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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

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Chapter 54

1 Rejoice, you barren that do not bear; break forth and cry, you that are not in labor: for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has a husband:⁠ for the Lord has said, 2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and of your curtains: fix the pins, do not spare, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pins; 3 spread forth your tent yet to the right and the left: for your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and you shall make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4 Do not fear, because you have been put to shame, neither be confounded, because you were reproached: for you shall forget your everlasting shame, and shall no more at all remember the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For it is the Lord that made you; the Lord of hosts is his name: and he that delivered you, he is the God of Israel, and shall be called so by the whole earth. 6 The Lord has not called you as a deserted and faint-hearted woman, nor as a woman hated from her youth,⁠ says your God. 7 For a little while I left you: but with great mercy I will have compassion upon you. 8 In a little fierce anger I turned away my face from you; but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion upon you, says the Lord that delivers you. 9 From the time of the water of Noah this is my purpose: as I swore to him at that time, saying of the earth, I will no more be angry with you, neither when you are threatened, 10 shall the mountains depart, nor shall your hills be removed: so neither shall my mercy fail you, nor shall the covenant of your peace be at all removed: for the Lord who is gracious to you has spoken it. 11 Afflicted and outcast you have not been comforted: look, I will prepare carbuncle for your stones, and sapphire for your foundations; 12 and I will make your buttresses jasper, and your gates crystal, and your border precious stones. 13 And I will cause all your sons to be taught of God, and your children to be in great peace. 14 And you shall be built in righteousness: abstain from injustice, and you shall not fear; and trembling shall not come near you. 15 Look, strangers shall come to you by me, and shall run to you for refuge. 16 Look, I have created you, not as the coppersmith blowing coals, and bringing out a vessel fit for work; but I have created you, not for ruin, that I should destroy you. 17 I will not allow any weapon formed against you to prosper; and every voice that shall rise up against you for judgment, you shall vanquish them all; and your adversaries shall be condemned by it. There is an inheritance to those who serve the Lord, and you shall be righteous before me, says the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 54:1 and Galatians 4:27 and 2 Clement 2:1

Septuagint · New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

In the Greek version of Isaiah 54, God promises children to a barren woman. In Galatians 4, Paul applies this to Sarah's free children, and in 2 Clement, the preacher applies it to the church's growth, likely drawing on Isaiah independently of Paul.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 54:1

Septuagint
1 Rejoice, you barren that do not bear; break forth and cry, you that are not in labor: for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has a husband: for the Lord has said, 2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and of your curtains: fix the pins, do not spare, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pins; 3 spread forth your tent yet to the right and the left: for your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and you shall make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4 Do not fear, because you have been put to shame, neither be confounded, because you were reproached: for you shall forget your everlasting shame, and shall no more at all remember the reproach of your widowhood.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Galatians 4:27

New Testament
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 24 These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerousthan those of the woman who has a husband.”
48–55 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Galatians

2 Clement 2:1

Early Christian
1 “Rejoice, you barren who bore no child. Break out and cry, you who have not labored; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband.” In that He said “Rejoice, you barren who bore no child,” He spoke of us: for our Church was barren, before children were given to her. 2 And in that He said, “Cry aloud, you who have not labored,” He means this: Let us not, like women in labor, grow weary of offering up our prayers simply to God. 3 Again, in that He said, “For the children of the desolate are more than of her who has the husband,” He spoke so, because our people seemed desolate and forsaken by God, whereas now, having believed, we have become more than those who seemed to have God.
130–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Clement

References

“... There is one potential parallel, 2 Clem. 2. 1 and Gal. 4. 27, but this may be explained by each author’s independent use of Isa. 54. 1. [...] As Lightfoot observes, both ‘Clement’ and Justin apply the prophecy of Isaiah in the same way, as referring to a time when there would be more Gentile than Jewish believers. This is quite different from the use to which Paul puts his citation, for he uses it to demonstrate that Sarah’s children (the followers of Christ) are free, whereas Hagar’s children (the Jews) are slaves to the Law. This would imply that ‘Clement’ and Justin drew on the same Vorlage, perhaps a testimony book, not on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. ...”
Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett, eds., The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 285–286.

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 54:1 and Galatians 4:27 and 2 Clement 2:1

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