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The Septuagint version of Isaiah 24 omits the Hebrew phrase referring to the “desolate” or “city of chaos,” replacing it with the generic “every city is deserted.” This change likely reflects the choice to condense rather than translate literally.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 24:10
Hebrew Bible
8 The happy sound of the tambourines stops, the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt, the happy sound of the harp ceases. 9 They no longer sing and drink wine; the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it. 10 The city of chaos is shattered; all the houses are shut up tight. 11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth. 12 The city is left in ruins; the gate is reduced to rubble.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 24:10
Septuagint
8 The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the arrogance and wealth of the ungodly has ceased, the sound of the harp has ceased. 9 They are ashamed, they have not drunk wine; strong drink has become bitter to those who drink it. 10 Every city has become desolate: one shall shut his house so that none shall enter. 11 There is a howling for the wine everywhere; all the mirth of the land has ceased. 12 And cities shall be left desolate, and houses being left shall fall to ruin.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Septuagint of Isaiah has a minus in 24:10. In place of Hebrewּ ("the desolate town is destroyed"), the Greek reads ("every town is deserted"). Tov marks תֹהוּ as the minus. While there is no precedent for a שָׁבַר // ἐρημόω equivalent, the Isaiah translator uses ἔρημος as an equivalent for תֹהוּ in 34:11. This suggests that the minus pertains to נִשְׁבָּה. In either case, the translator has condensed the Hebrew phrase. There is also a significant transformation in 34:11 ... Tov suggests the Hebrew has been condensed into a single phrase, while καὶ οἰκοπετοῦνται οἰκήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ appears as a plus .. Isaiah 24:10 and 34:11 ... Alternatively, the translator has rendered only the first part of the Hebrew phrase accurately and, for whatever reason, rendered the second with καὶ οἰκοπετοῦνται οἰκήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ. Ottley notes these two possibilities and suggests the former option might be an addition from Isaiah 13:22 ..."
Aaron C. Fenlason, “Translation Technique and the Intertextuality of Creation in LXX Isaiah 40–55” (PhD diss., Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2022), 113.
* 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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