The thought of the previous verse continues into this one. There is parallelism between verses 7a and 8ab, and between verses 7b and 8c.

In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you describes the intensity of God’s anger with his people, an anger that led to their exile. But his anger was only temporary, which is emphasized by the repetition of for a moment from verse 7 (compare Psa 30.5). Overflowing wrath means God could not contain his anger any longer because of the extent of his people’s disobedience, so it spilled over. The Hebrew text uses assonance here to highlight the intensity of his anger: shetsef qetsef (literally “flood of anger”). New International Version says “a surge of anger” (similarly Revised English Bible). I hid my face from you is a figure of speech that means God abandoned his people and let them suffer (see the comments on 8.17; see also 1.15; 57.17). Good News Translation translates this line nonfiguratively, saying “I turned away angry for only a moment.” Good News Translation omits the idea of overflowing, so a better rendering would be “I turned away very angrily from you for only a moment.” Contemporary English Version has “For a while, I turned away in furious anger.”

But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you contrasts with the previous two lines. God’s discipline never overrides his tender love. The Hebrew phrase rendered everlasting love includes the term chesed, which refers to God’s unending covenant love for his people in this context. Revised Standard Version often renders this term as “steadfast love” (see the comments on 16.5, where it is used without the word for everlasting). The Hebrew verb translated have compassion comes from the same root as the noun rendered “compassion” in the previous verse (see the comments there).

As in the previous verse, most versions use past tense in the first half of this verse (hid), but future tense in the contrasting line (will have compassion). Bible en français courant has present tense again in the contrasting line, which is valid.

Says the LORD, your Redeemer is a reminder that these words are Yahweh’s promises. Says may be rendered “promises,” since it carries that sense here. Your Redeemer links these promises to the rescue of Israel from exile (see verse 5). For this line Good News Translation has “So says the LORD who saves you,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “That is what I say, I, the LORD who sets you free.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• I turned away from you for a brief time in furious anger,
but I will have compassion on you because of my everlasting love for you.”
This is what Yahweh your Redeemer promises.

• For just a short time I turned away very angrily from you,
but because of my eternal love for you I will have compassion on you,”
says Yahweh, the one who will rescue you.

• Yahweh, the one who will rescue you, says:
“For just a short time I turned away very angrily from you,
but because of my eternal love for you I will have compassion on you.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .