Chapter 26
26:1 In that day shall this canticle be sung in the land of Judah. Zion the city of our strength a savior, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein.
26:2 Open the gates, and let the just nation, that keeps the truth, enter in.
26:3 The old error is passed away: you will keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in you.
26:4 You have hoped in the Lord for eternal ages, in the Lord God mighty for ever.
26:5 For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust.
26:6 The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.
26:7 The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in.
26:8 And in the way of your judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for you: your name, and your remembrance are the desire of the soul.
26:9 My soul has desired you in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to you. When you shall do your judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice.
26:10 Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he has done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.
26:11 Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour your enemies.
26:12 Lord, you will give us peace: for you have wrought all our works for us.
26:13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, only in you let us remember your name.
26:14 Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and have destroyed all their memory.
26:15 You have indulged the nation, O Lord, you have indulged the nation: are you glorified? You have removed all the ends of the land far off.
26:16 Lord, they have sought after you in distress, in the tribulation of murmuring your instruction was with them.
26:17 As a woman with child, when she draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs: so are we become in your presence, O Lord.
26:18 We have conceived, and been as it were in labor, and have brought forth wind: we have not wrought justice on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen.
26:19 Your dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and give praise, you that dwell in the dust: for your dew is the dew of the light: and the land of the giants you shall pull down into ruin.
26:20 Go, my people, enter into your chambers, shut your doors upon you, hide yourself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away.
26:21 For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more.
597 . In that day . In this part, he gives thanks for the justification of the people, and it is divided into two parts:
in the first, he foretells the state of the just;
in the second, he shows the fruit of justice: the old error (Isa 26:3).
Concerning the first, he does two things.
For first, he foretells the confidence of the just: in that day , after the return from captivity and the affliction of the Moabites by the Maccabees, or after the coming of Christ; O Zion, the savior , Christ, or Judas Maccabeus, is a city of strength ; therein , namely, in protection, a wall and a bulwark shall be set , these only literally in the time of the Maccabees; or a wall , Christ, a bulwark , the prophets. Or otherwise: Zion is the city, the savior , God, or Christ, or Judas Maccabeus, a wall , that is, defending like a wall: the name of the Lord is a strong tower (Prov 18:10); I will be to them, says the Lord, a wall of fire round about (Zech 2:5).
598 . Second, the Lord foretells their justice, saying to the angels: open the gates , of heaven or of virtue, closed by sins; or, literally: it is not necessary for you to close the gates because of the unfaithful, for they are all just: this is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it (Ps 117[118]:20).
599 . The old error . Here he sets out the fruit of justice, namely, peace; for which is first set out the petition of the people, which contains three things.
For the suitableness of the petitioners is set out: the old error , namely, of idolatry: the old things are passed away (2 Cor 5:17); the benefit of peace is asked for: you will keep peace , of body and soul, below: my people shall sit in the beauty of peace (Isa 32:18); their meriting of peace is alleged: because we have hoped in you : who has hoped in the Lord, and has been confounded? (Sir 2:11).
600 . Second, the response of the prophet is set out, who is the mediator between the people and God: you have hoped . And this is divided into three parts:
in the first, the promise of peace is set out;
in the second, the procurement of peace: the way of the just (Isa 26:7);
in the third, the announcement of the procured peace: the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice (Isa 26:9).
601 . Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, he concedes their merit: you have hoped in the Lord for eternal ages , that is, forever: in him has my heart confided, and I have been helped (Ps 27[28]:7).
Second, he adds counsel: in the Lord God , that is, hope in the Lord God : he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved (Matt 10:22).
Third, he promises the benefit of peace for the destruction of enemies: for he shall bring down them that dwell . The Jews say this refers to the Romans, but it can refer to any of their enemies, or, mystically, to the Jews themselves, above: the bulwarks of your high walls shall fall (Isa 25:12). And he adds the condition of those who destroy them: the foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor , the Jews, who have little; the needy , who need to have many things. Or, if taken mystically, he sets out the Jews’ meriting of destruction on account of the poor Christ, of whom it says in Psalm 69:6[70:5]: but I am needy and poor , and also: but I am poor and sorrowful (Ps 68:30[69:29]); the needy , the disciples.
