Genesis 30:23

30:23 She became pregnant ¹  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ² 

Genesis 30:1

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ³  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ⁴  or I’ll die!”

Genesis 1:6

1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse ⁵  in the midst of the waters and let it separate water ⁶  from water.

Isaiah 4:1

4:1 Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time. ⁷ 

They will say, “We will provide ⁸  our own food,

we will provide ⁹  our own clothes;

but let us belong to you ¹⁰  –

take away our shame!” ¹¹ 

Isaiah 54:1-4

Zion Will Be Secure

54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!

Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one are more numerous

than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

54:2 Make your tent larger,

stretch your tent curtains farther out! ¹² 

Spare no effort,

lengthen your ropes,

and pound your stakes deep. ¹³ 

54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your children will conquer ¹⁴  nations

and will resettle desolate cities.

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

Don’t be intimidated, ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶ 

[30:23]  ¹ tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  ² tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.

[30:1]  ³ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

[1:6]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.”

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the waters from the waters.”

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Or “in that day” (ASV).

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.

[4:1]  ¹¹ sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.

[54:2]  ¹² tn Heb “the curtains of our dwelling places let them stretch out.”

[54:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “your stakes strengthen.”

[54:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “take possession of”; NAB “shall dispossess.”

[54:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ¹⁶ 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.