Discovery BoxIsaiah 54:14-17 
Context54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. 1
You will not experience oppression; 2
indeed, you will not be afraid.
You will not be terrified, 3
for nothing frightening 4 will come near you.
54:15 If anyone dares to 5 challenge you, it will not be my doing!
Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. 6
54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,
who fans the coals into a fire
and forges a weapon. 7
I create the destroyer so he might devastate.
54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;
you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. 8
This is what the Lord will do for his servants –
I will vindicate them,” 9
says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “in righteousness [or “vindication”] you will be established.” The precise meaning of צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) here is uncertain. It could mean “righteousness, justice,” indicating that the city will be a center for justice. But the context focuses on deliverance, suggesting that the term means “deliverance, vindication” here.
2 tn Heb “Be far from oppression!” The imperative is used here in a rhetorical manner to express certainty and assurance. See GKC 324 §110.c.
3 tn Heb “from terror.” The rhetorical command, “be far” is understood by ellipsis here. Note the preceding context.
4 tn Heb “it,” i.e., the “terror” just mentioned.
5 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.
6 tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”
7 tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”
8 tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”
9 tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”
