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Isaiah 60 describes Israel nursing at the breasts of foreign kings, using this imagery to depict national reversal and dominance. The Greek Septuagint replaces this with a reference to enjoying the riches of kings, removing the bodily metaphor.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 60:16
Hebrew Bible
15 You were once abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, but I will make you a permanent source of pride and joy to coming generations. 16 You will drink the milk of nations; you will nurse at the breasts of kings. Then you will recognize that I, the Lord, am your Deliverer, your Protector, the Powerful One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold; instead of iron, I will bring you silver; instead of wood, I will bring you bronze; instead of stones, I will bring you iron. I will make prosperity your overseer, and vindication your sovereign ruler.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 60:16
Septuagint
15 Because you have become desolate and hated, and there was no helper, therefore I will make you a perpetual gladness, a joy of many generations. 16 And you shall suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shall eat the wealth of kings: and shall know that I am the Lord that saves you and delivers you, the God of Israel. 17 And for brass I will bring you gold, and for iron I will bring you silver, and instead of wood I will bring you brass, and instead of stones, iron; and I will appoint your rulers in peace, and your overseers in righteousness.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The nationalistic strands running through this narrative indicate that the wealth is brought out of a sense of coercion. Foreign citizens and kings are pressed into service verse 10; 'to serve'), kings are led in procession (verse 11; passive participle of 'to drive'), and Israel’s oppressors bow in submission (verse 14). At the height of nationalistic language is the spectacular image of foreign kings being pressed into service as nursemaids for Israelite children; in a likely play on words. Isaiah writes that Israel will suck the milk of the nations; (verse 16) and nurse at the breast of kings. The LXX attempts to soften this to “eat the riches of kings”; (compare Isaiah 61:6) ..."
Charles E. Cruise, “The 'Weath of the Nations': A Study in the Intertextuality of Isaiah 60:5,11,” JETS 5.8 (2015): 283–297.
* 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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