Isaiah 26 Study Notes

26:11 God’s upraised hand is an image of the imminent judgment against the wicked.

26:12 Contrary to the fate of the wicked, God’s righteous people will experience peace, not destruction. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of the prophet’s reference to God’s work, it certainly includes the punishment of the wicked.

26:13 The faithful acknowledge that other lords have owned them. These would include the Assyrians and eventually the Babylonians and others. But for the faithful there is only one true ruler—God himself.

26:14 A contrast exists between this statement and v. 19. In this verse, the wicked dead stay dead. God’s judgment will not be reversed. A fuller understanding of the afterlife awaits the NT period (though it is anticipated in passages like Dn 12:2).

26:15 In contrast to the wicked whom he punishes, God blesses the righteous. In this verse his blessing takes the form of an expanded land, evoking the memory that God promised Abraham his descendants would become a “great nation” (Gn 12:2).

26:16-18 Turning from the future back to the present, God’s people experienced suffering similar to the excruciating pain of a woman in labor. A pregnant woman goes through that pain and receives a positive result at the end—a baby. However, God’s people went through the pain and simply passed gas (gave birth to wind). There was no deliverance, no victory over enemies.

26:19 In contrast to the wicked who die and stay dead (v. 14), God’s people will live again. The morning dew is an image of freshness and renewal.

26:20-21 The call to hide during the judgment is reminiscent of the first Passover when God’s people stayed in their homes while God took the lives of the Egyptian firstborn (Ex 12).