Isaiah 63:1

Who is this coming from Edom The prophet prophesies concerning what the Holy One, blessed be He, said that He is destined to wreak vengeance upon Edom, and He, personally, will slay their heavenly prince, like the matter that is said (supra 34:5), “For My sword has become sated in the heaven.” And afterward, (ibid.) “it shall descend upon Edom,” and it is recognizable by the wrath of His face that He has slain [them with] a great massacre, and the prophet is speaking in the expression of the wars of human beings, dressed in clothes, and when they slay a slaying, the blood spatters on their garments, for so is the custom of Scripture; it speaks of the Shechinah anthropomorphically, to convey to the ear what it can hear. Comp. (Ezek. 43:2) “His voice is like the voice of many waters.” The prophet compares His mighty voice to the voice of many waters to convey to the ear according to what it is possible to hear, for one cannot understand and hearken to the magnitude of the mighty of our God to let us hear it as it is.

Who is this coming from Edom Israel says, “Who is this, etc.?” And He is coming with soiled garments, colored with blood, and anything repugnant because of its smell and its appearance fits to the expression of חִמּוּץ, soiling.

from Bozrah Our Rabbis said (see Makkoth 12a): “The heavenly prince of Edom is destined to commit two errors. He thinks that Bozrah is identical with Bezer in the desert, which was a refuge city. He will also err insofar as it affords refuge only for inadvertent murder, but he killed Israel intentionally.” There is also an Aggadic midrash (see above 34:6) that because Bozrah supplied a king for Edom when its first king died, as in Gen. (36:33), “And Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his stead,” and Bozrah is of Moab, according to the matter that is stated (Jer. 48:24): “Upon Kerioth and upon Bozrah.”

this one who was stately in His attire, צֹעֶה, and girded with the greatness of His strength. And the Holy One, blessed be He, replies to him, ‘It is I, upon Whom the time has come to speak of the righteousness of the Patriarchs, and of the righteousness of the generation of religious persecution, and My righteousness, too, is with them, and I have revealed Myself as being great to save.’ And they say, ‘Why is your clothing red? Why are your garments red?’

Who hath spoken these things? He who shall bring the blow upon Persia, the mighty vengeance upon Bozrah, to execute vengeance of judgment of His people, as He hath sworn unto them by His Word. He hath said, Behold, I shall reveal myself as I have spoken in righteousness, great is my power to save.

Who is this that cometh. Some refer this to Messiah, others to the angel Michael; but more correctly it may be referred to God. This prophecy contains the decree made against Edom, that is, against the empire of Rome and Constantinople, who are called Edomites, because they adopted the Edomite religion—that is, the Christian religion—which was first established among the Edomites.

חמוץ Stained. Comp. חומץ vinegar (Num. 6:3).

זה הדור בלבושו He that was so glorious in his apparel, how has he stained himself!

צעה Who bindeth others; comp. צועים וצעוהו oppressors, that will oppress him (Jer. 48:12). The correctness of this explanation is confirmed by the words which follow: in the greatness of his strength. R. Moses Hakkohen says, that צועה is here as in 51:14, an adjective, not a transitive verb.—

The answer to the question Who is this, etc., is I that speak in righteousness, etc. רב Mighty. Comp. רב officer (Est. 1:8).

From Bozrah. Bozrah is the name of a place. It is as if He came from there, from the people of Bozrah, from Edom, and all those that follow the same religion, wherever they are.