602 . The way of the just . Here is set out, as it were, a dispute of the prophet with the Lord, to obtain the petition of the people.
And first, he urges him by arguments to punish their enemies;
second, he urges him from experience: you have indulged (Isa 26:15).
Concerning the first, he does two things:
first, he urges him to punish them;
second, to detain them in punishment: let not the dead live (Isa 26:14).
Concerning the first, he does three things:
first, he urges him to justice;
second, he excludes mercy: let us have pity (Isa 26:10);
third, he determines the punishment: and he shall not see the glory of the Lord (Isa 26:10).
603 . Now he provokes him to justice by setting out three things.
First, the rightness of justice: the way of the just , that is, of justice: the Lord conducted the just through the right ways (Wis 10:10).
Second, the expectation of the afflicted, setting out three things:
the expectation itself, in the way , that is, through the punishment, of your judgments , by which you vindicate and liberate us: your justifications I will never forget: for by them you have given me life (Ps 118[119]:93);
the desire of those in expectation: your name : this is the name that they shall call him, the Lord our just one (Jer 33:16).
The constancy of the desire, for day and night , that is, at all times, or in prosperity and adversity, my soul has desired you : in my bed I sought him whom my soul loves (Song 3:1); O God, my God, to you do I watch at break of day (Ps 62:2[63:1]).
Third, he sets out the usefulness of justice: when you shall do your judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice : the Lord shall be known when he executes judgments (Ps 9:17[16]).
604 . Let us have pity . Here he excludes mercy, and concerning this, he does two things.
First, the Lord proposes mercy interrogatively: let us have pity : the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord (Ps 32[33]:5).
Second, the prophet excludes it, because of its uselessness: but he will not learn : because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear (Eccl 8:11); a horse not broken becomes stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong (Sir 30:8); and because of the gravity of the sin, because it profanes a holy place: in the land of the saints he has done wicked things : O God, the heathens are come into your inheritance, they have defiled your holy temple (Ps 78[79]:1); what is the meaning that my beloved has wrought much wickedness in my house? (Jer 11:15).
605 . And he shall not see . Here the dispute to determine the punishment is set out.
And first, the Lord asks: and he shall not see the glory of the Lord , as if to say, “should I give this punishment to him because he does not see?” Or forbearingly, “and this suffices for punishment.”
606 . Second, the prophet responds: Lord, let your hand be exalted .
607 . Third, the Lord determines the spiritual punishment: let the envious people see, and be confounded : every eye shall see him (Rev 1:7), in the glory of his humanity, not of his divinity; and the bodily punishment: let fire devour your enemies : they were cast alive into the pool of fire (Rev 19:20).
608 . Fourth, the prophet consents rejoicing, setting out two good consequences from these punishments: the peace of the people, therefore, Lord , this having been done, you will give us peace , and we hope for this from you: for all our works : it is God who works in you, both to will and to accomplish (Phil 2:13), you have wrought , the works , that is, the punishments, by which you have sufficiently cleansed us, below: she has received of the hand of the Lord double (Isa 40:2).
Second, the praise of God: O Lord our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us , and therefore we could not give ourselves to praise of you; only in you , to whom alone we give ourselves, having no other god: servants have ruled over us (Lam 5:8).
609 . Note on the words, the city of our strength (Isa 26:1), that Christ is the city of our strength, because he strengthens us:
first, in faith: other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid: which is Christ Jesus (1 Cor 3:11);
second, in hope: we may have the strongest comfort, we who have fled for refuge to hold fast the hope set before us (Heb 6:18);
third, in charity: being rooted and founded in charity (Eph 3:17); I am come to cast fire on the earth (Luke 12:49);
fourth, in work: it is God who works in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to his good will (Phil 2:13);
fifth, in temptation: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able (1 Cor 10:13);
sixth, in accusation: we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1);
seventh, in reward: I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (Rev 3:12).
610 . Note also on the words, open the gates (Isa 26:2), that we ought to open the gates through meditation,
first, on the misery of hell, below: I shall go to the gates of hell (Isa 38:10);
second, on the just life: let her works praise her in the gates (Prov 31:31);
third, on the glory of heaven: he has strengthened the bolts of your gates (Ps 147:13).
