Isaiah 64:11

The reference must apparently be to the first Temple and its destruction by the Chaldæans. The expression, and indeed the whole tone of the passage, suggest an event not quite recent; it is not the present generation, but their fathers who praised God in the "holy and beautiful house." The question then comes to be whether this could have been said after the erection of Zerubbabel's Temple. In spite of the tendency to hyperbolical language which marks the prayer, and the painful contrast between the magnificence of the first Temple and the poverty of the second, it is difficult to think that the author should absolutely ignore the existence of the sanctuary if it had been restored. See Introductory note.

is burned with fire Lit. "has become a burning of fire"; cf. ch. Isaiah 9:5.

our pleasant things Rather, our desirable places; cf. 2 Chronicles 36:19; Lamentations 1:10; Ezekiel 24:21; Ezekiel 24:25.