Isaiah 26:17

17 ¹Like 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;

Isaiah 26:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 26:17

Like as a woman with child
By this simile are set forth the great distresses and afflictions the church of Christ will be in, before redemption and deliverance from the antichristian yoke comes: [that] draweth near the time of her delivery;
when her burden is great and very troublesome: [is] in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs;
for her friends to come about her, and give her all the help and assistance they can: so have we been in thy sight, O Lord;
in great distress and trouble, and crying to him for salvation and deliverance, all which were well known unto him.

Isaiah 26:17 In-Context

15 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.

16 O LORD, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.

17 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;

18 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.

19 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.

Cross References

• 1. See Isaiah 13:8