Isaiah 26:18

Isa 26:18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Ver. 18. We have been with child.] With various devices and hopes, which yet have miscarried and run aslope. See Job 15:35. {See Trapp on "Job 15:35"}

We have as it were brought forth wind.] As did Queen Mary, to her own great grief and the disappointment of her expectauts, - Dale, the promoter, for instance. Well, quoth he, at the apprehending of Julian living, you hope and hope, but your hope shall be aslope; for although the queen’s conceptions should still fail, as they did, yet she that you hope for shall never come at it: for there is my lord cardinal’s grace and many more between her and it. {a} But my lord cardinal’s grace departed the very next day after Queen Mary, having taken, as it is thought, some Italian medicine, and Queen Elizabeth succeeded in the throne, to the great joy of all good men. {b}

{a} Acts and Mon, fol. 1871.

{b} Ibid., 1905.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26:18 Only God can give salvation and bring life (see 59:9-15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The wicked and men without religion were not destroyed.

Our sorrows had none end, neither did we enjoy the comfort that we looked for.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

brought forth wind--MICHAELIS explains this of the disease empneumatosis. Rather, "wind" is a figure for that which proves an abortive effort. The "we" is in antithesis to "Thy," "my" (Isa 26:19), what we vainly attempt, God will accomplish.

not wrought . . . deliverance in . . . earth--literally, "the land (Judea) is not made security," that is, is not become a place of security from our enemies.

neither . . . world fallen--The "world" at large, is in antithesis to "the earth," that is, Judea. The world at enmity with the city of God has not been subdued. But MAURER explains "fallen," according to Arabic idiom, of the birth of a child, which is said to fall when being born; "inhabitants of the world (Israel, Isa 24:4; not the world in general) are not yet born"; that is, the country as yet lies desolate, and is not yet populated.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. We have - brought forth wind] The learned Professor Michaelis explains this image in the following manner: "Rariorem morbum describi, empneumatosin, aut ventosam molam, dictum; quo quae laborant diu et sibi et peritis medicis gravidae videntur,tandemque post omnes verae graviditatis molestias et labored ventum ex utero emittunt: quem morbum passim describunt medici." Syntagma Comment., vol. ii., p. 165. The empneumatosis, or windy inflation of the womb, is a disorder to which females are liable. Some have had this in such wise, for a long time together, that they have appeared to themselves, and even to very skilful medical men, to be pregnant; and after having endured much pain, and even the throes of apparent childbearing, they have been eased and restored to health by the emission of a great quantity of wind from the uterus. This disorder is well known to medical men." The Syriac translator seems to have understood it in this manner: Enixi sumus, ut illae quae ventos pariunt. "We have brought forth as they who bring forth wind."

In the earth - "In the land"] בארץ bearets; so a MS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(18) We have as it were brought forth wind.—Left to themselves, the longing expectations of Israel had been frustrated. It was, “as it were” (the words imply the prophet’s consciousness of the boldness of the figure), like a false pregnancy, a disease with no birth as its outcome.

Neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.—Better, Neither were the inhabitants of the world brought to birth, the verb to “fall” being used, as in Wis_7:3; Hom., II., xix. 10, of the delivery of a woman with child. The words continue the picture of the fruitlessness of mere human strivings and expectations. The LXX., “They that are in the tombs shall rise,” connects itself with Joh_5:28-29. (Comp. the like imagery in Isa_37:3.) The “creation” was “subject unto vanity,” as in Rom_8:20-22.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. Retaining the figure the prophet dwells on the abortive issue of the nation’s prayers and sufferings. In the last clause he seems even to give the figure a closer application. For that sentence is no doubt to be read as in R.V. marg., neither have inhabitants of the world been born; i.e. the mother-nation has brought forth no children to people the world. This sense of the verb “fall” is not found elsewhere in Hebr., but it occurs in Arabic (cf. also the Greek πίπτειν and Latin cadere); and here it is demanded by the last clause of Isa_26:19. The complaint (of an insufficient population) seems at first inconsistent with Isa_26:15, but the discrepancy belongs to the conflict of feeling which runs through the poem; a certain degree of prosperity has been attained, but not complete and final salvation. It is certainly difficult to imagine such a complaint projected on the ideal horizon of the future. A disappointment so peculiar must be begotten of actual experience. Comp. ch. Isa_66:7-9.

we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth] Lit. “we do not make the land salvations”; i.e. we cannot with all our exertions bring about a condition of freedom, prosperity, peace, &c.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We have been with child,.... Like women with child; we have been full of hopes and expectations of great things, of deliverance from our enemies, and of the kingdom of Christ being at hand:

we have been in pain; in great distress and anxiety, and in fervent and frequent prayer, travailing in birth, which we looked upon as forerunners of a happy issue of things:

we have as it were brought forth wind; all our hopes have proved abortive, and we have been disappointed in our expectations:

we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth: or, "salvations" have "not been wrought in the earth" (f); this explains what is meant by bringing forth wind; salvation and deliverance out of the hand of the enemy not being wrought, as was expected:

neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen; worldly men, the great men, the kings of the earth; particularly such as commit fornication with the whore of Rome, Popish persecuting princes; these as yet are not fallen, though they shall in the battle of Armageddon.

