Spirituality is almost non-existent among them. The people are dead to God and to morality. If the people of Edom deserved God’s judgment, how much more these men of Jacob. Can there then be any hope for them?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
An Appeal to Jehovah to Forsake His Wrath
v. 5. Thou meetest, v. 6. But, v. 7. And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, v. 8. But now, O Lord, v. 9. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, v. 10. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, v. 11. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee, v. 12. Wilt Thou refrain Thyself for these things, O Lord?
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 64:5-7. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, &c. Thou meetest with joy those who work righteousness; who in thy ways remember thee. Lo! thou art angry; for we have sinned; because of our deeds; for we have been rebellious: and we are all of us as a polluted thing; and like a rejected garment are all our righteous deeds: and we are withered away, like a leaf, all of us; and our sins, like the wind, have borne us away. There is no one that invoketh thy name, that rouseth himself up to lay hold on thee: therefore thou hast hidden thy face from us; and hast delivered us up into the hand of our iniquities. Lowth. The supplication interrupted by the earnest vow in the preceding verse is here repeated. The supplicants acknowledge their common apostacy from God, and general corruption; in the mean time praising and celebrating the conduct of divine Providence toward the true worshippers; which confession of their fault, and acknowledgment of the justice of the divine judgment, run through these verses. The 6th verse alludes to the leprosy, which was the highest degree of uncleanness among the Jews. The prophets frequently borrow their images from the received customs and ritual ceremonies of the nations, among which the distinction betwixt things clean and unclean makes no small figure; and under these images they frequently describe moral defects, and religious offences, as in the present passage; which immediately referring to the Jews, the word righteousness, or justifications, alludes to all those external ceremonies and services wherein they placed merit, and whence they hoped for justification. See Rom 10:3 and Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
To the earnest cry of the soul, that went up in the preceding supplication, the humbling of the soul, in the deepest self abasement of spirit, which here follows, becomes a most suited addition, in prayer. Nothing surely can be more express, in token of heart-felt contrition, than what is here said. The uncleanness, and the witherings of the leaf in a wintry day, are strong figures to intimate the unworthiness of our most holy things. And, Reader! think, I beseech you, if the heavens are not clean in God’s sight, and if he charge even his angels with folly, how shall man be just with God? Oh! precious, precious Jesus! how sweet a relief to my soul is the recollection, that the perpetual and eternal efficacy of thy blood and righteousness taketh away the iniquity of our most holy things! For if, as is most true and just, our very righteousness is filthy in the view of God, then will it follow, that our prayer sins, our sacramental sins, our ordinance sins, need cleansing in Christ’s blood. Oh! how blessed, and to the praise of God my Father’s grace, is it, that both person and offering find acceptance in Jesus the beloved!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 64:5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Ver. 5. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness. ] That doth thy work diligently and with delight; that being acted by thee, acteth vigorously for thee. Tantum velis, et Deus tibi praeoccurret, saith an ancient, as the prodigal’s father met him upon the way. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good things of the land, Isa 1:21 which that we may be, Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit, volentem subsequitur ne frustra velit, a God worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Howbeit he expecteth that we should go as far as we can naturally, if ever we look that he should meet us graciously. Though the miller cannot command a wind, yet he will spread his sails, be in the way to have it, if it come.
In those is continuance,
a Augustine.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
HOW TO MEET GOD
Isa 64:5
The prophet here shows us how there is a great staircase which we ourselves build, which leads straight from earth to heaven, and how we can secure that we shall meet with God and God with us. ‘Isaiah’ is often called the evangelical prophet. He is so, not only because of his predictions of the suffering Servant of Jehovah which are ‘fulfilled’ in Christ, but because his conceptions of the religious life tremble on the very verge of the full-orbed teaching of the New Testament. In these ancient words of my text, in very different phraseology indeed, we see a strikingly accurate and full anticipation of the very central teaching of Paul and his brother apostles, as to the way by which God and man come into union with one another. ‘Thou meetest him that rejoiceth’; that joy is to be manifested by ‘working righteousness,’ but the joy which is the parent of righteousness is the child of something else-’those that remember Thee in Thy ways.’ If we ponder these words, and carefully mark their relation to each other, we may discern, as it were, a great staircase with three flights in it, and at the top God’s face.
We have to begin with the last clause of our text-’Thou meetest him . . . that remembers Thee in Thy ways.’
