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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

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Chapter 42

1 Jacob is my servant, I will help him: Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him; I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.⁠ 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor shall his voice be heard outside. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench; but he shall bring forth judgment to truth. 4 He shall shine out, and shall not be discouraged, until he has set judgment on the earth: and the Gentiles will hope in his name.⁠ 5 Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who tread on it: 6 I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will strengthen you: and I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles:⁠ 7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and those who sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house. 8 I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to carved images. 9 Look, the ancient things have come to pass, and the new things which I declare: and before they spring forth they were made known to you. 10 Sing a new hymn to the Lord: you who are his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and sail upon it; the islands, and they that dwell in them. 11 Rejoice, you wilderness, and its villages, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. 12 They shall give glory to God, and shall proclaim his praises in the islands. 13 The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies.⁠ 14 I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear: I have endured like a woman in labor: I will now amaze and wither at once. 15 And I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools. 16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These things I will do, and will not forsake them. 17 But they are turned back: be utterly ashamed, you that trust in carved images, who say to the molten images, You are our gods. 18 Hear, you deaf, and look up, you blind, to see. 19 And who is blind, but my servants? and deaf, but they that rule over them? yes, the servants of God have been made blind. 20 You have often seen, and have not taken heed; your ears have been opened, and you have not heard. 21 The Lord God has taken counsel that he might be justified, and might magnify his praise. And I saw, 22 and the people were plundered and plundered: for there is a snare in the secret chambers everywhere, and in the houses also, where they have hidden them: they became plunder, and there was no one that delivered the prey, and there was none who said, Restore. 23 Who is there among you that will listen to these things? listen to the things which are coming to pass. 24 Who gave Jacob up to captured goods, and Israel to those who plundered him? Did not God do it against whom they sinned? and they would not walk in his ways, nor listen to his law. 25 So he brought upon them the fury of his anger; and the war, and those that burnt all around them, prevailed against them; yet no one of them knew it, neither did they lay it to heart.

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Compare LXX Isaiah 42:1 and Matthew 12:17

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew 12 quotes Isaiah 42 and applies it to Jesus, presenting him as the servant chosen by God who brings justice, gentleness, and perseverance, also emphasizing compassion, restraint, and the extension of justice to Israel and the nations.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 42:1

Septuagint
1 Jacob is my servant, I will help him: Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him; I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor shall his voice be heard outside. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench; but he shall bring forth judgment to truth. 4 He shall shine out, and shall not be discouraged, until he has set judgment on the earth: and the Gentiles will hope in his name. 5 Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who tread on it:
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Matthew 12:17

New Testament
15 Now when Jesus learned of this, he went away from there. Great crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 But he sternly warned them not to make him known. 17 This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I take great delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick, until he brings justice to victory.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The Septuagint rendered the Servant's 'law' (Torah) with His 'name.' This is followed by Matthew. There is no substantial difference of meaning between Servant's 'law' (Torah) and His 'name' since both of them ultimately point to the Servant Himself. The Septuagint has gOvn for tInt. In this way, the Septuagint clarifies the connotation of the term 1:3 ('islands' or 'coast lands'). B. Lindars incorrectly understands gevn of 12:21 as the result of the apologetic use of the term in the early Church. The word, according to Lindars, reflects the development of the early Church in relation to the question of the admission of the Gentiles. Lindars' view is not convincing for two reasons. First, the term in the Isaiah passage is parallel and both terms have the same connotation in the context ... In verse 21 Matthew's is a natural translation which matches well with verse 18. Secondly, the Gentile motif is expressed in the Isaiah passage in connection with the mission of Yahweh's Servant. Matthew's use in verse 21 echoes the Gentile motif of the Isaiah passage. It does not reflect the view of the early Church on the Gentile mission. R. T. France aptly remarks on the intent of Matthew's quotation of the Isaiah passage: 'the role of the Servant of Yahweh is the model for the mission of Jesus.' ..."
Young Jin Kim, “Jesus and the Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew: A Historical Study of the Redemption Motif” (ThD diss., Concordia Seminary, 1992), 218–219.

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 42:1 and Matthew 12:17

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