Yesaya 54:4-5

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

Don’t be intimidated, ¹  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. ² 

54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

[54:4]  ¹ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ² 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.

[54:5]  ³ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:5]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.