The first stage on the road which will bring any man into, and keep any man in, contact with God, and loving fellowship with Him, is the contemplation of His character as it is made known to us by His acts. God, like man, is known by His ‘fruits.’ You cannot get at a clear conception of God by speculation, or by thinking about Him or about what He is in Himself. Lay hold of the clue of His acts, and it leads you straight into His heart. But the act of acts, in which the whole Godhead concurs, in which all its depths and preciousness are concentrated, like wine in a golden cup, is the incarnation and life and death of Jesus Christ our Lord. There, and not in the thoughts of our own hearts nor the tremors of our own consciences, nor in the enigmatical witness of Providence-which is enigmatical until it is interpreted in the light of the Incarnation and the Crucifixion-there we see most clearly the ‘ways’ of God, the beaten, trodden path by which He is wont to come forth out of the thick darkness into which no speculation can peer an inch, and walk amongst men. The cross of Christ, and, subordinately, His other dealings with us, as interpreted thereby, is the ‘way of the Lord,’ from everlasting to everlasting. And it is by a loving gaze upon that ‘way’ that we learn to know Him for what He is. It is there, and there only, that the thick darkness passes into glorious light. It is at that point alone that the closed circle of the Infinite nature of Deity opens so as that a man can press into the very centre of the glory, and feel himself at home in the blaze. It is ‘those that remember Thee in Thy ways,’ and especially in that way of righteousness and peace, the way of the cross-it is they who have built the first flight of the solemn staircase that leads up from the lownesses and darknesses of earth into the loftinesses and lights of heaven.
But note that word ‘Remember,’ for it suggests the warning that such contemplation of the ways of the Lord will not be realised by us without effort. We shall forget, assuredly, unless we earnestly try to ‘remember.’ There are so many things within us to draw us away, the duties, and the joys, and the sorrows of life so insist upon having a place in our hearts and thoughts, that assuredly, unless by resolute effort, frequently repeated, we clear a space in this crowded and chattering market-place, where we can stand and gaze on the white summits far beyond the bustling crowd, we shall never see them, though they are visible from every place. Unless you try to remember, you will certainly forget.
Many voices preach to-day many duties for Christians. Let me plead for times of quiet, for times of ‘doing’ nothing, for fruitful times of growth, for times when we turn all the rout and rabble of earthly things, and even the solemn company of pressing duties, out of our hearts and thoughts, and shut up ourselves alone with God. Be sure you will never build even the first step of the staircase unless you know what it is to go into the secret place of the Most High, and, alone with God, to summon to ‘the sessions of sweet, silent thought’ His ways, and especially Him who is ‘the Way,’ both of God to us, and of us to God.
Now, the second flight of this great staircase is pointed out in the first clause of my text: ‘Thou meetest him that rejoiceth.’
That meditative remembrance of the ways of God will be the parent of holy joy which will bring God near to our heart. Alas! it is too often the very opposite of true that men’s joys are such as to bring God to them. The excitement, and often the impure elements, that mingle with what the world calls ‘joy,’ are such as to shut Him out from us. But there is a gladness which comes from the contemplation of Him as He is, and as He is known by His ‘ways’ to be, which brings us very near to God, and God very near to us. It is that joy which was spoken of in an earlier part of this context: ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.’ Here, then, is the second stage-gladness, deep, pure, based upon the contemplation of God’s character as manifested in His work. I do not think that the ordinary type of modern Christianity is half joyful enough. And I think that we have largely lost the very thought that gladness is a plain Christian duty , to be striven after in the appropriate manner which my text suggests, and certainly to be secured if we seek it in the right way. We all know how outward cares, and petty annoyances, and crushing sorrows, and daily anxieties, and the tear and wear of work, and our own restlessness and ungovernableness, and the faults that still haunt our lives, and sometimes make us feel as if our Christianity was all a sham-how all these things are at enmity with joy in God. But in face of them all, I would echo the old grand words of the epistle of gladness written by the apostle in prison, and within hail of his death: ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice.’ Recognise it as your duty to be glad, and if it is hard to be so, ask yourselves whether you are doing what will make you so, remembering ‘Thee in Thy ways.’ That is the second flight of the staircase.
The third stage is working righteousness because of such joy. ‘Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and ‘-because he does-’worketh righteousness.’ Every master knows how much more work can be got out of a servant who works with a cheery heart than out of one that is driven reluctantly to his task. You remember our Lord’s parable where He traces idleness to fear: ‘I knew thee that thou wast an austere man, gathering where thou didst not strew, and I was afraid, and I went and hid thy talent.’ No work was got out of that servant because there was no joy in him. The opposite state of mind-diligence in righteous work, inspired by gladness which in its turn is inspired by the remembrance of God’s ways-is the mark of a true servant of God. The prophet’s words have the germ of the full New Testament doctrine that the first step to all practical obedience and righteous living is the recognition of the great truth of Christ’s death for us on the Cross; that the second step is the acceptance of that great work, and the gladness that comes from the assurance of forgiveness and acceptance with God, and that the issue of both these things, the preached gospel and the faith that grasps it and the love by which the faith is followed, is obedience, instinct with willingness and buoyant with joyfulness, and therefore tending to be perfect in degree and in kind. The work that is worth doing, the work which God regards as ‘righteous,’ comes, and comes only, from the motives of ‘remembering Thee in Thy ways,’ and rejoicing because we do remember.
