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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 19

1 THE VISION OF EGYPT. Look, the Lord sits on a swift cloud, and shall come to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and their heart shall faint within them. 2 And the Egyptians shall be stirred up against the Egyptians: and a man shall fight against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, and law against law. 3 And the spirit of the Egyptians shall be troubled within them; and I will frustrate their counsel: and they shall inquire of their gods and their images, and those who speak out of the earth, and those who have in them a divining spirit. 4 And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of men, of cruel lords; and cruel kings shall rule over them: thus says the Lord of hosts. 5 And the Egyptians shall drink the water that is by the sea, but the river shall fail, and be dried up. 6 And the streams shall fail, and the canals of the river; and every reservoir of water shall be dried up, in every marsh also of reed and papyrus. 7 And all the green herbage all around the river, and everything sown by the side of the river, shall be blasted with the wind and dried up. 8 And the fishermen shall groan, and all that cast a hook into the river shall groan; they also that cast nets, and the anglers shall mourn. 9 And shame shall come upon those who work fine flax, and those who make fine linen. 10 And they that work at them shall be in pain, and all that make beer shall be grieved, and be pained in their souls. 11 And the princes of Tanis shall be fools: as for the king's wise counselors, their counsel shall be turned into folly: how will you say to the king, we are sons of wise men, sons of ancient kings? 12 Where are now your wise men? and let them declare to you, and say, What has the Lord of hosts purposed upon Egypt? 13 The princes of Tanis have failed, and the princes of Memphis are lifted up with pride, and they shall cause Egypt to wander by tribes. 14 For the Lord has prepared for them a spirit of error, and they have caused Egypt to err in all their works, as one staggers who is drunken and vomits also. 15 And there shall be no work to the Egyptians, which shall make head or tail, or beginning or end. 16 But in that day the Egyptians shall be as women, in fear and in trembling because of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall bring upon them. 17 And the land of the Jews shall be for a terror to the Egyptians: whoever shall name it to them, they shall fear, because of the counsel which the Lord has purposed concerning it. 18 In that day there shall be five cities in Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by the name of the Lord; one city shall be called the city of Asedec.⁠ 19 In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a pillar to the Lord by its border. 20 And it shall be for a sign to the Lord for ever in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry to the Lord by reason of those who afflict them, and the Lord shall send them a man who shall save them; he shall judge and save them. 21 And the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day; and they shall offer sacrifices, and shall vow vows to the Lord, and pay them. 22 And the Lord shall strike the Egyptians with a great stroke, and shall completely heal them: and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall hear them, and thoroughly heal them. 23 In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrians shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptians shall go to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be third with the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land 25 which the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be my people that is in Egypt, and that is among the Assyrians, and Israel my inheritance.⁠

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Compare Isaiah 19:18 and LXX Isaiah 19:18

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Early Hebrew versions of Isaiah 19 refer to a 'City of the Sun,' identified with Heliopolis. The Greek Septuagint instead calls it 'Asedek City,' a transliteration with no known Hebrew source, raising questions about what text the translator used.

Passages

Isaiah 19:18

Hebrew Bible
18 At that time five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. 19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar dedicated to the Lord at its border. 20 It will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender who will rescue them.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

LXX Isaiah 19:18

Septuagint
18 In that day there shall be five cities in Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by the name of the Lord; one city shall be called the city of Asedec. 19 In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a pillar to the Lord by its border. 20 And it shall be for a sign to the Lord for ever in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry to the Lord by reason of those who afflict them, and the Lord shall send them a man who shall save them; he shall judge and save them.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

References

"... The Masoretic text is importantly different from the reading of this verse found in the manuscripts of Isaiah among the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1QIsaa and 4QIsab, the only two Isaiah manuscripts containing this verse, the relevant phrase is usually understood as “City of the Sun.” Indeed, as a noun is quite rare, but the other uses in Job 9:7 and Judges 14:18 suggest “sun” as the correct meaning. This reading suggests identifying the city with Heliopolis, since it too means “City of the Sun.” Additionally, although the exact language is different, the city described in Isaiah 19:18 recalls the city in Jeremiah 43:13, called “house of the sun,” also acknowledged as Heliopolis ... what is not clear, at least on a simple examination of the textual differences, is whether the difference is intentional and which should be regarded as the earlier or more original of the two. When we turn to the Old Greek traditions we encounter different readings altogether. The LXX has [a] puzzling phrase ... This reading generates at least two important questions: (1) What is the origin of this reading? (2) Why is 'asedek' transliterated rather than translated? The origin of this reading is a matter of debate on textual, linguistic, and historical grounds. No Hebrew text that could potentially be the Vorlage of this reading is extant, a fact that complicates any attempt to determine the reading’s origin ..."
J. Todd Hibbard, “Isaiah 19:18: A Textual Variant in Light of the Temple of Onias in Egypt,” in Concerning the Nations: Essays on the Oracles against the Nations in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, ed. Else Kragelund Holt et al. (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015), 32–52.

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

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