Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 63:16
Doubtless thou [art] our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, [art] our father, our redeemer; thy name [is] from everlasting.
16. The verse reads: For thou art our Father; for Abraham knoweth us not and Israel doth not recognise us; Thou Jehovah art our Father; our Redeemer from of old is Thy Name. Jehovah is the Father of Israel, i.e. the Creator and founder of the nation (Deu 32:6; Mal 2:10; cf. Exo 4:22; Hos 11:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 3:4; Jer 3:19; Mal 1:6). The idea of the divine Fatherhood is not yet extended in the O.T. to the individual believer, although a remarkable anticipation of the N.T. doctrine is found in Sir 23:1 ; Sir 23:4 : “O Lord, Father and Master of my life, O Lord, Father and God of my life.” (Cheyne.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Doubtless – Hebrew, ky – For; verily; surely. It implies the utmost confidence that he still retained the feelings of a tender father.
Thou art our father – Notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, and though we should be disowned by all others, we will still believe that thou dost sustain the relation of a father. Though they saw no human aid, yet their confidence was unwavering that he had still tender compassion toward them.
Though Abraham be ignorant of us – Abraham was the father of the nations – their pious and much venerated ancestor. His memory they cherished with the deepest affection, and him they venerated as the illustrious patriarch whose name all were accustomed to speak with reverence. The idea here is, that though even such a man – one so holy, and so much venerated and loved – should refuse to own them as his children, yet that God would not forget his paternal relation to them. A similar expression of his unwavering love occurs in Isa 49:15 : Can a woman forget her sucking child? See the note at that place. The language here expresses the unwavering conviction of the pious, that Gods love for his people would never change; that it would live when even the most tender earthly ties are broken, and when calamities so thicken around us that we seem to be forsaken by God; and are forsaken by our sunshine friends, and even by our most tender earthly connections.
And Israel acknowledge us not – And though Jacob, another much honored and venerated patriarch, should refuse to recognize us as his children. The Jewish expositors say, that the reason why Abraham and Jacob are mentioned here and Isaac omitted, is, that Abraham was the first of the patriarchs, and that all the posterity of Jacob was admitted to the privileges of the covenant, which was not true of Isaac. The sentiment here is, that we should have unwavering confidence in God. We should confide in him though all earthly friends refuse to own us, and cast out our names as evil. Though father and mother and kindred refuse to acknowledge us, yet we should believe that God is our unchanging friend; and it is of more value to have such a friend than to have the most honored earthly ancestry and the affections of the nearest earthly relatives. How often have the people of God been called to experience this! How many times in the midst of persecution; when forsaken by father and mother; when given up to a cruel death on account of their attachment to the Redeemer, have they had occasion to recoil this beautiful sentiment, and how unfailingly have they found it to be true! Forsaken and despised; cast out and rejected; abandoned apparently by God and by people, they have yet found, in the arms of their heavenly Father, a consolation which this world could not destroy, and have experienced his tender compassions attending them even down to the grave.
Our Redeemer – Margin, Our Redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. The Hebrew will bear either construction. Lowth renders it, very loosely, in accordance with the reading of one ancient manuscript, O deliver us for the sake of thy name. Probably the idea is that which results from a deeply affecting and tender view of God as the Redeemer of his people. The heart, overflowing with emotion, meditates upon the eternal honors of his name, and is disposed to ascribe to him everlasting praise.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 63:16
Doubtless Thou art our Father
The Jewish Church a spiritual body
The true sense of the verse, as it appears to me, is that the Church or chosen people, although once, for temporary reasons, co-extensive and coincident with a single race, is not essentially a national organization, but a spiritual body.
The father is not Abraham or Israel, but Jehovah, who is and always has been its Redeemer, who has borne that name from everlasting. (J. A. Alexander.)
