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 

Isaiah 65:20

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ⁵ 

or an old man die before his time. ⁶ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ⁷ 

anyone who fails to reach ⁸  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

[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.

[65:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”