Isaiah 63:10
in Isaiah 63But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
KJV
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
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This verse in Isaiah 63
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(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.
This site's exposition
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit
The praise turns on itself in one verse: they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit, and the same love recounted a breath before is met with hostility that turns God from a saving friend into a fighting enemy. The verse is among the Old Testament's clearest namings of the Holy Spirit as a person capable of being vexed, grieved by unfaithfulness rather than merely an influence, and later writers who argue the Spirit's personhood point back to it. Gill reads therefore he was turned to be their enemy as covenant language, the same God who fought for Israel against Egypt now fighting against Israel for the same reason, unfaithfulness provoking the same jealousy either direction. Barnes places the verse at the hinge of the whole recital, the pivot between remembered mercy and the plea for mercy that follows.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
This refers especially to those calamities that were of late brought upon them by their captivity in Babylon for their idolatries and other sins. That which is both the original and the great aggravation of their troubles was that God was turned to be their enemy.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
But they rebelled against the word of His holy prophets, and blasphemed, and His WORD became their enemy, and He waged war against them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵ֛מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מָר֥וּ | maru | they rebelled | H4784 → | 45 times |
| וְעִצְּב֖וּ | veitzevu | and they grieved | H6087 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| ר֣וּחַ | ruach | [the] spirit of | H7307 → | 378 times |
| קָדְשׁ֑וֹ | kadesho | holiness his | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וַיֵּהָפֵ֥ךְ | vaiyehafekh | and he changed himself | H2015 → | 94 times |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | of them | ||
| לְאוֹיֵ֖ב | leoyev | into an enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| נִלְחַם־ | nilcham- | he fought | H3898 → | 177 times |
| בָּֽם׃ | bam | against them |
וְהֵ֛מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →553 times
מָר֥וּthey rebelled
maruH4784 →45 times
וְעִצְּב֖וּand they grieved
veitzevuH6087 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
ר֣וּחַ[the] spirit of
ruachH7307 →378 times
קָדְשׁ֑וֹholiness his
kadeshoH6944 →469 times
וַיֵּהָפֵ֥ךְand he changed himself
vaiyehafekhH2015 →94 times
לָהֶ֛םof them
lahem
לְאוֹיֵ֖בinto an enemy
leoyevH341 →282 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
נִלְחַם־he fought
nilcham-H3898 →177 times
בָּֽם׃against them
bam
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 4:30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Do not extinguish the Spirit.
- Ephesians 1:13–14
And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Genesis 6:6
And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- Romans 8:23
Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Through
Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…
- Ephesians 4:30
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.