Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 26:19
Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
19. The answer to these utterances of disappointed hopes is the promise of the Resurrection. The speaker throughout is the community, and the words are addressed to God, with the exception of an apostrophe to the buried Israelites in the middle of the verse. There is indeed no decisive argument against the view of those who think that the first half of the verse expresses the longing of the nation for the restoration of its dead (“May thy dead live, &c.”), and the second the triumphant assurance of the prophet that the prayer shall be fulfilled. But it is more probable that the language throughout is that of confident belief and hope.
Thy dead arise ] Render with R.V., Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies (collect. in Hebr.) shall arise. The dead saints are at once Jehovah’s dead and Israel’s.
for thy dew is as the dew of herds ] Better, for a dew of lights is thy dew (O Jehovah). Comp. Jas 1:17. The word means “herbs” in 2Ki 4:39, but the idea is too prosaic for this passage. It is a heavenly, supernatural, dew that is meant; as soon as this falls on the dead they awake to life. Duhm refers to a Talmudic representation of a dew kept in the seventh heaven which is to descend on the bones of the dead and quicken them into life. “Light” and “life” are frequently and naturally associated: Psa 36:9; Psa 56:13; Job 3:20; Job 33:30; Joh 1:4.
the earth shall cast out the dead ] Render: the earth (or the land) shall bring forth shades ( Isa 26:14). The verb is lit. “cause to fall,” but obviously in the sense explained under Isa 26:18.
The doctrine of the resurrection here presented is reached through the conviction, gradually produced by the long process of revelation, that the final redemption of Israel could not be accomplished within the limits of nature. It became clear that the hopes and aspirations engendered by the Spirit in believing minds pointed forward to the great miracle here described, and thus the belief in the resurrection was firmly bound up with the indestructible hopes of the future of Israel (cf. Rom 11:15). The idea is exhibited in a form which is immature in the light of New Testament teaching, but it practically represents the highest development of Old Testament revelation on this subject. The only passage which is slightly in advance of this is Dan 12:2, and even there a universal resurrection is not taught. Here the hope is restricted to Israelites (see Isa 26:14) and no doubt to those Israelites who had departed this life in the faith and fear of God. On the other hand, the teaching of this verse is quite different from such passages as Hos 6:2; Eze 37:1-14. There rising from the dead is but a figurative clothing of the idea of national regeneration, whereas there can be no doubt that here a literal resurrection of individuals is foretold.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy dead men shall live – Very various interpretations have been given of this verse, which may be seen at length by comparing Vitringa, Rosenmuller, Gesenius, and Pooles Synopsis. In Isa 26:14, the chorus is represented as saying of the dead men and tyrants of Babylon that had oppressed the captive Jews, that they should not rise, and should no more oppress the people of God. In contradistinction from this fate of their enemies, the choir is here introduced as addressing Yahweh (compare Isa 26:16), and saying thy dead shall live; that is, thy people shall live again shall be restored to to vigor, and strength, and enjoyment. They had been dead; that is, civilly dead in Babylon; they were cut off from their privileges, torn away from their homes, made captives in a foreign land. Their king had been dethroned; their temple demolished; their princes, priests, and people made captive; their name blotted from the list of nations; and to all intents and purposes, as a people, they were deceased. This figure is one that is common, by which the loss of privileges and enjoyments, and especially of civil rights, is represented as death. So we speak now of a mans being dead in law; dead to his country; spiritually dead; dead in sins. I do not understand this, therefore, as referring primarily to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; but to the captives in Babylon, who were civilly dead, and cut off by their oppressors from their rights and enjoyments as a nation.
Shall live – Shall be restored to their country. and be reinstated in all their rights and immunities as a people among the nations of the earth. This restoration shall be as striking as would be the resurrection of the dead front their graves. Though, therefore, this does not refer primarily to the resurrection of the dead, yet the illustration is drawn from that doctrine, and implies that that doctrine was one with which they were familiar. An image which is employed for the sake of illustration must be one that is familiar to the mind, and the reference here to this doctrine is a demonstration that the doctrine of the resurrection was well known.
Together with my dead body shall they arise – The words together with are not in the original. The words rendered my dead body ( nebelathiy) literally means, my dead body, and may be applied to a man, or to a beast Lev 5:2; Lev 7:24. It is also applied to the dead in general; to the deceased; to carcasses, or dead bodies (see Lev 11:11; Psa 79:2; Jer 7:33; Jer 9:22; Jer 16:18; Jer 26:23; Jer 34:20). It may, therefore, be rendered, My deceased, my dead; and will thus be parallel with the phrase thy dead men, and is used with reference to the same species of resurrection. It is not the language of the prophet Isaiah, as if he referred to his own body when it should be dead, but it is the language of the choir that sings and speaks in the name of the Jewish people. That people is thus introduced as saying my dead, that is, our dead, shall rise. Not only in the address to Yahweh is this sentiment uttered when it is said thy dead shall rise, but when the attention is turned to themselves as a people, they say our dead shall rise; those that pertain to our nation shall rise from the dust, and be restored to their own privileges and land.
Awake and sing – In view of the cheering and consolatory fact just stated that the dead shall rise, the chorus calls on the people to awake and rejoice. This is an address made directly to the dejected and oppressed people, as if the choir were with them.
Ye that dwell in dust – To sit in dust, or to dwell in the dust, is emblematic of a state of dejection, want, oppression, or poverty Psa 44:25; Psa 119:25; Isa 25:12; Isa 26:5; Isa 47:1. Here it is supposed to be addressed to the captives in Babylon, as oppressed, enslaved, dejected. The language is derived from the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and proves that that doctrine was understood and believed; the sense is, that those wire were thus dejected and humbled should be restored to their former elevated privileges.
For thy dew – This is evidently an address to Yahweh. His dew is that which he sends down from heaven, and which is under his direction and control. Dew is the emblem of that which refreshes and vivifies. In countries where it rains but seldom, as it does in the East, the copious dews at night supply in some sense the want of rain. Thence dew is used in Scripture as an emblem of the graces and influences of the Spirit of God by which his people are cheered and comforted, as the parched earth and the withered herbs are refreshed by the copious dews at night. Thus in Hos 14:5 :
I will be as the dew unto Israel;
He shall grow as the lily,
And cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
The prophet here speaks of the captivity in Babylon. Their state is represented as a state of death – illustrated by the parched earth, and the decayed and withered herbs. But his grace and favor would visit them, and they would be revived.
As the dew of herbs – As the dew that falls on herbs. This phrase has, however, been rendered very variously. The Vulgate renders it, Thy dew is as the dew of light. The Septuagint: Thy dew shall be healing ( iama) unto them. The Chaldee, Thy dew shall be the dew of light. But the most correct and consistent translation is undoubtedly that which renders the word ‘oroth, herbs or vegetables (compare 2Ki 9:19).
And the earth shall cast out the dead – This is language which is derived from the doctrine of the resurrection of the body; and shows also that that doctrine was understood by the Hebrews in the time of Isaiah. The sense is, that as the earth shall cast forth its dead in the resurrection, so the people of God in Babylon should be restored to life, and to their former privileges in their own land.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 26:19
Thy dead men shall live
The Jewish hope of resurrection
Granted the pardon, the justice, the temple, and the God which the returning exiles now enjoyed, the possession of these only makes more painful the shortness of life itself.
This life is too shallow and too frail a vessel to hold, peace and righteousness and worship and the love of God. St. Paul has said, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. What avails it to have been pardoned, to have regained the Holy Land and the face of God, if the dear dead are left behind in graves of exile, and all the living must soon pass into that captivity (Hezekiahs expression for death, Isa 38:12) from which there is no return? It must have been thoughtslike these which led to the expression of one of the most abrupt and powerful of the few hopes of the resurrection which the Old Testament contains. This hope, which lightens Isa 25:7-8, bursts through again–without logical connection with the context–in verses 14-19 of chap.
26. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
The resurrection of the life to come
I. THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODIES OF BELIEVERS. Thy dead men shall live, etc.
II. THE EFFICIENT CAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION. Thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. In Eastern countries the dew is extremely heavy and almost entirely supplies the place of rain. It is frequently referred to in Scripture (Psa 133:3; Hos 14:5). The dew means the influence of the Holy Spirit, which is the great efficient cause of the raising of the bodies of believers; not the primary cause–that is the atonement made by our Lord Jesus. But the text adds, The earth shall cast out the dead. The word cast out means to travail. The earth shall put forth them that are now buried. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together; but when the Spirit shall come forth with His mighty influence, the earth shall be no longer able to retain its dead.
III. THE JOY OF THIS RESURRECTION. Without doubt the joy of departed saints is exceeding great; but the joy will be so much greater at the resurrection that the Church may with propriety sing in concert, Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust. They will then see the full glory of Christ established; they will see sin and Satan in chains; they will see hell subdued, death quite swallowed up. (R. W. Sibthorp.)
The dust of death
If one has seen a place of graves in the East, he will appreciate the elements of this figure, which takes dust for death and dew for life. With our damp graveyards mould has become the traditional trappings of death; but where under the hot Eastern sun things do not rot into lower forms of life, but crumble into sapless powder, that will not keep a worm in life, dust is the natural symbol of death. When they die, men go not to feed fat the mould, but down into the dust; and there the foot of the living falls silent, and his voice is choked, and the light is thickened and in retreat, as if it were creeping away to die. The only creatures the visitor starts are timid, unclean bats, that flutter and whisper about him like the ghosts of the dead. There are no flowers in an Eastern cemetery; and the withered branches and other ornaments are thickly powdered with the same dust that chokes and silences and darkens all. Hence the Semitic conception of the underworld was dominated by dust. It was not water nor fire nor frost nor altogether darkness which made the infernal prison horrible, but that upon its floors and rafters, hewn from the roots and ribs of the primeval mountains, dust lay deep and choking. Amid all the horrors he imagined for the dead, Dante did not include one more awful than the horror of dust. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Dew for dust
For dust there is dew, and even to graveyards the morning comes that brings dew and light together. As, when the dawn comes, the drooping flowers of yesterday are seen erect and lustrous with the dew, every spike a crown of glory, so also shall be the resurrection of the dead. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust
The Divine call to moral grovellers
This call may he addressed–
I. To the SENSUALIST. All his thoughts and activities are directed to the pampering of his animal appetites and the gratification of his animal lusts. To such the word may be fairly addressed, Arise from the dust. Why live in mud, when you ought and might live in heavenly places?
II. To the WORLDLING.
By a worldling, I mean a man who gives his heart and energies and time to the accumulation of wealth; a man who had no idea of worth but money; no idea of dignity apart from material parade and possessions; a man whose inspiration in everything is love of gold. Such a man is literally in the dust. He is a grub. Now, to such a man the call come with power: Arise from the dust; break away from that wretched materialism that imprisons thy spirit. A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things of this world. CONCLUSION. All unregenerate men are in the dust. He that is born of the flesh, is flesh–is flesh in experience, in character, known by his compeers only by fleshly or material characteristics. He that is born of the Spirit, is spirit–the spirit has been liberated from the bondage of the flesh, called up to his true regal position, and is known hence on, not by material features, but by high mental and moral characteristics. (Homilist.)
Souls sleeping in the dust
There are two senses in which men may be considered dead while yet living inhabitants of the earth.
(1) They may be civilly dead: utterly deprived of all political rights and privileges. To this the prophet refers undoubtedly. Ezekiel in a vision saw them as a valley of dry bones. Here is a call for the restoration. Thy dead men shall live–live politically, restored to their own country, reinstated in all their rights, placed again amongst the nations of the earth.
(2) Another sense in which men may be considered dead whilst living inhabitants of the earth is spiritually; Observe then–
I. THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION of unregenerated men. They dwell in the dust.
1. Scientific materialists are in the dust. All their attention is taken up with material substances, combinations, forces, operations, laws. They have no world outside beyond the tangible and the visible.
2. Mercenary worldlings are in the dust.
3. Voluptuous sensualists are in the dust.
4. Ceremonial religionists are in the dust.
II. THE URGENT CALL MADE on unregenerate men. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust. But why awake?
1. Because the sleep is injurious. Physical sleep is refreshing, but spiritual sleep is pernicious; it enervates the powers; it is a disease that wastes and destroys.
2. Because the sleep is sinful. It is a sin against our constitution, against the ordination of Heaven, against the well being of the universe.
3. Because it is perilous. In their dreams they feel that they are increasing in goods and have need of nothing, whereas they are poor and wretched, blind and naked. (Homilist.)
Dwelling in the dust
I. AN INVOCATION OR ADDRESS. Ye that dwell in dust. To whom is this designation applicable, and to whom does it in point of fact apply?
1. All men, without exception, may be described as dwelling in dust. They live in houses of clay; their foundation is in the dust; they are crushed before the moth. They are made of the earth, earthy.
2. This address is still more descriptive of mankind, as it refers to their sin and guilt in the sight of God. They are sunk in the depths of abject servitude.
3. But it is not to sinners in their natural state that the words of our text are addressed. God directs them to His chosen people, and says even unto them, Ye that dwell in dust. Nor is the expression inappropriate. For humble and lowly is the spiritual estate even of the believer. His home is in Heaven, his treasure is there, his heart is there, his Redeemer is there; and though he wishes to be in thought and feeling continually there, the opposing influences of sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh, retard his efforts, and cloud the sunshine of his joys with ever-recurring darkness. Is it not strange that an heir of immortality, a participant in Christs everlasting redemption, a member of the Saviours ever-living body, a being who is destined for eternal glory should drink the cup of humiliation and suffering in the dust? There is another sense in which Gods people may be described by this epithet. They dwell in dust, inasmuch as their life in this world is a life of affliction.
4. But, lastly, the address contained in our text refers literally to those who dwell in the dust–who reside in the cold and cheerless tomb.
II. A SUMMONS OR COMMAND. Awake and ring. The passage is not addressed to all who dwell in dust, as the context clearly shows, but only to those who are Gods chosen and willing people. There is a night of death that has no morning, but it is yet future, distant, and unseen. All who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth, they that have done evil as well as they that have done good. But it is only to the righteous that the voice of Omnipotence shall say, Awake and sing! Brightly and beautifully on them will dawn the resurrection morning.
III. THE REASON WHY GOD COMMANDS THEM THAT DWELL IN DUST TO AWAKE AND SING. It is because their dew is as the dew of herbs. Dew in countries such as Judea, where rain seldom falls, is the grand agent that fertilises, fructifies, and waters the earth. They that dwell in dust have their dew. Their dew is the beneficent law of Heaven, which seals them up in the grave, until such time as the fructifying influence of the Spirit shall quicken them into a resurrection life.
IV. THE RESULT OF THE COMMAND, Awake and sing. The earth shall cast out the dead. The subject presents to us–
1. A ground of comfort amidst all the distresses of life.
2. A most powerful motive to holiness and duty. (A. Nisbet.)
Thy dew is as the dew of herbs
Resurrection preservation
I. AGAINST DECOMPOSITION. One of the great difficulties connected with the resurrection is the fact that the bodies of the dead decompose, and that oftentimes some of their parts go to make up the growth of plants and animals. But is not this difficulty removed by the law of the text; the law that governs the reproduction of plants, and which is so forcibly presented by the apostle in his argument to the Corinthians for the resurrection of the dead?
