Isaiah 26:8

26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, ¹ 

O Lord, we wait for you.

We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ² 

Isaiah 26:14

26:14 The dead do not come back to life,

the spirits of the dead do not rise. ³ 

That is because ⁴  you came in judgment ⁵  and destroyed them,

you wiped out all memory of them.

[26:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.

[26:8]  ² tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”

[26:14]  ³ sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.

[26:14]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.

[26:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”