Discovery BoxIsaiah 63:8-9 
Context63:8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people,
children who are not disloyal.” 1
He became their deliverer.
63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 2
The messenger sent from his very presence 3 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 4 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 5
1 tn Heb “children [who] do not act deceitfully.” Here the verb refers to covenantal loyalty.
2 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
3 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.
4 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
5 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