II. AGAINST DEPORTATION. Other dangers threaten the bodies of the dead. Being on the surface of the earth and mingled with its particles, they must necessarily be moved about. The winds may waft them to other regions; birds or animals or men may carry them abroad; the rivers may float them in their rapid currents; the ocean may heave them on its mighty billows. How then shall they be preserved? God has purposely made many of the seeds so that they are wafted on the winds, not that they may be destroyed, but may be brought into better positions for their preservation and subsequent prosperity. And shall we disbelieve the fact that the great God who performs these wonders in the ordinary operations of nature, is able and willing so to control winds, and birds, and beasts, and living men, and flowing rivers, and heaving oceans, as to preserve and carry to safer or better places the germs of those bodies which He has taught us shall rise at the resurrection of the last day?
III. AGAINST INTERMINGLING OR LOSS OF IDENTITY. Take the many hundreds of plants that exist about us–there are computed to be more than 80,000 kinds on the globe–with their millions of seeds. The God of nature never mixes them up. Whatever may be true about the amalgamation of growing plants, when their seeds or germs are perfected it is impossible so to mix them as to confound them. And think you that the God who works such wonders of infallible certainty in the identification of the untold millions of these varieties of plant seeds, every year and through so many centuries, however they may be mixed up, cannot or will not, even when He has promised it, preserve the identity of each different human body, so that it shall be enstamped with all the characteristics of its own individuality, though it be mingled with so many other human bodies through so many centuries?
IV. AGAINST DESTRUCTION BY EXTERNAL FORCES. The seeds of many species resist the destructive power, not only of cold but of great heat, and of drought and moisture, in a wonderful manner, not only through the lapse of one season, but of centuries. And as God does thus preserve these inferior and feebler creations of His, amid such great and long continued action of the elements of destruction, will He not much rather preserve against all accidents and all assaults of the forces of destruction, those nobler creations of His for whose use and control the inferior things of earth were made and preserved?
V. AGAINST THE GNAWING TOOTH OF TIME. So far as the law of life has been developed, it is evident that mere lapse of time has no effect to destroy life, so long as circumstances are favourable to its continuation. Some Celtic tombs were discovered not very long since in France, which had been filled nearly two thousand years ago. Under the Lead of each corpse was found a tile, and under each tile a circular hole covered with cement, and containing a few seeds. These seeds were planted, they soon vegetated; and the heliotrope, the trefoil, and the cornflower were seen rising to life again, and expanding their flowers in the light of spring with admirable display, after their seeds had slept two thousand years beneath the pillows of the dead in the dust of the tomb. Can we believe less of the power and willingness of God, with reference to the preservation through the onstretching centuries, of the bodies of men whom He made in His own image, and whom He rescued from destruction by the death of His well-beloved Son, who is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept?
VI. AGAINST PREMATURE DEVELOPMENT. But, says a persistent objector, if all these things are true, why do we not have some evidence of it; why do we not find such occasionally appearing in the body? We know that there are plants in tropical countries called air plants, which grow from the sustenance they receive out of the atmosphere. One species of these–the live-forever plant,–grows in the temperate zone; and some of us may remember seeing these plants suspended from the beams of houses and flourishing there. Suppose a man who had never seen an oak grow, but who was told that an acorn contained the germ of an oak, should fasten that acorn by the side of his air plants to a beam of his house, or fasten ten, or twenty, or a hundred acorns there; and then, when he saw his air plants growing, and his acorns remaining dry and unsprouted, should declare to you that there was no such fact as that oaks would grow from acorns, or that, anyhow, those acorns would never produce oaks; what would be your reply? You would say to him, There is a law of germination and growth belonging to those acorns; and whenever you bring them into the position where that law is met, they will grow. We are ignorant equally of the facts in what the identity or germ of a human dead body consists, and what conditions are necessary to bring it into active resurrection life; these are the affairs of the Author of existence. But we do know, that whatever it is that constitutes the identity of the dead bodys existence, cannot and will not develop itself in a resurrection life power, until the great Keeper of man brings it into a position and condition where the laws of its development are fulfilled. (N. D. Williamson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. My dead body – “My deceased”] All the ancient Versions render it in the plural; they read niblothai, my dead bodies. The Syriac and Chaldee read niblotheyhem, their dead bodies. No MS. yet found confirms this reading.
The dew of herbs – “The dew of the dawn”] Lucis, according to the Vulgate; so also the Syriac and Chaldee.
The deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest depression is explained by images plainly taken from the resurrection of the dead. In the same manner the Prophet Ezekiel represents the restoration of the Jewish nation from a state of utter dissolution by the restoring of the dry bones to life, exhibited to him in a vision, Eze 37:1-14, which is directly thus applied and explained, Eze 37:11-13. And this deliverance is expressed with a manifest opposition to what is here said above, Isa 26:14, of the great lords and tyrants, under whom they had groaned: –
“They are dead, they shall not live;
They are deceased tyrants, they shall not rise:”
that they should be destroyed utterly, and should never be restored to their former power and glory. It appears from hence, that the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was at that time a popular and common doctrine; for an image which is assumed in order to express or represent any thing in the way of allegory or metaphor, whether poetical or prophetical, must be an image commonly known and understood; otherwise it will not answer the purpose for which it is assumed. – L.
Kimchi refers these words to the days of the Messiah, and says, “Then many of the saints shall rise from the dead.” And quotes Da 12:2. Do not these words speak of the resurrection of our blessed Lord; and of that resurrection of the bodies of men, which shall be the consequence of his body being raised from the dead?
Thy dead men shall live, – with my dead body shall they arise.] This seems very express.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy dead men shall live. The prophet here turneth his speech to Gods people, and gives them a cordial to support them in their deep distress, expressed in the foregoing verse. Thy dead men are not like those Isa 26:14, for they shall not live, as I there said; but thine shall live. You shall certainly be delivered from all your fears and dangers. Nothing is more frequent, both in Scripture and other authors, than for great calamities to be compared to death, and deliverance from them to life, and reviving, and resurrection; and particularly the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and their deliverance out of it, is largely expressed by this very similitude, Eze 37:11, &c.
Together with my dead body; as I myself, who am one of your number, and of these dead men, shall live again. You shall be delivered together with me. Which he might add, to meet with an objection; for they might think that God would take some special care of this holy prophet, and would preserve him when they should he destroyed. No, saith he, as I am at present like a dead carcass no less than you, so you shall be restored to life no less than I. If the supplement of our translation seems to be too literal, it may be rendered to the same purpose, as my body, the particle as being oft understood, as I have divers times observed: As my dead body shall rise, so shall theirs also; we are equally dead, and shall equally live again.
Shall they arise unto life, as appears from the former clause.
Awake out of your sleep, even the sleep of death, as it is called, Psa 13:3; death being oft compared to a sleep, as Joh 11:11; Act 7:60, and restoration to life unto awaking, as 2Ki 4:31.
Ye that dwell in the dust; you that are dead and buried in the dust, as the dead are said to deep in the dust, Dan 12:2.
Thy dew; the favour and blessing of God upon thee, which is oft compared to the dew, as Hos 14:5; Mic 5:7. The pronoun thy is here taken not efficiently, but objectively, as thy curse, Gen 27:13, is the curse coming upon thee.
Is as the dew of herbs, which gently refresheth and reviveth them, and maketh them to grow and flourish.
