Yesaya 7:4

7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ¹  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ²  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ³  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah.

Yesaya 10:24-25

10:24 So ⁴  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ⁵  10:25 For very soon my fury ⁶  will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction.”

Yesaya 35:4

35:4 Tell those who panic, ⁷ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ⁸ 

Yesaya 41:10-14

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ⁹ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ¹⁰ 

41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;

your adversaries ¹¹  will be reduced to nothing ¹²  and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, ¹³  you will not find them;

your enemies ¹⁴  will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

41:13 For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹⁵ 

men of ¹⁶  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ¹⁷  the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 43:1-2

The Lord Will Rescue His People

43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,

the one who created you, O Jacob,

and formed you, O Israel:

“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ¹⁹  you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ²⁰  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ²¹  you.

Yesaya 51:12-13

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ²² 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ²³ 

51:13 Why do you forget ²⁴  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ²⁵ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ²⁶ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ²⁷ 

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

[7:4]  ³ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

[10:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[10:25]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text has simply “fury,” but the pronominal element can be assumed on the basis of what immediately follows (see “my anger” in the clause). It is possible that the suffixed yod (י) has been accidentally dropped by virtual haplography. Note that a vav (ו) is prefixed to the form that immediately follows; yod and vav are very similar in later script phases.

[35:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ⁸ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[41:10]  ⁹ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ¹⁰ tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[41:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ¹² tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[41:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

[41:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

[41:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

[43:2]  ²⁰ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[51:12]  ²² tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

[51:12]  ²³ tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

[51:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ²⁷ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.