We are getting close to the end of Greek Isaiah in a Year. This week and next week cover Isaiah 55:7-Isaiah 58:9.
Below is the text from R.R. Ottley’s Book of Isaiah According to the Septuagint. Ottley is also here in Logos (reviewed here) and here as a free, downloadable pdf in the public domain. The full reading plan for our group is here (pdf).
See here for more resources and links to texts for Greek Isaiah.
Continue reading “Greek Isaiah in a Year, Weeks 45 and 46 (Isaiah 55:7-Isaiah 58:9)”
Look at that! It’s an all-Greek Bible. Just like the one Jesus carried around! Okay, not quite, but it is very good to see the Greek Septuagint and the Greek New Testament together under one cover. Augustine would be pleased:
For Greek aficionados—a 2-in-1 resource that’s designed specifically for extensive research, textual criticism, and other academic endeavors. Featuring both the Rahlfs-Hanhart Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) and the 28th edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, this user-friendly tool includes critical apparatus, cross-references, and more. 3216 pages, hardcover from German Bible Society.
It’s a mere three pounds (in weight, not price). Amazon lists its dimensions as 7.5 x 5.7 x 2.8 inches.
This impressive edition is two previously published Greek texts put together in one cover. It’s obviously thicker than the Septuagint alone, and just a little bigger in length and width. Here are the two side by side: the Septuagint alone on the right, and its “upgrade” version (with GNT) on the left:
Before receiving the volume, I was concerned that its 3,000+ pages would defeat Alfred Rahlfs’s initial intention to have a Handausgabe (i.e., a manual and portable edition). Indeed, Hanhart’s “Introductory Remarks to the Revised Edition” translate Handausgabe as “pocket-edition,” which this is decidedly not. (It would fit nicely in a purse or man-purse, though.) That said, the addition of the Greek New Testament really does not add a lot of bulk, as Rahlfs-Hanhart was already more than 2,000 pages. Biblia Graeca is still a (fairly) portable edition, though, if not literally pocket-sized. The sewn binding and hard cover appear that they will hold up under regular use. Here are v. 1.0 (LXX only) and v. 2.0 (LXX+GNT) stacked on top of each other:
You can barely make it out from the above photo, but the LXX/GNT combo comes (wisely) with two ribbon markers. Was it a coincidence that mine were both placed at the beginning of Odes? I think not.
Rahlfs has not been re-typeset, so its Greek font is not as crisp or readable as that of the New Testament portion. Compare:
Here now is the Greek in the New Testament portion, which is clear and crisp:
After reading enough Septuagint, one does get used to the Rahlfs font. It’s not too bad.
Always a concern with Bibles this big is that the requisite thin pages will mean bleed-through of text from the reverse side. This is noticeable to a degree here, but not in a way that negatively affects reading:
The Rahlfs-Hanhart edition is not the go-to for extensive text-critical research that the Göttingen editions are, where they are present (on which, see my posts here and here on using Göttingen). Rahlfs is still useful, though, because it contains an entire Septuagint text, whereas Göttingen (published as individual volumes) does not.
It is probably the best starting place for readers of the Septuagint, even with its deliberately more limited apparatus. It is best thought of as a “semi-critical edition,” as noted here. Rahlfs “reconstructs” the text using, primarily, Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Sinaiticus (S or א), and Codex Alexandrinus (A), a methodology that the revisor, Robert Hanhart, honors. Here is the apparatus for the first page, covering Genesis 1:1-14. This is a funny case, because of how much of Genesis is missing in B, so Genesis 1-46:28 up through the Greek word ηρωων is just based on A here. The rest (from πολιν in 46:28 to the end, chapter 50) take into account B and A.
Preceding the actual text and apparatus are Hanhart’s 2005 “Introductory Remarks to the Revised Edition” in German, English, and Greek. Then in German, English, Latin, and Greek follow three more sections: (1) Rahlfs’s “Editor’s Preface,” (2) an illuminating 10-page essay, “History of the Septuagint Text”, and (3) Explanation of Symbols. Everything you need to get started reading the Septuagint (minus the Greek lessons) is here.
What about the updated NA28? In short:
The long-awaited 28th edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece has now been published. Once again the editors thoroughly examined the critical apparatus and they introduced more than 30 textual changes in the Catholic Letters, reflecting recent comprehensive collations. With the intent to make this book more user-friendly, the editors also revised the introductions and provided more explanations in English. This concise edition of the Greek New Testament, which has now grown to 1,000 pages, will continue to play a leading role in academic teaching and scholarly exegesis.
