Isaiah 47:8-9

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ² 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ³ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ⁴ 

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ⁵ 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ⁶ 

despite ⁷  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ⁸ 

Isaiah 54:4

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

Don’t be intimidated, ⁹  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. ¹⁰ 

Revelation 18:7

18:7 As much as ¹¹  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ¹²  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ¹³  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

[47:8]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ² tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ³ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[47:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ⁷ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ⁸ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.

[54:4]  ⁹ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ¹⁰ 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.

[18:7]  ¹¹ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ¹² tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ¹³ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.