Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Study Note
Study Note
The statement that Israel 'rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them' is one of the Old Testament's most explicit attributions of the designation 'holy Spirit' to God, grounding New Testament pneumatology in the Hebrew scriptures. The verb 'vexed' (Hebrew atzbev, caused pain/grief) is the same root as 'grieved' in Ephesians 4:30 ('grieve not the holy Spirit of God'), suggesting a direct intertextual link across the testaments. The consequence — God becoming their enemy rather than their defender — introduces a theodicy of the wilderness period: the forty years were not divine abandonment but responsive judgment on persistent rebellion against the Spirit. The verse provided the early church with its primary Old Testament precedent for the Spirit's personal character — capable of being grieved implies personhood, not mere force.
Other Translations
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, andhimself fought against them.
And they have rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, And He turneth to them for an enemy, He Himself hath fought against them.
But they went against him, causing grief to his holy spirit: so he was turned against them, and made war on them.
Cross References
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, …
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name …
And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in …
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons …
And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere …
Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for …
The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the …
And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.