| Geneva Study Bible {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. Wesley's Notes 26:19 Thy - The prophet here turns his speech to God's people, and gives them a cordial in their distress. Thy dead men are not like those, ver.14, for they shall not live; but thine shall live. You shall be delivered from all your fears and dangers. My dead body - As I myself, who am one of these dead men, shall live again; you shall be delivered together with me. Awake - Out of your sleep, even the sleep of death, you that are dead and buried in the dust. Thy dew - The favour and blessing of God upon thee. The dew - Which makes them grow and flourish. Scofield Reference Notes [1] thy dead men Eliminate the supplied words, men, and, together with. "Body" is in the plural, "bodies." Isa 26:19-21 with chapter 27., constitute Jehovah's answer to the plaint of Israel, Isa 26:11-18. Verse 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 Ezek 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. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 19. In antithesis to Isa 26:14, "They (Israel's foes) shall not live"; "Thy (Jehovah's) dead men (the Jews) shall live," that is, primarily, be restored, spiritually (Isa 54:1-3), civilly and nationally (Isa 26:15); whereas Thy foes shall not; ultimately, and in the fullest scope of the prophecy, restored to life literally (Eze 37:1-14; Da 12:2). together with my dead body-rather, "my dead body," or "bodies" (the Jewish nation personified, which had been spiritually and civilly dead; or the nation, as a parent, speaking of the bodies of her children individually, see on [736]Isa 26:9, "I," "My"): Jehovah's "dead" and "my dead" are one and the same [Horsley]. However, as Jesus is the antitype to Israel (Mt 2:15), English Version gives a true sense, and one ultimately contemplated in the prophecy: Christ's dead body being raised again is the source of Jehovah's people (all, and especially believers, the spiritual Israelites) also being raised (1Co 15:20-22). Awake-(Eph 5:14), spiritually. in dust-prostate and dead, spiritually and nationally; also literally (Isa 25:12; 47:1). dew-which falls copiously in the East and supplies somewhat the lack of rain (Ho 14:5). cast out . dead-that is, shall bring them forth to life again. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 26:12-19 Every creature, every business, any way serviceable to our comfort, God makes to be so; he makes that work for us which seemed to make against us. They had been slaves of sin and Satan; but by the Divine grace they were taught to look to be set free from all former masters. The cause opposed to God and his kingdom will sink at last. See our need of afflictions. Before, prayer came drop by drop; now they pour it out, it comes now like water from a fountain. Afflictions bring us to secret prayer. Consider Christ as the Speaker addressing his church. His resurrection from the dead was an earnest of all the deliverance foretold. The power of his grace, like the dew or rain, which causes the herbs that seem dead to revive, would raise his church from the lowest state. But we may refer to the resurrection of the dead, especially of those united to Christ. |