Gods fatherly regard for His people
For Thou art our Father; for Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel knows us not. Thou, Jehovah, art our Father; from of old our Redeemer is Thy name. Jehovah is Israels Father Isa 64:7), i.e begetter (Deu 32:6); His creative power and loving, merciful purpose called it into existence. The second for justifies this confession, that Jehovah is Israels Father, and that it can therefore look for fatherly care and help from Him alone; even the dearest and most honourable men, the nations progenitors, cannot help it. Abraham and Jacob–Israel–have been taken away from this world, and are unable of themselves to intervene in the history of their people. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
The Jewish sense of orphanhood
These words came from the heart of the Jewish people when they felt themselves aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. They had wandered from the God of their fathers, and they feel as if their fathers had east them off. If Abraham were to appear on earth, he would not know them; if Jacob were to return, he would not acknowledge them; and what then can they do? They cannot endure life, cannot bear the burden of its sorrows and struggles without a father and a friend. What can they do but pass up beyond men, and seek a father in God? Their heart is an orphan everywhere, else, and is forced to this door of refuge; Doubtless Thou–Thou art our Father. (J. Ker, D. D.)
The cry of the orphaned heart
It has never died out, and is present still in many a spirit.
I. THE WORDS EXPRESS A DEEP LONGING OF THE HUMAN HEART. With all its folly and frivolity and sin, the heart of man has been made to feel after these words: Our Father–our Father which art in heaven. The lower creatures have not this cry, because they have not our wants, our aspirations, or the possibility of our hopes. There are wonderful instincts among them–most wonderful often in the most minute. But what curious microscope ever discovered among them a spire pointing heavenward, or tokens of prayer and praise? The magnet which is passed over the earth to draw things upward finds nothing in this world which trembles and turns to it save the human heart. It is very true that many hearts make little viable response, and seem to bear the want of a heavenly Father very lightly. But even in them there may be discerned the heart-hunger that shows itself in unnatural cravings which the lower creatures do not feel. The void may be discovered in the restless attempts men make to fill it. When we look at the length and breadth of mans history, it ,tells us that this cry constantly returns, O that I knew where I might find Him! There have been men in all ages to whom the answer of this cry has been the one necessity of life, and if you could convince them that is impossible to find a heavenly Father, they would smile no more.
II. YET IT IS OFTEN DIFFICULT TO SPEAK THESE WORDS WITH FULL ASSURANCE. The struggle to reach them is evident in the men who use them here, and is felt in the very word doubtless, with which they begin their claim.
1. There is one difficulty, which belongs specially to our time, in the mind of man as it deals with the universe and its laws. There is a form of science which says, I have ranged the world, and there is nothing in it but material law. There may be a heart in man, but there is no heart beyond to answer it; or, if there be, the heart of man can never reach it.
2. Besides the mind, the heart finds difficulties in itself. There are so many things in life which make it hard to believe in the love of God.
3. And still beyond the mind and heart there is the conscience. When we think of a Father in heaven, we must think of a righteous Father, of One who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. The weak, indulgent fatherhood, which is passed so lightly from hand to hand, will not fit into the parts of the worlds history which show the terrible penalties of sin; it will not satisfy the soul when it is brought face to face with the majesty of Gods law and the holiness of HIS character.
III. WITH ALL THESE DIFFICULTIES, IT IS A FEELING WHICH CAN BE AND HAS BEEN REACHED. There have been men who could look up and say, Doubtless Thou art our Father. They have said it not only in sunshine, but in storm and in the shadow of death; have given up their lives that they might testify to it clearly and fearlessly; and have shut the door and said it to their Father who seeth in secret. But we are to, think of One, the greatest of all. Even those who take the lowest view of Jesus Christ will admit that He, beyond all others, taught men to think of God as a Father, and gave the example of it in His own life and death. How strong it made Him, and how patient, how active in doing good, how comforted in solitude, that His Father had sent Him, and was present with Him, putting the cup of suffering into His hand, and ready to receive Him when He said, Father, into Thy hands commend My spirit! But His example, His influence, wonderful as they are, would not enable us to follow Him to God as a Father, unless there was something in His death which laid hold of us with stronger power. It is this which enables us to go to God the Judge of all with confidence, because we go through the blood of sprinkling. And when the conscience can say, My Father; the heart beans to say it also. When the heart has found a Father in God, all the worlds laws cannot lay hand on it to imprison it; it moves through the midst of them, and so passes by.
