1 Corinthians 15:20

15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Isaiah 26:19

26:19 ¹ Your dead will come back to life;

your corpses will rise up.

Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! ² 

For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, ³ 

and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. ⁴ 

Isaiah 26:1

Judah Will Celebrate

26:1 At that time ⁵  this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city!

The Lord’s ⁶  deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. ⁷ 

Isaiah 4:1

4:1 Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time. ⁸ 

They will say, “We will provide ⁹  our own food,

we will provide ¹⁰  our own clothes;

but let us belong to you ¹¹  –

take away our shame!” ¹² 

[26:19]  ¹ sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.

[26:19]  ² tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[26:19]  ³ tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.

[26:19]  ⁴ sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).

[26:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).

[26:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Or “in that day” (ASV).

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.

[4:1]  ¹² sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.