The NA28 has its own snazzy site here. (What a day we live in, when a Greek Bible gets its own Website! Its writers would be amazed.) Recent text-critical work on the New Testament has led to revisions in the Catholic Letters, but not elsewhere. So the Gospels and Pauline epistles, for example, retain the same text as the NA27. However, there are changes that affect the whole edition, as the publisher points out:
- Newly discovered Papyri listed
- Distinction between consistently cited witnesses of the first and second order abandoned
- Apparatus notes systematically checked
- Imprecise notes abandoned
- Previously concatenated notes now cited separately
- Inserted Latin texts reduced and translated
- References thoroughly revised
As for the textual differences themselves, those are explained and listed here. There are more details to be digested about the new NA28 edition. I can do no better than to refer you to the writings/reviews of Larry Hurtado, Rick Brannan, Daniel Wallace, and Peter Williams.
All the quick-reference inserts you need to make sense of symbols and abbreviations are included:
The product page for the beautiful Biblia Graeca is here for CBD, here at the German Bible Society, here at Hendrickson, and here for Amazon. And, best yet, you can look at a sample of the book here. If it’s just the text (and not the apparatuses) that you’re interested in, you can read the NA28 online here and the Rahlfs-Hanhart Septuagint here.
Rahlfs wrote in his preface that he sought to “provide ministers and students with a reliable edition of the Septuagint at a moderate price.” If you click the links above, you will see that this is not “a moderate price.” It’s significantly cheaper to buy the same critical editions of each Testament under separate cover.
But there are at least two major advantages to putting them together. First, when the New Testament writers quoted Scripture, they predominantly did so in a form that is closer to what we have now in a Septuagint text. Comparing a quotation (in Greek) with its source (in Greek) is facilitated by this edition. Second, that this edition exists is an important symbolic statement. Lovers of the Septuagint are fond of affirming that it was the Bible of the early Church. If that is so, why can we not have one, too? Now we can, printed and bound in a way that would shock the pre-printing press world that first heard all these Scriptures together when gathered for worship.
Professor Ferdinand Hitzig has often been quoted saying, “Gentlemen!” (and today, he would say, “Ladies!” too) “Have you a Septuagint? If not, sell all you have, and buy a Septuagint.”
In true biblical storytelling fashion, he is using hyperbole to communicate his point. But for those who are so inclined and able, if selling a few things to get a Septuagint is a good idea, how much more might someone like Hitzig encourage them to sell a few things for the Biblia Graeca?
Christians believe that the Septuagint has come to full fruition through the New Testament.
So it only makes sense to be binding the two together.
Many thanks to Hendrickson for the privilege of reviewing this fine work. A copy came my way for review, but with no expectation as to the nature of my review, except that it be honest.
As I read Isaiah 22:19 recently, I had a question about a rarely occurring word in that verse. The Greek reads:
καὶ ἀφαιρεθήσῃ ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς στάσεώς σου.
(And you will be removed from your office and from your post.)
The word οἰκονομία occurs in the Septuagint only here and two verses later. In the New Testament it appears just nine times.
A traditional lexicon (like LEH or LSJ) can give useful information about the word, but not necessarily any information about the underlying Hebrew. Continue reading “Review of A Greek-Hebrew/Aramaic Two-way Index to the Septuagint by T. Muraoka”
It’s the September Septuagint Studies Soirée! Come on in–you won’t have to stay long. It was a quiet month in the Septuagint blogosphere, at least as far as I could find. Everyone is back to school, it seems. But there are still some noteworthy posts.
Suzanne at BLT (Bible*Literature*Translation) wrote about “several curious matters in the vocabulary of Amos 6:1 in Hebrew, in Greek and in English.” It was an early September post, but that verse was included in the OT lectionary reading for today, incidentally.
James Dowden also posted about the vocabulary and translation of a single verse (or part of a verse): Lamentations 3:35a. This one compares Hebrew, Greek, English, and Welsh.
“Where is the center of gravity for LXX studies?” asked T. Michael Law. It’s a spot that may still be “for the taking,” in his analysis. TML also announced a new series on the history of interpretation of the Apocrypha, by Oxford University Press. He and David Lincicum are editing it together.
