Isaiah 64:12 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Isaiah 64:5–12

Read Isaiah 64:12 with 64:5–12. By itself, “Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: The prayer holds remembered joy, sin, faded righteousness, unclean condition, clay dependence, destroyed cities and temple, and the question of continued silence together.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Within the same chapter, this unit advances from “The Community Pleads for the Hidden Father to Rend the Heavens” into “Confession Appeals to the Potter amid Burned Holy Places.” Its non-interchangeable movement is: The prayer holds remembered joy, sin, faded righteousness, unclean condition, clay dependence, destroyed cities and temple, and the question of continued silence together. This verse's placement is specific: The prayer or lamenting voice presses the question “Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very…” at Isaiah 64:12 within “Confession Appeals to the Potter amid Burned Holy Places.”