Yesaya 26:11-15

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ¹ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ² 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ³ 

26:12 O Lord, you make us secure, ⁴ 

for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us. ⁵ 

26:13 O Lord, our God,

masters other than you have ruled us,

but we praise your name alone.

26:14 The dead do not come back to life,

the spirits of the dead do not rise. ⁶ 

That is because ⁷  you came in judgment ⁸  and destroyed them,

you wiped out all memory of them.

26:15 You have made the nation larger, ⁹  O Lord,

you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor, ¹⁰ 

you have extended all the borders of the land.

[26:11]  ¹ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ² tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ³ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[26:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “O Lord, you establish peace for us.”

[26:12]  ⁵ tc Some suggest emending גַּם כָּל (gam kol, “even all”) to כִּגְמֻל (kigmul, “according to the deed[s] of”) One might then translate “for according to what our deeds deserve, you have acted on our behalf.” Nevertheless, accepting the MT as it stands, the prophet affirms that Yahweh deserved all the credit for anything Israel had accomplished.

[26:14]  ⁶ sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.

[26:14]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.

[26:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”

[26:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “you have added to the nation.” The last line of the verse suggests that geographical expansion is in view. “The nation” is Judah.

[26:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “brought honor to yourself.”