Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 61 describes Israel consuming the “wealth of the nations,” implying conquest. The Greek Septuagint translation softens this by saying “strength” instead of “wealth,” interpreting the Hebrew in a less literal sense.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 61:6
Hebrew Bible
5 “Foreigners will take care of your sheep; foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards. 6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests, servants of our God.’ You will enjoy the wealth of nations and boast about the riches you receive from them. 7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. Yes, they will possess a double portion in their land and experience lasting joy. 8 For I, the Lord, love justice and hate robbery and sin. I will repay them because of my faithfulness; I will make a permanent covenant with them.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 61:6
Septuagint
5 And strangers shall come and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your plowmen and vine-dressers. 6 But you shall be called priests of the Lord, the ministers of God: you shall eat the strength of nations, and shall be admired because of their wealth. 7 Thus they will inherit the land a second time, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. 8 For I am the Lord who love righteousness, and hate robberies of injustice; and I will give their labor to the just, and will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Two passages toward the end of Isaiah contain the phrase “wealth of the nations.” Isaiah 61:6 uses it as something Israel is to eat, perhaps conveying the idea that Israel will plunder ('consume') the nations’ riches. The LXX translators, though, chose to render it using its more common gloss ἰσχὺν ('strength') rather than πλοῦτος. Isaiah 66:12 uses the phrase 'glory of the nations', which may be translated as 'wealth of the nations.' The picture, however, is one of foreign wealth flowing toward Jerusalem like a river, not of Gentiles carrying it as tribute. Rather, the Gentiles escort the Jewish remnant, a repatriation which is seen in verse 20 as an act of 'offering'. Therefore, despite the idea of Gentile wealth being destined for Jerusalem, neither passage here pictures that wealth being carried in a pilgrimage as tribute to King Yahweh ..."
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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