IV. THIS FULL SENSE OF GODS FATHERHOOD IS NOT GENERALLY GAINED AT ONCE. We do not say that the position is not gained at once. As soon as any one comes to God through Christ, he is no more a stranger and an enemy, but a child, and all the, dealings of God with him are paternal. But he may fail to recognize a Fathers voice and hand. Think of the ways by which it may be gained. Come, first of all, by a more simple and loving faith to the death of Christ in the fulness of its meaning. Then seek more fully to give Christ entrance into your heart and life. As the-heart is purified we see God. To have God for our Father is not merely to be forgiven, it is not even to be sanctified; it is to be one with Him in thought and feeling, to listen to Him and speak with Him, as one speaks with a friend. It is peculiarly the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us into this inmost sanctuary of sonship. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. But to be led by Him, we must not grieve Him by sin or neglect, but welcome His whispered admonitions; and then, as we listen and obey, we shall reach the innermost room where the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
V. TO USE THESE WORDS TRULY IS A MATTER OF INFINITE MOMENT TO US ALL. Here is a Friend we need in every stage of life, and in every event of it. (J. Ker, D. D.)
The assurance of Gods Fatherhood
There are three chambers by which we advance to the assurance of Fatherhood in God. The first is the upper chamber of Jerusalem, which comes to us ever and again in the Lords table, with its offer of pardon and peace. The second is the chamber of the heart, to which we give Him admission in love and obedience. And the third is the home, where the Holy Spirit teaches us to cry, Abba, Father. (J. Ker, D. D.)
The creed of the optimist
I. This noble utterance represents THE CONSOLATION AND FINAL APPEAL OF TEE SPIRIT OF MAN, baffled and dissatisfied with what the poet calls the riddle of this painful earth, or despised and rejected by his fellow-men; and that appeal is to the responsibility, omnipotence, unalterable love, and unerring justice of a Divine Father.
II. The cry of Isaiah is THE INSPIRED TEXT OF THE OPTIMIST, of the man who, in spite of the riddles and difficulties and waste and failure in a world teeming with injustice, persists in enthroning God alone behind all worlds, and saying to Him, Doubtless Thou art our Father, though scientific materialism be ignorant of us, and the facts of experience seem to be against us. (Basil Wilberforce, D. D.)
Our Redeemer,—
God the Redeemer
God signifies both a redeemer and an avenger, but the latter only as he is the former. Hence one reason for the close linking together of the two books of Isaiah. In the first Jehovah is the Avenger of the nation against the oppressor, of the poor against the godless rich, of the widow and fatherless against the unjust, of the outraged Theocracy against the no-gods which claim to be Jehovahs rivals and equals. In the second He is the Redeemer, who ransoms and delivers through the Nan of His choice. It is used in both senses throughout the Books of the Law, and in the Psalms. But in the writings of the prophets it is nearly confined to Isaiah. (F. Sessions.)
Our Redeemer
The Lord is our Redeemer for the soul. It is a great comfort to know that it is our heavenly Father who is our Redeemer. It is God in Christ.
1. Our Redeemer has suffered for us.
2. He is our Redeemer from the grave of sin.
3. He is our Redeemer, bringing us to God.
4. He is our Redeemer from our wicked self, and from the power of sin. (W. Birch.)
The Redeemer of Israel
Our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name. (A. B.Davidson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting – “O deliver us for the sake of thy name.”] The present text reads, as our translation has rendered it, “Our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting.” But instead of meolam, from everlasting, an ancient MS. has lemaan, for the sake of, which gives a much better sense. To show the impropriety of the present reading, it is sufficient to observe, that the Septuagint and Syriac translators thought it necessary to add aleynu, upon us, to make out the sense; That is, “Thy name is upon us, or we are called by thy name, from of old.” And the Septuagint have rendered goalenu, in the imperative mood, , deliver us. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Doubtless thou art our Father: thus they urge God with that relation he stands in unto them, Mal 2:10; therefore we as thy children expect the bowels and compassions of a father.
Though Abraham, he who was our father after the flesh, though he be dead, and so ignorant of our condition.
And Israel; or, Jacob; who was also our father; and therefore a vain thing to call upon them; or if they were not dead, they could not help us out of our straits; or if they were alive, we are so much degenerate that they would not own us. Some say Abraham and Israel are here mentioned, and not Isaac,
1. Because the covenant was made more solemnly, and the promises more frequently renewed, with them, than with Isaac.
2. Because with Abraham the covenant was first made, and the whole seed of Israel was taken into it; but not so of Isaac. Or else,
3. Abraham and Israel being named Isaac is included.
Thou art our Father, our Redeemer: this is urged as another argument for pity, and the more because their Father was their Redeemer, Deu 32:6.
