Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
Parallel Translations
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Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
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The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
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Thy holy people they have well nigh driven out, our adversaries have trodden down Thy sanctuary.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Isaiah 63:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 74:3-7 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs. They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees. Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
- Exodus 19:4-6 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
- Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 26:19 He will make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.
- Isaiah 62:12 They will call them “The Holy People, Yahweh’s Redeemed”. You will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken”.
- Isaiah 64:11-12 Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised you is burned with fire. All our pleasant places are laid waste. Will you hold yourself back for these things, Yahweh? Will you keep silent and punish us very severely?
- Lamentations 1:10 The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things; for she has seen that the nations have entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom you commanded that they should not enter into your assembly.
- Lamentations 4:1 How the gold has become dim! The most pure gold has changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
- Daniel 8:24 His power will be mighty, but not by his own power. He will destroy awesomely, and will prosper in what he does. He will destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.
- Matthew 24:2 But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- Revelation 11:2 Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don’t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, in respect of the promise, which is…
That is, in respect of the promise, which is perpetual: albeit they had now possessed the land of Canaan, a thousand and four hundred years: and thus they lament, to move God rather to remember his Covenant, than to punish their sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed…
Isa 63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed [it] but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Ver. 18. The people of thine holiness have possessed it but a little while,] viz., In respect of that perpetuity promised them by thee; {Gen 17:8; Gen 26:3; Gen 28:13 Exo 32:13} besides the many calamities that have befallen us, whereby we have had small enjoyment of this thine inheritance. All the days of the afflicted are evil, {Pro 15:15} their life lifeless, and not to be reckoned on.
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Our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.] This they did in the days of Antiochus, but especially about the time of our Saviour’s incarnation; when the sceptre departed from Judah, Pompey with his army entered into the sanctuary; Herod got the government, the Romans set up their ensigns and statues in the holy of holies, &c. This desolation of the second temple the Jews do here bewail; but we have cause to rejoice, for that by Christ the whole world is now become a temple, and every place a goodly oratory. {1Ti 2:8}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The people of thy holiness; or, thy holy people,…
The people of thy holiness; or, thy holy people, as being set apart for his servants; holiness being to be understood for a covenant separation from other people.
But a little while. i.e.
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1. Comparatively to the promise, which was for ever, though they had possessed it about one thousand four hundred years. Or,
2. It seeming to them so, as things, especially such as are desirable, seem when they are past, Job 9:25,26; Psa 90 4. Or,
3. They enjoyed but small spaces of time in quietness, so they had small enjoyment of it. Or,
4. It may respect the temple, which stood but four hundred years.
Have trodden down thy sanctuary; the temple, called the sanctuary from the holiness of it; this our adversaries the Babylonians have trodden down, 2Ch 36:19; and this also implies their ruining of their whole ecclesiastical policy.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The people of thy holiness have possessed it but…
The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while,.... Either the land of Canaan, which the Jews, the Lord's holy people, whom he had separated from others, possessed about fourteen hundred years, which was but a little while in comparison of "for ever", as was promised; or they enjoyed it but a little while in peace and quiet, being often disturbed by their neighbours; or else the sanctuary, the temple, as it is to be supplied from the next clause, which stood but little more than four hundred years:
our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary; the temple; the first temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; and the second temple by the Romans; and Antiochus, and Pompey, and others, profaned it, by treading in it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain People - The people set apart for his servants.…
People - The people set apart for his servants. A little while - Comparatively to the promise, which was forever. Sanctuary - The temple.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. The people of thy holiness have possessed…
Verse 18. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while - "It is little that they have taken possession of thy holy mountain"] The difficulty of the construction in this place is acknowledged on all hands. Vitringa prefers that sense as the least exceptionable which our translation has expressed; in which however there seems to be a great defect; that is, the want of that in the speaker's view must have been the principal part of the proposition, the object of the verb, the land, or it, as our translators supply it, which surely ought to have been expressed, and not to have been left to be supplied by the reader. In a word, I believe there is some mistake in the text; and here the Septuagint help us out; they had in their copy הר har, mountain, instead of עם am, people, του ορους του ἁγιου σου, the mountain of thy Holy One. "Not only have our enemies taken possession of Mount Sion, and trodden down thy sanctuary; even far worse than this has befallen us; thou hast long since utterly cast us off, and dost not consider us as thy peculiar people." - L.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The people of thy holiness - The people who…
The people of thy holiness - The people who have been received into solemn covenant with thee.
Have possessed it but a little while - That is, the land meaning that the time during which they had enjoyed a peaceable possession of it, compared with the perpetuity of the promise made, was short. Such is the idea given to the passage by our translators. But there is considerable variety in the interpretation of the passage among expositors. Lowth renders it:
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It is little, that they have taken possession of thy holy mountain;
That our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Jerome renders it, ‘It is as nothing (quasi nihilum), they possess thy holy people; our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘Return on account of thy servants, on account of the tribes of thine inheritance, that we may inherit thy holy mountains for a little time’ ἵνα μικρὸν κληρονομήσωμεν τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ ἁγίου hina mikron klēronomēsōmen tou orous tou hagiou). It has been generally felt that there was great difficulty in the place. See Vitringa. The sense seems to be that which occurs in our translation. The design is to furnish an argument for the divine interposition, and the meaning of the two verses may be expressed in the following paraphrase: ‘We implore thee to return unto us, and to put away thy wrath. As a reason for this, we urge that thy temple thy holy sanctuary - was possessed by thy people but a little time. For a brief period there we offered praise, and met with our God, and enjoyed his favor. Now thine enemies trample it down. They have come up and taken the land, and destroyed thy holy place Isa 64:11. We plead for thine interposition, because we are thy covenant people. Of old we have been thine. But as for them, they were never thine. They never yielded to thy laws. They were never called by thy name. There is, then, no reason why the temple and the land should be in their possession, and we earnestly pray that it may be restored to the tribes of thine ancient inheritance.’
