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Isaiah 63:11

in Isaiah 63

Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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 shepherds of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?

KJV

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?

This verse in Isaiah 63

Commentary

12 notes on this verse
Then he remembered - He did not forget his solemn premises to be their protector and their God. For their crimes they were subjected to punishment, but God did not forget that they were his people, nor that he had entered into covenant with them. The object of this part of the petition seems to be, to recall the fact that in former times God had never wholly forsaken them, and to plead that the same thing might occur now. Even in the darkest days of adversity, God still remembered his promises, and interposed to save them.

This site's exposition

Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses

on Isaiah 63:11-14

“Then His people remembered the days of old” and asked, “Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them”. Verses 12 to 14 review the exodus: the arm at “the right hand of Moses”. Twice the purpose is His name, “everlasting renown” and “a glorious name”.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(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.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

Third, he sets out the remission of the fault: and he remembered, at last, Moses, who prayed for them: either forgive them, or strike me out of the book that you have written (Exod 32:31–32); he has remembered his covenant for ever: the word which …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

It may look back to their condition in the wilderness, and thus they may properly say, Where is he? Or that God who delivered his people of old, to do the like for us now? There is a like phrase used by God, as it were recollecting himself, Where is he?

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Israel then (spoken of as a single person) remembered the days of old, looked into their Bibles, read the story of God's bringing their fathers out of Egypt, considered it more closely than ever they did before, and reasoned upon it, as Gideon did ( Judg. vi. 13 ), Where are all the wonders that our fathers told us of? "Where is he that brought them up out of Egypt?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

34 , and how fatigued), yet God by his power brought them up from the depths of the earth; and it was a kind of resurrection to them; it was as life from the dead. [4.] He brought them safely to a place of rest: As a beast goes down into the valley, carefully and gradually, so the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

5 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people,....

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Spirit . . . within him--Hebrew, "in the inward parts of him," that is, Moses; or it refers to the flock, "in the midst of his people" (Nu 11:17, 25;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

I told you, in the reading, that Israel had a golden age, a time of great familiarity with God, when Jehovah was very near to His people in their sufferings and was afflicted in their affliction—when He helped them in everything they did and the Angel of His Presence saved them. But after all that the Lord had done for them, there came a cold period. The people went astray from the one living and true God. They fell into the ritualism of the golden calf. They must have something visible, something that they could see and worship. Even after they were brought into the Promised Land and the Lord had worked great wonders for them, they turned aside to false gods till they worshipped strange deities that were no gods and provoked Jehovah to jealousy. "They rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy and He fought against them." Not that He ceased to love His chosen, but He must be just and He could not patronize sin—so He sent their enemies against them and they were sorely smitten, and brought very low. Then it was that they began to remember the days of old and to sigh for Him whom they had treated so evilly. And they said, one to another, "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? That led them by the right hand of Moses with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make Himself an everlasting name? That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so did You lead Your people to make Yourself a glorious name." I have but a short time, as the Communion Service is to follow and, therefore, I must leave much unsaid that I think your own imagination will make up to you at home.
I told you, in the reading, that Israel had a golden age, a time of great familiarity with God, when Jehovah was very near to His people in their sufferings and was afflicted in their affliction—when He helped them in everything they did and the Angel of His Presence saved them. But after all that the Lord had done for them, there came a cold period. The people went astray from the one living and true God. They fell into the ritualism of the golden calf. They must have something visible, something that they could see and worship.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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 eich, how, without interrogation, as that particle is used in the Syriac language, and sometimes in the Hebrew. See Rth 3:18; Ecc 2:16. The shepherd of his flock - That is, Moses. The MSS. and editions vary in this word; some have it רעה roeh, in the singular number; so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee. Others רעי roey, plural, the shepherds. - L.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

He led at Moses’ right the arm of His glory The Holy One, blessed be He, led at Moses’ right the arm of His might. Every time he required the aid of the Holy One, blessed be He, His arm was ready at his right.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 63:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
But they rebelled against the word of His holy prophets, and blasphemed, and His WORD became their enemy, and He waged war against them.
Targum · Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 63:10, via Sefaria, London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871

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

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּזְכֹּ֥רand it remembered

    vaiyizkorH2142 →230 times

  • יְמֵֽי־[the] days of

    yemei-H3117 →2304 times

  • עוֹלָ֖םantiquity

    olamH5769 →438 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֣הMoses

    moshehH4872 →

  • עַמּ֑וֹpeople his

    amoH5971 →1873 times

  • אַיֵּ֣ה׀where?

    ʾaiyehH346 →45 times

  • הַֽמַּעֲלֵ֣ם[is] who brought up them

    hamaalemH5927 →890 times

  • מִיָּ֗םfrom [the] sea

    miyamH3220 →396 times

  • אֵ֚תwith

    ʾetH854 →929 times

  • רֹעֵ֣י[the] shepherds of

    roeiH7462 →177 times

  • צֹאנ֔וֹflock his

    tzonoH6629 →274 times

  • אַיֵּ֛הwhere?

    ʾaiyehH346 →45 times

  • הַשָּׂ֥ם[is] the [one who] put

    hasamH7760 →584 times

  • בְּקִרְבּ֖וֹin midst its

    bekirboH7130 →227 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • ר֥וּחַ[the] spirit of

    ruachH7307 →378 times

  • קָדְשֽׁוֹ׃holiness his

    kadeshoH6944 →469 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 14:22

    and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 11:29

      By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.

    • Exodus 15:19

      For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

  • Through

    Haggai 2:5

    This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt. And My Spirit remains among you; do not be afraid.”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 29:45–46

      Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

    • Exodus 34:10

      And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among…

    • Isaiah 41:13

      For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.

  • Through

    Psalms 77:20

    You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 13:21

      And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel…

  • Through

    Numbers 11:17

    And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the…

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 10:6

      Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

  • Through

    Numbers 11:25

    Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 11:17

      And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the…

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2258: “Where Is the Lord?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.