Chapter Overview
Summary
Isaiah 26 is a SONG-OF-TRUST in-Judah on-that-day. The chapter contains v. 3's beloved 'you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,' v. 4's 'the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock' (eternal-rock), and v. 19's startling resurrection-statement: 'your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.' This is one of the OT's clearest-bodily-resurrection texts, alongside Daniel 12:2.
Notable Variants
26:3 'perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you' classic devotional-text; 26:4 'EVERLASTING ROCK' (yah YHWH tsur olamim); 26:19 'your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise' bodily-resurrection peak; 26:20 'enter your rooms … shut your doors' → wisdom-of-hidden-presence.
Structural Notes
MT Isaiah 26 = LXX Isaiah 26. 21 verses. SONG-OF-TRUST.
On that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city — He sets salvation as walls and ramparts."
'In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks' tracks MT. STRONG-CITY. Christologically — the church as fortified-by-Christ-the-cornerstone.
Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that keeps faith.
'Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in' tracks MT. RIGHTEOUS-NATION-ENTERING. Revelation 22:14 ('that they may enter the city by the gates') Christologically-extends.
The steadfast mind You keep in perfect peace — perfect peace — for it trusts in You.
'You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you' tracks MT. PERFECT-PEACE (shalom shalom — Hebrew-doubled-for-superlative). One of the Bible's most-quoted-devotional-verses. Phil 4:7 ('the peace of God which surpasses all understanding') Christologically-extends. Mind-fixed-on-God produces-divine-peace.
Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD is the everlasting Rock.
'Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock' tracks MT. EVERLASTING-ROCK (yah YHWH tsur olamim — literally 'YAH YHWH, rock-of-ages'). Augustus Toplady's hymn 'Rock of Ages' (1763) draws on-this-verse. 1 Cor 10:4 ('that rock was Christ') Christologically-fulfills.
For He has brought low the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground — to the dust.
'For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust' tracks MT.
The foot tramples it — the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
'The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy' tracks MT. POOR-TRAMPLE-WICKED. The Magnificat-reversal.
The path of the righteous is level; O Upright One, You make smooth the way of the righteous.
'The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous' tracks MT. LEVEL-PATH-OF-RIGHTEOUS. Hebrews 12:13 ('make straight paths for your feet') extends.
Yes, in the path of Your judgments, O LORD, we wait for You; for Your name and Your renown is the desire of our soul.
'In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul' tracks MT.
My soul yearns for You in the night; my spirit within me seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
'My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness' tracks MT. EARNESTLY-SEEKS-YOU. Ps 63:1 ('earnestly I seek you') parallel.
Though grace is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in a land of uprightness he acts perversely and does not see the majesty of the LORD.
'If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the LORD' tracks MT.
O LORD, Your hand is raised high, but they do not see. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be ashamed! Let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them!
'O LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them' tracks MT.
O LORD, You will ordain peace for us, for indeed all that we have accomplished You have done for us.
'O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works' tracks MT.
O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but by You alone we invoke Your name.
'O LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance' tracks MT.
The dead do not live, the shades do not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them and wiped out all memory of them.
'They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them' tracks MT. CONTRAST with v. 19's 'your dead shall live.' The wicked-do-not-rise; the LORD's-people-do-rise.
You have enlarged the nation, O LORD, You have enlarged the nation — You are glorified! You have extended all the borders of the land.
'But you have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land' tracks MT.
O LORD, in distress they sought You; they poured out a whispered prayer when Your discipline was upon them.
'O LORD, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them' tracks MT.
As a pregnant woman draws near to giving birth, writhing, crying out in her labor pains — so were we before You, O LORD.
'Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O LORD' tracks MT. LABOR-PANGS imagery — eschatological-birth-pangs. Matthew 24:8 extends.
We were pregnant, we writhed — but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
'We were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen' tracks MT.
Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is a dew of lights, and the earth will give birth to the shades.
Masoretic (WLC)
יִחְיוּ מֵתֶיךָ נְבֵלָתִי יְקוּמוּן הָקִיצוּ וְרַנְּנוּ שֹׁכְנֵי עָפָר כִּי טַל אוֹרֹת טַלֶּךָ וָאָרֶץ רְפָאִים תַּפִּיל
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead
Septuagint (LXX)
ἀναστήσονται οἱ νεκροί καὶ ἐγερθήσονται οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις καὶ εὐφρανθήσονται οἱ ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡ γὰρ δρόσος ἡ παρὰ σοῦ ἴαμα αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἡ δὲ γῆ τῶν ἀσεβῶν πεσεῖται
The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised, and those in the earth shall rejoice; for the dew from you is healing to them, but the land of the ungodly shall perish
BODILY-RESURRECTION PEAK — alongside Daniel 12:2. The OT's clearest-bodily-resurrection-statement. The DEAD-SHALL-LIVE / BODIES-SHALL-RISE / DUST-DWELLERS-AWAKE-AND-SING. The CONTRAST with v. 14 (wicked-do-not-rise) shows the differentiated-resurrection.
LXX-CHRISTOLOGICAL EXPANSION. The LXX adds 'those in the tombs shall be raised' (egerthēsontai hoi en tois mnēmeiois) — anticipating Matthew 27:52 ('the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised') Christ's-death-resurrection of the saints. The LXX's vocabulary anastēsontai-and-egerthēsontai is the NT-resurrection-vocabulary.
MATTHEW 27:52 SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION. The strange-event of the saints-rising at-Christ's-death finds-its scriptural-foundation here. 1 Cor 15:42–44 ('it is sown a perishable body; it is raised an imperishable body') develops the resurrection-theology Christologically.
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a brief moment until the indignation passes.
'Come, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by' tracks MT. ENTER-YOUR-ROOMS-AND-SHUT-DOOR. Matthew 6:6 ('when you pray, go into your room and shut the door') Christologically-extends to-personal-prayer.
For behold, the LORD comes forth from His place to punish the iniquity of the earth's inhabitants. The earth will disclose its blood and will no longer cover its slain.
'For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain' tracks MT. EARTH-DISCLOSES-BLOOD. Genesis 4:10 (Abel's-blood-from-the-ground) parallel. Luke 11:50–51 ('the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged') extends.