The earth shall cast out the dead, as an abortive birth is cast out of the womb, to which the grave is compared. Job 1:21. But because the verb here used doth not signify to cast out, but to cast down, which seems not proper here, these words may be, and are, both by ancient and later interpreters, rendered otherwise, and thou wilt cast down the land of the giants, or of the violent ones, of the proud and potent tyrants of the world. For the word here rendered dead is elsewhere rendered giants, as 2Sa 21:16,18. See also Job 26:5; Pro 9:18; 21:16. But then the words seem to be better rendered, and thou wilt cast the giants down to the ground: either,
1. Thou, O God, who is oft understood in such cases; or rather,
2. Thou, O my people, to whom he speaks in the foregoing clauses of the verse, thy dead body, and thy dew and here continueth his speech, thou wilt or shalt cast, &c., thou shalt subdue even the most giant-like and mighty enemies; which though it be properly Gods work, the church is oft said to do, because she by her prayers engageth God to do it. And so as the former clauses of the verse speak of the deliverance and prosperity of Gods church and people, so this clause speaks of the destruction of their enemies, which usually accompanieth it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. In antithesis to Isa26:14, “They (Israel’s foes) shall not live”; “Thy(Jehovah’s) dead men (the Jews) shall live,” that is, primarily,be restored, spiritually (Isa54:1-3), civilly and nationally (Isa26:15); whereas Thy foes shall not; ultimately, and in thefullest scope of the prophecy, restored to life literally(Eze 37:1-14; Dan 12:2).
together with my deadbodyrather, “my dead body,” or “bodies”(the Jewish nation personified, which had been spiritually andcivilly dead; or the nation, as a parent, speaking of the bodiesof her children individually, see on Isa26:9, “I,” “My”): Jehovah’s “dead”and “my dead” are one and the same [HORSLEY].However, as Jesus is the antitype to Israel (Mt2:15), English Version gives a true sense, and oneultimately contemplated in the prophecy: Christ’s dead bodybeing raised again is the source of Jehovah’s people (all, andespecially believers, the spiritual Israelites) also being raised(1Co 15:20-22).
Awake (Eph5:14), spiritually.
in dustprostate anddead, spiritually and nationally; also literally (Isa 25:12;Isa 47:1).
dewwhich fallscopiously in the East and supplies somewhat the lack of rain (Ho14:5).
cast out . . . deadthatis, shall bring them forth to life again.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thy dead [men] shall live,…. These are the words of Christ to his church and people, promising great and good things to them after their troubles are over, thereby comforting them under all their trials and disappointments; as that such things should come to pass, which would be as life from the dead; as the conversion of the Jews, and of great numbers of the Gentiles, dead in trespasses and sins; and a great reviving of the interest of religion, and of professors of it, grown cold, and dead, and lifeless; and a living again of the witnesses, which had been slain. And, moreover, this may refer to the first resurrection, upon the second coming of Christ, when the church’s dead, and Christ’s dead, the dead in him, will live again, and rise first, and come forth to the resurrection of life, and live and reign with Christ a thousand years:
[together with] my dead body shall they arise; or, “arise my dead body”; the church, the mystical body of Christ, and every member of it, though they have been dead, shall arise, everyone of them, and make up that body, which is the fulness of him that filleth all in all, and that by virtue of their union to him: there was a pledge and presage of this, when Christ rose from the dead, upon which the graves were opened, and many of the saints arose, Mt 27:51 see Ho 6:2, or, “as my dead body shall they arise” g; so Kimchi and Ben Melech; as sure as Christ’s dead body was raised, so sure shall everyone of his people be raised; Christ’s resurrection is the pledge and earnest of theirs; because he lives, they shall live also; he is the first fruits of them that slept: or as in like manner he was raised, so shall they; as he was raised incorruptible, powerful, spiritual, and glorious, and in the same body, so shall they; their vile bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body. This is one of the places in Scripture from whence the Jews h prove the resurrection of the dead; and which they apply to the times of the Messiah, and to the resurrection in his days.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; this is a periphrasis of the dead, of such as are brought to the dust of death, and sleep there; as death is expressed by sleeping, so the resurrection by awaking out of sleep; which will be brought about by the voice of Christ, which will be so loud and powerful, that the dead will hear it, and come out of their graves; and then will they “sing”, and have reason for it, since they will awake in the likeness of Christ, and bear the image of him the heavenly One:
for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs; the power of Christ will have as great effect upon, and as easily raise the dead, as the dew has upon the herbs, to refresh, raise, and revive them; so that their “bones”, as the prophet says, “shall flourish like an herb”, Isa 66:14:
and the earth shall cast out the dead; deliver up the dead that are in it, at the all powerful voice of Christ; see Re 20:13. The Targum is,
“but the wicked to whom thou hast given power, and they have transgressed thy word, thou wilt deliver into hell;”
see Re 20:14.
g “quemadmodum corpus meum resurget”, Vatablus. h T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 90. 2, Cetubot, fol. 111. 1. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 62. 3. Targum in loc. Elias Levita in his Tishbi, p. 109. says the word is never used in Scripture but of the carcass of a beast or fowl that is dead and never of a man that is dead, but of him that dies not a natural death, excepting this place, which speaks of the resurrection of the dead; and, adds he,
“I greatly wonder at it, how he (the prophet) should call the bodies of the pure righteous ones a carcass; no doubt there is a reason for it, known to the wise men and cabalists, which I am ignorant of.”
But the words are spoken of one who did not die a natural, but a violent death, even the Messiah Jesus; and so just according to the Rabbin’s own observation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But now all this had taken place. Instead of singing what has occurred, the tephillah places itself in the midst of the occurrence itself. “Thy dead will live, my corpses rise again. Awake and rejoice, ye that lie in the dust! For thy dew is dew of the lights, and the earth will bring shades to the day.” The prophet speaks thus out of the heart of the church of the last times. In consequence of the long-continued sufferings and chastisements, it has been melted down to a very small remnant; and many of those whom it could once truly reckon as its own, are now lying as corpses in the dust of the grave. The church, filled with hope which will not be put to shame, now calls to itself, “Thy dead will live” ( , reviviscent, as in , the resurrection of the dead), and consoles itself with the working of divine grace ad power, which is even now setting itself in motion: “my corpses will rise again” ( , nebelah : a word without a plural, but frequently used in a plural sense, as in Isa 5:25, and therefore connected with , equivalent to : here before a light suffix, with the e retained, which is lost in other cases). It also cries out, in full assurance of the purpose of God, the believing word of command over the burial-ground of the dead, “Wake up and rejoice, ye that sleep in the dust,” and then justifies to itself this believing word of command by looking up to Jehovah, and confessing, “Thy dew is dew born out of (supernatural) lights,” as the dew of nature is born out of the womb of the morning dawn (Psa 110:3). Others render it “dew upon herbs,” taking as equivalent to , as in 2Ki 4:39. We take it as from (Psa 139:12), in the sense of . The plural implies that there is a perfect fulness of the lights of life in God (“the Father of lights,” Jam 1:17). Out of these there is born the gentle dew, which gives new life to the bones that have been sown in the ground (Psa 141:7) – a figure full of mystery, which is quite needlessly wiped away by Hofmann’s explanation, viz., that it is equivalent to tal horoth , “dew of thorough saturating.” Luther, who renders it, “Thy dew is a dew of the green field,” stands alone among the earlier translators. The Targum, Syriac, Vulgate, and Saad. all render it, “Thy dew is light dew;” and with the uniform connection in which the Scriptures place ‘or (light) and c hayym (life), this rendering is natural enough. We now translate still further, “and the earth ( va’aretz , as in Isa 65:17; Pro 25:3, whereas is almost always in the construct state) will bring shades to the day” ( hippil , as a causative of naphal , Isa 26:18), i.e., bring forth again the dead that have sunken into it (like Luther’s rendering, “and the land will cast out the dead” – the rendering of our English version also: Tr.). The dew from the glory of God falls like a heavenly seed into the bosom of the earth; and in consequence of this, the earth gives out from itself the shades which have hitherto been held fast beneath the ground, so that they appear alive again on the surface of the earth. Those who understand Isa 26:18 as relating to the earnestly descried overthrow of the lords of the world, interpret this passage accordingly, as meaning either, “and thou castest down shades to the earth” ( , acc. loci , = , Isa 26:5, , Isa 25:12), or, “and the earth causeth shades to fall,” i.e., to fall into itself. This is Rosenmller’s explanation ( terra per prosopopaeiam , ut supra Isa 24:20, inducta , deturbare in orcum sistitur impios , eo ipso manes eos reddens ). But although rephaim , when so interpreted, agrees with Isa 26:14, where this name is given to the oppressors of the people of God, it would be out of place here, where it would necessarily mean, “those who are just becoming shades.” But, what is of greater importance still, if this concluding clause is understood as applying to the overthrow of the oppressors, it does not give any natural sequence to the words, “dew of the lights is thy dew;” whereas, according to our interpretation, it seals the faith, hope, and prayer of the church for what is to follow. When compared with the New Testament Apocalypse, it is “the first resurrection” which is here predicted by Isaiah. The confessors of Jehovah are awakened in their graves to form one glorious church with those who are still in the body. In the case of Ezekiel also (Ez. Eze 37:1-14), the resurrection of the dead which he beholds is something more than a figurative representation of the people that were buried in captivity. The church of the period of glory on this side is a church of those who have been miraculously saved and wakened up from the dead. Their persecutors lie at their feet beneath the ground.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
19. Thy dead men shall live. Isaiah continues the same consolation, and addresses his discourse to God, thus shewing that there is nothing better for us than to bring our thoughts to meet in God, whenever we must struggle with temptations; for there is nothing more dangerous than to wander in our thoughts, and to give way to them, since they can do nothing else than toss us up and down and drive us into error. Nothing therefore is safer for us than to betake ourselves to God, on whom alone our hearts can rest; for otherwise we shall meet with many things that tend to shake our faith. The general meaning is, that as God guards believers, though they are like “dead men,” yet they “shall live” amidst death itself, or shall rise again after their decease.
