The Savior's Victory

Is 63:1-6

Abstract

The III Isaiah names Edom and Bozrah, its capital, only in 63:1a, when it presents the victory of the Savior in that country (63:1-6). The brief text that our study deals with adds in this way to the extensive list of predictions and hostile mentions against this people, present in the corpus propheticum.

Is 63:1-6 is nourished by the collective memory of Israel and the prophetic current against Edom. It also appropriates some of his more significant images, especially some of Jeremiah (cf. 25:15-17.30.31). The evocative force of the oracle seems to fulfill what is announced in Is 34. However, if our text describes the victory of the savior in Edomite territory, it must be acknowledged that, with this, not necessarily it is intended to indicate a certain historical event similar to that of the fall of Babylon, or the establishment of a new political order.

Their prophetic testimony points, above all, to the symbolic imaginary of the people and to the conscience by which they acknowledge themselves to be loved by the Lord.