Our adversaries - This whole prayer is supposed to be offered by the exiles near the close of their captivity. Of course the language is such as they would then use. The scene is laid in Babylon, and the object is to express the feelings which they would have then, and to furnish the model for the petitions which they would then urge. We are not, therefore, to suppose that the temple when Isaiah lived and wrote was in ruins, and the land in the possession of his foes. All this is seen in vision; and though a hundred and fifty years would occur before it would be realized, yet, according to the prophetic manner, he describes the scene as actually passing before him (see the Introduction, Section 7; compare the notes at Isa 64:11).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Nothing; holding them in the greatest contempt. Epiphanes though…
Nothing; holding them in the greatest contempt. Epiphanes though he should make them easily change their religion. His persecution lasted only three years and a half. --- Sanctuary. 1 Machabees i. 23, 49, 57., and iii. 45.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain people of . . . holiness--Israel dedicated as holy…
people of . . . holiness--Israel dedicated as holy unto God (Isa 62:12; Deu 7:6).
possessed--namely, the Holy Land, or Thy "sanctuary," taken from the following clause, which is parallel to this (compare Isa 64:10-11; Psa 74:6-8).
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thy--an argument why God should help them; their cause is His cause.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18, 19. The people of thy holiness — People…
18, 19. The people of thy holiness — People adhering to principles of the divine holiness, is an expression stronger than the phrase, thy holy people, and is to be preferred. God’s interposition in their behalf is pleaded for in the preceding, and continued in this verse, on the ground that, as the covenant people with God, they held peaceable possession of the land of promise but a little while, because their sins had made him to become their enemy; but now that they return in penitence, they plead for spiritual and eternal possession on the ground of such having been the intent of the covenant on God’s part. Besides, the original and literal promised possession is now trodden down by foes, and this gives reason for his people’s stronger and more persistent pleading. Besides, still further, say they, We are thine. Thy foes are not thy people. They will not have thee as their ruler. We are of old. We belong to the line who always held sacred thy spiritual covenant. Yet “but a little while” have we held spiritual possession.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. The people … while] The want of an…
18. The people … while] The want of an acc. to the verb excites suspicion, for it is hardly possible to take “thy sanctuary” as the obj. common to the two clauses. The text of the LXX., which reads “mountain” instead of “people” and has the verb in the first pers. plu., is perhaps to be preferred: For a little while have we possessed Thy holy mountain. Comp. ch. Isa_57:13.
The second part of the verse speaks of a desecration of the Temple, which apparently followed the possession of the land. The difficulty of reconciling these two facts has been pointed out in the Introductory Note above. If any destruction of the second Temple were known to have taken place about the time of Ezra, the circumstances would be explained. But the stronger statements in Isa_64:10-11 make it unlikely that if such a calamity had really happened it should not have been expressly mentioned, even in the meagre historical records which have been preserved of that period.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) The people of thy holiness . . .—Better,…
(18) The people of thy holiness . . .—Better, For a little while have they possessed thy sanctuary, or, with a various reading, thy holy mountain. The plea is addressed to Jehovah, on the ground of His promise that the inheritance was to be an everlasting one. Compared with that promise, the period of possession, from Joshua and David to the fall of the monarchy, was but as a “little while.” (Comp. Psa_90:4.) The seeming failure of the promise was aggravated by the fact that the enemies of Israel had trodden down the sanctuary.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The people of thy holiness; or, thy holy people.…
The people of thy holiness; or, thy holy people. (comp. Isa_62:9 Isa_63:15:64:11) Some critics read har, "mountain," instead of am, "people," and translate, "But for a little while have they" (i.e. thy servants) "had possession of thy holy mountain." The general meaning is the same in either case. "Israel, God"s people, has held Palestine but for a little while a few centuries and now the heathen have been allowed to make themselves masters of it. (comp. Ezr_10:8)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Plea for God’s Interference
A Plea for God’s Interference
v. 18. The people of Thy holiness have possessed it but a little while, rather, "Down to a small remnant they," the enemies, "possess Thy holy people," using the inheritance of Israel to their own advantage. Our adversaries have trodden down Thy Sanctuary, not only the Temple proper, but the entire Holy City.
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v. 19. We are Thine; Thou never barest rule over them, they were not called by Thy name, or, in a circumscription suggested by the original, We have become as those over whom Thou hast not ruled, who are not called by Thy name, a complaint which places the present miserable position of Israel into the strongest contrast with the former happiness
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The people of Israel continue speaking.
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who were never called by your name
This can be stated in active form. The word "name" refers to a family relationship. AT: "who never belonged to your family" (See: Active or Passive and Metonymy)
We have become ... called by your name
Some modern versions interpret this passage differently: "We are like the people over whom you have not ruled, like those who have not been called by your name."
translationWords
people of God
holy place
rule
call
name
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 63:18 The people were supposed to be holy, but…
63:18 The people were supposed to be holy, but their lack of holiness had led to destruction. • The holy place was the Temple, which the Babylonians destroyed in 586 BC (64:11; 2 Kgs 25:1-21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.