Bible Strands
Isaiah 26:15
You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers Yahweh’s declaration to Israel, contrasting the permanent destruction of the dead with God’s past acts of national expansion.
The words — יָסַפְתָּ (ya.Saf.ta) literally means "you have added," and רִחַקְתָּ (ri.Chak.ta) means "you have extended."
The thread — The motif of national enlargement and border extension aligns with the Abrahamic promises in Genesis 12:2 and Genesis 13:16, and mirrors the language of Isaiah 9:3.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that territorial expansion and national glory originate from God alone, directing attribution away from human effort.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 9:3 You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people rejoice before You as they rejoice at harvest time, as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.
- Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Genesis 13:16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Numbers 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”
- Deuteronomy 10:22 Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Nehemiah 9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
- Isaiah 33:17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar.
- Isaiah 44:23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel.
- Isaiah 54:2 “Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.
- Isaiah 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.