Ésaïe 64:9

9 Ne t'irrite pas à l'extrême, ô Eternel, Et ne te souviens pas à toujours du crime; Regarde donc, nous sommes tous ton peuple.

Ésaïe 64:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 64:9

Be not wroth very sore, O Lord
They knew not how to deprecate the displeasure of God entirely; having sinned so greatly against him, they were sensible they deserved his wrath; but entreat it might not be hot and very vehement, and carried to the highest pitch, which would be intolerable: neither remember iniquity for ever;
to afflict and punish for it, but forgive it, for not to remember sin is to forgive it; and not inflict the deserved punishment of it, but take off and remove the effects of divine displeasure, which as yet continued, and had a long time, as this petition suggests; and therefore suits better with the present long captivity of the Jews than their seventy years' captivity in Babylon. Behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people;
look upon all our troubles and distresses, and upon us under them, with an eye of pity and compassion; and consider that we are thy people, not only by creation, but by covenant and profession; even everyone of us; or we are all the people thou hast, the Jews looking upon themselves to be the special and peculiar people of God, and the Gentiles as having no claim to such a relation; this is the pure spirit of Judaism. The Targum is,

``lo, it is manifest before thee that we are all of us thy people.''

Ésaïe 64:9 In-Context

7 Il n'y a personne qui invoque ton nom, Qui se réveille pour s'attacher à toi: Aussi nous as-tu caché ta face, Et nous laisses-tu périr par l'effet de nos crimes.

8 Cependant, ô Eternel, tu es notre père; Nous sommes l'argile, et c'est toi qui nous as formés, Nous sommes tous l'ouvrage de tes mains.

9 Ne t'irrite pas à l'extrême, ô Eternel, Et ne te souviens pas à toujours du crime; Regarde donc, nous sommes tous ton peuple.

10 Tes villes saintes sont un désert; Sion est un désert, Jérusalem une solitude.

11 Notre maison sainte et glorieuse, Où nos pères célébraient tes louanges, Est devenue la proie des flammes; Tout ce que nous avions de précieux a été dévasté.