Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 64:9

Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we [are] all thy people.

9. neither remember iniquity for ever ] Psa 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. Zec 1:12).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Isa 64:9

Be not wroth very sore, O Lord

Gods wrath deprecated

I.

THE EVIL DEPRECATED. Gods anger.

1. Merited.

2. Acknowledged.

II. THE TERMS IN WHICH IT IS DEPRECATED.

1. Imply the justice of Gods procedure.

2. Beseech a limitation of its severity.

III. THE PLEA BY WHICH IT IS DEPRECATED.

1. Humble.

2. Confident.

3. Founded on Gods covenant relation to His people. (Homiletic Commentary.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 9. Neither remember iniquity] For laad tizcor, one of my MSS. has laad tiktsoph, “be not angry,” as in the preceding clause. This has been partially obliterated, and tizcor, written in the margin by a later hand: but this MS. abounds with words of this kind, all altered by later hands.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever, viz. Thou hast been angry with us a long time, be not so for ever; but deal with us as may best consist with a fathers bowels. It hath reference both to quantity and time, that it might not be very great, nor of long durance. See on Psa 79:8.

We are all thy people, thy peculiar people, Isa 28:9. Though we are very bad in ourselves, and very badly handled by our enemies, thou sufferest in our sufferings, for thou hast not people in covenant but us, and wilt thou not leave thyself a people in the world?

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9. (Psa 74:1;Psa 74:2).

we are . . . thy people(Jer 14:9; Jer 14:21).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Be not wroth very sore, O Lord,…. They knew not how to deprecate the displeasure of God entirely; having sinned so greatly against him, they were sensible they deserved his wrath; but entreat it might not be hot and very vehement, and carried to the highest pitch, which would be intolerable:

neither remember iniquity for ever; to afflict and punish for it, but forgive it, for not to remember sin is to forgive it; and not inflict the deserved punishment of it, but take off and remove the effects of divine displeasure, which as yet continued, and had a long time, as this petition suggests; and therefore suits better with the present long captivity of the Jews than their seventy years’ captivity in Babylon.

Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people; look upon all our troubles and distresses, and upon us under them, with an eye of pity and compassion; and consider that we are thy people, not only by creation, but by covenant and profession; even everyone of us; or we are all the people thou hast, the Jews looking upon themselves to be the special and peculiar people of God, and the Gentiles as having no claim to such a relation; this is the pure spirit of Judaism. The Targum is,

“lo, it is manifest before thee that we are all of us thy people.”

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The re-erection of the ruins of the promised land requires the zeal of every one, and this state of ruin must not continue. It calls out the love and faithfulness of Jehovah. “The cities of Thy holiness have become a pasture-ground; Zion has become a pasture-ground, Jerusalem a desert. The house of our holiness and of our adorning, where our fathers praised Thee, is given up to the fire, and everything that was our delight given up to devastation. Wilt Thou restrain Thyself in spite of this, O Jehovah, be silent, and leave us to suffer the utmost?” Jerusalem by itself could not possibly be called “cities” ( are ), say with reference to the upper and lower cities (Vitringa). It is merely mentioned by name as the most prominent of the many cities which were all “holy cities,” inasmuch as the whole of Canaan was the land of Jehovah (Isa 14:25), and His holy territory (Psa 78:54). The word m idbar (pasture-land, heath, different from tsiyyah , the pastureless desert, Isa 35:1) is repeated, for the purpose of showing that the same fate had fallen upon Zion-Jerusalem as upon the rest of the cities of the land. The climax of the terrible calamity was the fact, that the temple had also fallen a prey to the burning of the fire (compare for the fact, Jer 52:13). The people call it “house of our holiness and of our glory.” Jehovah’s qodesh and tiph’ereth have, as it were, transplanted heaven to earth in the temple (compare Isa 63:15 with Isa 60:7); and this earthly dwelling-place of God is Israel’s possession, and therefore Israel’s qodesh and tiph’ereth . The relative clause describes what sublime historical reminiscences are attached to the temple: is equivalent to , as in Gen 39:20; Num 20:13 (compare Psa 84:4), Deu 8:15, etc. has c hateph – pathach , into which, as a rule, the vocal sheva under the first of two similar letters is changed. Machamaddenu (our delights) may possibly include favourite places, ornamental buildings, and pleasure grounds; but the parallel leads us rather to think primarily of things associated with the worship of God, in which the people found a holy delight. , contrary to the usual custom, is here followed by the singular of the predicate, as in Pro 16:2; Eze 31:15 (cf., Gen 9:29). Will Jehovah still put restraint upon Himself, and cause His merciful love to keep silence, , with such a state of things as this, or notwithstanding this state of things (Job 10:7)? On , see Isa 63:15; Isa 42:14. The suffering would indeed increase (to the utmost), if it caused the destruction of Israel, or should not be followed at last by Israel’s restoration. Jehovah’s compassion cannot any longer thus forcibly restrain itself; it must break forth, like Joseph’s tears in the recognition scene (Gen 45:1).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

9. Be not angry, O Jehovah, beyond measure. (193) The people pray that the severity of punishment and the fierceness of the wrath of God may be abated; not that God goes beyond measure, but because they would be altogether overwhelmed, if he should choose to act toward them with the utmost strictness of justice. They therefore ask a mitigation of punishment; as Jeremiah also says, “Chasten me, O Lord, but in judgment,” (Jer 10:24,) that is, moderately; for he draws a contrast between “judgment” and “wrath;” as it is elsewhere said that God chastises us “by the hand of man,” (2Sa 7:14,) because he does not put forth the power of his hand to punish us, lest we should be utterly destroyed.

Neither remember iniquity for ever. It deserves notice that they do not absolutely shrink from the judgment of God, or pray that they may wholly escape from it, but present themselves to be corrected, so as not to faint under the strokes. And this is the reason why they desire to have the remembrance of their iniquities blotted out; for, if God do not mercifully pardon them, there will be no end of the chastisements.

We all are thy people. The Prophet repeats what he said a little before, that God elected the family of Abraham; because the best ground for the confident expectation of obtaining pardon was, that God, who is true to his promises, cannot east away those whom he had once elected. By employing the word all, he does not speak of each individual, as I formerly remarked, but includes the whole body of the Church. Although the greater part had withdrawn through wicked revolt, yet still it was true that the Jews were God’s peculiar people; and this prayer was offered, not for every one of them without distinction, but only for the children of God who were still left. (194) The people do not plead their own merits before God, but betake themselves to the covenant of free grace, by which they had been adopted. This is the sure and only refuge of believers, this is the remedy for all evils; and that is the reason why Moses and the other prophets repeat it so frequently. (Exo 32:13.)

(193) “‘Be not angry, oh Jehovah, to extremity.’ The common version of עד מאד (gnad meod) (very sore) fails to reproduce the form of the original expression, as consisting of a preposition and a noun. This is faithfully conveyed in Lowth’s version, (to the uttermost,) and still more in Henderson’s, (to excess;) although the latter is objectionable as suggesting the idea of injustice or moral wrong, which is avoided in the version above given.” — Alexander.

(194) “ Mais seulement pour la petite troupe des fideles.” “But only for the small company of believers.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

9. Be not wroth very sore That is, mitigate thy wrath, deserved by us as a nation.

We are all thy people The idea national merges into the idea spiritual. All adhering to, and now praying to, him, are the spiritual Israel; and the prayer is, “Because we adhere and pray to thee, spare us!”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments