Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 7 presents the child learning to reject evil and choose good through experience. The Greek Septuagint translation changes this, describing the child as already knowing how to determine good and evil, giving him an almost supernatural ability.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 7:15
Hebrew Bible
13 So Isaiah replied, “Pay attention, family of David. Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God? 14 For this reason the Lord himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is pregnant and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel. 15 He will eat sour milk and honey, which will help him know how to reject evil and choose what is right. 16 Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 7:15
Septuagint
13 And he said, Hear now, house of David; is it a little thing for you to contend with men? and how do you contend against the Lord? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; look, the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey he will eat; before he knows or prefers evil, he shall choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good; and the land shall be forsaken which you are afraid of because of the two kings. 17 But God shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon the house of your father, days which have never come, from the day that Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Unlike the Hebrew text, the Greek highlights the distinctive character of the child in a very specific way: he has the ability to distinguish good from evil before he knows either (LXX Isaiah 7:15-16). As Martin Rosel has pointed out, the Septuagint version implies an understanding of the child as a heavenly gifted figure ..."
Moisés Mayordomo, "Matthew 1-2 and the Problem of Intertextuality" in Claire Clivaz, et al. (eds.), Infancy Gospels. Stories and Identities (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 272–273.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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