en_tn/isa/26/18.md

General Information:

Isaiah continues to compare the suffering of the people of Judah to a woman giving birth. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)

but it is as if we have only given birth to wind

"but it is as if we have only given birth to air" or "it is like we gave birth to nothing." This is a simile that emphasizes that the people's suffering resulted in nothing. AT: "but nothing good resulted from it" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile)

We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen

Here "earth" represents the people who live on the earth. The meaning is unclear, but it seems to mean that the people of Israel have not been able to save themselves or other people by defeating their enemy in battle. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit)

We have not brought salvation to the earth

This can be reworded so that the abstract noun "salvation" is expressed as the verb "save." AT: "We have not saved the inhabitants of the earth" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-abstractnouns)

and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen

"nor have we caused the wicked people of the world to fall in battle"