Texts in Conversation
The Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah 6 changes the heavenly throne room scene by relocating the winged beings from above the throne to around it, removing an image from the Hebrew version that could imply they outrank God.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 6:2
Hebrew Bible
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and they used the remaining two to fly. 3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” 4 The sound of their voices shook the door frames, and the temple was filled with smoke.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Isaiah 6:2
Septuagint
1 And it happened in the year in which king Uzziah died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the house was full of his glory. 2 And seraphs stood all around him: each one had six wings: and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one cried to the other, and they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the lintel shook at the voice they uttered, and the house was filled with smoke.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... Theological traditions appear in the evocation of conceptions related to the Mount of the Lord, and the ‘Way’ of the Lord in LXX Isaiah 2:2–4 and 4:2–6. The translator of LXX Isaiah also seems to be influenced by the idea of the limited duration of God’s wrath derived from texts such as Psalm 30:6, Isaiah 10:25, and 54:7–8, and this was particularly felt in LXX Isaiah 7:4, 26:16, and 57:17. One can also note the possible link that the translator established between the depictions of an era of bliss in Isaiah chapters 11 and 65. Yet it is possible to affirm with Baer that we cannot identify a pervasive or consistent theological programme in LXX Isaiah, but rather tendencies, especially with regard to some nationalistic bents that can be identified in texts such as 25:2, 5, 26:1, and 54:5, and ameliorating statements about God or other subjects which could prove singularly ‘problematic’. In this connection, we note for instance the reading of LXX Isaiah 6:2, where the translation of mimma‘al by κύκλῳ probably serves the purpose of avoiding the notion that the angels could be flying ‘above’ God ..."
Rodrigo F. De Sousa, “Isaiah,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint, ed. Alison Salvesen and T. M. Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), 245–258.
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,