Mazmur 102:14

102:14 Indeed, ¹  your servants take delight in her stones,

and feel compassion for ²  the dust of her ruins. ³ 

Yesaya 49:15

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? ⁴ 

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? ⁵ 

Even if mothers ⁶  were to forget,

I could never forget you! ⁷ 

[102:14]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[102:14]  ² tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.

[102:14]  ³ tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.

[49:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”

[49:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”

[49:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).

[49:15]  ⁷ 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.