Discovery BoxIsaiah 49:15
Context49:15 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
Isaiah 34:15-16
Context34:15 Owls 5 will make nests and lay eggs 6 there;
they will hatch them and protect them. 7
Yes, hawks 8 will gather there,
each with its mate.
34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! 9
Not one of these creatures will be missing, 10
none will lack a mate. 11
For the Lord has issued the decree, 12
and his own spirit gathers them. 13
[49:15] 1 tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”
[49:15] 2 tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”
[49:15] 3 tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).
[49:15] 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.
[34:15] 5 tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.
[34:15] 6 tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.
[34:15] 7 tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”
[34:15] 8 tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.
[34:16] 9 tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”
[34:16] 10 tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:16] 11 tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”
[34:16] 12 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and a few medieval
[34:16] 13 tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
