Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Isaiah 66:5 addresses those who respect God's word and have been excluded by their own people, portraying them as mocked for their loyalty. The Greek Septuagint translation personalizes this message, turning it into a direct appeal to a present audience viewed as despised by others.
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Isaiah 66:5
Hebrew Bible
4 So I will choose severe punishment for them; I will bring on them what they dread because I called, and no one responded. I spoke and they did not listen. They did evil before me; they chose to do what displeases me.” 5 Listen to the Lord’s message, you who respect his word! “Your countrymen, who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, ‘May the Lord be glorified, then we will witness your joy.’ But they will be put to shame. 6 The sound of battle comes from the city; the sound comes from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies. 7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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LXX Isaiah 66:5
Septuagint
4 so I will choose mockeries for them and repay them their sins, because I called them and they did not answer me, I spoke and they did not hear, but they did what was evil in my sight and chose the things I did not desire. 5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word; speak, our brothers, to those who hate and abominate us so that the name of the Lord may be glorified and seen in their joy, but those ones shall be put to shame. 6 A voice of crying from the city! A voice from the shrine! The voice of the Lord, rendering retribution to his adversaries! 7 Before she who was in labor gave birth, before the pain of her pangs came, she escaped and gave birth to a male.
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The substantial personalization which this verse has undergone raises the question of contemporization once again. It appears that the translator has understood this sentence as a command to speak to some outside group that holds his community in low esteem. If there has been a thoroughgoing contemporisation of chapter 66, then one is drawn to think in the first instance of the translator's own Diaspora community as those despised ones who are here urged to speak out in some way ..."
Baer, David A.
When We All Go Home: Translation and Theology in LXX Isaiah 56-66
(p. 41) Sheffield Academic Press, 2001
* 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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