Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 63 and Psalm 80 both use the plea for God to “look down from heaven” as a call for attention and mercy. The language mirrors earlier Near Eastern prayers where worshipers asked deities to look upon them with favor, sometimes through statues left in temples.
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Isaiah 63:15
Hebrew Bible
13 who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running through the wilderness they did not stumble. 14 As an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest. In this way you guided your people, gaining for yourself an honored reputation. 15 Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! 16 For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our Protector from ancient times. 17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Psalm 80:14
Hebrew Bible
12 Why did you break down its walls, so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? 13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; the insects of the field feed on it. 14 O God of Heaven’s Armies, come back. Look down from heaven and take notice. Take care of this vine, 15 the root your right hand planted, the shoot you made to grow. 16 It is burned and cut down. May those who did this die because you are displeased with them.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... There is some archeological and textual evidence which suggests that at least some of these teits may refer to the practice of placing a statue or image of the person who desires the deity's favor in the temple before the image of the god. Thus even when the petitioner was not physically present in the temple, his image would remain constantly before the god. Probably related are those terms in which a god is called upon or asked to look at a person or persons ... Thus in a letter written to a god the following phrase is found, 'look at my family, young and old, show me mercy because of them.' In a personal lament to Ishtar the petitioner cries, 'look mercifully upon me, my lady, accept my prayer.' Both are found in contexts where divine adjudication is called for from Samas. 'Examine my heart!' or 'investigate my case and his!' Although the practice of worshiper-statues is not attested in the Old Testament, these texts are reminiscent of the laments in the Psalter and other books where the petitioner is in need of divine favor and cries out to Yahweh to 'look at' or see his plight and respond (compare 2 Kings 19:16; Isaiah 37:17; 63:15; Psalm 25:18-29; 59:5; 80:14; 84:10; 119:153; Lamentations 1:9, 11, 20; 2:20) ..."
Staton, Cecil P.
And Yahweh appeared: A Study of the Motifs of Seeing God and of God's appearing in Old Testament Narratives
(pp. 80-81) University of Oxford, 1988
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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