Yesaya 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ¹  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ²  and humiliation, ³  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ⁴ 

Yesaya 37:22

37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: ⁵ 

“The virgin daughter Zion ⁶ 

despises you – she makes fun of you;

daughter Jerusalem

shakes her head after you. ⁷ 

Yesaya 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ⁸ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Yesaya 54:4

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

Don’t be intimidated, ⁹  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. ¹⁰ 

[37:3]  ¹ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ² tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ³ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

[37:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

[37:22]  ⁶ sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.

[37:22]  ⁷ sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.

[51:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[54:4]  ⁹ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ¹⁰ 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.