Isaiah 12:2 and Isaiah 26:4: the doubled name

Isaiah 12:2 and Isaiah 26:4 are the two verses in Isaiah where the Hebrew places the short form of God’s name, Yah, directly before the full four-letter name. The effect is a doubled name, something like “Yah Yahweh”, and it lays heavy stress on who God is. The King James Version renders it “the Lord JEHOVAH”, which is why both verses are among the seven places where that version prints the name. The American Standard Version renders it “Jehovah, even Jehovah”. Both verses come in songs, and both are about trust. Isaiah 12:2 belongs to a short hymn of thanksgiving for salvation that closes the first great section of the book and echoes the song Moses sang at the Red Sea. Isaiah 26:4 calls God’s people to trust him for ever because he is an everlasting rock. The doubled name answers the question every anxious believer asks: who is it that I am being asked to trust?

What the Hebrew doubles, and how translators handle it

Yah is a short, poetic form of the divine name. It appears on its own in some psalms and in the word hallelujah, “praise Yah”. In these two verses of Isaiah, it stands side by side with the full name, and the translators have had to decide how to carry the repetition into English.

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

— Isaiah 12:2 (KJV)

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation.

— Isaiah 12:2 (ASV)

The King James translators used “Lord” for Yah and printed the full name after it. The American revisers of 1901, who printed Jehovah throughout the Old Testament, used the name twice with “even” between, which keeps the repetition audible. The Berean Standard Bible reads “the LORD GOD”, following the convention explained in Why most English Bibles print LORD. None of these is a perfect match for the Hebrew, but each tries to show the reader that the name is being emphasised, not simply mentioned.

Isaiah 12: a song for the day of salvation

Isaiah 12 is a short psalm set at the end of chapters 1 to 12, a section that moves from Judah’s sin through judgement to the promise of a coming King from the line of Jesse. The song is what the redeemed will sing “in that day”.

And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me.

— Isaiah 12:1 (ASV)

The words of verse 2 are drawn almost exactly from the song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea, where the Hebrew also has the short form Yah.

Jehovah is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father’s God, and I will exalt him.

— Exodus 15:2 (ASV)

Isaiah’s point is that the salvation still to come will be a new exodus. The God who brought Israel out of Egypt will act again, and his people will sing the old song with fresh meaning. The word for salvation here, yeshuah, is closely related to the name Isaiah, which means “Jehovah is salvation”, and to the name Joshua, of which Jesus is the Greek form. Christian readers have always heard in this chapter a song that finds its fullest answer in the Saviour.

And in that day shall ye say, Give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name, declare his doings among the peoples, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto Jehovah; for he hath done excellent things: let this be known in all the earth. Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel.

— Isaiah 12:4-6 (ASV)

The song ends where Isaiah’s whole message begins, with the Holy One of Israel, now not a threat but a presence in the midst of his people.

Isaiah 26: the everlasting rock

Isaiah 26 is another song for “that day”, sung in the land of Judah about a strong city whose walls are salvation. At its centre is a call to trust.

Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:

— Isaiah 26:4 (KJV)

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in Jehovah for ever; for in Jehovah, even Jehovah, is an everlasting rock.

— Isaiah 26:3-4 (ASV)

The King James text says “everlasting strength”, but its margin notes that the Hebrew reads “the rock of ages”. That marginal phrase gave Augustus Toplady the title of his well-known hymn. The image is of a rock that has stood through every age and will stand through every age to come. The doubled name makes the reason plain: the one who is to be trusted for ever is the God whose very name speaks of his unchanging being. Verse 3 adds the promise that goes with the call. The mind that is fixed on him is kept in peace, literally “peace, peace”, another doubling. The entry The name Jehovah in hymns traces how these words passed into Christian song.

Learning to trust with these two verses

Both verses are written in the first person or as a direct call, and both are meant to be said, not only studied. A practical way to use them is to learn them by heart in one translation and then to say them in moments of fear. Isaiah 12:2 moves from fear to trust by naming who God is: “I will trust, and will not be afraid”, not because the danger is small but because the name is great. Isaiah 26:4 sets that trust on a foundation that does not move.

It also helps to read each verse in its whole chapter, since the songs look back to what God has done and forward to what he has promised. Trust in Scripture is never a leap into the dark; it rests on the record of God’s acts.

Where Christians differ

Faithful interpreters have understood “that day” in these songs in more than one way. Some see a first fulfilment in Judah’s return from exile, others read the songs chiefly of the coming of Christ, and others of the final restoration at his return. Many hold that all three belong together, each fulfilment pointing to the next. The songs themselves are clear on the main thing: salvation belongs to God, and his name is the ground of trust.

For reflection

Pray Isaiah 12 aloud as a song of thanks, and Isaiah 26:3–4 as a prayer for a steady mind. Sing “Rock of Ages” or another hymn built on these words with your church, and let the doubled name remind you that the God who saves is the same yesterday, today and for ever.

References

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906).
C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Isaiah (1866–1891).
Gesenius, Hebrew Grammar (ed. Kautzsch, 1910).
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710).
John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (1551).