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Isaiah 19 uses universal language and recognizes that Egypt, Assyria, and Israel are all “God’s people.” The Greek Septuagint translation removes this universal language and only recognizes God's blessing to Israelites who are in Egypt and Assyria.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 19:25
Hebrew Bible
23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing in the earth. 25 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, Israel!”
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 19:25
Septuagint
23 In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrians shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptians shall go to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be third with the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land 25 which the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be my people that is in Egypt, and that is among the Assyrians, and Israel my inheritance.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... According to Baer, one of the typical features of the Isaiah translation is “a nationalistic tendency towards disdain of the Gentiles and an exaltation of Israel/Judah and Jerusalem/Zion.” Of this particularistic attitude the translation gives several illustrations. The most obvious one can be found in 19:25 ... Whereas in the Hebrew, Egypt is called “my [= God’s] people,” and Assur is called “the work of my hand,” in the Greek translation the divine blessing only applies to the Israelite people ..."
Mirjam van der Vorm-Croughs, The Old Greek of Isaiah: An Analysis of Its Pluses and Minuses, SCS 61 (Atlanta: SBL, 2014), 464.
* 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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Then what is the proper translation?
Then what is the proper translation?