Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 44 ends with God’s promise not to forget Israel, emphasizing divine faithfulness. The Greek Septuagint changes this to a command telling Israel not to forget God, possibly to fix the Hebrew grammar or to avoid suggesting that God could forget.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 44:21
Hebrew Bible
20 He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 21 Remember these things, O Jacob, O Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you to be my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you! 22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud, the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. Come back to me, for I protect you.” 23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; shout out, you subterranean regions of the earth. O mountains, give a joyful shout; you too, O forest and all your trees! For the Lord protects Jacob; he reveals his splendor through Israel.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 44:21
Septuagint
20 Know that their heart is ashes, and they err, and no one is able to deliver his soul: see, you will not say, There is a lie in my right hand. 21 Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant; I have formed you to be my servant: and you, Israel, do not forget me. 22 For look, I have blotted out as a cloud your transgressions, and your sin as darkness: turn to me, and I will redeem you. 23 Rejoice, you heavens; for God has had mercy upon Israel: sound the trumpet, you foundations of the earth: you mountains, shout with joy, you hills, and all the trees in them: for God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... This verse affords us an example of imperativization of a niphal form which at the same time involves transformation of the verb from a passive to an active form. [It] is a word of assurance to Israel that she will not be forgotten by God. It appears to serve as the fourth consecutive reassuring statement by God in this verse: (1) '...for you are my servant'; (2) 'I formed you'; (3) 'you are my servant'; (4) 'You will not be forgotten by me'. However, the translator has not read the sentence in this way. Rather, he sees it as an imperative that is parallel to the command that initiates the verse: 'Remember these things, O Jacob' ... In addition to these orthographic and grammatical features, an ideological motive may also figure in the imperatival translation ... As we shall see, the Isaiah translator finds the bare possibility of divine imperception - even if the purpose is to deny it - distasteful ..."
David A. Baer, When We All Go Home: Translation and Theology in LXX Isaiah 56–66, JSOTSup 318 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2001), 33.
* 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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