Isaiah 26:17 (GNV)

Passage

Like as a woman with childe, that draweth neere to the trauaile, is in sorow, and cryeth in her paines, so haue we bene in thy sight, O Lord.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 26:15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord: thou hast increased the nation: thou art made glorious: thou hast enlarged all the coastes of the earth.

Isaiah 26:16 Lord, in trouble haue they visited thee: they powred out a prayer when thy chastening was vpon them.

Isaiah 26:17 Like as a woman with childe, that draweth neere to the trauaile, is in sorow, and cryeth in her paines, so haue we bene in thy sight, O Lord.

Isaiah 26:18 We haue coceiued, we haue borne in paine, as though we should haue brought forth winde: there was no helpe in the earth, neither did the inhabitants of the world fall.

Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall liue: euen with my body shall they rise. Awake, and sing, ye that dwel in dust: for thy dewe is as the dew of herbes, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "like", "woman", "childe", "draweth", "neere", "trauaile", "sorow", and "cryeth". 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 "Lord in trouble haue they visited thee..." into verse 18's "We haue coceiued we haue borne in...", 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.