611 . Note also on the word, peace (Isa 26:2), that there are three things that make peace in the present life:
first, contempt for temporal riches, below: but the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest (Isa 57:20);
second, subjugation of carnal concupiscence. Living at peace in their houses (Sir 44:6);
third, contemplation of divine wisdom: his place is in peace: and his abode in Zion (Ps 75:3[76:2]).
612 . Note also on the words, the way of the just (Isa 26:7), that the way of justice is right:
first, because of the shortness of its course: we have walked through hard ways (Wis 5:7);
second, because of the evenness of its site, whose mean does not vary: knowing that he came from God and goes to God (John 13:3);
third, because of its beauty: the Lord bless you, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain (Jer 31:23).
613 . Note also on the word, peace (Isa 26:12), that there are three things that make peace in the future life:
first, the abundance of good things: he has placed peace in your borders (Ps 147:14);
second, freedom from evils, below: and my people shall sit in the tabernacles of confidence (Isa 32:18);
third, immobility: in peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest (Ps 4:9[8]).
614 . Let not the dead live . Here the prophet asks that God not free those punished from further punishment.
And first, he sets out the petition: let not the dead , sinners, live , in the life of glory, unless they repent; let not the giants , glorying in their own power, rise again , to glory: the wicked shall not rise again in judgment (Ps 1:5); the ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins (Sir 16:8[7]); or he asks that their fallen enemies not rise again further to power.
Second, he places the answer to the petition: therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and have destroyed all their memory : let their memory perish with a noise (Ps 9:7[6]); in the time of their visitation they shall fall (Jer 8:12).
615 . You have indulged . Here he urges God to the work of justice from experience;
and first, from experience among the gentiles,
second, among to the Jews: as a woman with child (Isa 26:17).
Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, he demonstrates from the experience of the uselessness of mercy, both as to the remission of sins: you have indulged , and as to the multiplication of good things: you have removed all the ends of the land far off : they become great and enriched, and they are grown gross and fat: and have most wickedly transgressed my words (Jer 5:27–28); the prosperity of fools shall destroy them (Prov 1:32).
Second, the usefulness of avenging justice: Lord, they have sought after you in distress : in their affliction they will rise early to me (Hos 6:1); in the time of their affliction they will say: arise, and deliver us (Jer 2:27).
616 . As a woman with child . Here he demonstrates the same thing from the experience among the Jews.
And first, he sets out the scourge of tribulation: as a woman with child : a woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow (John 16:21); there were pains as of a woman in labor (Ps 47:7[48:6]).
Second, the fruit of amendment: so are we become in your presence : now all chastisement for the present indeed seems not to bring with it joy, but sorrow: but afterwards it will yield to them that are exercised by it the most peaceable fruit of justice (Heb 12:11).
617 . We have not wrought justice . Here he announces the procured peace, and concerning this, he does three things.
First, the reason for the delay is shown: we have not wrought justice , so that he alludes to what is said in Deuteronomy 28:7: the Lord shall cause your enemies, that rise up against you, to fall down before your face .
618 . Second, the promise of restoration of the people through resurrection is set out, either bodily resurrection on the last day or resurrection from the misery of captivity. Hence resurrection is promised: your dead men shall live , the voice of the prophet to the Lord (Ezek 37); the thanksgiving of the resurrected is announced: awake, and give praise : many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake (Dan 12:2); and the cause, or reason, of the resurrection is assigned: for your dew is the dew of the light , namely, of divine kindness (Hos 6:3).
619 . Third, the destruction of their enemies is shown, and first, he sets out the destruction itself: the land of the giants , that is, of the proud and powerful, above: it shall be as a ruinous heap of stones (Isa 17:1).
Second, the immunity of the people of God: go, my people ; enter into your chambers , tombs, or literally, the fortifications in which they sometimes carefully kept themselves, below: in a moment of indignation have I hid my face a little while from you, but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on you (Isa 54:8); and it was said to them that they should rest for a little time till the number of their brethren should be filled up (Rev 6:11).
Third, he sets out the order of destruction, for it comes through judgment; hence he sets out the coming of the judge: for behold the Lord will come : behold the Lord will come forth (Mic 1:3), and all the angels with him; and the revealing of their crimes: and the earth shall disclose her blood : O earth, cover not you my blood, neither let my cry find a hiding place in you (Job 16:19).