John Meade posted two parts of a response to Law’s When God Spoke Greek. In part the first he inquires as to just what kind of a book it is. Part the second focuses on the vexing question of canonization and seeks to “interact with a crucial part of chapter three [of Law’s book]: Was there a Bible before the Bible?” Meade promises future posts on the book.
A Septuagint symposium called “Looking Ahead for Dialogue. A Multiplicity of Approaches in Septuagint Studies” will be taking place in Belgium in October. (This via Jim Aitken on the FB, who will be presenting.)
Did I miss anything? Feel free to leave more September 2013 LXX links of interest in the comments. And in case you didn’t see it, the first Septuagint Studies Soirée is here.
This past week and next week in Greek Isaiah in a Year cover Isaiah 52:1-Isaiah 55:6.
Below is the text from R.R. Ottley’s Book of Isaiah According to the Septuagint. Ottley is also here in Logos (reviewed here) and here as a free, downloadable pdf in the public domain. The full reading plan for our group is here (pdf).
See here for more resources and links to texts for Greek Isaiah.
Continue reading “Greek Isaiah in a Year, Weeks 43 and 44 (Isaiah 52:1-Isaiah 55:6)”
This week and next week in Greek Isaiah in a Year will cover Isaiah 49:12-Isaiah 51. Here are the readings for each day: Continue reading “Greek Isaiah in a Year, Weeks 41 and 42 (Isaiah 49:12-Isaiah 51)”
As soon as I announced the first-ever Septuagint Studies Soirée (and here it is!), J.K. Gayle responded with “Breast God: women in the male literary imagination of Genesis 49.” Find his post here. In it he writes about how the Greek translators of Genesis 49 rendered God’s Hebrew title Shaddai… or, rather, didn’t:
Then I recall what the Septuagint translators did with Shaddai in Genesis 49. They were men, weren’t they? Yes, breasts are mentioned, and womb. These motherly wifely womanly female images are in the Hebraic Hellene. And absence, margin, lack is there.
James Dowden offered further lexical analysis (I loved the detail) with a response here. These two gents are fine thinkers. And they are, indeed, gents. Gayle makes a point to recognize this in his WOMBman’s Bible blog, with a post in which he asks whether the Septuagint itself might not be some sort of soirée. I always need to spend some time with Gayle to really plumb the depths of his insights, but it’s time well spent. A sampling:
In many fascinating ways, this act of translating into Hellene opens up the text. It opens the text up into the debates over how Greek males (such as Alexander’s teacher Aristotle) may control the Greek language for elite educated men of the Academy. The language control was to exclude not only women but also sophists, rhetoricians, ancient epic poets, more contemporary poets, colonists such as those in Soli who committed “solecisms” in writing, and BarBarians who spoke in foreign barbarisms.
Read more Gayle here.
Along similar lexical lines, Suzanne McCarthy (Gayle blogs with her at BLT) tackled “another pesky Hebrew gender question” via Hebrew, Latin, English, and, of course, Greek. McCarthy also wrote about Adam’s nose (rendered “face,” but should it be?) here.
Jim West complained about Septuagint-o-mania (has he read the New Testament? has he read BLT blog???) but then posted a bunch of LXX-related links not long after (phew–he has read his NT, at least).
In two of the more substantive Septuagint posts this month, Nijay Gupta (who has impeccable taste in seminaries) wrote about the importance of the Septuagint (with an eye to pastors, among others). Part 1 is here. His Part 2 looks more closely at the Apocrypha. (“There is ample evidence to show that Jesus, Paul, James, and others certainly were acquainted with the Apocrypha and probably positively influenced by texts like Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach.”) His part 2 concludes with the promise of more to come.
Speaking of which, Jessica Parks was posting some great stuff on LXX Susanna earlier in the summer, so keep an eye out for anything LXX-related she may post in the future. She is now posting on Cataclysmic blog.
Brian LePort posted a good bit on the Septuagint in August (and before). He wrote about exegeting the Septuagint (with attention to its literary context) and even theologizing from it!
James McGrath looked to the Septuagint of Isaiah while reading Philippians 2.
This pre-dates August, but Blog of the Twelve posted a few LXX-related resources for consideration. And while we’re still dipping (but only briefly) back into July, Brian Davidson wrote about Matthew as a new Genesis.
T. Michael Law’s When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible went on tour. A multi-stop tour. Find all the posts gathered here at Near Emmaus. Oxford University Press, First Things, and Near Emmaus interviewed him.
Larry Hurtado mentioned that a book he co-edited with Paul L. Owen is now in (affordable) paperback. It’s called “Who Is This Son of Man?” The Latest Scholarship on a Puzzling Expression of the Historical Jesus, found here.
The International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies held its International Congress in Munich in early August. Here are all the paper abstracts (pdf); here is the program (pdf).
These are not blogs proper, and not terribly active of late, but still worth checking out are this B-Greek forum (link malfunctioning at time of posting) and this Yahoo! group for LXX. The IOSCS (mentioned above) has a great page with some news and announcements here.
Feel free to leave more August 2013 LXX links of interest in the comments.
This past week I was reminded why I’ve so much appreciated going through Isaiah slowly, just five or so verses a day. I wrote about a new observation I had (i.e., new to me) here.
This week and next week in Greek Isaiah in a Year will cover Isaiah 47:1-49:11. Here are the readings for each day:
08/26/13 Isa 47:1–5
08/27/13 Isa 47:6–10
08/28/13 Isa 47:11–15
08/29/13 Isa 48:1–5
08/30/13 Isa 48:6–11
09/02/13 Isa 48:12–16
09/03/13 Isa 48:17–22
09/04/13 Isa 49:1–3
09/05/13 Isa 49:4–7
09/06/13 Isa 49:8–11
Below is the text from R.R. Ottley’s Book of Isaiah According to the Septuagint, first in Greek, then with his English translation. Ottley is also here in Logos (reviewed here) and here as a free, downloadable pdf in the public domain. The full reading plan for our group is here (pdf).
See here for more resources and links to texts for Greek Isaiah.
47 1 Κατάβηθι, κάθισον ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, παρθένος θυγάτηρ Βαβυλῶνος· εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ σκότος, θυγάτηρ Χαλδσίων, ὅτι οὐκέτι προστεθήσῃ κληθῆναι ἁπαλὴ καὶ τρυφερά. 2 λάβε μύλον, ἄλεσον ἄλευρον, ἀποκάλυψαι τὸ κατακάλυμμά σου, ἀνακάλυψαι τὰς πολιάς, ἀνάσυραι τὰς κνήμας, διάβηθι ποταμούς. 3 ἀνακαλυφθήσεται ἡ αἰσχύνη σου, φανήσονται οἱ ὀνειδισμοί σου· τὸ δίκαιον ἐκ σοῦ λήμψομαι, οὐκέτι μὴ παραδῶ ἀνθρώποις· 4 εἶπεν ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε Κύριος σαβαώθ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ ἅγιος Ἰσραήλ. 5 κάθισον κατανενυγμένη, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ σκότος, θυγάτηρ Χαλδαίων, οὐκέτι μὴ κληθήσῃ ἰσχὺς βασιλείας.6 παρωξύνθην ἐπὶ τῷ λαῷ μου, ἐμίανας τὴν κληρονομίαν μου· ἐγὼ ἔδωκα εἰς τὴν χεῖρά σου, σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἔδωκας αὐτοῖς ἔλεος, τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου ἐβάρυνας τὸν ζυγὸν σφόδρα, 7 καὶ εἶπας Εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἔσομαι ἄρχουσα. οὐκ ἐνόησας ταῦτα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, σου, οὐδὲ ἐμνήσθης τὰ ἔσχατα. 8 Νῦν δὲ ἄκουσον ταῦτα, ἡ τρυφερά, ἡ καθημένη, ἡ πεποιθυῖα, ἡ λέγουσα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, αὐτῆς Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα, οὐ καθιῶ χήρα οὐδὲ γνώσομαι ὀρφανείαν. 9 νῦν δὲ ἥξει ἐξέφνης τὰ δύο ταῦτα ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ, χηρία καὶ ἀτεκνία, ἥξει ἐξέφνης ἐπὶ σὲ ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου, ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι τῶν ἐπαοιδῶν σου σφόδρα, 10 τῇ ἐλπίδι τῆς πονηρίας σου· σὺ γὰρ εἶπας Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα· γνῶθι ὅτι ἡ σύνεσις τούτων καὶ ἡ πορνεία σου ἔσται σοι αἰσχύνη· καὶ εἶπας τῇ καρδίᾳ σου Ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα. 11 καὶ ἥξει ἐπὶ σὲ ἀπώλεια καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς, βόθυνος, καὶ ἐμπεσῇ εἰς αὐτόν· καὶ ἥξει ἐπὶ σὲ ταλαιπωρία, καὶ οὐ μὴ δυνήσῃ καθαρὰ γενέσθαι· καὶ ἥξει ἐπὶ σὲ ἐξέφνης ἀπώλεια καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς. 12 στῆθι νῦν ἐν ταῖς ἐπαοιδαῖς σου καὶ ἐν τῇ πολλῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου, ἃ ἐμάνθανες ἐκ νεότητός σου, εἰ δυνήσει ὠφεληθῆναι. 