Thy name is from everlasting; or, Redeemer is thy name from everlasting; thou hast been our Redeemer of old.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. thou . . . fatherofIsrael, by right not merely of creation, but also of electingadoption (Isa 64:8; Deu 32:6;1Ch 29:10).
though Abraham . . .IsraelIt had been the besetting temptation of the Jews to reston the mere privilege of their descent from faithful Abraham andJacob (Mat 3:9; Joh 8:39;Joh 4:12); now at last theyrenounce this, to trust in God alone as their Father, notwithstandingall appearances to the contrary. Even though Abraham, our earthlyfather, on whom we have prided ourselves, disown us, Thou wiltnot (Isa 49:15; Psa 27:10).Isaac is not mentioned, because not all his posterity wasadmitted to the covenant, whereas all Jacob’s was; Abraham isspecified because he was the first father of the Jewish race.
everlastingan argumentwhy He should help them, namely, because of His everlastingimmutability.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Doubtless thou art our father,…. Therefore why shouldst thou restrain thy mercies and bowels of compassion from us? or therefore look down upon us, and behold us; the church pleads her relation to God, and in a strong manner; faith of interest continued with her, though he hid his face from her. This relation of father and children, which subsists between God and his people, is not upon the foot of creation, so he is a father to all men; nor on account of national adoption, so he was to the whole body of the Jewish people; but through special adopting grace, which is a sovereign act of his will, founded in divine predestination; is a blessing of the covenant of grace; comes to men through Christ, through relation to him, and redemption by him, and is made manifest in regeneration; and a loving tender hearted father he is to his children, who sympathizes with them, provides all things for them, food and raiment, and bestows them on them, and lays up for them, for time to come, even an inheritance rescued in heaven; and though there are sometimes doubts in the minds of the children of God about this relation, through the temptations of Satan, by reason of their sins and corruptions, and because of their afflictions; yet those doubts are wholly removed through the testimony of the spirit of adoption, witnessing to their spirits that they are the children of God, when they can in the strength of faith claim their interest, and call him their Father:
though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not; those, who were their ancestors, were both dead; and the dead know not any thing of their posterity, and of their case and circumstances in this world, temporal or spiritual; nor are capable of giving them any help or aid in time of distress; and perhaps the prophet, in the name of the church, purposely expresses himself in this language, knowing what confidence the Jews were apt to place in Abraham and Israel, to draw off their minds from them, and to lead them to look to God as their only Father; who only could help them in their time of affliction, and was infinitely more to them than any earthly father could possibly be. Some think the sense is, that they confess they were become so degenerate, that if Abraham and Jacob were to return from the dead, they would not know them to be their seed and offspring; and yet, notwithstanding this, God was their Father. This may be the language of some persons, who have comfortable views of their relation to God, when earthly parents, and even professors of religion, disown and slight them:
thou, O Lord; art our father; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to express their full assurance of faith in it the more strongly:
our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting; or, “our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name” e; more agreeably to the accents: Christ was appointed from everlasting to be the Redeemer of his people; God was so early in him, drawing the scheme of redemption and salvation, and made so early a covenant with him concerning it; which may be properly enough called the covenant of redemption, though not as distinct from the covenant of grace; and Christ was the Redeemer of his people in all ages, and lived as such, as well as God the Father was, of old, in all ages, the protector of his people, and the avenger of their wrongs, to whom they might at all times apply for help.
