Isa 64:1-3 | JFB | STEP | 1. rend ... heavens-- bursting forth to execute vengeance, suddenly descending on Thy people's foe ( ; ; , ). flow down-- ( ; ).

‏ Isaiah 64:1-3

CHAPTER 64 Is 64:1-12. Transition from Complaint to Prayer.

1. rend ... heavens--bursting forth to execute vengeance, suddenly descending on Thy people's foe (Psa 18:9; 144:5; Ha 3:5, 6).

flow down--(Jud 5:5; Mi 1:4).

2. Oh, that Thy wrath would consume Thy foes as the fire. Rather, "as the fire burneth the dry brushwood" [Gesenius].

3. When--Supply from Is 64:2, "As when."

terrible things--(Psa 65:5).

we looked not for--far exceeding the expectation of any of our nation; unparalleled before (Ex 34:10; Psa 68:8).

camest down--on Mount Sinai.

mountains flowed--Repeated from Is 64:1; they pray God to do the very same things for Israel now as in former ages. Gesenius, instead of "flowed" here, and "flow" in Is 64:1, translates from a different Hebrew root, "quake ... quaked"; but "fire" melts and causes to flow, rather than to quake (Is 64:2).