13 κεκοπίακας ἐν ταῖς βουλαῖς σου· στήτωσαν καὶ σωσάτωσάν σε οἱ ἀστρολόγοι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οἱ ὁρῶντες τοὺς ἀστέρας ἀναγγειλάτωσάν σοι τί μέλλει ἐπὶ σὲ ἔρχεσθαι. 14 ἰδοὺ πάντες ὡς φρύγανα ἐπὶ πυρὶ κατακαήσονται, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐξέλωνται τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἐκ φλογός· ὅτι ἔχεις ἄνθρακας πυρός, κάθισαι ἐπʼ αὐτούς. 15 οὗτοι ἔσονταί σοι βοήθειᾶ ἐκοπίασας ἐν τῇ μεταβολῇ σου ἐκ νεότητος, ἄνθρωπος καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐπλανήθη· σοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔσται σωτηρία.
48 1 Ἀκούσατε ταῦτα, οἶκος Ἰακώβ, οἱ κεκλημένοι τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰσραὴλ καὶ οἱ ἐξ Ἰούδα ἐξελθόντες, οἱ ὀμνύοντες τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ, μιμνησκόμενοι οὐ μετὰ ἀληθείας οὐδὲ μετὰ δικαιοσύνης, 2 καὶ ἀντεχόμενοι τῷ ὀνόματι τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἁγίας, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀντιστηριζόμενοι, Κύριος σαβαὼθ ὄνομα αὐτῷ. 3 τὰ πρότερα ἔτι ἀνήγγειλα, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου ἐξῆλθεν καὶ ἀκουστὰ ἐγένετο· ἐξάπινα ἐποίησα, καὶ ἐπῆλθεν. 4 γινώσκω ἐγὼ ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ, καὶ νεῦρον σιδηροῦν ὁ τράχηλός σου, καὶ τὸ μέτωπόν σου χαλκοῦν. 5 καὶ ἀνήγγειλά σοι τὰ πάλαι πρὶν ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ σέ· ἀκουστόν σοι ἐποίησα, μὴ εἴπῃς ὅτι Τὰ εἴδωλά μοι ἐποίησαν, καὶ <μὴ εἴπῃς> Τὰ γλυπτὰ καὶ τὰ χωνευτὰ ἐνετείλατό μοι. 6 ἠκούσατε πάντα, καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἔγνωτε· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκουστά σοι ἐποίησα τὰ καινὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἃ μέλλει γίνεσθαι· καὶ οὐκ εἶπας 7 Νῦν γίνεται καὶ οὐ πάλαι, καὶ οὐ προτέραις ἤκουσας αὐτά· μὴ εἴπῃς ὅτι Ναί, γινώσκω αὐτά. 8 οὔτε ἔγνως οὔτε ἠπίστω, οὔτε ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἤνοιξα τὰ ὦτά σου· ἔγνων γὰρ ὅτι ἀθετῶν ἀθετήσεις, καὶ ἄνομος ἔτι ἐκ κοιλίας κληθήσῃ. 9 ἕνεκν τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὀνόματος δείξω σοι τὸν θυμόν μου, καὶ τὰ ἔνδοξά μου ἐπάξω ἐπὶ σοί, ἵνα μὴ ἐξολεθρεύσω σε. 10 ἰδοὺ πέπρακά σε οὐχ ἕνεκεν ἀργυρίου· ἐξειλάμην δέ σε ἐκ καμίνου πτωχείας· 11 ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ ποιήσω σοι, ὅτι τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα βεβηλοῦται, καὶ τὴν δόξαν μου ἑτέρῳ οὐ δώσω. 12 Ἄκουέ μου, Ἰακώβ, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ὃν ἐγὼ καλῶ· ἐγώ εἰμι πρῶτος, καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, 13 καὶ ἡ χείρ μου ἐθεμελίωσεν τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἡ δεξιά μου ἐστερέωσεν τὸν οὐρανόν· καλέσω αὐτούς, καὶ στήσονται ἅμα, 14 καὶ συναχθήσονται πάντες καὶ ἀκούσονται. τίς αὐτοῖς ἀνήγγειλεν ταῦτα; ἀγαπῶν σε ἐποίησα ταῦτα ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα, τὸ θέλημά σου, τοῦ ἆραι σπέρμα Χαλδαίων· 15 ἐγὼ ἐλάλησα, ἐγὼ ἐκάλεσα, ἤγαγον αὐτὸν καὶ εὐόδωσα τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ. 16 προσαγάγετε πρὸς μὲ καὶ ἀκούσατε ταῦτα, οὐκ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἐν κρυφῇ ἐλάλησα, οὐδὲ ἐν τόπῳ γῆς σκοτινῷ· ἡνίκα ἐγένετο, ἐκεῖ ἤμην, καὶ νῦν Κύριος ἀπέσταλκέν με, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ. 