Isaiah 63:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 63:11
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
days
יְמֵֽיye.mei-
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural construct
old
עוֹלָ֖םo.Lam
H5769
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Moses
מֹשֶׁ֣הmo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
people
עַמּ֑וֹa.Mo
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up
הַֽמַּעֲלֵ֣םha.ma.'a.Lem
H5927
to ascend · definite article + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
sea
מִיָּ֗םmi.Yam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
shepherd
רֹעֵ֣יro.'Ei
H7462
to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
flock
צֹאנ֔וֹtzo.No
H6629
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
put
הַשָּׂ֥םha.Sam
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
holy
קָדְשֽׁוֹka.de.Sho
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Spirit
ר֥וּחַRu.ach
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular construct
within
בְּקִרְבּ֖וֹbe.kir.Bo
H7130
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 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
Numbers 11:17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall b…
Exodus 14:22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and…
Numbers 11:25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it…
Psalms 77:20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Haggai 2:5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
Numbers 11:29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spiri…
Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spir…
Luke 1:54-55 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
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…
remembered--Notwithstanding their perversity, He forgot not His covenant of old; therefore He did not wholly forsake them (Lev 26:40-42, Lev 26:44-45; Psa 106:45-46); the Jews make this their plea with God, that He should not now forsake them.
saying--God is represented, in human language, mentally speaking of Himself and His former acts of love to Israel, as His ground for pitying them notwithstanding their rebellion.
sea--Red Sea.
shepherd--Moses; or if the Hebrew be read plural, "shepherds," Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders (so Psa 77:20).
put . . . Spirit . . . within him--Hebrew, "in the inward parts of him," that is, Moses; or it refers to the flock, "in the midst of his peo…
Moses and his people "Moses his servant" - For עמו ammo, his people, two MSS. (one of them ancient) and one of my own, (ancient), and one of De Rossi's, and the old edition of 1488, and the Syriac, read עבדו abdo, his servant. These two words have been mistaken one for the other in other places; Psa 78:71, and Psa 80:5, for עמו ammo, his people, and עמך ammecha, thy people, the Septuagint read עבדו abdo, his servant, and עבדך abdecha, thy servant.
Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where etc. "How he brought them up from the sea, with the shepherd of his flock; how," etc. - For איה aiyeh, how, interrogative, twice, the Syriac Version reads איך eic…
The Church Fathers
(Vers. 11 seqq.) And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his holy Spirit in the midst of them? He who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name. He led them through the depths like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like a beast going down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord was their guide. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. LXX: And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One? He led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. He led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, they stumbled not. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. The Lord, who became the protector of the adversaries of the people of Judah, who provoked his Holy Spirit to anger, and he defeated them: he remembered the ancient days, when Moses interceded for them in the wilderness, saying: Either forgive them this sin, or if you do not, blot me out from the book which you have written (Exodus 32:31-32). So Isaiah, recalling the story of old, says: Where is the Moses who led them out of the Red Sea? Where is the shepherd of the sheep? Where is he who labored with the other shepherds of the flock of the Lord? Who obtained and bestowed the Spirit of God through his prayers and supplications on the flock of the Lord? Or surely should it be understood this way: Where is that mercy of the Lord, by which he once had pity on his people, so that he would also grant them the grace of the Holy Spirit? He who led Moses, his servant, with the arm of his majesty to the right side, not to the left; he who split the waters before them, to make for himself an everlasting name, so that his power would be spoken of even to this day? For He led His people through the immense depths of water, like a horse through a wilderness, and beasts through a plain, and the Spirit of the Lord was their guide, that is,…
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
Anthropomorphisms · .Memory — .Memory
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Under God’s guidance — Under God’s guidance
Holy Spirit · 31:3;35:31; — 31:3;35:31;
Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit, The · Saints enjoy — Saints enjoy
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).
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people,.... Which may be understood either of the Lord, who remembered his lovingkindnesses towards these people, and his tender mercies which had been ever of old; the covenant he made with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the wonders he did for them in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, by the hand of Moses; his intercession to him on their behalf, and the many great and good things he did for them; and therefore determined not now to cast them off altogether, but to do as he had done before; and, to stir up himself thereunto, puts the following questions:
where is he? &c.; so the Targum paraphrases it,
"he had mercy…
And he remembered the days of old. This is the design of the chastisement, that the people may be roused from their lethargy, and may call to remembrance those things which they had formerly forgotten; for we are so intoxicated by prosperity that we altogether forget God. And therefore chastisements bring back this thought, which had been defaced in us, "Where is God who bestowed so many benefits on our fathers?" For I refer these things to the past time; and therefore I have translated vlm (gnolam) "of old." and not "of the age," which would be unsuitable to this passage, seeing that he mentions those times in which Moses governed the people of God. Wherefore, the true meaning is, that the…
Israel being brought to a right mind in the midst of this state of punishment, longed fro the better past to return. "Then His people remembered the days of the olden time, of Moses: Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is He who put the spirit of His holiness in the midst of them; who caused the arm of His majesty to go at the right of Moses; who split the waters before them, to make Himself an everlasting name: who caused them to pass through abysses of the deep, like the horse upon the plain, without their stumbling? Like the cattle which goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah brought them to rest: thus hast Thou led Thy people, t…
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 63:11
And His people remembered the days of old, [the days of] Moses The prophet laments and says in an expression of supplication, Today in exile, His people remembers the days of old, the days of Moses, and in its trouble, it says, Where is Moses our shepherd, who drew us up from the Reed Sea?
[like] a shepherd his flock Compared to a shepherd who brings up his flock. Where is he who placed within Israel the Holy Spirit of the Holy One, blessed be He, and taught us statutes and ordinances?