But it may be asked, of what time does Isaiah speak? For many interpret this passage as relating to the last resurrection. The Jews refer it to Messiah’s kingdom, but they are mistaken in thinking that it is immediately fulfilled by the Messiah’s first coming. Christians are also mistaken in limiting it to the last judgment; for the Prophet includes the whole reign of Christ from the beginning to the end, since the hope of living, as we shall immediately see, goes beyond this world. Now, in order to understand more fully the whole of the Prophet’s meaning, we ought first to consider that life is promised, not indiscriminately, but only to “God’s dead men;” and he speaks of believers who die in the Lord, and whom he protects by his power. We know that “God is the God of the living, and not of the dead.” (Mat 22:32.) Accordingly, if we are God’s people, we shall undoubtedly live; but in the meantime we must differ in no respect from dead men, for “our life is hidden,” (Col 3:3,) and we do not yet see those things for which we hope. (Rom 8:23.)
So then he speaks simply of the dead, that is, of the condition of believers, who lie in the shadow of death on account of various afflictions which they must continually endure. Hence it is evident, that this must not be limited to the last resurrection; for, on the contrary, we say that the reprobate, even while they live, are dead, because they do not taste God’s fatherly kindness, in which life consists, and therefore perish in their brutal stupidity. But believers, by fleeing to God, obtain life in the midst of afflictions, and even in death itself; but because they have in prospect that day of the resurrection, they are not said literally to live till that day when they shall be free from all pain and corruption, and shall obtain perfect life; and, indeed, Paul justly argues, that it would be a subversion of order, were they to enjoy life till the appearance of Christ, who is the source of their life. (Col 3:3.)
Thus we have said that Isaiah includes the whole reign of Christ; for, although we begin to receive the fruit of this consolation when we are admitted into the Church, yet we shall not enjoy it fully till that last day of the resurrection is come, when all things shall be most completely restored; and on this account also it is called “the day of restitution.” (Act 3:21.) The only remedy for soothing the grief of the godly is, to cast their eyes on the result, by which God distinguishes them from the reprobate. As death naturally destroys all the children of Adam, so all the miseries to which they are liable are forerunners of death, and therefore their life is nothing else than mortality. But because the curse of God, through the kindness of Christ, is abolished, both in the beginning and in the end of death, all who are engrafted into Christ are justly said to live in dying; for to them all that is evil is the instrument of good. (Rom 8:28.) Hence it follows, that out of the depths of death they always come forth conquerors till they are perfectly united to their Head; and therefore, in order that we may be reckoned among “God’s dead men,” whose life he faithfully guards, we must rise above nature. This is more fully expressed by the word נבלה, ( nĕbēlāh,) or dead body
My dead body, they shall arise. As if he had said, “The long-continued putrefaction, by which they appear to be consumed, will not hinder the power of God from causing them to rise again entire.” So far as relates to the phrase, some render it, “With my dead body.” Others explain it, “Who are my dead body.” Others supply the particle of comparison, “Like as my dead body;” but as the meaning is most fully brought out if, without adding or changing anything, we take up simply what the words mean, I choose to view them as standing in immediate connection. At least, this word is inserted for the express purpose that the Prophet may join himself to the whole Church, and thus may reckon himself in the number of “God’s dead men” in the hope of the resurrection. (183)
As to his mentioning himself in particular, he does so for the sake of more fully confirming this doctrine; for thus he testifies his sincerity, and shews that this confession is the result of faith, according to that saying, “I believed, therefore I spake.” (Psa 116:10; 2Co 4:13.) But for this, irreligious men might discourse concerning the mercy of God and eternal life, though they had no sincere belief of them; for even Balaam knew that he spoke what was true, and yet he derived no benefit from his predictions. (Num 23:19.) Very differently does the Prophet speak in this passage; for he professes to belong to the number of those who shall obtain life, and then declares that he willingly endures all the troubles and calamities by which the Lord humbles and slays him, and that he chooses rather to endure them than to flourish along with the wicked. In this manner he testifies, that he does not speak of things unknown, or in which he has no concern, but of those things which he has learned by actual experience; and shews that his confidence is so great that he willingly ranks himself in the number of those “dead bodies” which, he firmly believes, will be restored to life, and therefore chooses to be a dead body, and to be so reckoned, provided that he be accounted a member of the Church, rather than to enjoy life in a state of separation from the Church.
This gives greater force to his doctrine, and he contrasts it with the statement which he formerly made ( verse 14) about wicked men, they shall not live; for the hope of rising again is taken from them. If it be objected, that resurrection will be common not only to believers but also to the reprobate, the answer is easy; for Isaiah does not speak merely of the resurrection, but of the happiness which believers will enjoy. Wicked men will indeed rise again, but it will be to eternal destruction; and therefore the resurrection will bring ruin to them, while it will bring salvation and glory to believers.
Awake and sing, ye inhabitants of the dust. He gives the name, inhabitants of the dust, to believers, who are humbled under the cross and afflictions, and who even during their life keep death constantly before their eyes. It is true that they enjoy God’s blessings in this life; (184) but by this metaphor Isaiah declares that their condition is miserable, because they bear the image of death; for “the outward man” must be subdued and weakened, till it utterly decay, “that the inward man may be renewed.” (2Co 4:16.) We must therefore be willing to be humbled, and to lie down in the dust, if we wish to share in this consolation.
