Changing Isaiah
“And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;’” Matthew 13:14 NASB
Will not understand/ will not perceive – “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Do you believe what Paul wrote to the congregation in Rome? If you do, then you acknowledge that your faith depends on hearing God’s Word. That raises an important question, doesn’t it? When you read your English Bible, are you really hearing God’s Word? Let’s look at this quotation in Matthew and see what we find.
There are a lot of unusual things about this citation. Matthew doesn’t introduce it with his customary editorial remark. Here it is incorporated directly into Yeshua’s speech. In addition, it is a verbatim recitation of the LXX version of the text, not the Hebrew version. This is particularly odd. If this is really what Yeshua said, then Yeshua quoted the passage from the LXX. Does that mean Yeshua was so familiar with the LXX that He used it with the same authority as the Hebrew text? Most of Matthew’s citations show textual variation to accommodate Matthew’s objective, but here we have a citation directly from the Greek Old Testament without any changes. Finally, the Greek verb that introduces this quotation is not the usual pleroo (to fulfill) but rather a hapax legomenon (for the gospels), anapleroo, meaning to completely fulfill (literally, to fill again). Something strange is happening here.
Since the authors of the Ketuvim Netzarim often use citations from the LXX, you might think that this makes Matthew’s quotation perfectly acceptable. But once we look at the changes in the LXX, we have another problem. You see, the LXX changes the tense of the verbs in Isaiah from the present to the future. In Isaiah, God commands the people to keep on listening but not understanding; to keep on seeing but not perceiving. But by the time we get to the LXX, this is no longer a command. Now it is a prediction (“keep on listening but will not understand”). The tense is shifted from the present to the future. The result: everything about the meaning of the sentence changes. This raises two questions: why was the passage changed and why did Matthew use the altered version?
The first question is answered by noticing that the change in tense removes the idea that God prevents understanding. In Isaiah, the statement is a command from God. God directs the people to listen but He prevents them from understanding. God is responsible for their refusal to obey! This idea is repugnant to the worldview of Hellenism. When this idea confronts Greek metaphysics, it is corrected. The LXX alters the passage to fit a Greek perspective by removing God’s culpability. Now the passage appears to be about human self-hardening.
Why would Matthew use this version, obscuring the thought of Isaiah? Even more importantly, since Matthew is supposedly recounting the very words of Yeshua, did Yeshua alter Isaiah to fit the Hellenized version? I think that answer must be, “No!” In my opinion, Yeshua would certainly have quoted Isaiah in Hebrew without alteration. I see no reason to believe that Yeshua quoted the LXX version of the text. And since I also believe that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew, the only explanation for this alteration is that the translator of Matthew’s Hebrew gospel used the LXX version, altering the meaning of the verse without realizing so because he used the Greek LXX translation. I believe Matthew originally quoted Yeshua who quoted Isaiah in Hebrew. The real meaning was retained until Matthew’s gospel fell into the hands of the Greek translator who did not use the Hebrew citation. In other words, we are left with someone’s mistranslation. And we think we have God’s word on the subject.
“Faith comes by hearing.” We hear, but do we really hear God’s word when what we hear is the translation of men? It is a difficult question to answer. We often hear imperfectly, but God speaks to us through these imperfect words anyway. What we must do is distinguish between the experience of faith and the foundation of exegesis. Paul would never have meant that faith comes by hearing any kind of translated divine words. Paul clearly meant that faith comes by hearing God’s words from the Tanakh. When we read our translations, and realize that we may actually be reading a translation of a translation, we must fall to our knees and plead for understanding lest we be led astray by some human alteration. Studying the Bible is not as simple as reading the words on the page, is it? God speaks nevertheless, but we have no excuse for not pursuing the real words.
Topical Index: LXX, Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 13:14, translation
Yes, we have no excuse. If we are going to make it through the narrow gate we must not give up.