e “redemptor noster a seculo nomen tuum”, V. L. “[vel] est”, Vitringa; “assertor noster a seculo est nomen tuum”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prayer for help, and the lamentation over its absence, are now justified in Isa 63:16: “For Thou art our Father; for Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel knoweth us not. Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer is from olden time Thy name.” Jehovah is Israel’s Father (Deu 32:6). His creative might, and the gracious counsels of His love, have called it into being: has not yet the deep and unrestricted sense of the New Testament “Our Father.” The second k introduces the reason for this confession that Jehovah was Israel’s Father, and could therefore look for paternal care and help from Him alone. Even the dearest and most honourable men, the forefathers of the nation, could not help it. Abraham and Jacob-Israel had been taken away from this world, and were unable to interfere on their own account in the history of their people. and suggest the idea of participating notice and regard, as in Deu 33:9 and Rth 2:10, Rth 2:19. has the vowel a (pausal for a , Isa 56:3) in the place of e , to rhyme with (see Ges. 60, Anm. 2). In the concluding clause, according to the accents, are connected together; but the more correct accentuation is tiphchah, m ercha, and we have rendered it so. From the very earliest time the acts of Jehovah towards Israel had been such that Israel could call Him .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
16. Surely thou art our Father. God permits us to reveal our hearts familiarly before him; for prayer is nothing else than the opening up of our heart before God; as the greatest alleviation is, to pour our cares, distresses, and anxieties into his bosom. “Roll thy cares on the Lord,” says David. (Psa 37:5.) After having enumerated God’s benefits, from which his goodness and power are clearly seen, so that it is evident that it is nothing else than the sins of men that hinder them from feeling it as formerly, he returns to this consideration, that the goodness of God is nevertheless so great as to exceed the wickedness of men. He calls God a Father in the name of the Church; for all cannot call him thus, but it is the peculiar privilege of the Church to address him by a father’s name. Hence it ought to be inferred that Christ, as the first-born, or rather the only-begotten Son of God, always governed his Church; for in no other way than through him can God be called Father. And here we again see that believers do not contend with God, but draw an argument from his nature, that, by conquering temptation, they may strive to cherish good hope.
Though Abraham do not know us. Here a question arises, Why does he say that the patriarch does not know the people? Jerome thinks that this is done because they were degenerated, and therefore were unworthy of so high an honor; but that interpretation appears to me to be exceedingly unnatural. The true meaning is, “Though our fathers deny us, yet God will reckon us as children, and will act toward us as a Father.”
They who say that Abraham and other believers care no more about the affairs of men, torture by excessive ingenuity the words of the Prophet. I do not speak of the fact itself, but I say that those words do not prove that the saints have no care about us. The natural and true meaning is, “O Lord, that thou art our Father will be so sure and so firmly established, that even though all parentage and all relationship should cease among men, yet thou wilt not fail to be our Father. Sooner shall the rights of nature perish than thou shalt not act toward us as a Father, or the sacred adoption shall be infringed, which was founded on thy unchangeable decree, and ratified by the death of thine only-begotten Son.” (180)
Yet we may infer from this that holy men present themselves before God, and pray to him, in such a manner as not to look at any intercessions of others; for they are commanded to pray so as to rely on God’s fatherly kindness, and to lay aside every other confidence. And if the Prophet did not instruct the Jews, in order that God might listen to them, to turn their mind to Abraham and Jacob, to whom promises so numerous and so great had been given, assuredly much less ought we to resort, to Peter, and Paul, and others; for this is not a private prayer offered by a single individual or by a few persons, but the public and universal prayer of the whole Church, as if the Prophet laid down a general form. Besides, our confidence ought to be founded on God’s favor and kindness as a Father, so as to shut our eyes on all the intercessions of men, whether living or dead. In a word, believers profess that they do not gaze around in all directions, but rely on God alone.
It comes now to a question, Why did he pass by Isaac and mention in a special manner Abraham and Jacob? The reason is, that with those two persons the covenant was more solemnly ratified. Isaac was, indeed, a partaker of the covenant, but did not receive promises so large and so numerous.
Our Redeemer. Redemption is here described as a testimony of that adoption; for by this proof God manifested himself to be the Father of the people; and therefore boldly and confidently do believers call on God as their Father, because he gave a remarkable testimony of his fatherly kindness toward them, which encouraged them to confidence. But redemption alone would, not have been enough, if a promise had not likewise been added; and therefore, as he once redeemed them, he promised that he would always be their Father.