Accordingly, he bids the dead men “awake and sing,” which appears to be very inconsistent with their condition; for among them there is nothing but mournful silence. (Psa 6:5.) He thus draws a clear distinction between God’s elect, whom the corruption of the grave and the “habitation in the dust” will not deprive of that heavenly vigor by which they shall rise again, and the reprobate, who, separated from God the source of life, and from Christ, fade away even while they live, till they are wholly swallowed up by death.
For thy dew is the dew of herbs. (185) He now promises “the dew of herbs,” and thus illustrates this doctrine by an elegant and appropriate comparison. We know that herbs, and especially those of the meadows, are dried up in winter, so that they appear to be wholly dead, and, to outward appearance, no other judgment could be formed respecting them; yet the roots are concealed beneath, which, when they have imbibed the dew at the return of spring, put forth their vigor, so that herbs which formerly were dry and withered, grow green again. In this manner will the nation regain its former vigor after having been plentifully watered with the dew of the grace of God, though formerly it appeared to be altogether withered and decayed.
Such comparisons, drawn from well-known objects, have great influence in producing conviction. If “herbs” watered by “dew” revive, why shall not we also revive when watered by the grace of God? Why shall not our bodies, though dead and rotten, revive? Does not God take more care of us than of herbs? And is not the power of the Spirit greater than that of “dew?” Paul employs a similar argument in writing to the Corinthians, when he treats of the resurrection; but as he applies his comparison to a different purpose, I think it better to leave it for the present, lest we should confound the two passages. It is enough if we understand the plain meaning of the Prophet.
And the earth shall cast out the dead. Others render the clause in the second person, “Thou wilt lay low the land of giants,” (186) or “Thou wilt lay low the giants on the earth.” I do not disapprove of this interpretation, for the words admit of that meaning; but the former appears to agree better with the scope of the passage, though it makes little difference as to the substance of the doctrine. These words must relate to that consolation of which we have formerly spoken.
(183) Bogus footnote
(184) Bogus footnote
(185) Bogus footnote
(186) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
NATIONAL REVIVAL
Isa. 26:19. Thy dead men shall live.
I. This is the language of exultation. [1081] In this part of the chapter the tone changes from sorrow, failure, and abortion to life, prosperity, and joy. Thy dead, O Zion, shall live again. Thy people have been virtually, civilly, nationally dead, but they shall have a resurrection. Because these dead are Gods people, their resurrection from national death is certain. Then, thrilled with confidence in this truth, the prophet gives utterance to the voice of God within him, Awake and sing, ye that lie buried in dust, awake; come forth from your (figurative) graves, and break out in song as ye come up to the light of day!
[1081] This passage proves beyond a question that the idea of a resurrection from the dead was familiar to the prophet and to his first readers, for whose immediate use he wrote. Sensible writers never borrow figures from things unknown, but always from things better known than the facts they would illustrate. As no writer could draw a figure from what was unknown to himself, so, if he sought to teach, he would not draw one from what was unknown to his readers. As Isaiah could not talk about a resurrection if he had never known the idea and the words to express it, so he would not expect to be understood unless his readers were also familiar with it.Cowles.
II. This expression involves a contrast. The resurrection of national life of Gods people stands in contrast with the denial of resurrection to the wicked rulers of Babylon (Isa. 26:14). That Chaldean nation went down to its political grave with no hope, no possibility of being raised to national life again. On the contrary, Gods people, from being in a state of national death in Babylon, were eventually called into national life.
III. This declaration suggests a truth which nations ought to learn. No nation that seeks God and His righteousness can be permanently kept down. Righteousness exalteth a nation; exalteth it from depression into power. It may be brought low, but if the elements of rectitude lie within it, if public justice be a part of its political creed, and respect for the rights of others its unvarying practice, then, though apparently buried in the grave of defeat and degradation, its resurrection shall come. God rules not only amid the armies of heaven, but amongst the inhabitants of the earth, and to every nation maintaining justice, mercy, and truth, though brought ever so low, the voice of history proclaims, Thy dead men shall live! The bodies of English martyrs in the Tudor period perished. Under the Stuart dynasty the bones of those English patriots who defied crowned and mitred tyranny were dug up and dishonoured. That part of them corruptible and worthless died, but the better part of them has experienced a resurrection. Their principles live to-day. Thy dead men shall live.Henry Cowles, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(19) Thy dead men shall live.Better, Thy dead shall live; my corpses shall rise. The words, though they imply a belief more or less distinct in a resurrection, are primarily like the vision of dry bones in Eze. 37:1-14, and like St. Pauls life from the dead in Rom. 11:15 (comp. also Hos. 6:2), used of national and spiritual resurrection.
For thy dew is as the dew of herbs.The rendering is a tenable one, and expresses the thought that as the dew that falls upon the parched and withered plant quickens it to a fresh life, so should the dew of Jehovahs grace (comp. 2Sa. 23:4) revive the dying energies of His people. Most interpreters, however, render the words the dew of lights (plural expressing completeness), the dew which is born of the womb of the morning (Psa. 110:3). This, coming as it does from the Father of Lights (so the LXX., The dew that is from Thee shall be healing for them), shall have power to make the earth cast forth even the shadowy forms of the dead. The verb for cast forth is another form of that used in Isa. 26:18 of childbirth, and is, in this interpretation, used in the same sense.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. But in strong contrast with the preceding despair, the cheering word comes.
Thy dead men shall live Civilly, nationally, dead in Babylon, is the primary meaning. The tone changes from sorrow over the long national subjection to exultant joy in view of a speedy return to a higher national and spiritual life in Zion.
My dead body The Lord is speaking. “Subjected Zion being ‘my dead body,’” that is, being the dead of Zion, shall arise, shall have a spiritual as well as a civil resurrection. Alexander thinks this phrase to be unauthorized.
For thy dew herbs The Lord’s “dew,” such as he sends upon herbs to refresh and make them thrive. “Dew” is ever the emblem in Scripture of a divine quickening an animating figure as in the East, where rain falls seldom, copious dews largely supply the deficiency. See Hos 14:5.