(f) "res salutum non est facta", Vatablus; "salates non fit terra", Montanus; "salutes non factae sunt terrae", Tigurine version; "non sunt factae in terra", Pagninus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

We have been ... - This refers to sorrows and calamities which they had experienced in former times, when they had made great efforts for deliverance, and when those efforts had proved abortive. Perhaps it refers to the efforts of this kind which they had made during their painful captivity of seventy years. There is no direct proof indeed, that during that time they attempted to revolt, or that they organized themselves for resistance to the Babylonian power; but there can be no doubt that they earnestly desired deliverance, and that their condition was one of extreme pain and anguish - a condition that is strikingly represented here by the pains of childbirth. Nay, it is not improbable that during that long period there may have been abortive efforts made at deliverance, and that here they refer to those efforts as having accomplished nothing.

We have as it were brought forth wind - Our efforts have availed nothing. Michaelis, as quoted by Lowth, explains this figure in the following manner: ‘Rariorem morbum describi, empneumatosin, aut ventosam molam dictum; quo quae laborant diu et sibi, et peritis medicis gravidae videntur, tandemque post omnes verae gravitatis molestias et labores ventum ex utero emittant; quem morbum passim describunt medici.’ (Syntagma Comment. vol. ii. p. 165.) Grotius thinks that the reference is to birds, ‘Quae edunt ova subventanea,’ and refers to Pliny x. 58. But the correct reference is, doubtless, that which is mentioned by Michaelis.

Neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen - We had no power to subdue them; and notwithstanding all our exertions their dominion was unbroken. This refers to the Babylonians who had dominion over the captive Jews.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wind. Our expectation of aid from others has been disappointed. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the spirit of thy salvation, which thou hast wrought on the earth. We shall not fall, but the inhabitants of the earth shall fall." (Haydock) --- Their copies must have been different from ours. --- Fallen. The Chanaanites are left for our trial and punishment. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have had the torment of a woman in child-bearing, but not the comfort of a living child, Joh 16:21, for we have brought forth nothing but wind; all our labours and hopes were vain and unsuccessful. The prophet here represents their deplorable and desperate condition before God appeared so eminently to deliver them.

We have not wrought any deliverance; we found that we were utterly unable to deliver ourselves.

In the earth; or, in the land, in our own country, where yet we had far greater advantages than we could have had elsewhere.

The inhabitants of the world; the Assyrians, or our other enemies; for they are here opposed to God’s people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We have as it were brought forth wind. Our pains have been idle, futile have effected nothing. We have not given deliverance (literally, "salvation") to our land; we have not effected the downfall of our heathen enemies. That downfall was God"s work. (Isa_24:16-20)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We - We have had the torment of a woman in child-bearing, but not the comfort of a living child, for we have brought forth nothing but wind; all our labours and hopes were unsuccessful. The world - The Assyrians, or our other enemies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“We were in travail, we were in pain, as it were we brought forth wind. Deliverances we could not make the land, nor would the inhabitants of the world fall.” The figure introduced in the preceding verse is here carried out and applied. The second clause admits of several different constructions. The simplest supplies a preposition before land, in or for the land. The one now commonly adopted is, we could not make the land safety, (i.e., could not make it safe or save it). The future form of the verb has respect to the period described. As the people then might have said, we shall not save the land, so the same expression is here put into their mouths retrospectively. The best equivalent in English is the potential or subjunctive form, we could not. The foregoing context, as we have seen, relates to the period of captivity itself. Those who suppose the exile itself to be the time in question, understand by world the Babylonian empire as in Isa 13:11.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Isaiah continues to compare the suffering of the people of Judah to a woman giving birth. (See: Metaphor)

but it is as if we have only given birth to wind

"but it is as if we have only given birth to air" or "it is like we gave birth to nothing." This is a simile that emphasizes that the people's suffering resulted in nothing. AT: "but nothing good resulted from it" (See: Simile)

We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen

Here "earth" represents the people who live on the earth. The meaning is unclear, but it seems to mean that the people of Israel have not been able to save themselves or other people by defeating their enemy in battle. (See: Metonymy and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

We have not brought salvation to the earth

This can be reworded so that the abstract noun "salvation" is expressed as the verb "save." AT: "We have not saved the inhabitants of the earth" (See: Abstract Nouns)

and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen

"nor have we caused the wicked people of the world to fall in battle"

translationWords

labor

earth

world

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

We conceived, we shuddered a shudder like a woman giving birth, as though we had given birth, as though we were close to being redeemed, yet it was wind and no salvation.

we wreak no salvation [in] the land We have suffered everything, and our troubles (sic) we do not understand for ourselves a salvation.[Rashi in Nach Lublin] ([Warsaw edition reads:] With all our suffering and our trouble, we do not prepare salvation for ourselves.) ([K’li Paz reads:] with all our pains and our troubles, we do not bring salvation for ourselves.) ([Some manuscripts read:] Throughout our troubles we do not see any salvation.) ([Others read:] We do not recognize any salvation.) ([Others read:] We cannot prepare for ourselves any salvation.)

neither do the inhabitants of the world fall The nations (var. the children of Esau), who are the inhabitants of the world, since they conquered and filled the earth, do not fall. And Jonathan rendered יִפְּלוּ as an expression related to (Ex. 33:16): “And wonders shall be wrought (וְנִפְלִינוּ) for me and Your people.” The inhabitants of the world cannot perform a wonder.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

We have conceived, we have been in pain with, as we have brought forth, wind. We have conceived, and we have been in pain with wind, and so we have also brought forth wind. We had no strength to deliver ourselves; this is the meaning of the following ישועות בל נעשה we have not wrought any deliverance. We were not able to bring any deliverance.

ארץ In the earth. Supply ב; comp. בששת═ששת (Ex. 20:11).

ובל יפלו Some say, that א is omitted, as in ויפלו (Neh. 6:16); but the latter has its usual meaning (and they fell), as will be explained by me. I explain בל יפלו we could not help their falling.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.