God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 64:3
3When you did awe-inspiring things that we didn’t expect, you came down and the mountains quaked in your presence.
Isaiah 64:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
- New International Version (NIV)For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
- English Standard Version (ESV)When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
- New King James Version (NKJV)When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence.
Context of Isaiah 64:3
1If only you would split open the heavens and come down! The mountains would quake at your presence. 2Be like the fire that kindles brushwood and makes water boil. Come down to make your name known to your enemies. The nations will tremble in your presence. When you did awe-inspiring things that we didn’t expect, you came down and the mountains quaked in your presence. 4No one has ever heard, no one has paid attention, and no one has seen any god except you. You help those who wait for you. 5You greeted the one who gladly does right and remembers your ways. You showed your anger, because we’ve sinned. We’ve continued to sin for a long time. Can we still be saved?
Read all of Isaiah 64Isaiah 64:3 word by word
בַּעֲשׂוֹתְךָ֥ נוֹרָא֖וֹת לֹ֣א נְקַוֶּ֑ה יָרַ֕דְתָּ מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ הָרִ֥ים נָזֹֽלּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 64:3
- Exodus 34:10The Lord said, “I’m making my promise again. In front of all your people I will perform miracles that have never been done in any other nation in all the world. All the people around you will see how awesome these miracles are that I will perform for you.
- Deuteronomy 4:34Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? The Lord your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you.
- Deuteronomy 10:21He is your glory. He is your God, who did for you these spectacular and awe-inspiring deeds you saw with your own eyes.
- Judges 5:4O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the country of Edom, the earth quaked, the sky poured, the clouds burst,
- 2 Samuel 7:23Who is like your people Israel? It is the one nation on earth that God came to free in order to make its people his own, to make his name known, and to do great and wonderful things for them. You forced nations and their gods out of the way of your people, whom you freed from Egypt to be your own.
- Psalms 65:6the one who set the mountains in place with his strength, the one who is clothed with power,
- Psalms 66:3Say to God, “How awe-inspiring are your deeds! Your power is so great that your enemies will cringe in front of you.
- Psalms 68:8the earth quaked and the sky poured in the presence of the God of Sinai, in the presence of the God of Israel.
- Psalms 76:12He cuts short the lives of influential people. He terrifies the kings of the earth.
- Psalms 105:27They displayed his miraculous signs among them and did amazing things in the land of Ham.
- Psalms 106:22miracles in the land of Ham, and terrifying things at the Red Sea.
- Isaiah 64:1If only you would split open the heavens and come down! The mountains would quake at your presence.
- Habakkuk 3:3God comes from Teman. The Holy One comes from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covers the heavens. His praise fills the earth.
Commentaries on Isaiah 64:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3When thou didst terrible things - In delivering the people from Egypt, and in conducting them to the promised land. Which we looked not for - Which we had never before witnessed, and which we had no right to expect. Thou camest down - As on Mount Sinai. The mountains flowed down - (See the notes above). The reference is to the manifestations of smoke and fire when Yahweh descended on Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:18).Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-12The prophet’s reflections on the past (Isaiah 63:7–14) inspire him to pray that God would now rescue his people as he has done before.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. When--Supply from Is 64:2, "As when." terrible things--(Psa 65:5). we looked not for--far exceeding the expectation of any of our nation; unparalleled before (Ex 34:10; Psa 68:8). camest down--on Mount Sinai. mountains flowed--Repeated from Is 64:1; they pray God to do the very same things for Israel now as in former ages. Gesenius, instead of "flowed" here, and "flow" in Is 64:1, translates from a different Hebrew root, "quake ... quaked"; but "fire"…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 64:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 64
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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