17 οὕτως λέγει Κύριος ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε ὁ ἅγιος Ἰσραήλ, <Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεός σου,> δέδειχά σοι τοῦ εὑρεῖν σε τὴν ὁδὸν ἐν ᾗ πορεύσῃ ἐν αὐτῇ. 18 καὶ εἰ ἤκουσας τῶν ἐντολῶν μου, ἐγένετο ἂν ὡσεὶ ποταμὸς ἡ εἰρήνη σου, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου ὡς κῦμα θαλάσσης. 19 καὶ ἐγένετο ἂν ὡσεὶ ἄμμος τὸ σπέρμα σου, καὶ τὰ ἔκγονα τῆς κοιλίας σου ὡς ὁ χοῦς τῆς γῆς· οὐδὲ νῦν οὐ μὴ ἐξολεθρευθῇς, οὐδὲ ἀπολεῖται τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐνώπιόν μου. 20 Ἔξελθε ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος φεύγων ἀπὸ τῶν Χαλδαίων· φωνὴν εὐφροσύνης ἀναγγείλατε, καὶ ἀκουστὸν γενέσθω τοῦτο, ἀπαγγείλατε ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς, λέγετε Ἐρρύσατο Κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ Ἰακώβ. 21 καὶ ἐὰν διψήσωσιν, διʼ ἐρήμου ἄξει αὐτούς, ὕδωρ ἐκ πέτρας ἐξάξει αὐτοῖς, σχισθήσεται πέτρα καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδωρ, καὶ πίεται ὁ λαός μου. 22 οὐκ ἔστιν χαίρειν τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν, λέγει Κύριος.
49 1 Ἀκούσατέ μου, νῆσοι, καὶ προσέχετε, ἔθνη· διὰ χρόνου πολλοῦ στήσεται, λέγει Κύριος. ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομά μου, 2 καὶ ἔθηκεν τὸ στόμα μου ὡσεὶ μάχαιραν ὀξεῖαν, καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ἔκρυψέν με· ἔθηκέν με ὡς βέλος ἐκλεκτόν, καὶ ἐν τῇ φαρέτρᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐσκέπασέν με, 3 καὶ εἶπεν μοι Δοῦλός μου εἶ σύ, Ἰσραήλ, καὶ ἐν σοὶ δοξασθήσομαι. 4 καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπα Κενῶς ἐκοπίασα, καὶ εἰς μάταιον καὶ εἰς οὐθὲν ἔδωκα τὴν ἰσχύν μου· διὰ τοῦτο ἡ κρίσις μου παρὰ Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ πόνος μου ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ μου. 5 καὶ νῦν οὕτως λέγει Κύριος ὁ πλάσας με ἐκ κοιλίας δοῦλον ἑαυτῷ τοῦ συναγαγεῖν τὸν Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ πρὸς αὐτόν Συναχθήσομαι καὶ δοξασθήσομαι ἐναντίον Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ θεός μου ἔσται μου ἰσχύς.6 καὶ εἶπέν μοι Μέγα σοί ἐστιν τοῦ κληθῆναί σε παῖδά μου, τοῦ στῆσαι τὰς φυλὰς Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὴν διασπορὰν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐπιστρέψαι· ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. 7 οὕτως λέγει Κύριος ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε ὁ θεὸς Ἰσραήλ Ἁγιάσατε τὸν φαυλίζοντα τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, τὸν βδελυσσόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν δούλων τῶν ἀρχόντων· βασιλεῖς ὄψονται αὐτόν, καὶ ἀναστήσονται ἄρχοντες καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ ἕνεκεν Κυρίου· ὅτι πιστός ἔστιν ὁ ἅγιος Ἰσραήλ, καὶ ἐξελεξάμην σε. 8 οὕτως λέγει Κύριος Καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου, καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι, καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην ἐθνῶν, τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίαν ἐρήμου, 9 λέγοντα τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς Ἐξέλθατε, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ σκότει ἀνακαλυφθῆναι. καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τρίβοις ἡ νομὴ αὐτῶν. 10 οὐ πεινάσουσιν, οὐδὲ διψήσουσιν, οὐδὲ μὴ πατάξει αὐτοὺς καύσων οὐδὲ ὁ ἥλιος, ἀλλὰ ὁ ἐλεῶν αὐτοὺς παρακαλέσει, καὶ διὰ πηγῶν ὑδάτων ἄξει αὐτούς· 11 καὶ θήσω πᾶν ὄρος εἰς ὁδὸν καὶ πᾶσαν τρίβον εἰς βόσκημα αὐτοῖς.
