Chapter Overview
Summary
Isaiah 64 continues-the-exilic-prayer-of-chapter-63: 'oh that you would rend the heavens and come down' (v. 1). Verse 4 is cited at-1 Corinthians 2:9 ('what no eye has seen … God has prepared for those who love him'). Verse 6's 'all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags' is a foundational anthropology-of-sin text. Verse 8's 'we are the clay, you are the potter' echoes Romans 9:21.
Notable Variants
64:4 'no eye has seen, no ear has heard' → 1 Corinthians 2:9; 64:6 'all our righteousness as filthy rags' anthropological-pessimism; 64:8 'we are the clay, you are the potter' → Romans 9:21.
Structural Notes
MT Isaiah 64 = LXX Isaiah 64. 12 verses.
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would quake at Your presence!
'Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence' tracks MT. REND-THE-HEAVENS-AND-COME-DOWN. Mark 1:10 (at Jesus' baptism, 'he saw the heavens BEING TORN OPEN,' schizomenous tous ouranous) Christologically-fulfills — direct-LXX-vocabulary-echo.
As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil — come, to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!
'As when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!' tracks MT.
When You did awesome things we did not expect, You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
'When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence' tracks MT.
From of old no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen a God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
Masoretic (WLC)
וּמֵעוֹלָם לֹא־שָׁמְעוּ לֹא הֶאֱזִינוּ עַיִן לֹא־רָאָתָה אֱלֹהִים זוּלָתְךָ יַעֲשֶׂה לִמְחַכֵּה־לוֹ
From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him
Septuagint (LXX)
ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν οὐδὲ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν εἶδον θεὸν πλὴν σοῦ καὶ τὰ ἔργα σου ἃ ποιήσεις τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν ἔλεον
From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen any God besides you, and your works which you will do for those who wait for mercy
1 CORINTHIANS 2:9 CITATION. Paul cites this verse at-1 Cor 2:9: 'But, as it is written: WHAT NO EYE HAS SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR THE HEART OF MAN IMAGINED, WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM (ha ophthalmos ouk eiden, kai ous ouk ēkousen, kai epi kardian anthrōpou ouk anebē, ha hētoimasen ho theos tois agapōsin auton).' Paul's-citation differs-significantly from-both-MT and-LXX — Paul-may-be-paraphrasing or citing-a-now-lost-Greek-textual-tradition. The 1 Cor 2:9 quotation is-the-most-textually-disputed of-Pauline-OT-citations. Some-suggest Paul-blends Isa 64:4 with-Isa 65:17.
You meet the one who joyfully does righteousness, those who remember You in Your ways. But You were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have continued long. Can we still be saved?
'You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?' tracks MT.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
'We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away' tracks MT. RIGHTEOUS-DEEDS-AS-FILTHY-RAGS. Foundational anthropological-pessimism. Philippians 3:8 ('I count everything as loss … as rubbish') Christologically-extends. Romans 7:18 ('nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh') extends.
There is no one who calls on Your name, who rouses himself to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquities.
'There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities' tracks MT.
But now, LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter. We are all the work of Your hand.
'But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand' tracks MT. POTTER-AND-CLAY. Romans 9:21 ('has the potter no right over the clay?') directly-extends. Jeremiah 18:6 develops the-image.
Do not be angry beyond measure, LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Behold — please look — we are all Your people!
'Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people' tracks MT.
Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
'Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation' tracks MT.
Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all our treasured places lie in ruins.
'Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins' tracks MT. HOLY-HOUSE-BURNED. 586 BCE-Temple-destruction.
After all this, will You restrain Yourself, LORD? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
'Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?' tracks MT.