And the gladness which is wholesome and blessed, and is ‘joy in the Lord,’ will manifest itself by efflorescing into all holiness and all loftiness and largeness of obedience. You may try to frighten men into righteousness, you will never succeed. You may try to coerce their wills, and your strongest bands will be broken as the iron chains were by the demoniac. But put upon them the silken leash of love, and you may lead them where you will. You cannot grow grapes on an iceberg, and you cannot get works of righteousness out of a man that has a dread of God at the back of his heart, killing all its joy. But let the spring sunshine come, and then all the frost-bound earth opens and softens, and the tender green spikelets push themselves up through the brown soil, and in due time come ‘the blade, and the ear, and the full corn in the ear.’ Isaiah anticipated Paul when he said, ‘Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness.’
Lastly, we have the landing-place to which the stair leads. God comes to such a man. He meets him indeed at all the stages, for there is a blessed communion with God, that springs immediately from remembering Him in His ways, and a still more blessed one that springs from rejoicing in His felt friendship and Fatherhood, and a yet more blessed one that comes from practical righteousness. For if there is anything that breaks our communion with God, it is that there linger in our lives evils which make it impossible for God and us to come close together. The thinnest film of a non-conductor will stop the flow of the strongest electric current, and an almost imperceptible film of self-will and evil, dropped between oneself and God, will make a barrier impermeable except by that divine Spirit who worketh upon a man’s heart and who may thin away the film through his repentance, and then the Father and the prodigal embrace. ‘Thou meetest him,’ not only ‘that worketh righteousness,’ but that hates his sin.
Only remember, if there is the practice of evil, there cannot be the sunshine of the Presence of God. But remember, too, that the commonest, homeliest, smallest, most secular tasks may become the very highest steps of the staircase that brings us into His Presence. If we go about our daily work, however wearisome and vulgar and commonplace it often seems to us, and make it a work of righteousness resting on the joy of salvation, and that reposing on the contemplation of God as He is revealed in Jesus Christ, our daily work may bring us as close to God as if we dwelt in the secret place of the Most High, and the market and the shop may be a temple where we meet with Him.
Dear brethren, there are two kinds of meeting God: ‘Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness,’ and that is blessed, as when Christ met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. There is another kind of meeting with God. ‘Who, making war, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Thou meetest him = Thou didst meet him. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 32:1). App-92.
that rejoiceth = who was rejoicing, &c.
art wroth = wert, or wast wroth.
sinned. Hebrew. chata. App-44.
those is continuance = those [ways of Thine] is continuance. Same word as “since the beginning” in Isa 64:4. Compare Isa 63:9, Isa 63:11, Isa 63:16, Isa 63:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
meetest: Exo 20:24, Exo 25:22, Exo 29:42, Exo 29:43, Exo 30:6, Heb 4:16
rejoiceth: Psa 25:10, Psa 37:4, Psa 112:1, Act 10:2-4, Act 10:35, Phi 3:13-15
those that: Isa 26:8, Isa 26:9, Isa 56:1-7
thou art wroth: Isa 63:10, Psa 90:7-9
in those: Psa 103:17, Jer 31:18-20, Hos 6:3, Hos 11:8, Mal 3:6
Reciprocal: Exo 3:18 – met Deu 16:11 – General 2Ch 24:10 – rejoiced Job 10:15 – righteous Psa 19:8 – rejoicing Psa 80:7 – we shall Psa 106:3 – doeth Pro 21:15 – joy Ecc 3:12 – but Ecc 5:20 – because Isa 38:16 – General Isa 57:12 – General Dan 9:5 – have sinned Hos 5:15 – till Mat 28:9 – as Luk 18:13 – a sinner Luk 19:6 – joyfully Rom 7:14 – but Rom 12:8 – with diligence Phi 3:9 – not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 64:5. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, &c. Thou preventest, with the blessings of thy goodness, those that take pleasure in the ways of thy commandments, and live under a continual sense of thy providence. Behold, thou art wroth Or greatly angry; for, or because, we have sinned Have been guilty of many and great offences, whereby we have provoked thy heavy displeasure. In those Those ways of thine, thy ways of mercy, in which we have remembered thee; is continuance Or, perpetuity; or, in those thou art ever to be found; and we shall be saved At last, though thou art wroth, and we have sinned. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him, Psa 103:17. He always waits to be gracious, and through all ages meets his worshippers in his ordinances. This seems to be the sense of this obscure passage; at least it will bear this sense; and, as it is in perfect consistency with the general tenor of the Scriptures, it is certainly safer to admit it, unless a better can be proposed, than to have recourse to any mere conjectural alterations of the Hebrew text.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
64:5 Thou meetest him {d} that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy {e} ways: behold, thou art angry; for we have sinned: in {f} those is continuance, and we {g} shall be saved.
(d) You showed favour toward our fathers, when they trusted in you and walked after your commandments.
(e) They considered your great mercies.
(f) That is, in your mercies, which he calls the ways of the Lord.
(g) You will have pity on us.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The prophet knew that God has fellowship with those who practice righteousness and who "remember His ways," i.e., to walk in them. He wondered if there was any hope of Israel being saved, since she had sinned so much for so long, and since this sinning had angered God.