Isaiah 26:17 (ASV)

Passage

Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been before thee, O Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 26:15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified; thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land.

Isaiah 26:16 Jehovah, in trouble have they visited thee; they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening was upon them.

Isaiah 26:17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been before thee, O Jehovah.

Isaiah 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.

Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is [as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "like", "woman", "child", "draweth", "near", "time", "delivery", and "pain". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "like" and "woman", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Jehovah in trouble have they visited thee..." into verse 18's "We have been with child we have...", so "like" and "woman" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "like" and "woman" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.