Isaiah 49:15

49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? ¹ 

Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? ² 

Even if mothers ³  were to forget,

I could never forget you! ⁴ 

Matthew 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ⁵  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ⁶  to those who ask him!

Hebrews 12:9-10

12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from ⁷  our earthly fathers ⁸  and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? ⁹  12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

¹ tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”

² tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”

³ tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

⁶ sn The provision of the good gifts is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. The teaching as a whole stresses not that we get everything we want, but that God gives the good that we need.

⁷ tn Grk “we had our earthly fathers as discipliners.”

⁸ tn Grk “the fathers of our flesh.” In Hebrews, “flesh” is a characteristic way of speaking about outward, physical, earthly life (cf. Heb 5:7; 9:10, 13), as opposed to the inward or spiritual dimensions of life.

⁹ tn Grk “and live.”