Bible Strands
Isaiah 64:12
After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Yahweh immediately after describing the burning of the temple and the ruin of all that was dear to Israel. The moment follows a period of national devastation and perceived divine inaction.
The words — תִתְאַפַּק (tit'apak) translates literally to "restrain Yourself," and תְּחֱשֶׁה (techeSheh) means "be silent." Both verbs describe a deliberate withholding of intervention or speech.
The thread — The tension of divine silence and restraint runs through Isaiah 42:14, where God shifts from quietness to groaning, and Psalms 74:10, where the psalmist questions how long the enemy will taunt God in His silence.
Why it lands — The text states that God's restraint has resulted in affliction beyond measure, then asks whether this silence will continue. It requires the reader to face the raw question of whether divine withholding is temporary discipline or permanent abandonment.
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
Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 42:14 “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
- Psalms 74:10 How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
- Psalms 74:18 Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
- Psalms 83:1 A song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.
- 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?”
- Psalms 10:1 Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?
- Psalms 79:5 How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
- Psalms 80:3 Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Psalms 89:46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
- Revelation 6:10 And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?”