Isaiah 63 divides sharply into two movements. The first (vv.1-6) presents the Divine Warrior returning from Edom with garments stained crimson, having trodden the winepress of judgment alone. The second (vv.7-19) pivots to a communal prayer of extraordinary tenderness, recalling the faithful love (chesed) and compassion of the LORD in the days of Moses, lamenting the present hardness of heart, and pleading for the Father-Redeemer to look down from heaven and act. Together these movements hold divine wrath and divine tenderness in a single chapter — the same God who tramples Edom is the Father whose people cry, 'You, LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old.'
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Verse 16 contains one of the most startling declarations in the Hebrew Bible: 'You, LORD, are our Father — though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us.' The appeal bypasses the patriarchs entirely and goes directly to God as Father-Redeemer (go'el). This is covenant theology stripped to its most radical foundation: when every human intermediary fails, God's fatherhood remains. The winepress imagery of verses 1-6 is taken up in Revelation 19:13-15, where the returning Christ wears a robe dipped in blood.
Translation Friction
We have rendered go'el as 'Redeemer' (capitalized) when applied to God, consistent with our term register. The phrase 'hardened our hearts' (v.17) presents a theological tension: Israel asks God why He has caused their wandering. We preserve this tension without softening it, since the Hebrew (tasheh, 'cause to wander'; taqshiach, 'harden') unambiguously attributes the action to God, though within the covenantal framework of judgment for disobedience.
Connections
The winepress imagery (vv.1-6) reappears in Revelation 14:19-20 and 19:13-15. Verse 10 ('they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit') is one of the clearest Old Testament references to the personal nature of the Spirit, cited by Paul in Ephesians 4:30. The Father-Redeemer title (v.16) anticipates Jesus' teaching on God as Father (Matthew 6:9). The communal lament of vv.7-19 flows directly into chapter 64 without a natural break.
Who is this coming from Edom,
in crimson garments from Bozrah —
this one splendid in His apparel,
striding in the greatness of His strength?
"It is I, who speak in righteousness,
mighty to save."
KJV Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The chapter opens with a dramatic dialogue: a watchman sees a figure approaching from the southeast and demands identification. The answer comes from God Himself. Edom (from the root adom, 'red') and Bozrah ('grape-gathering') set up the winepress metaphor of the following verses. The crimson garments are not royal robes but stained with the blood of judgment.
Why is Your apparel red,
and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?
KJV Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The watchman presses the question. The redness (adom) echoes 'Edom' from verse 1 — a deliberate wordplay. The winepress (gat) image becomes the controlling metaphor for divine judgment throughout this passage.
"I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with Me.
I trampled them in My anger
and trod them down in My wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on My garments,
and I stained all My clothing."
KJV I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The loneliness of divine judgment is emphasized: 'alone' and 'no one was with Me.' No human army assisted; this is purely God's work. The lifeblood (nitsach) spattering on garments creates the crimson appearance from verse 1. Revelation 19:13-15 draws directly on this imagery for Christ's return.
"For the day of vengeance was in My heart,
and the year of My redeemed had come."
KJV For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
גְּאוּלַיge'ulai
"My redeemed"—redeemed ones, those I have purchased back as kinsman
From ga'al, the kinsman-redeemer verb. The vengeance and the redemption are simultaneous — the same day that punishes the oppressor liberates the oppressed. God acts as go'el (Redeemer) for His people.
Translator Notes
Vengeance (naqam) and redemption (ge'ulah) are held in the same sentence — the day of wrath for the enemy is the year of redemption for God's people. Compare Isaiah 61:2, 'the day of vengeance of our God.'
"I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled that no one upheld Me.
So My own arm brought salvation,
and My wrath — it sustained Me."
KJV And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The repeated theme of divine solitude continues. God looked for allies and found none. His own arm (zero'i) achieved the victory — the same language as 59:16, forming a deliberate echo within Third Isaiah. Salvation is accomplished by God alone.
"I trampled the peoples in My anger
and made them stagger in My wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."
KJV And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The winepress vision concludes. The imagery is deliberately violent — this is not sanitized judgment but the full weight of divine wrath against those who oppressed God's redeemed. The section ends abruptly, and the tone shifts entirely in verse 7.
I will recount the faithful love of the LORD,
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
according to all that the LORD has granted us —
the great goodness to the house of Israel
that He granted them according to His compassion
and according to the abundance of His faithful love.
KJV I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֲסָדָיוchasadav
"His faithful love"—lovingkindness, faithful love, covenant loyalty, steadfast love
Chesed appears twice in this verse (chasdei and chasadav), framing the entire recollection. We render both as 'faithful love' per our default register. The plural (chasdei) suggests the accumulated acts of covenant loyalty across Israel's history.
Translator Notes
The tone shifts dramatically from winepress violence to tender recollection. The speaker (likely the prophet on behalf of the community) begins recounting the LORD's past faithfulness. The word chesed appears twice, forming an inclusio around the verse — faithful love is both the first and last word of Israel's testimony.
For He said, "Surely they are My people,
children who will not deal falsely."
And so He became their Savior.
KJV For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God's expectation is stated in His own words: 'children who will not deal falsely' (lo yeshaqeru). The irony is painful — the narrative will immediately show that they did deal falsely. Yet 'He became their Savior' (moshi'a) nonetheless. The verb is past tense: He already acted as Savior before they proved unfaithful.
