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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 40

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says God. 2 Speak, you priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double the amount of her sins. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,⁠ Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.⁠ 4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.⁠ 5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God:⁠ for the Lord has spoken it. 6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:⁠ 7 The grass withers, and the flower fades: 8 but the word of our God remains for ever. 9 you that bring glad news to Zion, go up on the high mountain; lift up your voice with strength, you that bring glad news to Jerusalem; lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, Look at your God! 10 Look, the Lord is coming with strength, and his arm is with power: look, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and shall soothe those who are with young. 12 Who has measured the water in his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in scales, and the forests in a balance? 13 Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counselor, to instruct him? 14 Or with whom has he taken counsel, and he has instructed him? or who has taught him judgment, or who has taught him the way of understanding; 15 since all the nations are counted as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle? 16 And Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole burnt offering: 17 and all the nations are as nothing, and counted as nothing. 18 To whom have you compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you compared him? 19 Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted gold, gilt it over, and made it a likeness? 20 For the artificer chooses out a wood that will not rot, and will wisely inquire how he shall set up his image, and so that it should not be moved. 21 Will you not know? will you not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have you not known the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a chamber, and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in: 23 he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing. 24 For they shall not sow, neither shall they plant, neither shall their root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a storm shall carry them away like sticks. 25 Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has displayed all these things? even he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them all by name by means of his great glory, and by the power of his might: nothing has escaped you. 27 For do not say, Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel,⁠ saying, My way is hidden from God, and my God has taken away my judgment, and has departed? 28 And now, have you not known? have you not heard? the eternal God, the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to those who are not suffering. 30 For the young men shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice men shall be powerless: 31 but they that wait on God shall renew their strength; they shall put forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not hunger.

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Compare Isaiah 40:27 and LXX Isaiah 40:27

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Isaiah 40 poses a rhetorical question to Jacob and Israel, asking why they think God is unaware of their situation. The Greek Septuagint translation changes this into a direct command not to say such things.

Passages

Isaiah 40:27

Hebrew Bible
25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?” says the Holy One. 26 Look up at the sky! Who created all these heavenly lights? He is the one who leads out their ranks; he calls them all by name. Because of his absolute power and awesome strength, not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you say, Jacob, Why do you say, Israel, “The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me; my God is not concerned with my vindication”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. 29 He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

LXX Isaiah 40:27

Septuagint
25 Now then to whom have you compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has displayed all these things? even he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them all by name by means of his great glory, and by the power of his might: nothing has escaped you. 27 For do not say, Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel, saying, My way is hidden from God, and my God has taken away my judgment, and has departed? 28 And now, have you not known? have you not heard? the eternal God, the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to those who are not suffering.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

References

"... If the above examples leave any doubt that our translator is persuaded of the existential relevance of these texts for his community or that he is possessed of a hortatory agenda, two further instances might prove convincing. At 40:27, the rhetorical question, 'Why do you say, O Jacob ...' is converted to a command: 'Do not say, O Jacob' ..."
David A. Baer, When We All Go Home: Translation and Theology in LXX Isaiah 56–66, JSOTSup 318 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2001), 37.

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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