Isaiah 63:17-18

63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray ¹  from your ways, ² 

and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? ³ 

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your inheritance!

63:18 For a short time your special ⁴  nation possessed a land, ⁵ 

but then our adversaries knocked down ⁶  your holy sanctuary.

[63:17]  ¹ tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.

[63:17]  ² tn This probably refers to God’s commands.

[63:17]  ³ tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[63:18]  ⁴ tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[63:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”

[63:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”