Yesaya 30:26

30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare

and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,

like the light of seven days, ¹ 

when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ² 

and heals their severe wound. ³ 

Yeremia 15:18

15:18 Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?

Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?

Will you let me down when I need you

like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?” ⁴ 

[30:26]  ¹ sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).

[30:26]  ² tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).

[30:26]  sn The Lord is here compared to a physician setting a broken bone in a bandage or cast.

[30:26]  ³ tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”

[15:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “Will you be to me like a deceptive (brook), like waters which do not last [or are not reliable].”

[15:18]  sn Jeremiah is speaking of the stream beds or wadis which fill with water after the spring rains but often dry up in the summer time. A fuller picture is painted in Job 6:14-21. This contrasts with the earlier metaphor that God had used of himself in Jer 2:13.