Genesis 15:1

The Cutting of the Covenant

15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield ¹  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ² 

Isaiah 41:10

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

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ³ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ⁴ 

Isaiah 54:4

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

Don’t be intimidated, ⁵  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. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 30:9-10

30:9 But they will be subject ⁷  to the Lord their God

and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them. ⁸ 

30:10 So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ⁹ 

Do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from a faraway land where you are captives. ¹⁰ 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ¹¹ 

Zephaniah 3:16-17

3:16 On that day they will say ¹²  to Jerusalem,

“Don’t be afraid, Zion!

Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ¹³ 

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ¹⁴ 

he renews you by his love; ¹⁵ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ¹⁶ 

Zechariah 8:15

8:15 so, to the contrary, I have planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and Judah – do not fear!

[15:1]  ¹ sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.

[15:1]  ² tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).

[41:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.).

[54:4]  ⁵ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ⁶ 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.

[30:9]  ⁷ tn The word “subject” in this verse and “subjugate” are from the same root word in Hebrew. A deliberate contrast is drawn between the two powers that they will serve.

[30:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and to David their king whom I will raise up for them.”

[30:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[30:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[30:10]  ¹¹ sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.

[3:16]  ¹² tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”