Earth shall cast out the dead “Cast out,” a rendering of , ( taphil,) is a strong way of saying, “The earth shall precipitate, as by a convulsive act; that is, bring to the surface the dead;” a meaning which the verb necessarily bears here, as most expositors, even the rationalistic, agree. Such language could scarcely be used, except in view of the doctrine of the resurrection, not unfamiliar at this time. The language is clearly figurative, and borrowed from this doctrine. It is applied here to the Church, as good as dead in Babylon, but soon to have resurrection life in Zion. Figures are formed, not from things unknown, but from things or ideas before conceived of and familiar. Because Moses said little of a future life, and urged motives to obedience upon the Israelites from sanctions drawn from this side of eternity, is certainly no proof that he knew nothing of the doctrine of a future life. He dealt with people whose obedience to the law should rest first upon the essential righteousness of the law itself, and upon the reality of a holy, all-powerful Sovereign immediately ruling them. In like manner other doctrines the resurrection of the dead especially were held from direct statement and revelation till it should be practically seasonable for such statements and revelation to be made. In favoured minds in minds inspired and commissioned to teach the world, as were Moses, Isaiah, and the like no doubt doctrines latest needed in the world’s history lay at least in a dim premonitory outline in connexion with the whole scheme of redemption; and this outline came out in marked clearness as fast as the world’s mind should comprehend and need it. Numerous are the hints in the Old Testament that Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Job, David, Isaiah, and other prophets, knew of future life with its rewards and punishments, and of the resurrection of the dead, long before Persian Zoroastrianism had existence, from which rationalists allege the resurrective idea originated. The air of familiarity with this idea in our prophet’s easy allusion to it in the expression and figures here in question, leaves, so far forth, little opportunity for cavil.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 26:19. Thy dead men shall live, &c. Thy dead shall live; my deceased, they shall rise: awake, &c.But the earth shall cast forth, as an abortion, the deceased tyrants. Lowth. The present period, which closes this confession, is excellent; wherein the pious declare, in the beginning of the deliverance which had happened to them, their certain hopes of perfect deliverance. The argument is manifestly their confession concerning the resurrection of the dead, whom they call thy dead; and the sentence is divided into two parts, an apostrophe being intermixed. In their confession the pious set forth their hope of the present and future state of things, in opposition to the state of the preceding period: which hope, as they declare in free and elegant words, so do they mutually congratulate each other upon it. The words are so conceived, that at the first appearance they seem to treat only of the resurrection of the dead, properly so called; and yet, according to their primary sense, they describe a mystical, metaphorical, or parabolical resurrection. The gradations in the prophet’s discourse should be observed; “Thy dead, says he, O God, shall live, or revive; as many as have died in thy communion, and particularly in thy cause, (the confessors and martyrs of the true religion in all times,) shall not perish, though they may seem to do so, but shall revive and live; first, in this land, where the justice of the cause for which they died, their eminent holiness and usefulness, shall be brought forth into light, shall be praised and celebrated with the most honourable remembrance of their names, in the restored, purified, and glorious state of the church; and then, at the end of time, when that first resurrection of their good names shall receive its full completion, they shall live and revive, with a full justification of their name and cause.” See Luk 17:33; Luk 20:38. The chorus adds a second gradation, my deceased: In the first sense is understood the church, afflicted, distressed, as it was in the times of the Maccabees; in the mystical sense, the Christian church, oppressed with the most grievous persecutions, so that the hope of its restitution might seem almost desperate; but on this we shall enlarge when we come to the Revelation. It is added thirdly, They shall arise: To rise, is more than to revive. In the Rev 11:11 the two witnesses, being revived, stood upon their feet: It was so under the Maccabees; the state not only revived, but rose. It re-flourished, and emerged more beautiful than it had hitherto appeared; see on Isa 26:15. The prophet subjoins an apostrophe, Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; which is to be understood as connected with the former part of the verse, and is an extatic rapture, such as our prophet abounds with, wherein the pious confessors express the fulness and assurance of their hope concerning their future deliverance. See Eph 5:14. In the second member of the sentence the prophet adds, Thy dew is as the dew of herbs; that is to say, the divine dew (the efficacious word of the divine command and blessing, or the life-giving Spirit of God) is like the dew which brings forth by his secret power the herbs out of the earth, or makes those which appear to be dead to revive; and thus the earth, moistened, as it were, and made fruitful by the dew of the divine blessing, should cast forth the dead, shut up within its bowels; nay, that very earth which used to absorb and swallow up men, should now, in its turn, at the time of the resurrection, as it were bring forth and produce men; for the idea in the last clause is taken from the delivery of women; (see Isa 26:17.) and is illustrated by Act 2:24. The connection of the whole passage will plainly appear from the following sketch of it: “Thy dead, O Lord, shall live, shall rise; nay, even my deceased, who, as it seemed, were in a state perfectly desperate; they shall awake and sing, who dwell in the dust; BECAUSE thy dew is as the dew of herbs. The word and power of thy Spirit is a vivifying power, drawing forth from the bowels of the earth: and that earth, like a mother, bringing forth the dead committed to her for a certain time.” This prophesy, in the first place, refers, as we have observed, to the resurrection of the state under the Maccabees; and secondarily, to the resurrection of the Christian church from a state of great oppression; but the expressions in it are too strong to leave us in a moment’s doubt, that the prophet’s ideas and conceptions were taken from that resurrection whereof all men shall partake, especially from the final resurrection of the saints, which is the secondary but most important sense of all. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I do not presume to decide; but I humbly ask the question. Is not this verse the address of Christ to his Church, or of the Father to Jesus, in the first part of it; and of Jesus in the after-part of it? Surely as God the Father engaged to his dear Son, when giving him as a covenant to the people, to bring him up from the grave, and his people with him, there can be no impropriety in beholding God the Father as thus again confirming his covenant promises to Christ, and saying, Thy dead men shall live; first in grace, and then in glory. See those scriptures, Eze 37:1-14 ; Rev 20:6 . Founded on this promise, may we not suppose Jesus to be then speaking of the means how this great event shall be accomplished; Together with my dead body shall they arise. Joh 11:25-26 ; 1Co 15:20 ; Joh 5:25-29 . Then may we not suppose, after the promise comes the accomplishment, and Christ calls to his people, Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: 1Co 14:15 ; Joh 5:21 . The figure of the dew of herbs, to illustrate the doctrine of the resurrection, is uncommonly beautiful and interesting. For the herbs of our gardens, during the winter, are but like dry sticks. Their buildings, therefore, in the spring, are altogether new, and like a resurrection. The dew of the spring, therefore, is the source of their revival. And such will be the dew of Jesus upon the bodies of his people, in making the earth cast forth her dead, as the earth casteth forth the spring-herbs. And upon the souls of his people , Jesus is in every instance; the same as a dew from the Lord, that waiteth not for man, neither tairieth for the sons of men. It is wholly by virtue of our union with Christ, that both the resurrection of grace, and that of glory, is, and will be accomplished. Job 14:7-15 ; Mic 5:7 ; Rom 8:11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 26:19 Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Ver. 19. Thy dead men shall rise. ] So shall not thine enemies. Isa 26:14 This may seem to be Christ’s gracious answer to his poor desponding people; and it is, say some, argumentum a beata resurrectione sumptum, an argument taken from the happy resurrection of the righteous; the wicked also shall be raised at the last day, but not by the like means, nor for the like blessed purpose. Dan 12:2 Some read the words thus: “Thy dead, my dead body shall live”; for the faithful, say they, are Christ’s body; Eph 4:12 and therefore, to shew this, “my dead body” is here added by apposition, to show how the faithful, being dead and buried, are to be accounted of, even Christ’s dead body, &c., and shall be raised at the last day by virtue of that mystical ration which still they hold with Christ. Hence they are said to “sleep in Jesus,” to be “dead in Christ,” who shall “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Php 3:21 The Hebrews call a dead corpse Nephesh, i.e., a soul, Num 5:2 ; Num 9:10 ; Num 19:11 Hag 2:14 to note that it shall live again, and that the soul shall return to it. At this day also they call the churchyard Bethcaiim, the “house of the living”; and as they return from the burial place, every one plucks off grass from off the ground twice or thrice, and casts it over his head, saying, florebunt de civitate tanquam faenum terrae, &c. Psa 92:12-13 so to set forth their hopes of a resurrection, a Neither need it seem “incredible” with any “that God should raise the dead” Act 26:8 considering what followeth: (1.) “Together with my dead body shall they arise,” i.e., with Christ’s body raised as the “first fruits of them that sleep.” 1Co 15:20 One of the Rabbis readeth it, As my dead body, they shall arise. (2.) The force of Christ’s all-powerful voice, saying, “Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust”: arise and come away, lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand. The resurrection is in the Syriac called the “consolation.” Joh 11:24 (3.) “Thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead,” i.e., Qua facilitate herbulas reficit Deus, eadem mortuos animare potest. God can as easily raise the dead as refresh the herbs of the earth with a reviving dew, when they were even scorched to death with the heat of the sun. See we not a yearly resurrection of grass, grain, flowers, fruits, every spring tide. And surely if nature can produce out of a small seed a great tree, or a butterfly out of a worm, or the beautiful feathered peacock out of a misshapen egg, cannot the Almighty raise our bodies out of dust, who first out of dust made them? Or can the condition of any people or person be so desperate that he is not able to help them out. The assurance of God’s power, which shall show itself in the raising of the dead, is a most excellent argument to confirm us in the certainty of God’s promises, seem they never so incredible to flesh and blood. Atque haec de Cantico.