From everlasting is thy name. By the word “everlasting” (181) is pointed out the stability and continuance of his fatherly name, for we did not deserve the name of children; but his will, by which he once adopted us to be children, is unchangeable. Since, therefore, the Lord has an eternal name, it follows that the title and favor which are connected with that eternity and flow from it, shall be durable and eternal. (182)
(180) “The meaning cannot be that Abraham and Israel are ashamed of us as unworthy and degenerate descendants, as Piscator understands it; or that Abraham and Israel cannot save us by their merits, as Cocceius understands it; or that Abraham and Israel did not deliver us from Egypt, as the Targum understands it; or that Abraham and Israel, being now dead, can do nothing for us, as Vitringa and the later writers understand it. The true sense of the verse, as it appears to me, is that the Church or chosen people, although once, for temporary reasons, co-extensive and coincident with a single race, is not essentially a national organization but a spiritual body. Its father is not Abraham or Israel, but Jehovah, who is and always has been its Redeemer, who has borne that name from everlasting.” — Alexander.
(181) “ De tout temps.” “Of all time.”
(182) “ Dureront a jamais.” “Shall endure for ever.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
GODS RELATION TO HIS PEOPLE
Isa. 63:16. Doubtless Thou art our father, though Abraham, &c.
From thanksgiving and confession, the people betake themselves to earnest prayer for deliverance from sin and suffering (Isa. 63:15). Consider Gods relation to His people in two aspects
I. As a fact most encouraging at all times, but especially in times of trouble. Gods ancient people were in sore trouble (Isa. 63:15 and others). Yet, amid all, they derived encouragement from the intimate relationships which existed between God and them.
1. As their Father (Isa. 64:8; Deu. 32:6; 1Ch. 29:10; Jer. 3:4). Though this relationship was revealed under the old covenant, it was practically realised only upon the rarest occasions. Amid their trials, this is now the ground of their appeal. As their Father He must love them, and be ready to listen to them, &c. Though their earthly fathers afforded them no assistance, and seem to have ceased to feel any interest in them, they have confidence in the constancy of their heavenly Fathers compassion (Jer. 31:20). This is the ever deepening conviction of Gods people everywhere. Gourds may grow and wither, but our heavenly Fathers love neither grows nor withersit is un-changing; it holds on and holds out, needing no sustenance from without, except that supplied by our need of it; it endures through all our unfaithfulness, &c.
As our Father
(1) He is the author of our spiritual life. By His Spirit He quickens, &c., and imparts His own nature and image (2Pe. 1:4; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:23-24).
(2) He secures our instruction. By His works, Word, Spirit, &c.
(3) He supplies all our need. His supplies are suited, abundant, satisfying, inexhaustible.
(4) He protects us. Exposed to innumerable perils and evils, He is our shield, &c.
(5) He gives us a glorious and everlasting portion. A kingdom, a crown, &c., and bliss ineffable and eternal.
Such a relation cannot fail to be a source of unspeakable comfort to the people of God amid all their trials. Such a Father, ever living and loving, &c. Are you His child by the adoption of grace, &c.? He wants you to be His restored, obedient child, &c. We are all the children of God, in the highest sense, by faith in Christ Jesus.
2. As their Redeemer (kinsman). Their history was a series of remarkable deliverances. As their Redeemer He delivers His people
(1) From the bondage of sin and Satan, &c. (pp. 295, 416, 417, 438, 551). No arm but His could break the chain, &c.
(2) From all their troubles (Psa. 34:19). . Either in this life, in answer to prayer (Psa. 34:6; Psa. 46:1, and others). At the fittest time, by the fittest instrument, through the fittest medium, and in the fittest manner. . Or wholly, in the life to come. Here, then, is strong consolation for Gods people amid all their tribulations. Troubled one, be of good cheer!
3. As their unchanging Friend. Nameexpresses the Divine perfections. We delight to tell our cares, &c., to a faithful friend. Whoever dies, Jesus lives.
II. As a fact independent of the recognition of the greatest men.Abraham and Jacob were two of the greatest men in Jewish historythe venerated ancestors of the Hebrew race, &c. Whether these great men knew it or not, they felt their relationship to God was a fact most encouraging. The believers relation to God is a fact independent of mans acknowledgment, however great.
