Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham... — Better, For Abraham is ignorant of us. The passage is striking as being an anticipation of the New Testament thought, that the Fatherhood of, God rests on something else than hereditary descent, and extends not to a single nation only, but to all mankind. Abraham might disclaim his degenerate descendants, but Jehovah would still recognise them. Implicitly, at least, the words contain the truth that “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). He is still their Redeemer. The words may possibly imply the thought that, as in the case of Jeremiah (2Ma. 15:13-14), and Rachel (Jeremiah 31:15), Abraham was thought of as watching over his posterity, and interceding for them. So, eventually, Abraham appears in the popular belief of Israel, as welcoming his children in the unseen world (Luke 16:22).
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 63:16
Isaiah 63:16
16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer;d thy name is from everlasting.