to open wide (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
gates
שְׁעָרִ֑יםshe.'a.Rim
H8179
an opening · noun, common masculine plural absolute
righteous
צַדִּ֖יקtza.Dik
H6662
just · adjective, masculine singular absolute
nation
גוֹיgoy-
H1471
a foreign nation · noun, common masculine singular absolute
keepeth
שֹׁמֵ֥רsho.Mer
H8104
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
truth
אֱמֻנִֽים'e.mu.Nim
H529
established · adjective, masculine plural absolute
in
וְיָבֹ֥אve.ya.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us…
Psalms 118:20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
Isaiah 60:11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles…
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath…
Isaiah 62:10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard…
Isaiah 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD s…
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Psalms 106:5 That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 26:1-4
To the prophecies of gospel grace very fitly is a song annexed, in which we may give God the glory and take to ourselves the comfort of that grace: In that day, the gospel day, which the day of the victories and enlargements of the Old Testament church was typical of (to some of which perhaps this has a primary reference), in that day this song shall be sung; there shall be persons to sing it, and cause and hearts to sing it; it shall be sung in the land of Judah, which was a figure of the gospel church; for the gospel covenant is said to be made with the house of Judah, Heb 8:8. Glorious things are here said of the church of God.
I. That it is strongly fortified against those that are bad (…
Address of the returning people to the gates of Jerusalem (type of the heavenly city, Heb 12:22); (Psa 24:7, Psa 24:9; Psa 118:19). Antitypically (Rev 22:14; Rev 21:25, Rev 21:27).
righteous nation--that had not apostatized during the captivity. HORSLEY translates, "The nation of the Just One," namely, the Jews.
John Gill on Isaiah 26:2
Open ye the gates,.... Not of Jerusalem, literally understood, nor of heaven; rather of the New Jerusalem, whose gates are described, Revelation 21:12 at least of the church in the latter day; the gates or door into which now should be, and then will be, open; Christ the door, and faith in him, and a profession of it, without which none ought to be admitted, and whoever climbs up another way is a thief and a robber, John 10:1 these words are the words of the prophet, or of God, or of Christ by him, directed not to the keepers of the gates of Jerusalem, or of the doors of the temple, though, they may be alluded to; nor to any supposed doorkeeper of heaven, angels, or men, there being none suc…
Open ye the gates. This "song" was undoubtedly despised by many, when it was published by Isaiah; for during his life, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were wicked and ungodly, and the number of good men was exceedingly small. But after his death, when they had been punished for their wickedness, it was in some measure perceived that this prediction had not been uttered in vain. So long as wicked men enjoy prosperity, they have no fear, and do not imagine that they can be brought low. Thus the Jews thought that they would never be driven out of Judea, and carried into captivity, and hoped that they would continue to dwell there. It was therefore necessary to take away from them every pretense fo…
The Church Fathers
(Vers. 2-4.) Open the gates, and let the just nation enter, guarding the truth. The ancient error has gone away, you shall keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in you. You have hoped in the Lord in eternal ages. LXX: Open the gates, let the nation enter, guarding justice, and guarding truth, holding onto truth, and guarding peace: peace, because they have hoped in you, Lord, forever. This entire chant, which is sung on earth by those who confess and praise the holy ones, suddenly changes personas, and is woven as if through question and answer. The people of God said: 'The city of our strength, the Savior, will be built with a wall and a rampart in it.' The Lord replied, or rather commanded, not those who said this, but the angels who presided over the gates of the Lord's city, to open the gates so that a righteous nation, guarding the truth, may enter through them, or as it is said in Hebrew, Emmunim, which in our language is translated as faith in the plural number, not singular. What are the gates, which are opened by angels, so that the people of Judah, who are rejected, may not enter, but rather the righteous nation, which has received its name from the faith of the faithful? Indeed, those of which the saint speaks: Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord (Ps. CXVII, 19). However, no one will be able to enter these gates unless they have been freed from the gates of death; and as the Psalmist says: You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Ps. IX, 15). For when we have been saved from the gates of death, then at the gates of the daughter of Zion we will be able to sing all the praises of the Lord. And just as I consider the gates of death to be sins, of which it is said to Peter: The gates of hell shall not prevail against you (Matthew 16:18); so the gates of righteousness, all the works of virtue, whoever enters them will find one gate, of which it is said: This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter it (Psalm 118:19). And how is it that through many pearls one arrives at one pearl: so through many paths and gates we come to Him who says He is the way and the gate, through which we enter to the Father. After the word of God, the people answered in Hebrew 'Jeser Samuch' (which Aquila and Symmachus similarly…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
In Isa 26:1 this city is thought of as still empty: for, like paradise, in which man was placed, it is first of all a creation of God; and hence the exclamation in Isa 26:2 : "Open ye the gates, that a righteous people may enter, one keeping truthfulness." The cry is a heavenly one; and those who open, if indeed we are at liberty to inquire who they are, must be angels. We recall to mind Psa 24:1-10, but the scene is a different one. The author of Ps 118 has given individuality to this passage in Psa 118:19, Psa 118:20. Goi tzaddik (a righteous nation) is the church of the righteous, as in Isa 24:16. Goi (nation) is used here, as in Isa 26:15 and Isa 9:2, with reference to Israel, which has…
Open access is given to all who, like God and his Messiah, are righteous and faithful. The citizens of true Zion are committed to the Lord.
Rashi on Isaiah 26:2
Open the gates I.e., open her gates, and let a righteous nation,
awaiting, that waited and longed in its exile many days for the faith of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He fulfill His promise through His prophets, to redeem them.
awaiting (שֹׁמֵר) waiting. Comp. (Gen. 37:11) “And his father awaited (שָׁמַר) the matter.” Similarly (Deut. 7:12), “And the Lord, your God, shall await (וְשָׁמַר) the covenant for you.”
