Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

Vengeance on Edom

“Who is this that comes from Edom,

from Bozrah in garments stained crimson?

Who is this so splendidly robed,

marching in his great might?”

“It is I, announcing vindication,

mighty to save.”

“Why are your robes red,

and your garments like theirs who tread the wine press?”

“I have trodden the wine press alone,

and from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath;

their juice spattered on my garments,

and stained all my robes.

For the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and the year for my redeeming work had come.

I looked, but there was no helper;

I stared, but there was no one to sustain me;

so my own arm brought me victory,

and my wrath sustained me.

I trampled down peoples in my anger,

I crushed them in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

God’s Mercy Remembered

I will recount the gracious deeds of the L ord,

the praiseworthy acts of the L ord,

because of all that the L ord has done for us,

and the great favor to the house of Israel

that he has shown them according to his mercy,

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

For he said, “Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely”;

and he became their savior

in all their distress.

It was no messenger or angel

but his presence that saved them;

in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

But they rebelled

and grieved his holy spirit;

therefore he became their enemy;

he himself fought against them.

Then they remembered the days of old,

of Moses his servant.

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea

with the shepherds of his flock?

Where is the one who put within them

his holy spirit,

who caused his glorious arm

to march at the right hand of Moses,

who divided the waters before them

to make for himself an everlasting name,

who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert,

they did not stumble.

Like cattle that go down into the valley,

the spirit of the L ord gave them rest.

Thus you led your people,

to make for yourself a glorious name.

A Prayer of Penitence

Look down from heaven and see,

from your holy and glorious habitation.

Where are your zeal and your might?

The yearning of your heart and your compassion?

They are withheld from me.

For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not acknowledge us;

you, O L ord, are our father;

our Redeemer from of old is your name.

Why, O L ord, do you make us stray from your ways

and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you?

Turn back for the sake of your servants,

for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.

Your holy people took possession for a little while;

but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

We have long been like those whom you do not rule,

like those not called by your name.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

11. 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 עולם (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 Jews, being wretchedly oppressed, thought of “the times of old,” in which the Lord displayed his power for defending his people. As to the opinion of some commentators, who refer it to God, as if he contended with the wickedness of the people, because he chose rather to bestow his favors improperly on ungrateful persons, than not to complete what he had begun, it appears to be too harsh and unnatural; and therefore the Prophet rather utters the groans and complaints of a wretched people, when they have learned from chastisements how miserable it is to lose God’s protection.

With the shepherd of his flock. By “the shepherd” he means Moses, and I see no good reason for translating it in the plural rather than the singular number. ¹⁷⁷¹⁷⁷ Our author refers to a different reading, רעי, (rogne,) the construct plural, instead of רעה, (rogneh,) the construct singular of רעה, (rogneh.) — Ed.
“Nearly sixty manuscripts and forty editions read, רעי (rogne) in the plural, which may then be understood as including Aaron, (Psalm 77:20,) and, as Vitringa thinks, Miriam, (Micah 6:4,) or perhaps the seventy elders, who are probably referred to in the last clause as under a special divine influence. (See Numbers 11:17. Compare Exodus 31:3; 35:31” — Alexander.

That put his Holy Spirit in the midst of him. He describes also the manner; namely, that he endowed him with a remarkable grace of the Holy Spirit; for “to put the Spirit in the midst of him” means nothing else than to display the power of his Spirit. Others prefer to view it as referring to the people; and I do not object to that opinion. But when the Lord chose Moses, and appointed him to be the leader of the whole people, in him especially the Lord is said to have “put his Spirit.” Now, he gave his Spirit to him for the benefit of the whole people, that he might be a distinguished minister of his grace, and might restore them to liberty. At the same time, the power of the Spirit of God was seen in the midst of the whole people.

12. Who led them. Here he goes on to describe the miraculous deliverance of the people, who were led out of Egypt under the guidance of Moses; and he goes on to relate the complaints which might occur to the minds of the afflicted Jews. Here we see two things connected; namely, the right hand of Moses and the arm of God’s majesty. The Lord employs the labors and ministry of men in such a manner that his praise and glory must not be in any degree diminished or obscured; for, while these things are transacted under Moses as the leader, everything is ascribed to God. Just as, when the ministers of the Gospel are said to “forgive sins,” (John 20:23,) which nevertheless belongs to God alone, does this detract from his authority and majesty? Not at all; for they are only his instruments, and lend their labor to God, to whom the undivided praise ought to be rendered. And indeed, what could the hand of a single man have accomplished, if it had not been wielded by the arm of God?

Accordingly, he expressly adds the design, that God performed miracles at that time, in order that he might gain for himself an everlasting name; and if we are not at liberty to deprive him of this, it will not be lawful to transfer to man even the smallest portion of praise.

13. Who made them walk through the depths. These things are added for the purpose of setting that benefit in a stronger light. He likewise brings forward comparisons, in order to describe that extraordinary power of God: “As a horse in the desert, As a beast into a plain;” that is, he led out his people as gently as if one were leading a horse into a plain. By the word “desert” is not meant the wilderness of Paran in which the people dwelt forty years; but, in accordance with the ordinary usage of the Hebrew tongue, it denotes pasture, in which herds and flocks wander at large. This is still more evident from the following verse, —

14. As a beast into a plain. Here, instead of “desert,” he makes use of the word “plain;” and the same meaning is drawn from what he says, that “the people walked through the depths without stumbling, as horses are wont to do in the desert.” In a word, he informs them that the Red Sea was no obstacle to the people marching through the midst of the depths, as if they were walking on level ground. ¹⁷⁸¹⁷⁸ “In these three verses the Prophet sets forth the care he had of his people, leading them as it were by his hand, that they might not fall and hurt themselves, dividing the Red Sea before them, and conducting them as safely through the dangerous passage, as a horse which treads on plain even ground is in no danger of falling, or as a beast heavy laden goes down a steep precipice warily, with a great deal of caution every step it takes; so the Lord led his people gently through the wilderness, and caused them at last to rest in the pleasant valleys of Canaan.” — White.

A glorious name. This is in the same sense that he called it a little before “an everlasting name.” The people now argue with God, that if he once wished to obtain “a glorious name,” he must not now throw away all care about it; otherwise the remembrance of the benefits which he formerly bestowed on the fathers will be entirely blotted out.

¹⁷⁷ Our author refers to a different reading, רעי, (rogne,) the construct plural, instead of רעה, (rogneh,) the construct singular of רעה, (rogneh.) — Ed. “Nearly sixty manuscripts and forty editions read, רעי (rogne) in the plural, which may then be understood as including Aaron, (Psalm 77:20,) and, as Vitringa thinks, Miriam, (Micah 6:4,) or perhaps the seventy elders, who are probably referred to in the last clause as under a special divine influence. (See Numbers 11:17. Compare Exodus 31:3; 35:31” — Alexander.

¹⁷⁸ “In these three verses the Prophet sets forth the care he had of his people, leading them as it were by his hand, that they might not fall and hurt themselves, dividing the Red Sea before them, and conducting them as safely through the dangerous passage, as a horse which treads on plain even ground is in no danger of falling, or as a beast heavy laden goes down a steep precipice warily, with a great deal of caution every step it takes; so the Lord led his people gently through the wilderness, and caused them at last to rest in the pleasant valleys of Canaan.” — White.