to be (causatively · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
vexed
וְעִצְּב֖וּve.'i.tze.Vu
H6087
properly · conjunction + verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
holy
קָדְשׁ֑וֹka.de.Sho
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Spirit
ר֣וּחַRu.ach
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular construct
turned
וַיֵּהָפֵ֥ךְvai.ye.ha.Fekh
H2015
to turn about or over · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
enemy
לְאוֹיֵ֖בle.'o.Yev
H341
hating · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
fought
נִלְחַםnil.cham-
H3898
to feed on · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Psalms 78:56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:
Psalms 78:40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Jeremiah 21:5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
Nehemiah 9:16-17 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
Ezekiel 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did th…
Psalms 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 63:7-14
The prophet is here, in the name of the church, taking a review, and making a thankful recognition, of God's dealings with his church all along, ever since he founded it, before he comes, in the latter end of this chapter and in the next, as a watchman upon the walls, earnestly to pray to God for his compassion towards her in her present deplorable state; and it was usual for God's people, in their prayers, thus to look back.
I. Here is a general acknowledgment of God's goodness to them all along, Isa 63:7. It was said, in general, of God's prophets and people (Isa 62:6) that they made mention of the Lord; now here we are told what it is in God that they do especially delight to make mention…
vexed--grieved (Psa 78:40; Psa 95:10; Act 7:51; Eph 4:30; Heb 3:10, Heb 3:17).
he fought--rather, "He it was that fought," namely, the angel of His presence [HORSLEY], (Lam 2:5).
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 63:10
And he fought against them - Twenty-six MSS. (ten ancient) and the first edition, with another, add the conjunction ו vau, והוא vehu, and he.
John Gill on Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled,.... Against the Lord, not withstanding he thought so well of them; did so many good things for them; sympathized with them, and showed them so many favours; wretched ingratitude! they rebelled against the Lord in the times of Moses, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, by their murmurings, unbelief, and idolatry; wherefore he calls them a rebellious people, and says they were such from the day he had been with them; and so in later times, in the times of the judges, and of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, they rebelled against God their Parent, Protector, and King; see Deuteronomy 9:7 and so they did in the times of Christ, whom they rejected as the Messiah, and disowned…
(Verse 10) But they provoked Him to anger, and vexed the spirit of His Holy One; and He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. 70: But they did not believe, and they provoked his Holy Spirit: he turned against them as an enemy, he himself fought against them. But if the perceptive reader answers with silent thought, why are many not saved, if he himself saved them, and loved them, and spared his sons, and redeemed them with his own blood, and received and exalted those who were assumed? The clear reason is inferred. But they did not believe, and they provoked his Holy Spirit, or his holy ones, which in Hebrew is called Cadeso. Therefore, God wanted to save those who desired it, and he provoked them to salvation, so that the will might have its reward; but they did not want to believe. Otherwise, it is written about John: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came to bear witness to the light, so that all might believe through him (John 1:6). And it is not immediately to be blamed if many did not believe, but the intention of the one coming was that all would believe and be saved. But if anyone shall have provoked and afflicted the Holy Spirit, or His Holy Ones, that is, Christ, he provokes God: the same Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and the Son. Therefore, the Apostle commands: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you have been sealed (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit withdraws from a body subject to sin, and does not enter a perverse soul (Wisdom 1). Therefore, David, in order not to lose the Holy Spirit, prayed saying: And do not take away your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11). And so, that we may know that anyone who vexes the Holy Spirit offends God, and becomes an enemy and foe of a friend, the Apostle Peter speaks more significantly in the Acts of the Apostles: Why have you agreed to lie to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to men, but to God (Acts V, 9). This is the Holy Spirit, of whom the Lord said in the Gospel: If you love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth (John XIV, 15, 16). We also find this in the Book of Wisdom, which is written under the name of Solomon: For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit and will withdraw from foolish thoughts (Wisdom I, 5).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Holy Spirit · 31:3;35:31; — 31:3;35:31;
Holy Spirit, The Personality Of · He can be vexed — He can be vexed
Offences Against The Holy Spirit · Exhibited in: Vexing him — Exhibited in: Vexing him
Rebellion Against God · Vexes the Holy Spirit — Vexes the Holy Spirit
Trinity · THE HOLY — THE HOLY
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Isaiah 63:10
But they were rebellious. The Prophet now comes down to the second clause, in which he states that the Lord ceased to shew kindness to his people, because they revolted, and turned aside from him. The question turns on this point: "God exercised his kindness towards our fathers for a long time; why do not we experience the same kindness? Is he unlike himself?" By no means; but we ourselves, by our rebellion, refuse and even drive away his goodness. Yet the Prophet not only accuses the men of his own age, but likewise condemns former ages. We see how, even when they had Moses for their leader, they murmured against God and rebelled. (Exodus 17:5; Numbers 11:1; Numbers 20:3.)
Therefore he bec…
Israel's ingratitude. "But they resisted and vexed His Holy Spirit: then He turned to be their enemy; He made war upon them." Not only has ועצּבוּ (to cause cutting pain) קדשׁו את־רוּח as its object, but מרוּ has the same (on the primary meaning, see at Isa 3:8). In other cases, the object of merōth (hamrōth) is Jehovah, or His word, His promise, His providence, hence Jehovah himself in the revelations of His nature in word and deed; here it is the spirit of holiness, which is distinguished from Him as a personal existence. For just as the angel who is His face, i.e., the representation of His nature, is designated as a person both by His name and also by the redeeming activity ascribed to…
But they rebelled: See also 1:2, 4; 59:1-15; Pss 78, 106. • Persistent disobedience and unbelief grieved his Holy Spirit (Ps 106:33; Matt 12:32; Mark 3:29). • he became their enemy: Examples include Israel’s period of wandering in the wilderness (see the book of Numbers), the period of the judges (see the book of Judges), and the period leading up to the Exile (see the book of Jeremiah).
Rashi on Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled Heb. מָרוּ. They angered. Comp. (Deut. 9:7) “You were rebellious (מַמְרִים).”
