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Pastor's Blog May 30, 2019
"Holiness"
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Isaiah 63:15 makes this confessional statement: "Look down from heaven, and behold from the dwelling place of thine holiness, and of thy glory. Where is thy zeal and thy strength, the multitude of thy mercies, and of thy compassion? they are restrained from me" (1599 Geneva Bible). Anyone who has spent time in Isaiah will notice that there is a marked difference between the way older versions translate the book (like the Coverdale, Tyndale, KJV, and Geneva Bible) and the way new versions translate Isaiah (like the NKJV, NIV, NRSV, and NASB).
Isaiah 63:15 is a prime example. In most of the newer translations, the adjectives "holiness" and "glory" are used as basic descriptors of God's dwelling place: namely, "your holy and glorious habitation" or simply "your holy and glorious house." It is only in the older English versions that we find the translation taking a more literal turn: "the habitation or dwelling place of your holiness." I emphasize this point, not to imply that older or newer Bible translations of Isaiah are better than the other, but to point out how both sets of translations capture something important about the holiness of God.
The Geneva Bible, as well as the more famous KJV, helps focus our attention on the fact that God's presence defines what holiness is: wherever God is or makes his presence known, that is where holiness is - which paints a picture of what holiness looks like. The older translations highlight that God's presence (and all its effects) is the definition of holiness.
The NKJV, NIV, NRSV, and NASB focus our attention on the fact that God's holiness is multifaceted and comes to define everything that is connected to God: the place where God dwells, and the objects and people who experience his presence, are holy by proximity to him - and participate in and are made holy by nearness to God's holiness. And this is why the Geneva Bible, KJV, NKJV, NIV, NRSV, NASB, and all the other Bible versions rightly connect God's holiness with the believer's experience of God's power, mercy, and compassion - because Isaiah 63:15 suggests that these divine gifts naturally flow from God's holiness.
When we read Isaiah 63:15 in several versions, we will see God's compassion, love, and holiness as different demonstrations of the same precious gift from God. And this, in turn, will help us see that God's holiness is meant for our good.
God Bless.
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