47 1 Come down, sit upon the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon; enter into the darkness, daughter of the Chaldaeans, for no longer shalt thou be any more called tender and delicate.
2 Take a millstone, grind meal, take off thy covering, uncover thy grey hairs, make bare the legs, pass through rivers.
3 Thy shame shall be uncovered, thy reproaches shall appear; I will do justice upon thee, no longer will I deliver thee over unto men,
4 Saith thy deliverer, the Lord of Hosts, his name is the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit down in amazement, enter into the darkness, daughter of the Chaldaeans: no longer shalt thou be called the strength of a kingdom.
6 I was provoked at my people, thou defiledst mine inheritance: I gave (them) into thine hand, and thou showedst them no mercy; thou didst make the yoke of the elder very heavy.
7 And thou saidst, I shall be a princess for ever; thou perceivedst not this in thine heart, neither didst remember the last things.
8 But now hear this, delicate one, that sittest, that art confident, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and there is none other; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I come to know bereavement.
9 But now shall there come suddenly these two things in one day, widowhood and childlessness shall come suddenly upon thee in thy witchcraft; in the strength of thine enchantments exceeding greatly,
10 In the hope of thy wickedness; for thou saidst, I am, and there is no other: learn thou, that the understanding of these things and thy harlotry shall be thy shame: and thou saidst in thine heart, I am, and there is no other.
11 And there shall come upon thee destruction, and thou shalt not perceive it; a pit, and thou shalt fall into it: and there shall come misery upon thee, and thou shalt not be able to be clear of it: and there shall come destruction suddenly upon thee, and thou shalt not perceive it.
12 Stand now in thine enchantments, and thine abundant witchcraft, which thou didst learn from thy youth, to see if thou canst be helped:
13 Thou hast grown weary in thy counsels: let the astrologers of the heaven stand and save thee; let them who look on the stars declare to thee what is purposed to come upon thee.
14 Behold, all shall be burnt up as brushwood upon a fire, and they shall not deliver their soul from the flame; since thou hast coals of fire, sit thereon.
15 These shall be thy help: thou didst weary thyself in thy traffic from thy youth: each went astray by himself; but for thee shall be no salvation.
48 1 Hear ye this, house of Jacob, ye that are called by the name of Israel, and that have come forth from Judah, ye that swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, calling him to mind not with truth, nor with righteousness,
2 And holding by the name of the holy city, and staying yourselves upon the God of Israel: the Lord of Hosts is his name.
3 Still have I declared the former things, and out of my mouth went they forth, and came to be heard: I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
4 I perceive that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass.
5 And I declared to thee the things of old, before they came upon thee; I made it to be heard of thee, lest thou shouldest say, Mine idols have done it, and say, The graven and the molten images have commanded me.
6 Ye have heard all, and ye perceived not; but I have also made to be heard of thee the new things from henceforth which shall come to pass; and thou saidst not,
7 Now come they to pass, and not long since, and not in former days didst thou hear of them; lest thou shouldest say, Yea, I perceive them.