The world knows us not, because it knows not our Father (1Jn. 3:1-2). They often regard us as fanatics, &c. Nothing do they less understand than the elements which constitute the Christians character and joys. As they mistake our Fathers character, it is no wonder they should mistake ours (Joh. 17:25; Act. 3:17; 1Co. 2:8). But whatever the great ones of the earth may think of you, if you have genuine faith in Christ, you are a child of Godthe fact is as unalterable as it is glorious (Joh. 1:12; 1Jn. 3:1-2; Gal. 4:4-7). Whoever refuses to acknowledge you, steadfastly believe in God as your Father, Redeemer, &c. This is infinitely more precious than the most honoured earthly ancestry, &c. Unspeakably blessed are those who have the LORD for their Father and Redeemer. They rise superior to all lifes trials, and exult in the hope of glory (Rom. 5:2). Is this blessedness yours?Alfred Tucker
I. The characters under which God is here addressed. (See former outline.) II. The affections and emotions of which God is the proper object.
1. Of admiring gratitude and awe.
2. Of filial confidence and trust.
3. Of earnest pleading and expostulation (Isa. 63:15-19 and ch. 64).
4. Of high and animated hope. These are not the pleadings of despair, &c.S. Thodey.
Isa. 63:17-19. I. The sorrows of Gods people. Phases. Causes. Moral influence. II. Their chastisement. Just. Administered by means of their enemies. Merciful. Corrective. III. Their cure. Penitential prayer. Faith, founded on Gods peculiar right in His people.
Isa. 63:19. Gods people as distinguished from their enemies areI. His special property. II. His privileged subjects. II. His acknowledged children.J. Lyth, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(16) Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham . . .Better, For Abraham is ignorant of us. The passage is striking as being an anticipation of the New Testament thought, that the Fatherhood of, God rests on something else than hereditary descent, and extends not to a single nation only, but to all mankind. Abraham might disclaim his degenerate descendants, but Jehovah would still recognise them. Implicitly, at least, the words contain the truth that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (Mat. 3:9). He is still their Redeemer. The words may possibly imply the thought that, as in the case of Jeremiah (2Ma. 15:13-14), and Rachel (Jer. 31:15), Abraham was thought of as watching over his posterity, and interceding for them. So, eventually, Abraham appears in the popular belief of Israel, as welcoming his children in the unseen world (Luk. 16:22).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Doubtless Rather, surely.
Thou art our Father And to thee, not to Abraham, will we look for help. Their national privileges, derived through “Abraham,” had proved, through their own faithlessness, unsatisfactory and largely unfruitful; and now they would fain look to Him who not only appointed them, but especially could alone uphold the people, and make their relation as a separate nation fruitful of good to them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For you are our father.
Though Abraham does not know us,
And Israel does not acknowledge us,
You, O Yahweh, are our father,
Our redeemer from everlasting is your name.’
So he finally reminds God of what He has revealed Himself to be. God is bound, not by what He owes His people, but by what He Himself is. And what He had in pure grace revealed Himself to be as their father. When He had come to deliver His people under Moses He had claimed that Israel was His son, His firstborn (Exo 4:22, compare Deu 32:6, which also contains the thought of redemption). Let Him remember that and act like a father towards His son.
Then he indirectly reminds Yahweh that, however tenuous might be the fact, they are the seed of Abraham. So even though because of their sinfulness and rebellion Abraham might not give them recognition as his sons, and though Israel their ancestor might not acknowledge them as his sons, God could not behave in that way. He had made promises to them through Abraham, He had given them recognition as His son, and He had revealed Himself to be the everlasting Redeemer (Isa 44:24; see also Isa 41:14; Isa 43:14; Isa 44:6; Isa 47:4; Psa 78:35). He was therefore, as it were, bound in honour to behave in that way towards them.
The plea is very powerful. Isaiah recognises the dire straits in which they are. Even their forefathers would disown them because of it. But not Yahweh, for He is their Father and promised Redeemer. He has committed Himself irrevocably.
Note how easily Isaiah turns to the thought of Abraham as lying behind all that Yahweh will do for His people. Abraham is the one who first loved Yahweh (Isa 41:8), the one from whom (along with his grandson Israel, the fount of the children of Israel) arose the Servant.