This Scripture reminds me of God hardening Pharoah’s heart. Do you have any thoughts on why He hardens hearts and causes people not to hear and see? I just experienced something like this the other day. I made an error that was out of character for me. Normally, I would not make such an error in judgement–intuitively, i would have known not to do it. It was as if i were temporarily blinded or made deaf to clear judgement. This error in judgement resulted in my being removed from an unstable and dangerous situation. God’s ways are mysterious because He has a scope sooooo beyond ours, “My ways are not your ways…” This is difficult to fathom because we can’t see beyond our own mortal frame of reference. Then, add mistranslated Scriptures whose purpose is to trigger spiritual expansion. Nevertheless, we must plod on to finish the course set before us.
Another thing, it says in Scripture that He doesn’t let some hear or see so that they won’t repent and then be healed. Why do you see might be the reason for this?
A quick response. Remember the context. YHWH has determined to take Israel into Babylon in order that idolatry will be forever removed from them. His plan is perfect but it requires that they do not repent and delay the execution of His purposes. Nevertheless, the record of His warning is required so that after the event their eyes can be opened to see what they brought on themselves.
Were their eyes opened?
Of course, but the real question is WHEN were their eyes opened?
“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” (Romans 11.25)
If I may..
– Faith comes by (our) hearing. We live by what we hear and not what we see. (And once again..) -“Shema” O Israel. The meaning of “shema?” I think by now we know the answer!- (lol!-surely!)
Hear and obey! Hear and obey! Hear and obey!- Faith comes by hearing and doing the word of G-d. Abraham (an illustration of a life of faith), heard the word of G-d and then he rose the next day and saddled his donkey. He set out “to do”according to the instructions of YHWH. Do we? Do we live our daily lives according to the instructions of our Elohim? Do we love the LORD our Elohim with all of our hearts, souls, minds and (collective) strength? Do we “do” these things? By doing the word of the LORD we then discover, much to our delight, “this stuff works!” Well, what do you know- voila!- “blessing!” This man (me, or you or whosoever “will”) will be blessed in his doing. He (Yeshua) went about “doing good.” (Remember?)
Any more of those, “I met Skip Moen and he ruined my life” t-shirts available? I think we’ll need another fresh batch after this TW. 😉
Maybe we should offer it as a purchase. In XXL only, of course (oh, that’s the opposite of LXX, isn’t it?)
You are so right, Patrick! 🙂
Shalom Patrick,
I have a observation/challenge for you. Would you like to hear it?
In His Care,
Brian
George Howard’s Hebrew Gospel of Matthew puts this quote back into the present tense as a “command.” Interesting.
I no that I’ve got a lot f things mixd up n bakwrds, but I am certain that sevrl f th “founding fathrs” in th 1st century mentiond fact f Apostl Matthew writing in Hebrew ((“n ea 1 translated as he was abl” — or somthg like that )) AND that Apostl Matt did NOT quote septignt but orignl Hebrew. That leads2 sevrl distrbg implicatns.
With the greatest respect, your statement “I think the answer must be no” is as disturbing to me as the possibility that the Greek translations changed the tense of the verb in the quote by relying on the LXX. I appreciate that you clearly indicate that you are sharing an opinion, but that is a strong conclusion to draw from the scant evidence you mentioned in this article.
If this were the only case where the OT citations are altered, then the evidence would be thin indeed. But this is not the only case. In fact, as I have written before, it is customary for the writers of the NT to alter the OT citations. Even Yeshua does so. But here there is absolutely no argument that the citation is from the LXX and that the LXX alters the tense. No scholar would disagree. So, what does this mean? How can it possibly mean that Yeshua Himself altered the tense so as to represent Isaiah saying something that Isaiah didn’t actually say? The better solution is the alteration in translation and since there is evidence that the original gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew, the use of a LXX passage here is even more suspect.
Just one more element to add. Refer to R T France on Matthew about the LXX tense switch. There is no question about this at all! So, what does this mean? Does it mean that Matthew misquoted the text or that the LXX mistook the tense or that Yeshua knew this and still used the text from the LXX? Lots of questions. Few answers.
I think Ray is ready for that t-shirt. 😉