Bible Strands
Isaiah 63:17
Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet speaks on behalf of Israel to Yahweh, placing the plea between the declaration of God as Father and Redeemer (Isaiah 63:16) and the lament over enemies trampling the sanctuary (Isaiah 63:18).
The words — תַתְעֵנוּ (tat.'E./nu) literally means "do you make us stray," and תַּקְשִׁיחַ (tak.Shi.ach) translates to "do you harden," both functioning as direct questions about God's action toward the people.
The thread — The motif of divine hardening appears in Isaiah 6:10, where God commands calloused hearts, and Joshua 11:20, where Yahweh hardens enemy hearts to ensure their destruction.
Why it lands — The text states that God causes spiritual wandering and hardened hearts, then commands Him to return for the sake of His heritage. It demands the reader acknowledge divine sovereignty over human rebellion while recognizing that restoration depends entirely on God's initiative.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 6:10 Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Joshua 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Ezekiel 14:7 For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.
- Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
- Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
- Numbers 10:36 And when it came to rest, he would say: “Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.”
- Psalms 90:13 Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.
- John 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
- Zechariah 1:12 Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”
- Romans 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.