Isaiah 26 · a question people ask
"The dead shall not live" (26:14), then "Your dead shall live" (26:19). Does the chapter contradict itself?
The words are the same, but the dead are not named the same way. 26:14 comes straight after "LORD our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name" (26:13), and it says of its dead, "Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish" (26:14). 26:19 speaks of "Your dead", and calls, "Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust" (26:19). The chapter doesn't say more about who either group is, or when 26:19 will be. Christians read 26:19 in more than one way, and these notes set out only what the verses say. One word fact: in Hebrew only one other verse has awake with dust: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake" (Daniel 12:2) (tap Awake).
The verses
“LORD our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name. The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.”
“Your dead shall live. Their dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.”
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”