O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down: The imagery behind this plea is that the sky is like a curtain that hides God from sight. O that renders a Hebrew particle that introduces a wish here (compare 48.18), a wish that God would do something. This particle expresses a deeply felt longing. Translators need to find an appropriate way to express this sense of a strong, emotional plea. Good News Translation and Revised English Bible render this plea for God to come and help as a question, while New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh expresses it as a conditional clause: “If you would but….” Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down is a highly poetic way of speaking. Compare Psa 18.9 and 144.5, but the divine action called for here is a much more violent one. The Hebrew verb for rend is a strong term for ripping something apart. The heavens refers to “the sky” (Good News Translation). The verb come down is part of the plea, so translators may repeat the introductory word of pleading if necessary. The idea of God coming down from the sky is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to portray him coming to rescue or interact with his people (see, for example, Exo 3.8).

That the mountains might quake at thy presence: This clause is repeated in verse 3. Shaking the mountains is often associated with God appearing to his people (see the comments on 5.25; see also Exo 19.18; Jdg 5.5). RSV/NRSV, New International Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh render this line as a result clause. The mountains shake as a result of God’s coming. However, the line may be an independent call or statement (so Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible; see also the first and third examples below). The mountains quake as the accompaniment of God’s appearing, not as the result. Translators may choose either option. God’s presence (literally “face” in Hebrew) is a common thread in 63.7–64.12 (see also verses 2-3 and 63.9).

Translation examples for this verse are:

• O LORD, tear the sky apart and come down,
let the mountains shake in your presence!

• LORD, O that you would rip the sky apart and come down,
so that the mountains would shudder before you….

• Why, LORD, do you not tear the heavens apart and come down?
The mountains would tremble at your presence….

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .