Look down from heaven and see, from thy holy and glorious habitation: The lament begins with the same plea as found in Psa 80.14: Look down from heaven and see. The imagery behind these words is that God dwells in heaven and from there looks down at the world and its people. The two imperative verbs, Look down and see, actually begin two parallel clauses. The first clause is Look down from heaven; the second one is see, from thy holy and glorious habitation. Bible en français courant (1997) reflects this parallelism well by rendering these two lines as “From the heights of heaven, look; from your splendid divine dwelling, see what happens to us.” However, most versions choose an arrangement like that of Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation combines the verbs Look and see into “look.”
Heaven is described in the second line as thy holy and glorious habitation, which is literally “the high place of your holiness and beauty.” For holy see 1.4. The Hebrew word rendered glorious occurred earlier in verses 12 and 14, so it is a keyword in 63.7–64.12. Habitation (New International Version “lofty throne”) is a figurative term that is parallel to heaven. Good News Translation provides a helpful model for the second line, saying “where you live in your holiness and glory.”
Where are thy zeal and thy might?: This question begins in the same way as the questions in verses 11b-13a, but now the LORD is addressed directly. It is a rhetorical question that implies that God’s power and concern for his people are not evident, or that God is not using his power to rescue them from their troubles. For God’s zeal, see the comments on 9.7. It refers to God’s total commitment to the welfare of his people. Good News Translation says “great concern.” Might may be rendered “power” (Good News Translation) or “strength.” For languages that do not favor the use of rhetorical questions, a strong statement may be used here, for example, “We surely do not see your zeal and your might!”
The yearning of thy heart and thy compassion are withheld from me: Revised Standard Version breaks the question after the word might, but it is more likely that The yearning of thy heart and thy compassion completes the question as other divine attributes that appear to be absent. New Revised Standard Version reads the last half of the verse this way by saying “Where are your zeal and your might? The yearning of your heart and your compassion? They are withheld from me” (similarly Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). If the four attributes are bracketed together, then the final verb phrase are withheld from me is an independent clause (so New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). However, New International Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh read these lines in the same way as Revised Standard Version. There is clearly some ambiguity in the Hebrew text here, so translators may follow either of the two models. If the four attributes are seen to belong together, translators can keep them together within one question (see the first example below), or divide them into several questions (so New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation).
The yearning of thy heart is literally “the murmur/rumblings of your internal organs.” It is an idiomatic expression based on the Hebrew concept that feelings originate in the stomach. It refers to compassion and love. New American Bible says “your surge of pity,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “your deepest feelings.” Compassion renders the same Hebrew word translated “mercy” in verse 7 (see the comments there).
The verb phrase are withheld from me is part of the complaint in the lament. The people complain that God has not shown his concern and compassion or his power to rescue them. Good News Translation expresses the phrase as a direct appeal to the LORD, saying “Do not ignore us.” The Hebrew verb rendered withheld forms an inclusio for 63.15–64.12 since it is repeated in 64.12, where Revised Standard Version translates it “restrain.” If possible, translators should use the same verb in both passages to highlight this important literary feature of the Hebrew text and to mark the unity of the section. Since the people of Judah are speaking here, Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version change the pronoun me to “us.” Other languages may find this helpful.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• Look down from heaven,
see from where you live in your holiness and glory.
Where are your commitment and power,
your compassion and mercy?
They are denied us!
• Look down from the heavens,
look at us from your holy and glorious home.
Your commitment, your power,
your compassion, and your mercy seem absent.
They are withheld from us!
• Look down at us from heaven [or, from above],
regard us from your sacred and glorious home.
Why do we not see your commitment and power?
You have withheld your compassion and mercy from us.
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 .