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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 65

1 I became manifest to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me:⁠ I said, Look, I am here, to a nation, who did not call on my name. 2 I have stretched forth my hands all day to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who did not walk in a true way, but after their sins.⁠ 3 This is the people that provokes me continually in my presence; they offer sacrifices in gardens, and burn incense on bricks⁠ to demons, which do not exist. 4 They lie down to sleep in the tombs and in the caves for the sake of dreams, even they that eat swine's flesh, and the broth of their sacrifices: all their vessels are defiled: 5 who say, Depart from me, do not draw near to me, for I am pure. This is the smoke of my fierce anger, a fire burns with it continually. 6 Look, it is written before me: I will not be silent until I have repaid them into their lap, 7 their sins and the sins of their fathers, says the Lord, who have burnt incense on the mountains, and reproached me on the hills: I will repay them for their works into their lap. 8 Thus says the Lord, As a grape-stone shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say, Do not destroy it; for a blessing of the Lord is in it: so I will do for the sake of him that serves me, for his sake I will not destroy them all. 9 And I will lead forth the seed that came of Jacob and of Judah, and they shall inherit my holy mountain: and my elect and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there. 10 And there shall be in the forest folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be for a resting-place of herds for my people, who have sought me. 11 But you are they that have left me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table⁠ for the demon, and fill up the drink-offering to Fortune. 12 I will deliver you up to the sword, you shall all fall by slaughter: for I called you, and you did not listen; I spoke, and you refused to hear; and you did evil in my sight, and chose the things in which I did not delight. 13 Therefore thus says the Lord, Look, my servants shall eat, but you shall hunger: look, my servants shall drink, but you shall thirst: look, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed: 14 look, my servants shall exult with joy, but you shall cry for the sorrow of your heart, and shall howl for the vexation of your spirit. 15 For you shall leave your name for a loathing to my chosen, and the Lord shall destroy you: but they that serve him shall be called by a new name, 16 which shall be blessed on the earth; for they shall bless the true God: and they that swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget the former affliction, it shall not come into their mind. 17 For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth: and they shall not at all remember the former, neither shall they at all come into their mind. 18 But they shall find in her joy and exultation; for, look, I make Jerusalem a rejoicing, and my people a joy. 19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and will be glad in my people: and there shall no more be heard in her the voice of weeping, or the voice of crying. 20 Neither shall there be there any more a child that dies untimely, or an old man who shall not complete his time: for the youth shall be one hundred years old, and the sinner who dies at one hundred years shall also be accursed: 21 and they shall build houses, and themselves shall dwell in them; and they shall plant vineyards, and themselves shall eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall by no means build, and others inhabit; and they shall by no means plant, and others eat: for as the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people, they shall long enjoy the fruits of their labors. 23 My chosen shall not toil in vain, neither shall they beget children to be cursed; for they are a seed blessed of God, and their offspring with them. 24 And it will happen, that before they call, I will listen to them; while they are yet speaking, I will say, What is it? 25 Then wolves and lambs shall feed together, and the lion shall eat chaff like the ox, and the serpent earth as bread. They shall not injure nor destroy in my holy mountain, says the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 65:1 and Mark 5:1

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

In Mark 5, Jesus travels to Gentile land and heals a man near tombs, his first healing outside Jewish land. This may allude to Isaiah 65, where God says he is available to those who had not been seeking him, with restoration offered to all people.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 65:1

Septuagint
1 I became manifest to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me: I said, Look, I am here, to a nation, who did not call on my name. 2 I have stretched forth my hands all day to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who did not walk in a true way, but after their sins. 3 This is the people that provokes me continually in my presence; they offer sacrifices in gardens, and burn incense on bricks to demons, which do not exist. 4 They lie down to sleep in the tombs and in the caves for the sake of dreams, even they that eat swine's flesh, and the broth of their sacrifices: all their vessels are defiled: 5 who say, Depart from me, do not draw near to me, for I am pure. This is the smoke of my fierce anger, a fire burns with it continually. 6 Look, it is written before me: I will not be silent until I have repaid them into their lap,
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Mark 5:1

New Testament
1 So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him. 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him. 7 Then he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God—do not torment me!” 8 (For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”) 9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region. 11 There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding.
60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

References

"... According to the cross references to other biblical passages listed in the footnotes of the UBSGNT for Mark 5, we do not find any mention of the book of Isaiah. And yet for this section of the 'three wondrous signs' (Mark 4:35-5:43), there is an important allusion to Trito-Isaiah in the story of the healing of the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). More than twenty-five years ago, H. Sahlin suggested that this story contained a historical nucleus - the curing of a possessed man to which details have been added to bring out the religious meaning. He maintains that the original narrative has been rebuilt with elements from the text of Isaiah 65. One example given by Sahlin is the opening verse in Isaiah 65:1, 'I was ready to be approached by those who did not consult me, ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, I am here, I am here,' to a nation that did not invoke my name'. This text originally was intended as a reproach against the Jews as the note in the Jerusalem Bible at Isaiah 65:1 indicates. But Sahlin points out how well this verse has a thematic link with Mark 5:1 where Jesus travels to the other side of the lake. This is the first time in Mark that Jesus is in the territory of the gentiles-among a people who have not been calling upon God's name. When Jesus arrives in this region, it is as though he [God's envoy] were saying: 'I am here!' ..."
Richard Schneck, Isaiah in the Gospel of Mark I-VIII (Vallejo, CA: BIBAL, 1994), 137–145.

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 65:1 and Mark 5:1

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