Isaiah 49:15 kjv
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Isaiah 49:15 nkjv
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
Isaiah 49:15 niv
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
Isaiah 49:15 esv
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Isaiah 49:15 nlt
"Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
Isaiah 49 15 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah 49:14 | "But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me..." | Strong connection |
| Jeremiah 31:20 | "Is Ephraim my dear son? ... my bowels are troubled for him." | Echoes parental affection |
| Psalm 139:13-16 | "For you created my inmost being..." | God's intimate knowledge |
| Matthew 6:26 | "Behold the fowls of the air..." | God's care for creation |
| Luke 12:7 | "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered." | God's detailed care |
| Romans 8:35, 38-39 | "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" | Unfading divine love |
| 1 Corinthians 13:8 | "Love never ends." | Eternal nature of love |
| Ephesians 3:18-19 | "...to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge..." | Boundless love of Christ |
| 1 John 4:16 | "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love..." | God's essential nature |
| Psalm 27:10 | "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me in." | Divine refuge |
| Jeremiah 2:2 | "I remember the devotion of your youth..." | God remembers faithfulness |
| Isaiah 54:10 | "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but my steadfast love will not be removed from you..." | God's steadfast love |
| Hebrews 13:5 | "I will never leave you nor forsake you." | Assurance of God's presence |
| Hosea 11:8-9 | "How can I give you up, O Ephraim? ... my heart recoils within me." | God's tender mercy |
| Matthew 11:28 | "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." | Invitation to solace |
| Isaiah 66:13 | "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you..." | Fulfillment of comfort |
| John 13:1 | "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." | Ultimate love |
| Philippians 1:6 | "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will continue to complete it..." | God's faithfulness in completion |
| 1 Peter 5:7 | "Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." | Entrusting to God's care |
| Revelation 21:3-4 | "He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them..." | Final presence and comfort |
Isaiah 49 verses
Isaiah 49 15 Meaning
The verse expresses God's unwavering love and remembrance for His people, even in times when they feel forgotten or abandoned, likening His faithfulness to a mother's nurturing care, which He promises will never cease.
Isaiah 49 15 Context
This verse is found in Isaiah 49, a chapter often understood as a significant messianic prophecy, speaking through the Suffering Servant. The preceding verses depict Israel's sense of abandonment by God and God's strong assertion that He has not forgotten them, but rather they have sinned against Him. Verse 15 directly counters this feeling of desertion by using a powerful analogy of maternal love to illustrate the immutability of God's commitment to His people, especially in the context of their restoration after exile. This chapter's theme of enduring love and promised restoration is pivotal for understanding the hope presented to the post-exilic community of Judah, and for Christians, it points to the unshakeable love of God through Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 49 15 Word Analysis
Can - Indicates ability, not just willingness.
a - Indefinite article, focusing on the nature of the love rather than a specific instance.
woman - Refers to a mother, a quintessential symbol of nurturing and unbreakable affection.
forget - To cease to remember, to neglect or abandon. God explicitly denies this capacity regarding His people.
her - Possessive pronoun, linking the act of forgetting to the mother.
sucking - Refers to the nurturing act of breastfeeding, emphasizing a deep, physical, and life-giving bond.
child - The infant or young child, entirely dependent on the mother.
of - Preposition showing relationship or belonging.
her - Possessive pronoun, referring to the mother.
womb - The place of conception and gestation, symbolizing the most intimate beginnings of life and connection.
yea - An intensifier, emphasizing the certainty and profoundness of the mother's love.
they - Refers back to mothers.
may - Indicates possibility, but in the context of extreme unlikelihood.
forget - The same verb as before, underscoring the comparison's focus on remembrance.
yet - A conjunction introducing a strong contrast.
will - Future tense, indicating certainty and commitment from God.
I - Refers to God.
not - Negation, absolutely denying the possibility of forgetting.
forget - The final usage of the verb, reinforcing God's eternal remembrance.
thee - Archaic form of "you" (singular, objective), directly addressing His people or the individual believer.
Grouped words: "Can a woman forget her sucking child...Yea, they may forget..." - This comparative phrase establishes an extreme scenario of natural affection. The unthinkability of a mother forgetting her nursing infant is presented as a standard of human love that even God's love surpasses. It highlights the primal, life-sustaining bond of a mother for her dependent child.
Grouped words: "Yet will I not forget thee." - This is the climactic statement. It takes the natural human mother-child bond as its baseline for love and commitment, then declares that God's commitment is even stronger, exceeding that earthly standard by never forgetting His people.
Isaiah 49 15 Bonus Section
The prophet Isaiah frequently uses maternal imagery to describe God's relationship with Israel (e.g., Isaiah 66:13, "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you"). This trope was significant in ancient Near Eastern cultures where fertility and maternal protection were often associated with deities. However, Isaiah's depiction emphasizes Yahweh as the ultimate source of this nurturing care, surpassing even human parental bonds. The messianic interpretation often connects this to Jesus' tenderness and his promises of comfort and rest (Matthew 11:28-30). The verse underscores that God's love is not conditional on human merit or presence, but is a foundational aspect of His very being.
Isaiah 49 15 Commentary
This verse provides profound reassurance to anyone who feels abandoned by God. By comparing His steadfastness to the exceptional love of a mother for her nursing infant, God paints a picture of intense, life-giving, and inescapable commitment. The imagery is vivid: a mother's care for her helpless baby, directly from the womb, is depicted as natural and undeniable. Yet, the verse emphasizes that even in the unthinkable scenario of a mother forgetting, God's commitment to His people remains absolute and unwavering. This highlights God's personal knowledge of and deep affection for each individual, a love that endures through all circumstances, providing an anchor for faith in times of doubt and desolation.