63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 5
The messenger sent from his very presence 6 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 7 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 8
1 sn God chose to guide the people with a pillar of cloud in the day and one of fire at night, or, as a pillar of cloud and fire, since they represented his presence. God had already appeared to Moses in the fire of the bush, and so here again is revelation with fire. Whatever the exact nature of these things, they formed direct, visible revelations from God, who was guiding the people in a clear and unambiguous way. Both clouds and fire would again and again represent the presence of God in his power and majesty, guiding and protecting his people, by judging their enemies.
2 tn The infinitive construct here indicates the result of these manifestations – “so that they went” or “could go.”
3 tn These are adverbial accusatives of time.
4 tn Heb “A man will not stand before you.” The second person pronouns in this verse are singular, indicating Joshua is the addressee.
5 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
6 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
7 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
8 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
9 tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).
10 sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.
11 tc Most