Isaiah 26

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Isaiah 26 is a song to be sung "in that day" in the land of Judah. It celebrates a strong city whose walls are salvation. Its best-known line promises perfect peace to the one whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in the LORD, the Rock eternal. The middle of the song is a prayer of longing and honesty: we have waited for you, we have been like a woman in labor who gave birth only to wind, other lords have ruled us. Then comes one of the Old Testament's clearest words of resurrection: your dead will live, their bodies will rise, awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust. It ends with a call to hide behind shut doors until God's wrath has passed.

Apri commento del capitolo

Isaiah 26 is a song written for a day that has not yet come. It imagines Judah singing about a strong city whose walls are salvation, with gates thrown open for a faithful nation, while the proud city that ruled the world lies in the dust under the feet of the poor. In the middle of that vision sits the verse that most people know from this chapter: you will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. The Hebrew simply says peace, peace, and the next line gives the reason, that the LORD is a Rock that lasts forever. But the song does not stay on the heights. It turns into a prayer that is honest about the night, about longing for God in the dark, about other lords who have ruled over the people, and, most strikingly, about labor that came to nothing. We were pregnant, the people say, we writhed in pain, and we gave birth to wind. We accomplished no salvation. It is one of the most candid confessions of failure in the Bible, and the answer to it is one of the most astonishing promises. Your dead will live. Their bodies will rise. Wake up and sing, you who sleep in the dust, for your dew is the dew of morning and the earth will give up her dead. Then a final instruction, straight out of the first Passover: go into your rooms, shut the doors, and wait a little while, because the LORD is coming out to set the earth right.

Passi chiave

Isaiah 26:1-4 Isaiah 26:12-15 Isaiah 26:16-19 Isaiah 26:20-21 Daniel 12:2 Exodus 12:22-23

Historical and literary context

The chapter belongs to Isaiah 24 to 27, often called the Isaiah Apocalypse, a section that looks beyond the crises of Isaiah's own eighth century to a judgment of the whole earth and a feast for all peoples. Its "lofty city" is unnamed, standing for every proud power, and its "strong city" is Jerusalem as God will make it. Verse 20, with the people shut in their rooms while wrath passes, echoes the first Passover, when Israel stayed indoors while the destroyer went through Egypt. The resurrection hope of verse 19 stands alongside Daniel 12 as the Old Testament's most explicit statement that the dead will rise, a hope that later Jewish and Christian faith developed fully. Scholars differ on whether the section is from Isaiah or from a later hand.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 6 are the song of the strong city and the fall of the lofty one. Verses 7 to 11 describe the path of the righteous, the night-long longing for God, and the observation that the wicked learn nothing from grace but will learn from judgment. Verses 12 to 15 confess that all Israel's achievements are God's doing, that other lords have ruled and are gone, and that God has enlarged the nation. Verses 16 to 18 are the lament of the birth pangs that produced only wind. Verse 19 answers with the promise that the dead will live. Verses 20 and 21 call the people to shelter while the LORD comes out to punish the earth.

Why this chapter matters

Verse 3, "You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You," is one of the most memorized promises in Isaiah; the Hebrew says "peace, peace," and the King James "whose mind is stayed on thee" has shaped hymns and gravestones. Verse 4 gave English the phrase "Rock of Ages." Verse 19 is a foundation text for the doctrine of resurrection and is read at Easter and at funerals. The chapter's honesty in verse 18, that God's people can labor and produce nothing, gives permission for realism in prayer, and its shut doors in verse 20 have been a picture of refuge in God during times of judgment.

Interpretive tension to watch

Verse 14 says the dead will not live and verse 19 says they will, and the two are reconciled only by noticing their subjects: the oppressor lords are gone for good, while God's people will rise. Whether verse 19 means the restoration of the nation, as the dry bones of Ezekiel 37 do, or the bodily resurrection of individuals is debated; most readers hear at least the beginning of the second. Verse 10 says grace does not teach the wicked righteousness, a hard observation that the New Testament partly answers with the kindness of God that leads to repentance. The section's date and the identity of the lofty city remain open.