a Leo Modena, Hist. of Rites of the Jews, p. 238.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thy dead men = Thy dead ones. Hebrew. methim, as in Isa 26:14. These are very different from the dead in Isa 26:14. They are Jehovah’s dead. These shall rise.
my dead body shall. arise = my corpse (a noun of multitude).
shall they arise (plural verb): i.e. all the dead bodies of Jehovah’s people. All these shall awake and sing (Psa 17:15).
dwell in dust = lie in the dust: i.e. buried in the dust of the earth.
as the dew of herbs = like the dew upon herbs: i.e. revivifying them. Compare Isa 66:14.
and = but; introducing the important contrast already expressed in Isa 26:14.
cast out: or, cast away. Not yield up in resurrection. Whom will the earth thus cast away? See the answer in the word which follows.
the dead = the Rephaim. See note on Isa 26:14, and App-23and App-25. These will “not rise”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thy dead men
Eliminate the supplied words, men, and, together with. “Body” is in the plural, “bodies.” Isa 26:19-21 with Isaiah 27, constitute Jehovah’s answer to the plaint of Israel, Isa 26:11-18. Isa 28:19 should read: “Thy dead shall live: my dead bodies shall rise” (i.e. the dead bodies of Jehovah’s people). The restoration and re-establishment of Israel as a nation is also spoken of as a resurrection Eze 37:1-11 and many hold that no more than this is meant in Isa 26:19. But since the first resurrection is unto participation in the kingdom Rev 20:4-6 it seems the better view that both meanings are here.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
dead men: Isa 25:8, Eze 37:1-14, Hos 6:2, Hos 13:14, Joh 5:28, Joh 5:29, Act 24:15, 1Co 15:22, 1Co 15:23, 1Th 4:14, 1Th 4:15, Rev 20:5, Rev 20:6, Rev 20:12
my dead: Mat 27:52, Mat 27:58, Joh 11:25, Joh 11:26, 1Co 15:20, 1Co 15:23, Phi 3:10, Phi 3:21
Awake: Isa 51:17, Isa 52:1, Isa 52:2, Isa 60:1, Isa 60:2, Psa 22:15, Psa 71:20, Dan 12:2, Eph 5:14, Rev 11:8-11
thy dew: Gen 2:5, Gen 2:6, Deu 32:2, Deu 33:13, Deu 33:28, Job 29:19, Psa 110:3, Hos 14:5, Zec 8:12
the earth: Rev 20:13
Reciprocal: 1Sa 2:6 – he bringeth 2Sa 22:19 – the Lord 2Ki 13:21 – touched Job 7:21 – sleep Job 14:8 – die in the ground Job 14:12 – awake Job 19:27 – I shall Psa 16:9 – my flesh Psa 17:15 – I awake Psa 22:29 – all they that Psa 88:10 – shall Psa 113:7 – out of Psa 139:18 – when I awake Isa 26:14 – dead Isa 66:14 – your bones Eze 37:4 – O ye Eze 37:12 – I will open Mat 20:19 – the third Mat 22:29 – not Mar 12:24 – because Luk 7:14 – Young Joh 11:24 – I know Joh 20:9 – that Act 2:24 – because Rom 8:11 – he that raised 2Co 4:14 – that Heb 6:2 – resurrection 1Pe 1:3 – by Rev 11:18 – and the time
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 26:19. Thy dead men shall live The prophet here, speaking in the name of God, turns his speech to Gods church, and gives her a cordial to support her in that deep distress which he had foretold she should suffer, and which is described in the preceding verse. Thy dead men are not like those mentioned Isa 26:14, for they shall not live, as was there said, but thine shall live. You shall certainly be delivered from all your fears and dangers. For here, as Bishop Lowth observes, The deliverance of the people of God, from a state of the lowest depression, is explained by images taken from the resurrection of the dead. And nothing is more frequent, both in Scripture and other authors, than for great calamities to be compared to death, and deliverance from them to reviving, a resurrection, and life; and particularly the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and their deliverance out of it, is largely expressed by this very similitude, Eze 37:11, &c. It appears from hence, says Bishop Lowth, that the doctrine of the resurrection was at that time a popular and common doctrine; for an image which is assumed, in order to express or represent any thing in the way of allegory, or metaphor, whether poetical or prophetical, must be an image commonly known and understood, otherwise it will not answer the purpose for which it is assumed. Together with my dead body shall they arise It is to be observed here, that the words, together with, are supplied by our translation, there being nothing for them in the Hebrew. All the ancient versions, says Bishop Lowth, render the word in the plural; they read , my dead bodies. The Vulgate has it, Interfecti mei resurgent, My slain men shall rise. The Syriac and Chaldaic read, their dead bodies; and the LXX. , those that are in their graves shall be raised. It seems this clause is added merely as an amplification or repetition of the former, being entirely equivalent therewith, and expressing only that the Jewish Church, with which the prophet connects himself, as being a member of it, should be delivered out of captivity in Babylon, but not that he himself should either personally suffer in that captivity, or have a part in that deliverance. Thus, in a similar way, (1Th 4:15; 1Th 4:17,) the apostle connects himself with those that should be found alive at Christs second coming, we who are alive, &c., certainly not intending to signify that he personally should be alive at that time. Awake, &c. Out of your sleep, even the sleep of death, ye that dwell in the dust You that are dead and buried in the earth. For thy dew The favour and blessing of God upon thee; is as the dew of herbs Which refreshes and revives them, and makes them grow and flourish. And the earth shall cast out the dead As an abortive birth is cast out of the womb, to which the grave is compared, Job 1:21. But, as the verb , here used, does not properly signify to cast out, but to cast down, or cause to fall, these words are by many, both ancient and later interpreters, rendered otherwise, namely, thou wilt cast down, or she, that is, the church, shall cast down the land of the giants, or violent ones. Thus the Vulgate: Thou shalt draw into ruin the land of the giants; and the LXX., , the land of the ungodly shall fall, or be brought down. The sense is, the church shall prevail against all oppressors, and shall cast them down: when brought low she shall rise, but her enemies shall not.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
26:19 {t} Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy {u} dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
(t) He comforts the faithful in their afflictions, showing them that even in death they will have life and that they would certainly rise to glory, the contrary would come to the wicked, as in Isa 26:14 .
(u) As herbs dead in winter flourish again by the rain in the springtime, so they who lie in the dust will rise up to joy, when they feel the dew of God’s grace.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Was Isaiah referring to national survival or to individual resurrection here? Probably both. [Note: See Chisholm, A Theology . . ., p. 322.] He had been talking about the near-death experiences of Israel in the preceding verses (Isa 26:16-18), and he had already revealed that a remnant would enter the Millennium (Isa 25:6-10; cf. Ezekiel 37). However, in the same passage the prophet also looked forward to the abolition of death itself (Isa 25:7-8). So probably we have both a figurative and a literal resurrection in view, a figurative resurrection of Israel in the future and a literal resurrection of Israelites in the future (cf. Dan 12:2; Job 19:26). As dew descends, so God would come to the Israelites bringing refreshment and vitality (cf. Psa 72:6; Hos 14:5).
Interestingly, Young, who interpreted many of Isaiah’s predictions figuratively, insisted, "The language [of Isa 26:19] is not to be taken figuratively" (2:226). [Note: Young, 2:226. See also Archer, p. 627.] He believed, correctly I think, that believers who actually died physically are in view here and that physical resurrection is in view.