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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 2

1 The word which came from the Lord to Isaiah the son of Amos concerning Judea, and concerning Jerusalem. 2 For in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be glorious, and the house of God shall be on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall come to it. 3 And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will tell us his way, and we will walk in it: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles: and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more. 5 And now, house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 6 For he has forsaken his people the house of Israel, because their land is filled as at the beginning with divinations, as the land of the Philistines, and many strange children were born to them. 7 For their land is filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures; their land also is filled with horses, and there was no number of chariots. 8 And the land is filled with abominations, even the works of their hands; and they have worshiped the works which their fingers made. 9 And the mean man bowed down, and the great man was humbled: and I will not pardon them. 10 Now therefore enter into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth. 11 For the eyes of the Lord are high, but man is low; and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and haughty, and upon every one that is high and towering, and they shall be brought down; 13 and upon every cedar of Lebanon, of those who are high and towering, and upon every oak of Bashan, 14 and upon every mountain, and upon every high hill, 15 and upon every high tower, and upon every high wall, 16 and upon every ship of the sea, and upon every display of fine ships. 17 And every man shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall fall: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And they shall hide all idols made with hands, 19 having carried them into the caves, and into the clefts of the rocks, and into the caverns of the earth, from the presence of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might,⁠ when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth. 20 For in that day a man shall cast forth his silver and gold abominations, which they made in order to worship vanities and bats; 21 to enter into the caverns of the solid rock, and into the clefts of the rocks, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 2:19 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

The Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah says the wicked will hide from the fear of God and the glory of his strength when he rises to crush the earth. 2 Thessalonians echoes this exact Greek phrase to describe the final punishment of the wicked.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 2:19

Septuagint
18 And they shall hide all idols made with hands, 19 having carried them into the caves, and into the clefts of the rocks, and into the caverns of the earth, from the presence of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth. 20 For in that day a man shall cast forth his silver and gold abominations, which they made in order to worship vanities and bats;
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

2 Thessalonians 1:9

New Testament
8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Thessalonians

References

... The final words of 1.9 are, in a literal translation: 'far away from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his power'. They have been derived from Isaiah 2.10, 19, and 21. Isaiah 2.6–22 is a description of God's judgment of 'the house of Jacob' (2.6); such a text could be read easily as dealing with God's final judgment, and the borrowing from it in 2 Thessalonians 1.9 occurred no doubt on the presupposition that it indeed concerns the events of the end. Three times we hear in the Isaiah passage that people will hide themselves (I translate again literally) 'far away from the face of the terror of the Lord and from the majesty of his highness'. The Septuagint has 'far away from the face of the terror of the Lord and from the glory of his power', and this version has been used in 2 Thessalonians. In Hebrew the word 'face' is often used redundantly in combination with a preposition in cases where we would use a preposition only: in Isaiah 2.10, 19, and 21 we would simply say 'far away from the terror of the Lord' ...
Maarten J. J. Menken, 2 Thessalonians, New Testament Readings (London: Routledge, 1994), 90.

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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LXX Isaiah 2:19 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9

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