Texts in Conversation
In the Hebrew version of Isaiah 63:3, God tramples the nations in fury, his garments becoming soaked with their blood. The Greek Septuagint version removes any reference to blood on his clothes; the deliberate change may reflect an attempt to soften the harsh image of a wrathful God drenched in violence.
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Isaiah 63:3
Hebrew Bible
2 Why are your clothes red? Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? 3 “I have stomped grapes in the wine press all by myself; no one from the nations joined me. I stomped on them in my anger; I trampled them down in my rage. Their juice splashed on my garments and stained all my clothes. 4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance, and then payback time arrived.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
LXX Isaiah 63:3
Septuagint
2 “Why are your garments red, and your clothes as if from a trodden wine press?” 3 “I am full of a trampled wine press, and of the nations no man is with me, and I trampled them in wrath and crushed them like earth and brought down their blood to the earth. 4 For a day of retribution has come upon them, and a year of ransom is here.
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Cruelty in God ... In LXX Isaiah 63:3, the notion of God’s appearance in clothes stained red with blood is avoided; further, God does not save himself but others ..."
* 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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