Chapter 13

1 According to the word of Ephraim he adopted ordinances for himself in Israel; and he established them for Baal, and died. 2 And now they have sinned increasingly, and have made for themselves a molten image of their silver, according to the fashion of idols, the work of craft workers accomplished for them: they say, Sacrifice men, for the calves have come to an end. 3 Therefore they will be as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away, as chaff blown away from the threshing floor, and as a vapor from locusts. 4 But I am the Lord your God⁠ that establishes the heaven, and creates the earth, whose hands have framed the whole host of heaven: but I did not show them to you that you should go after them: and I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but me; and there is no Savior beside me. 5 I tended you as a shepherd in the wilderness, in an uninhabited land. 6 According to their pastures, so they were completely filled; and their hearts were exalted; therefore they forgot me. 7 And I will be to them as a panther, and as a leopard by the way of the Assyrians. 8 I will meet them as a she-bear excited, and I will tear the covering of their heart, and the lions' cubs of the thicket shall devour them there; the wild beasts of the field shall tear them in pieces. 9 Israel, who will aid you in your destruction? 10 Where is this your king? let him even save you in all your cities: let him judge you, of whom you said, Give me a king and a prince. 11 And I gave you a king in my anger, and kept him back in my fierce anger. 12 Ephraim has framed a conspiracy of unrighteousness, his sin is hidden. 13 Pains as of a woman in labor shall come upon him: he is your son that is not wise, because he shall not stay in the destruction of your children. 14 I will deliver them out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death: where is your penalty, death? Hades, where is your sting?⁠ comfort is hidden from my eyes. 15 Since he will cause a division among his brothers, the Lord shall bring upon him an east wind from the desert, and shall dry up his veins and quite drain his fountains: he shall dry up his land, and seize all his precious vessels.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 25:8 and LXX Hosea 13:14 and 1 Corinthians 15:55

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint · New Testament

Summary

1 Corinthians 15 blends Isaiah and the Greek Septuagint translation of Hosea to mock death. Isaiah shows death defeated, and Hosea calls on death to strike. Paul changes Hosea’s words into a taunt that treats death as an enemy already defeated.

Passages

Isaiah 25:8

Hebrew Bible

7 On this mountain he will swallow up the shroud that is over all the peoples, the woven covering that is over all the nations; 8 he will swallow up death permanently. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face, and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 9 At that time they will say, “Look, here is our God! We waited for him, and he delivered us. Here is the Lord! We waited for him. Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

LXX Hosea 13:14

Septuagint

12 Ephraim has framed a conspiracy of unrighteousness, his sin is hidden. 13 Pains as of a woman in labor shall come upon him: he is your son that is not wise, because he shall not stay in the destruction of your children. 14 I will deliver them out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death: where is your penalty, death? Hades, where is your sting? comfort is hidden from my eyes. 15 Since he will cause a division among his brothers, the Lord shall bring upon him an east wind from the desert, and shall dry up his veins and quite drain his fountains: he shall dry up his land, and seize all his precious vessels.

100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Hosea

1 Corinthians 15:55

New Testament

53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

References

"... The combined scriptural quotation’s second line in 1 Corinthians 15:55 represents a Pauline adaptation of Hosea 13:14 ... In the Masoretic of Hosea 13:14a, God, who has already decided to destroy the people of Israel (13:9), asks, “Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death?” Consequently, the questions in 13:14b, “Where are your plagues, O death? Where is your destruction, O sheol?” are calling upon a personified death and Sheol to work their destruction upon the people. Similarly, in LXX Hosea 13:14a, God asks, “Shall I rescue them out of the hand of hades and shall I redeem them from death?” so that the questions in 13:14b, “Where is your punishment, O death? Where is your sting, O hades?” are invoking a personified death and Hades to destroy Israel. But in 1 Corinthians 15:55 the questions “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” following upon the first part of the combined quotation in 15:54b, “Death is swallowed up in victory,” function rather as an emphatic taunting of an utterly defeated personified death to work its destructive power. Instead of the Hebrew “plagues” and the LXX’s “punishment”, Paul’s quotation of Hosea 13:14b has “victory”, which strengthens the gezera shava combination with the quotation of Isaiah 25:8a in 1 Corinthians 15:54b. Both quotes thus have not only the word “death” but also the word “victory” in common for their mutual interpretation ..."

John Paul Heil, The Rhetorical Role of Scripture in 1 Corinthians, SBLMS 15 (Atlanta: SBL, 2005), 249–250.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

LXX Hosea14 chapters

Compare Isaiah 25:8 and LXX Hosea 13:14 and 1 Corinthians 15:55

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 25:8

LXX Hosea 13:14

1 Corinthians 15:55

References

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