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The Victorious Divine Warrior

63 Who is this who comes from Edom,[a]
dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah?[b]
Who[c] is this one wearing royal attire,[d]
who marches confidently[e] because of his great strength?
“It is I, the one who announces vindication,
and who is able to deliver!”[f]
Why are your clothes red?
Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?[g]
“I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;
no one from the nations joined me.
I stomped on them[h] in my anger;
I trampled them down in my rage.
Their juice splashed on my garments,
and stained[i] all my clothes.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 63:1 sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.
  2. Isaiah 63:1 tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”
  3. Isaiah 63:1 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.
  4. Isaiah 63:1 tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”
  5. Isaiah 63:1 tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsaʿah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsaʿad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).
  6. Isaiah 63:1 tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”
  7. Isaiah 63:2 tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”
  8. Isaiah 63:3 sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.
  9. Isaiah 63:3 tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).