Isaiah 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 

Ge 22:11-17; Ge 48:16; Ex 3:7-9; Ex 14:19; Ex 19:4; Ex 23:20,21; Ex 33:14; De 1:31; De 7:7,8; De 32:11,12; Jud 10:16; Ps 78:38; Ps 106:7-10; Isa 46:3,4; Ho 1:7; Ho 12:3-5; Zec 2:8; Mal 3:1; Mt 25:40,45; Lu 15:5; Ac 7:30-32,34,35,38; Ac 9:4; Ac 12:11; 1Co 10:9; Tit 2:14; Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15; 1Jo 4:9,10; Re 1:5; Re 5:9

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.”