Isaiah 63:6
in Isaiah 63I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
KJV
And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
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This verse in Isaiah 63
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd make them drunk in my fury “And I crushed them in mine indignation” - For ואשכרם vaashkerem, and I made them drunken, twenty-seven MSS., (three ancient), twelve of De Rossi’s, and the old edition of 1488, have ואשברם vaashabberem, and I crushed them: and so the Syriac and Chaldee. The Septuagint have omitted this whole line.
This site's exposition
I looked, but there was no one to help
on Isaiah 63:5-6
“I looked, but there was no one to help”, and so “My arm brought Me salvation”, the words of 59:16. Verse 6 repeats the treading of verse 3, “I trampled the nations in My anger”. The speech circles back on itself before a new voice begins at verse 7.
This site's exposition
in My wrath I made them drunk
Barnes pictures the nations reeling under the wrath of the LORD like drunken men until they fall to the ground. Clarke reports Hebrew manuscripts reading crushed for drunk. The poured blood is the same word as the blood that stained the garments in verse 3, Jamieson, Fausset & Brown note.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 3 and following) I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me. I have trodden them in my anger, and trampled them in my fury: and their blood has stained my garments, and all my clothing is polluted. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked around, and there was no helper: I sought, and there was no one to assist. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my own wrath supported me. And I have trampled upon the peoples in my anger, and I have made them drunk in my indignation, and I have brought down their strength to the earth. Seventy times because of what we said, I alone have trampled the winepress, they have interpreted, a full trampling, which is more to be read with the previous chapter than as the beginning of the following one. The rest they have translated thus. And there is no one among the nations with me, and I have trampled upon them in my anger, and I have crushed them like the ground, and I have poured out their blood upon the earth, and I have defiled all my garments. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. For the press is called Geth in Hebrew, as Theodotion has translated the Hebrew word in Greek. But Symmachus, whom we also follow, renders it better in this place. For the word Phura is ambiguous, and usually signifies both a winepress and a jug. It must be said, therefore, about the winepress, that according to the custom of Holy Scripture, sometimes it is used for vengeance and punishments of sins, sometimes for the gathering of new fruits. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fourth, the exposition of his vengeance: and I have trodden down the people, the Jews, through the Romans, and have made them drunk, filled them with affliction, and have brought down their strength, the Jews and the demons, above: the Lord of hosts has designed …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
11 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? 12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Drunk - They go as it were to and fro, not knowing what to do with themselves. Bring down - Whatever it is wherein their strength lies, he will bring to the very dust, to nothing.
And I will tread down the people in mine anger,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
God's people meeting him with their devotions, and addressing themselves to him with suitable affections; and this part of the chapter is carried on to the close of the next.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rather, preterites, "I trod down . . . made them drunk." The same image occurs Isa 51:17, 21-23; Jer 25:26, 27. will bring down . . . strength to . . . earth--rather, "I spilled their life-blood (the same Hebrew words as in Isa 63:3) on the earth" [LOWTH and Septuagint].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I will tread them down - Or rather, ‘I did tread them down.’ The allusion here is to a warrior who tramples on his foes and treads them in the dust (see the notes at Isa 25:10). And made them drunk - That is, I made them reel and fall under my fury like a drunken man. In describing the destruction of Idumea in Isa 34:5, Yahweh says that his sword was made drunk, or that it rushed intoxicated from heaven. See the notes on that verse. But here he says that the people, under the terrors of his wrath, lost their power of self-command, and fell to the earth like an intoxicated man. Kimchi says that the idea is, that Yahweh extended the cup of his wrath for them to drink until they became intoxicated and fell. An image of this kind is several times used in the Scriptures (see the notes at Isa 51:17; compare Psa 75:8). Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘I crushed them.’ The reason of this change is, that according to Kennicott, twenty-seven manuscripts (three of them ancient) instead of the present Hebrew reading ואשׁכרם va'ăshakerēm, ‘And I will make them drunk,’ read ואשׁברם va'ăshaberēm, ‘I will break or crush them.’ Such a change, it is true, might easily have been made from the similarity of the Hebrew letters, כ (k) and ב (b). But the authority for the change does not seem to me to be sufficient, nor is it necessary. The image of making them stagger and fall like a drunken man, is more poetic than the other, and is in entire accordance with the usual manner of writing by the sacred penman. The Chaldee renders it, ‘I cast to the lowest earth the slain of their strong ones.’ And I will bring down their strength - I subdued their strong places, and their mighty armies. Such is the sense giver, to the passage by our translators. […]
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָב֤וּס | veavus | and I may tread down | H947 → | 12 times |
| עַמִּים֙ | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְּאַפִּ֔י | beapi | in anger my | H639 → | 276 times |
| וַאֲשַׁכְּרֵ֖ם | vaashakerem | and I made drunk them | H7937 → | 19 times |
| בַּחֲמָתִ֑י | bachamati | in rage my | H2534 → | 125 times |
| וְאוֹרִ֥יד | veorid | so I may bring down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| לָאָ֖רֶץ | laaretz | to the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| נִצְחָֽם׃ ס | nitzcham | blood their | H5332 → |
וְאָב֤וּסand I may tread down
veavusH947 →12 times
עַמִּים֙peoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
בְּאַפִּ֔יin anger my
beapiH639 →276 times
וַאֲשַׁכְּרֵ֖םand I made drunk them
vaashakeremH7937 →19 times
בַּחֲמָתִ֑יin rage my
bachamatiH2534 →125 times
וְאוֹרִ֥ידso I may bring down
veoridH3381 →381 times
לָאָ֖רֶץto the ground
laaretzH776 →2504 times
נִצְחָֽם׃ סblood their
nitzchamH5332 →
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
Revelation 14:10he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:17
Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 75:8
For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
- Isaiah 51:17
Through
Isaiah 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your…
it leads to
- Isaiah 9:20
They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own…
- Isaiah 41:14–20
Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 9:4
For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Revelation 16:6
For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
- Isaiah 9:20
Through
Revelation 16:19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
it leads to
- Revelation 18:5
For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
- Revelation 18:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.