8 Thou didst neither perceive nor know, nor did I open thine ears from the beginning; for I perceived that thou wouldest utterly set them at nought, and thou shalt be called a transgressor even from the womb.
9 For my name’s sake will I show thee my wrath, and my glorious deeds will I bring upon thee, that I may not utterly destroy thee.
10 Behold, I have sold thee, not for silver; and I delivered thee out of the furnace of beggary.
11 For mine own sake will I do it unto thee; for my name is polluted, and my glory will I not give to another.
12 Hear me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I call; I am first, and I am for everlasting:
13 And mine hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand established the heaven; I will call them, and they shall stand together.
14 And all shall be gathered together, and shall hearken. Who declared these things unto them? Because I loved thee, I did this upon Babylon, thy will, to destroy the seed of the Chaldaeans.
15 I spake, I called him, led him, and made his way prosperous.
16 Draw near unto me, and hear ye this; from the beginning have I not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth; when it came to pass, there was I, and now the Lord hath sent me, and his spirit.
17 Thus saith the Lord, thy deliverer, the Holy One of Israel: <I am thy God,> I have shown to thee, that thou mayest find the way wherein thou shalt walk.
18 And if thou hadst hearkened to my commandments, thy peace should have been made as a river, and thy righteousness as a wave of the sea;
19 And thy seed should have become as sand, and the offspring of thy womb as the dust of the earth; nor shalt thou now be utterly destroyed, nor shall thy name perish before me.
20 Come thou forth from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldaeans; proclaim ye the voice of joy, and let this be heard, report it to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath delivered his people Jacob.
21 And if they be thirsty, he will bring them through the wilderness, he will bring water for them out of a rock; a rock shall be cleft, and water shall flow, and my people shall drink.
22 There is no rejoicing, saith the Lord, for the wicked.
49 1 Hearken to me, ye isles, and attend to me, ye nations; after long time shall it stand, saith the Lord. From my mother’s womb he called my name,
2 And set my mouth as a sharp sword, and under the shelter of his hand he hid me; he made me as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver he sheltered me,
3 And said unto me, Thou art my bondman, Israel, and in thee will I be glorified.
4 And I said, Vainly have I laboured, in vain and for nought have I given my strength; therefore my judgment is from the Lord, and my toil before my God.
5 And now thus saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb his bondslave, to gather together Jacob and Israel unto him, I will be gathered, and will be glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said to me, It is a great thing for thee, that thou mayest be called my servant, that thou mayest set up the tribes of Jacob, and turn again the dispersion of Israel; behold, I have set thee for a light of nations, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 Thus saith the Lord thy deliverer, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that lightly esteemeth his soul, him that is held abominable by the nations, the slaves of the rulers; kings shall see him, and rulers shall rise up and worship him for the Lord’s sake: for faithful is the Holy One of Israel, and I chose thee.
8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time I heard thee, and in a day of salvation I helped thee, and gave thee for a covenant of nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit an heritage of a desert,
9 Saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth, and (bidding) them that are in darkness be revealed. And in all the ways they shall feed, and in all paths is their pasture.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall burning heat nor sun smite them; but he that hath mercy on them shall comfort them, and lead them through springs of waters:
11 And I will turn every mountain into a way, and every path into a pasture for them.
Last call for nominations for any blog posts (or articles, etc.) you think should be nominated for the Septuagint Studies Soirée. I’ll be posting it in just a couple of days, so let me know if you see anything you think should be included.
You can comment here or on the original post, or email me using this form.
For the first time that I can remember (after nearly 30 years of reading the Bible) I noticed the connection between Isaiah 45:23 and Philippians 2:10-11.
Paul clearly sees this Isaiah passage as being “about” Jesus.
English: …because to me every knee shall bow and every tongue acknowledge (=confess) God…
Greek: ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ καὶ ἐξομολογήσεται πᾶσα γλῶσσα τῷ θεῷ
English:
…that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow
(in heaven and on earth and under the earth)
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Greek:
ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ
πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ
ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων
καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι
κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς
εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός.
While Isaiah speaks of tongues’ acknowledging God (i.e., confessing belief and trust in God), Paul says more specifically that every tongue will confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Paul carries over “God” (θεός) from Isaiah, but explicitly names Jesus Christ as the sovereign Lord (κύριος) over all.
Words on the Word 