Oh that thou wouldst rend, &c.— Wouldst rend, &c. Isaiah 64:2 as the fire kindleth the dry fuel; as the fire causeth the waters to boil, &c. Lowth. The ideas are here taken from the descent of God upon mount Sinai, and are very similar to Judges 5:4. The connexion is this: "Oh that thou wouldst descend, that the mountains might flow at thy presence! thy indignation so raging, as a fire breaketh out of dried sticks, (so the original may be rendered,) and spreads the flames around, and as a more vehement fire makes the water to boil." It is subjoined, To make thy name known to thine adversaries, namely, "to consume in thy wrath;" which answers to the former member:—that the nations may be moved at thy presence, which answers to the latter member; that is to say, so moved, as the fire makes the water to boil. When thou didst terrible things, which we looked not for, namely, "when thou descendedst to deliver us from Egypt, and to form us into a people, the mountains flowed, &c." See Exodus 19:18. Deuteronomy 32:22; Deuteronomy 32:52.Psalms 18:7. &c. and Vitringa.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 64:1
Isaiah 64:1-3
1 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2 As when the meltinga fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.