Within the subsection of 26.7-19, verses 16-19 present a sudden change in tone. The prophet laments that Yahweh caused the people of Judah to suffer, but there was no positive result. The metaphor of a pregnant woman failing to bear a child is unusual but effective. However, verse 19 ends on a positive note: all the dead among God’s people will rise and sing for joy. Contemporary English Version places a section heading here, covering verses 16-20: “The LORD Gives Life to the Dead.”
Verse 16 is a particularly difficult verse because of several exegetical and textual problems. One problem is identifying the referent for the pronouns they and them. Because it is difficult to do this, some translations have changed these third person plural pronouns to “we” and “us” for consistency with verses 17-18. Some early Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint make this change, and so do Revised English Bible and New American Bible. Dead Sea Scrolls supports Masoretic Text in retaining the third person plural pronouns, and this is cautiously endorsed by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. So there is little reason to make a change. But who is the referent for these pronouns? De~Waard suggests that these pronouns are impersonal, meaning “people” in general. Good News Translation believes they refer to God’s people by saying “your people” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Bible en français courant (1997) has this footnote: “They is a reference, no doubt, to the members of God’s people.” Since footnotes do not throw light on a text during public reading, Good News Translation‘s model is better.
O LORD, in distress they sought thee: There is no context for determining what the specific distress was but it is clear Yahweh caused it. The Hebrew verb rendered sought comes from a root meaning “to number” or “to visit,” often in the sense of “to punish.” Normally it is the LORD who “visits” (see verse 14). Most translations take the verb to mean that the people seek Yahweh. For this line New International Version has “LORD, they came to you in their distress,” meaning that they came looking for help, which may be clarified in translation (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
They poured out a prayer: The word prayer is literally “whisper” or even “incantation.” However, in light of the illustration that follows, describing a woman crying out during childbirth, “whisper” seems quite inappropriate. New International Version has “whisper,” but combines it with prayer by saying “they could barely whisper a prayer.” Bible en français courant (1997) is similar with “they murmured prayers.” The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered poured out is also uncertain. It can come from two possible roots, one meaning “to pour out” and the other “to constrain/pressure.” Most versions choose the first sense. An additional problem concerning this Hebrew word is that it could be either a verb or a noun. As a noun, it means “anguish” (so NJPSV footnote|prj:NJPS.Isa 26.16). This line may be rendered “they cried out in anguish” (similarly Good News Translation, New American Bible) or “they uttered an anguished prayer.”
When thy chastening was upon them means that Yahweh disciplined them. A possible model for this line is “when you punished them.”
Translation examples for this verse are:
• O Yahweh, when they [or, your people] were distressed, they turned to you for help,
pouring out their anguished prayer when you disciplined them.
• O Yahweh, they appealed to you for help when they were in distress;
when you disciplined them, they uttered an anguished prayer.
• O Yahweh, in their distress they sought your help;
when you punished them, they turned to you in prayer.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .