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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 63

1 Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? “It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!” 2 Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?⁠ 3 “I have stomped grapes in the wine press all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage.⁠ Their juice splashed on my garments and stained all my clothes.⁠ 4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help;⁠ I was shocked because there was no one offering support. So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. 6 I trampled nations in my anger; I made them drunk in my rage; I splashed their blood on the ground.”⁠ 7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord, of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds. I will tell about all the Lord did for us, the many good things he did for the family of Israel, because of his compassion and great faithfulness. 8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people, children who are not disloyal.” He became their deliverer. 9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them.⁠ In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.⁠ 10 But they rebelled and offended his Holy Spirit, so he turned into an enemy and fought against them.⁠ 11 His people remembered the ancient times. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea, along with the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed his Holy Spirit among them,⁠ 12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation,⁠ 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! 18 For a short time your special nation possessed a land, but then our adversaries knocked down your holy sanctuary. 19 We existed from ancient times, but you did not rule over them; they were not your subjects.

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 11:17 and Isaiah 63:11

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In Numbers, God shares the Spirit given to Moses with seventy elders so that leadership is distributed and the burden is shared. Isaiah later recalls Moses and this same divine Spirit when reflecting on Israel’s past deliverance.

Passages

Numbers 11:17

Hebrew Bible
15 But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” 16 The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the Spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself. 18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the ears* of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Isaiah 63:11

Hebrew Bible
9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them. In his love and mercy he protected them; he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 10 But they rebelled and offended his Holy Spirit, so he turned into an enemy and fought against them. 11 His people remembered the ancient times. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea, along with the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed his Holy Spirit among them, 12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation, 13 who led them through the deep water? Like a horse running through the wilderness they did not stumble.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

"... The expression ‘I will place/put my spirit upon him’ is an expression used in other parts of the Hebrew Bible to refer to setting someone apart, meaning by extension to set someone apart for a particular work and also to equip someone for a particular task (see Exodus 35:31–36:1; Numbers 11:16–30). Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed for their designated work. (there are other places in the Hebrew Bible where the ‘spirit’ is placed on someone or removed and placed on someone else; for example, Numbers 11:17, 25, 29; Isaiah 37:7; 59:21; Ezekiel 36:27; 37:14) Here the servant receives the spirit of God for a particular work, perhaps for revealing the servant as being the king, the priest, and the prophet (see 1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Kings 2:15; 1 Chr 29:22, anointed both Solomon as king and Zadok as priest; Isaiah 11:2; Jeremiah 33:14–22; Zechariah 6:9–13; Matthew 3:16–17; Hebrews 3:1–6). The Targum employs ‘my holy spirit’ while the Masoretic Text, Syriac Peshiṭta, and the LXX have it only as ‘my spirit’, although all make this noun a construct ... the structure found in Isaiah 63:1–6 is similar to that of Isaiah 42:1–9 ..."
Stéphane A. Beaulieu, "Behold! My Servant": An Exegetical and Theological Study of the Identity and Role of the Servant in Isaiah 42:1-9 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2015), 88, 243.

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Numbers 11:17 and Isaiah 63:11

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