We note that Isaiah especially was in a position to put this argument in this way, for it was because of Yahweh’s relationship towards His people that Yahweh had called him to his ministry and had promised him that there would be a holy seed (Isa 6:9-13).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 63:16. Doubtless thou art our Father “Our only hope is the relation we have to thee, who hast vouchsafed to call thyself our Father; for it is in vain to boast that we are the children of Abraham or Jacob. They know not our condition, nor can they afford us any relief.” Vitringa thinks that the words contain still further a renunciation of all merit in themselves and their fathers, and an entire confidence in the alone grace of God for deliverance and salvation. Pelican paraphrases it, “We place no confidence in the merits of our fathers, whosoever or whatsoever they were: but in thee alone, O Lord, who art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name.” See chap. Isa 64:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 63:16 Doubtless thou [art] our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, [art] our father, our redeemer; thy name [is] from everlasting.
Ver. 16. Doubtless thou art our Father. ] Though thou frownest and withdrawest. The people of God saw that he was angry, that their hearts also were hard; yet they thought they should know him amidst all his austerities, and they make to him for help. And, doubtless, help the Jews might yet have, could they seriously say, as here, “Certainly thou art our Father,” and would no longer rest upon carnal things, boasting of Abraham their father, circumcision, and other external privileges.
Though Abraham be ignorant of us.
“ Una est in trepida mihi re medicina, Iehovae
Cor patrium, os verax, omnipotensque manus. ”
– Nathan. Chytraeus.
It hath been well observed that the defeat given to the Spanish fleet, A.D. 1588, happened to be on St James’s day, whom the Spaniards pray to as their patron or saint tutelar.
Thy name is from eternity,
a Lib. de cura pro mortuis agenda, cap. 13.
b Eccius, in locis.
c Morton’s Appeal, lib. ii. cap. 12, sect. 5.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thou art our Father. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:6).
Father. A rare word in this connection. Compare Isa 64:8.
Redeemer. See note on Isa 60:16.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
our Father
Cf. Isa 1:2; Isa 64:8. Israel, collectively, the national Israel, recognizes God as the national Father (cf) Exo 4:22; Exo 4:23 Doubtless the believing Israelite was born anew (cf); Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5; Luk 13:28 but the O.T. Scriptures show no trace of the consciousness of personal sonship. The explanation is given in Gal 4:1-7.
The Israelite, though a child, “differed nothing from a servant.” The Spirit, as the “Spirit of His Son,” could not be given to impart the consciousness of sonship until redemption had been accomplished. Gal 4:4-6 See “Adoption”; Rom 8:15; Eph 1:5. (See Scofield “Eph 1:5”).
redeemer Heb. “goel,” Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield “Isa 59:20”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
thou art: Isa 64:8, Exo 4:22, Deu 32:6, 1Ch 29:10, Jer 3:19, Jer 31:9, Mal 1:6, Mal 2:10, Mat 6:9
though: Job 14:21, Ecc 9:5
redeemer; thy name is from everlasting: or, Redeemer from everlasting is thy name, Isa 63:12, Isa 41:14, Isa 43:14, Isa 44:6, Isa 54:5, 1Pe 1:18-21
Reciprocal: Gen 6:2 – the sons Deu 32:26 – General 1Ki 8:51 – thy people Neh 1:10 – Now these Psa 31:7 – known Psa 103:13 – Like Isa 44:24 – thy redeemer Jer 3:23 – in the Lord Jer 31:18 – for Lam 2:20 – consider Eze 14:9 – if the Dan 9:19 – for thy Luk 11:2 – Our Luk 15:18 – Father Joh 8:41 – we have Eph 4:6 – God 1Th 3:11 – God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
63:16 Doubtless thou [art] our father, though {s} Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, [art] our father, our redeemer; thy name [is] from everlasting.
(s) Though Abraham would refuse us to be his children, yet you will not refuse to be our father.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
He reminded God that He was Israel’s true Father. Abraham and Israel (Jacob) may have forgotten their children and may have been incapable of helping them, but the Lord had not forgotten and could help. A second basis for appealing for help was that Yahweh had been Israel’s Redeemer in the past as well as its Father (cf. Isa 63:12; Isa 63:14). Fathers characteristically feel affection and compassion for their children (Isa 63:15), and redeemers (kinsman-redeemers) normally demonstrate zeal and perform mighty deeds for their relatives (Isa 63:15).