Text -- Isaiah 54:14-17 (NET)

54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. You will not experience oppression; indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified, for nothing frightening will come near you. 54:15 If anyone dares to challenge you, it will not be my doing! Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. 54:16 Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon. I create the destroyer so he might devastate. 54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed; you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. This is what the Lord will do for his servants– I will vindicate them,” says the Lord.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 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.

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.

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

⁴ tn Heb “it,” i.e., the “terror” just mentioned.

NET Notes: Isa 54:15

¹ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.

² tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”

NET Notes: Isa 54:16

¹ tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”

NET Notes: Isa 54:17

¹ tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

² tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”