In all their affliction He was afflicted,
and the angel of His presence saved them.
In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them;
He lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.
KJV In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
גְּאָלָםge'alam
"redeemed them"—redeemed as kinsman, bought back, acted as go'el
From ga'al — the kinsman-redeemer verb. God does not hire a redeemer; He is the Redeemer. The same verb that governs Ruth's redemption governs Israel's.
Translator Notes
The Qere reading (lo, 'to him') is preferred over the Ketiv (lo', 'not'), yielding 'He was afflicted' rather than 'He was not afflicted.' The angel of His presence (mal'akh panav) is the same figure who led Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 23:20-23, 33:14). The verse is a compressed theology of the Exodus.
But they rebelled
and grieved His Holy Spirit.
So He turned to become their enemy;
He Himself fought against them.
KJV But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹruach qodsho
"His Holy Spirit"—His Holy Spirit, His set-apart Spirit, spirit of His holiness
Ruach qodesh appears only three times in the Hebrew Bible — here and in verse 11, plus Psalm 51:13. This is not merely 'a holy attitude' but the personal Spirit of God who can be grieved by rebellion.
Translator Notes
The tragic pivot of the passage: the same people God carried and redeemed (v.9) now rebel and grieve His Spirit. The consequence is devastating — God becomes their enemy (oyev). The verb itsvu ('grieved') implies deep personal pain, not mere displeasure.
Then he remembered the days of old,
of Moses and his people.
Where is He who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit
in their midst?
KJV Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The subject of 'remembered' is ambiguous — it may be God remembering or the people remembering. Either way, memory turns back to the Exodus. The questions ('Where is He?') become the refrain of the lament: God's past acts make His present absence unbearable.
Who caused His glorious arm
to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for Himself an everlasting name?
KJV That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'glorious arm' (zero'a tif'arto) is God's own arm working through Moses — the human leader is merely the instrument. The dividing of the waters recalls the Red Sea (Exodus 14) and the Jordan (Joshua 3). God's motive is stated plainly: 'to make for Himself an everlasting name' — redemption serves God's glory.
Who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the wilderness,
they did not stumble.
KJV That led them through the deep, as an horse in the desert, that they should not stumble?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The image of a horse running through open desert without stumbling captures the ease with which God led Israel through the Sea. What should have been impossible (crossing the deep) was as effortless as a horse galloping on flat ground.
As cattle go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
So You led Your people,
to make for Yourself a glorious name.
KJV As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The image shifts from horse (v.13) to cattle descending into a valley for rest. The Spirit of the LORD (ruach YHWH) provides the rest — connecting to the Holy Spirit references in verses 10-11. God's purpose in leading Israel remains the same: to glorify His own name.
Look down from heaven and see,
from Your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The yearning of Your heart and Your compassion —
are they withheld from me?
KJV Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The prayer becomes direct petition. 'Look down' (habbet) is an imperative — the people command God to pay attention. The questions are anguished: 'Where are Your zeal and mighty deeds?' The Hebrew hamon me'eka ('yearning of Your heart,' literally 'the roaring of Your innards') attributes visceral emotion to God. The final question — 'are they withheld?' (hit'appaku) — asks whether God is deliberately restraining His compassion.
For You are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, LORD, are our Father;
our Redeemer from of old is Your name.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
גֹּאֲלֵנוּgo'alenu
"our Redeemer"—our kinsman-redeemer, the one who buys us back
Go'alenu ('our Redeemer') is capitalized when applied to God per our register. This is the climactic identification: God is the go'el who redeems Israel not as an external agent but as family — Father and Redeemer are the same person.
Translator Notes
This is one of the most theologically dense verses in Isaiah. The patriarchs are invoked only to be set aside: Abraham cannot help, Jacob (Israel) does not recognize them. Only God remains as Father and Redeemer. The verse establishes that Israel's identity rests not on Abrahamic descent but on divine relationship. Jesus' opponents in John 8:39-44 encounter this same argument.
Why, LORD, do You make us wander from Your ways
and harden our hearts so that we do not fear You?
Return, for the sake of Your servants,
the tribes of Your inheritance.
KJV O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The boldest question in the prayer: 'Why do You make us wander... and harden our hearts?' The Hebrew verbs (tat'enu, 'cause to wander'; taqshiach, 'harden') explicitly attribute Israel's spiritual failure to God's action. This is not denial of human responsibility but the anguished recognition that judicial hardening has been imposed as consequence of prior rebellion (v.10). The plea 'return' (shuv) asks God to reverse course.
Your holy people possessed it but a little while;
our adversaries have trampled Your sanctuary.
KJV The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sanctuary's desolation is both historical (Babylonian destruction, 586 BC) and ongoing in the community's experience. The brevity of possession ('but a little while') intensifies the grief — the inheritance was barely enjoyed before it was lost.
We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
like those not called by Your name.
KJV We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The chapter ends on a note of desolation that leads directly into the great cry of 64:1. Israel feels indistinguishable from the nations — as if the covenant had never been made. This is the nadir of the lament: to be God's people and yet feel unclaimed. The prayer continues without pause into chapter 64.