Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
- KJV Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
- NKJV Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: “Where is He who brought them up out of the sea With the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,
- NASB Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,
- NLT Then they remembered those days of old when Moses led his people out of Egypt. They cried out, “Where is the one who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the one who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In their distress the people recall the days of Moses, asking where the God who delivered through the sea and gave His Spirit now is. It matters because memory of past salvation stirs longing for renewed deliverance.
Overview
Looking back to the Exodus, the people remember God leading Israel through the Red Sea and placing His Holy Spirit among them. The questions express both longing and an implicit plea for God to act again as He once did. Such remembrance of the great redemption foreshadows the greater Exodus accomplished by Christ, who leads His people out of bondage to sin (Luke 9:31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Num 11:17And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself.
- Hag 2:5This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt. And My Spirit remains among you; do not be afraid.”
- Exod 14:22and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left.
- Num 11:25Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.
- Ps 77:20You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
- Zech 4:6So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Num 11:29But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”
- Luke 1:54–55He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,
- Exod 14:30That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore.
- Jer 2:6They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
- Lev 26:40–45But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—
- Isa 63:15Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.
- Neh 9:20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.
- Num 14:13–25But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
- Ps 143:5I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.
- Dan 4:8But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:
- Isa 51:9–10Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
- Ps 77:5–11I considered the days of old, the years long in the past.
- Exod 32:11–12But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
- Ps 89:47–50Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
- Ps 25:6Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age.
- Deut 4:30–31When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 63:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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