Yesaya 54:14

54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. ¹ 

You will not experience oppression; ² 

indeed, you will not be afraid.

You will not be terrified, ³ 

for nothing frightening ⁴  will come near you.

Yesaya 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ⁵ 

men of ⁶  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ⁷  the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ 

Yesaya 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ⁹ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Yesaya 54:4

54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ¹⁰  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 57:11

57:11 Whom are you worried about?

Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully

and not remember me

or think about me? ¹² 

Because I have been silent for so long, ¹³ 

you are not afraid of me. ¹⁴ 

[54:14]  ¹ tn Heb “in righteousness [or “vindication”] you will be established.” The precise meaning of צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) here is uncertain. It could mean “righteousness, justice,” indicating that the city will be a center for justice. But the context focuses on deliverance, suggesting that the term means “deliverance, vindication” here.

[54:14]  ² tn Heb “Be far from oppression!” The imperative is used here in a rhetorical manner to express certainty and assurance. See GKC 324 §110.c.

[54:14]  ³ tn Heb “from terror.” The rhetorical command, “be far” is understood by ellipsis here. Note the preceding context.

[54:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “it,” i.e., the “terror” just mentioned.

[41:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ⁶ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[40:9]  ⁹ tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.

[54:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ¹¹ tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.

[57:11]  ¹² tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”

[57:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”

[57:11]  ¹⁴ sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.