Isaiah 26:14
in Isaiah 26The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish.
KJV
They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
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This verse in Isaiah 26
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They are dead - That is, the kings and tyrants to whom reference is made in Isa 26:13. The principal enemies of the Jews, who had oppressed them, were slain when Babylon was taken by Cyrus (see the notes at Isa. 13; 14) They shall not live - They shall not again live, and be permitted to harass and enslave us.
This site's exposition
You will establish peace for us
on Isaiah 26:12-15
Verse 12 credits the LORD with all the nation has done, "For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us". Verse 14 answers, "The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise", and the LORD has "wiped out all memory of them".
This site's exposition
The dead will not live
The departed spirits are the Rephaim, the shades of the dead who greet the fallen king of Babylon in 14:9. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read them as the other lords of verse 13. In verse 19 the dead of the LORD will live and rise.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 14) Those who are dying shall not live; the giants shall not rise again. Therefore You visited and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them. LXX: For the dead shall not see life; nor will physicians bring them back. Therefore You brought in, and destroyed, and took away all their males. Symmachus in a clearer manner: The dead shall not be revived; the giants shall not rise. Therefore You visited and defeated them, and dispersed all memory of them. Let us first say according to the LXX: The question seems to be difficult, how do the dead not see life? The answer is sought: they do not see life as long as they are dead. Just as we say that a blind person does not see light as long as they are blind; but if they regain their health, they will see the light: so too, the one who is dead in iniquity and sins, before being enlivened by righteousness and virtues, through the one who says, I am the life (John 14), cannot live. And so He is called the God of the living, not of the dead (Matt. XXII). For the soul that sins, it shall die (Ezek. XVIII, 4). We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews: Let us not lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works (Heb. VI, 1). But if sins are called dead works, why are virtues not called living works? And what follows, Neither will physicians raise them up, is clear evidence that the fables of the poets, who boast of having raised Virbius from the dead, are condemned. Not only, however, is this to be said about the dead, but about every illness, that without the mercy of God, the art of healing is worth nothing. But how? Unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do they labor who build it: unless the Lord guards the city, in vain does he watch who guards it (Ps. 126, 1, 2). Similarly, unless the Lord heals the sickness, in vain do doctors labor who desire to heal the sick. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
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 …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book 17, Section 30 · Written before 604.
proposed
For hence it is said by the prophet, "The dead shall not live; the giants shall not rise up again." For whom does he call "the dead" except sinners, and whom does he designate "giants" except those who over and above take pride in sin. Now the former do "not live," because by sinning they have forfeited the life of righteousness; these latter too "cannot rise up again" after death because after their transgression they are swollen with pride and do not have recourse to the remedies of penitence.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise,....
He has made all their memory to perish; they are either forgotten or made mention of with detestation. Note, The cause that is maintained in opposition to God and his kingdom among men, though it may prosper awhile, will certainly sink at last, and all that adhere to it will perish with it.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They--The "other lords" or tyrants (Isa 26:13). shall not live--namely, again. deceased--Hebrew, "Rephaim"; powerless, in the land of shades (Isa 14:9, 10). therefore--that is, inasmuch as.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The dead shall not live May it be Your will that these wicked men shall not live in the World to Come, and that these slackers who slackened their hands from Your commandments shall not have restoration.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
have possessed us They have become our masters and have oppressed us.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מֵתִים֙ | metim | dead [ones] | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| יִחְי֔וּ | yichyu | they will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| רְפָאִ֖ים | refaim | shades | H7496 → | 8 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| יָקֻ֑מוּ | yakumu | they will rise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| לָכֵ֤ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| פָּקַ֙דְתָּ֙ | pakadta | you have visited | H6485 → | 303 times |
| וַתַּשְׁמִידֵ֔ם | vatashmidem | and you have destroyed them | H8045 → | 90 times |
| וַתְּאַבֵּ֥ד | vateabed | and you have destroyed | H6 → | 184 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זֵ֖כֶר | zekher | remembrance | H2143 → | |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | lamo | of them |
מֵתִים֙dead [ones]
metimH4191 →839 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
יִחְי֔וּthey will live
yichyuH2421 →282 times
רְפָאִ֖יםshades
refaimH7496 →8 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
יָקֻ֑מוּthey will rise
yakumuH6965 →628 times
לָכֵ֤ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
פָּקַ֙דְתָּ֙you have visited
pakadtaH6485 →303 times
וַתַּשְׁמִידֵ֔םand you have destroyed them
vatashmidemH8045 →90 times
וַתְּאַבֵּ֥דand you have destroyed
vateabedH6 →184 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זֵ֖כֶרremembrance
zekherH2143 →
לָֽמוֹ׃of them
lamo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 10:7The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
it leads to
- Psalms 112:6
Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous man will be remembered forever.
- Luke 1:48
For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.
- Mark 14:9
And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
- Psalms 112:6
Through
Isaiah 8:19When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 10:13
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
- Leviticus 20:6
Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6
He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking…
- Psalms 106:28
They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
- Leviticus 19:31
You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
- 1 Chronicles 10:13
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 17, Section 30; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.