Domande per questo capitolo

Verse 3 ties peace to a mind that is steadfast. What keeps a mind fixed on God when circumstances are not peaceful?
Verse 18 admits that the people's struggle "gave birth to wind." Why is that confession placed just before the promise of resurrection?
Verse 20 tells the people to hide for a little while. When is waiting behind shut doors an act of faith rather than fear?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Aggiungi alle note

1 उस वक़्त यहूदाह के मुल्क में ये गीत गाया जाएगा:हमारा एक मुहकम शहर है, जिसकी फ़सील और नसलों की जगह वह नजात ही को मुक़र्रर करेगा। 2 तुम दरवाज़े खोलो ताकि सादिक़ क़ौम जो वफ़ादार रही दाख़िल हो। 3 जिसका दिल क़ाईम है तू उसे सलामत रख्खेगा क्यूँकि उसका भरोसा तुझ पर है। 4 हमेशा तक ख़ुदावन्द पर ऐ'तमाद रख्खो क्यूँकि ख़ुदावन्द यहूदाह हमेशा की चट्टान है। 5 क्यूँकि उसने बुलन्दी पर बसनेवालों को नीचे उतारा, बुलन्द शहर को ज़ेर किया, उसने उसे ज़ेर करके ख़ाक में मिलाया। 6 वह पाँव तले रौदा जाएगा; हाँ, ग़रीबों के पाँव और मोहताजों के क़दमों से। 7 सादिक़ की राह रास्ती है; तू जो हक़ है, सादिक़ की रहबरी करता है। 8 हाँ तेरी 'अदालत की राह में, ऐ ख़ुदावन्द, हम तेरे मुन्तज़िर रहे; हमारी जान का इश्तियाक़ तेरे नाम और तेरी याद की तरफ़ है। 9 रात को मेरी जान तेरी मुश्ताक़ है; हाँ, मेरी रूह तेरी जुस्तजू में कोशाँ रहेगी; क्यूँकि जब तेरी 'अदालत ज़मीन पर जारी है, तो दुनिया के बाशिन्दे सदाक़त सीखते हैं। 10 हर चन्द शरीर पर मेहरबानी की जाए, लेकिन वह सदाक़त न सीखेगा; रास्ती के मुल्क में नारास्ती करेगा, और ख़ुदावन्द की 'अज़मत को न देखेगा। 11 ऐ ख़ुदावन्द, तेरा हाथ बुलन्द है लेकिन वह नहीं देखते, लेकिन वह लोगों के लिए तेरी गै़रत को देखेंगे और शर्मसार होंगे, बल्कि आग तेरे दुश्मनों को खा जाएगी। 12 ऐ ख़ुदावन्द, तू ही हम को सलामती बख़्शेगा; क्यूँकि तू ही ने हमारे सब कामों को हमारे लिए अन्जाम दिया है। 13 ऐ ख़ुदावन्द हमारे ख़ुदा, तेरे अलावा दूसरे हाकिमों ने हम पर हुकूमत की है; लेकिन तेरी मदद से हम सिर्फ़ तेरा ही नाम लिया करेंगे। 14 वह मर गए, फिर ज़िन्दा न होंगे; वह रहलत कर गए, फिर न उठेंगे; क्यूँकि तूने उन पर नज़र की और उनको हलाक किया, और उनकी याद को भी मिटा दिया है। 15 ऐ ख़ुदावन्द तूने इस क़ौम को कसरत बख़्शी है; तूने इस क़ौम को बढ़ाया है, तूही ज़ुल — जलाल है तूही ने मुल्क की हदों को बढ़ा दिया है। 16 ऐ ख़ुदावन्द, वह मुसीबत में तेरे तालिब हुए जब तूने उनको तादीब की तो उन्होंने गिरया — ओ — ज़ारी की। 17 ऐ ख़ुदावन्द तेरे सामने हम उस हामिला की तरह हैं, जिसकी विलादत का वक़्त नज़दीक हो, जो दुख में है और अपने दर्द से चिल्लाती है। 18 हम हामिला हुए, हम को दर्द — ए — ज़िह लगा, लेकिन पैदा क्या हुआ? हवा! हम ने ज़मीन पर आज़ादी को क़ाईम नहीं किया, और न दुनिया में बसनेवाले ही पैदा हुए। 19 तेरे मुर्दे जी उठेंगे, मेरी लाशें उठ खड़ी होंगी। तुम जो ख़ाक में जा बसे हो, जागो और गाओ! क्यूँकि तेरी ओस उस ओस की तरह है जो नबातात पर पड़ती है, और ज़मीन मुर्दों को उगल देगी। 20 ऐ मेरे लोगो! अपने ख़िलवत ख़ानों में दाख़िल हो, और अपने पीछे दरवाज़े बन्द कर लो और अपने आपको थोड़ी देर तक छिपा रख्खो जब तक कि ग़ज़ब टल न जाए। 21 क्यूँकि देखो, ख़ुदावन्द अपने मक़ाम से चला आता है, ताकि ज़मीन के बाशिन्दों को उनकी बदकिरदारी की सज़ा दे; और ज़मीन उस ख़ून को ज़ाहिर करेगी जो उसमें है और अपने मक़तूलों को हरगिज़ न छिपाएगी।

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