Isaiah

Isaiah 26

21 verses · Major Prophets · Old Testament

1In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks. 2Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith. 3You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. 4Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock. 5For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to the dust. 6The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy.” 7The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
8Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul. 9With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh’s majesty.
11Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries. 12Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us. 13Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name. 14The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish. 15You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them. 17Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before you, Yahweh. 18We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.
20Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past. 21For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.

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4 commentators · 58 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17144

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–4

To the prophecies of gospel grace very fitly is a song annexed, in which we may give God the glory and take to ourselves the comfort of that grace: In that day, the gospel day, which the day of the victories and enlargements of the Old Testament church was…

v. 5–11

Here the prophet further encourages us to trust in the Lord for ever, and to continue waiting on him; for, I. He will make humble souls that trust in him to triumph over their proud enemies, Isa 26:5, Isa 26:6. Those that exalt themselves shall be abased: For…

v. 12–19

The prophet in these verses looks back upon what God had done with them, both in mercy and judgment, and sings unto God of both, and then looks forward upon what he hoped God would do for them. Observe, I. His reviews and reflections are mixed. When he looks…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176321

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah,.... When great things shall be done: for the church and people of God; and when antichrist and all their enemies are destroyed, as mentioned in the preceding chapter Isaiah 25:1; then this song shall…

v. 2

Open ye the gates,.... Not of Jerusalem, literally understood, nor of heaven; rather of the New Jerusalem, whose gates are described, Revelation 21:12 at least of the church in the latter day; the gates or door into which now should be, and then will be…

v. 3

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,.... Peace with God in Christ through his blood, in a way of believing, and as the fruit and effect of his righteousness being received by faith; this is not always felt, received, and enjoyed in the soul; yet the…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–187513

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 2

In Isa 26:1 this city is thought of as still empty: for, like paradise, in which man was placed, it is first of all a creation of God; and hence the exclamation in Isa 26:2 : "Open ye the gates, that a righteous people may enter, one keeping truthfulness."…

v. 3

The relation of Israel and Jehovah to one another is now a permanent one. "Thou keepest the firmly-established mind in peace, peace; for his confidence rests on Thee." A gnome (borrowed in Psa 112:7-8), but in a lyrical connection, and with a distinct…

v. 4

A cry goes forth again, as if from heaven, exhorting Israel to continue in this mind. "Hang confidently on Jehovah for ever: for in Jah, Jehovah, is an everlasting rock." The combination Jah Jehovah is only met with here and in Isa 12:2. It is the proper name…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187120

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

Address of the returning people to the gates of Jerusalem (type of the heavenly city, Heb 12:22); (Psa 24:7, Psa 24:9; Psa 118:19). Antitypically (Rev 22:14; Rev 21:25, Rev 21:27). righteous nation--that had not apostatized during the captivity. HORSLEY…

v. 3

mind . . . stayed-- (Psa 112:7-8). Jesus can create "perfect peace" within thy mind, though storms of trial rage without (Isa 57:19; Mar 4:39); as a city kept securely by a strong garrison within, though besieged without (so Phi 4:7). "Keep," literally…

v. 4

Lord JEHOVAH--Hebrew, Jah, Jehovah. The union of the two names expresses in the highest degree God's unchanging love and power (compare Psa 68:4). This passage, and Isa 12:2; Exo 6:3; Psa 83:18, are the four in which the English Version retains the JEHOVAH of…

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