63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 1
The messenger sent from his very presence 2 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 3 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 4
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal 5 and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion! 6
1 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
2 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
sn This may refer to the “angel of God” mentioned in Exod 14:19, who in turn may be identical to the divine “presence” (literally, “face”) referred to in Exod 33:14-15 and Deut 4:37. Here in Isa 63 this messenger may be equated with God’s “holy Spirit” (see vv. 10-11) and “the Spirit of the Lord” (v. 14). See also Ps 139:7, where God’s “Spirit” seems to be equated with his “presence” (literally, “face”) in the synonymous parallelistic structure.
3 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
4 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
5 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
6 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.