Yesaya 49:15

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? ¹ 

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? ² 

Even if mothers ³  were to forget,

I could never forget you! ⁴ 

Yesaya 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ⁵  to your king, ⁶ 

along with many perfumes. ⁷ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ⁸ 

Yesaya 66:16

66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity ⁹ 

with fire and his sword;

the Lord will kill many. ¹⁰ 

[49:15]  ¹ tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”

[49:15]  ² tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”

[49:15]  ³ tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).

[49:15]  ⁴ sn The argument of v. 15 seems to develop as follows: The Lord has an innate attachment to Zion, just like a mother does for her infant child. But even if mothers were to suddenly abandon their children, the Lord would never forsake Zion. In other words, the Lord’s attachment to Zion is like a mother’s attachment to her infant child, but even stronger.

[57:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ⁸ sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[66:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

[66:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”