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The Hebrew version of Isaiah says the suffering servant will see the fruit of his anguish. The Greek Septuagint translation, agreeing with the Dead Sea Scrolls, instead says the servant will see light, adding a word missing in Hebrew.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 53:11
Hebrew Bible
10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him. 11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. “My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins. 12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, because he willingly submitted to death and was numbered with the rebels, when he lifted up the sin of many and intervened on behalf of the rebels.”
LXX Isaiah 53:11
Septuagint
10 And the Lord desires to cleanse him from his blow. If you offer for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived offspring. And the Lord wishes to take away 11 from the pain of his soul, to show him light and fill him with understanding, to justify a righteous one who is well subject to many, and he himself shall bear their sins. 12 Therefore he shall inherit many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was given over to death, and he was reckoned among the lawless, and he bore the sins of many, and because of their sins he was given over.
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Notes and References
"... Isaiah 53:11 the Masoretic Text: He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul (Revised Standard Version). The Septuagint: from the travail of his soul, to show him light. The Septuagint reflects a Hebrew variant (אור, “light”) which is also found in the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa). This added word may reflect a gnostic tendency, but in that case the presumed tendency would reflect only the intention of the Vorlage of the translation, and not that of the translation. For a different view, see I. L. Seeligmann, “Δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς”, Tarbiz 27 (1958). ..."
Tov, Emanuel
The Text-Critical use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research
(p. 114) Eisenbrauns, 2015
* 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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