51:13 Why do you forget 1 the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky 2
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long 3
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor? 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
1 tn Heb “and that you forget.”
2 tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
3 tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”
4 tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.
5 tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”
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.