Isaiah 26:13 (WEB)

Passage

Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 26:11 Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.

Isaiah 26:12 Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.

Isaiah 26:13 Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.

Isaiah 26:14 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.

Isaiah 26:15 You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "yahweh", "other", "lords", "besides", "dominion", "over", "only", and "make". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "yahweh" and "other", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Yahweh you will ordain peace for us..." into verse 14's "The dead shall not live The departed...", so "yahweh" and "other" 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 "yahweh" and "other" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.