|
Matthew 4:15-16 (Greek + NRSV trans., with adaptations) |
Isaiah 8:23-9:1 (LXX + NETS trans., with adaptations) |
|
|
Τουτο πρωτον ποιει ταχυ ποιει, |
|
Γη Ζαβουλων και Νεφθαλιμ, οδου θαλασσης |
χωρα ζαβουλων, η γη Νεφθαλιμ ουδον θαλασσης |
|
|
και οι λοιποι οι την παραλιαν κατοικουντες
και |
|
|
|
|
Περαντου ‘Ιορανου, Γαλιλαια των εθνων |
περαν του Ιορδανου, Γαλιλαια των εθνων, |
|
|
τα μερη της Ιουδαια;. |
|
ο λαος ο καθημενος εν σκοτει φως ειδεν μεγα,
και τοις καθημενοις εν χωρα και σκια θανατου φως ανατειλεν αυτοις. |
ο λαος ο πορευομενος εν σκοτει, ιδετε φως
μεγα οι κατοικουντες εν χωρα και σκια θανατου, φως λαμψει εφ ‘υμας. |
|
|
|
|
Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, |
O country of Zebulun, the land of Nephthali, on the road by the
sea |
|
|
and the rest who inhabit the seashore and |
|
across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations |
across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations |
|
|
the parts of Judea. |
|
—the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for
those who sat in the country and shadow of death light has dawned on them. |
O you people who walk in darkness, see a great light! O you who
live in the country and shadow of death, light will shine on you! |
As we see from this comparison, Matthew slightly abbreviates the
text of Isaiah in his quotation by leaving out the introduction (“Do this
first; do it quickly”) and by omitting two of the geographical areas addressed.
The first omitted area is probably regarded as redundant and irrelevant (“and
the rest who inhabit the seashore”), as Matthew merely wants to depict Jesus’
settlement in “Capernaum by the sea (Καπερωαουμ, η παραθαλασσιος)” (Matt 4:13), on the northern
shore of the Sea of Galilee, as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy for those
who live “on the road by the sea” (οδον θαλασσης). The other omitted area, “the parts
of Judea,” is clearly regarded as unsuitable here, because Matthew, in the
episode in Matt 4:12-17, tells how Jesus, after his temptation in the
wilderness (4:1-11), begins his public ministry in Galilee, not in Judea. Hence
the reference to Judea, included in the areas addressed by Isaiah, is now left
out. Otherwise the text of the quotation is largely the same, with some mostly
minor differences that are irrelevant for our present purposes. There are two
relevant exceptions, however.
Firstly, whereas Isaiah, in 9:1, addresses the people with the
imperative “see a great light (ιδετε φως μεγα)!” and talks of the shining of
this light in the future tense: “light will shine on you (φως λαμψει εφ ‘υμας),” Matthew in 4:16 states that the
people addressed “have seen a great light (φως ειδεν μεγα)” and that “the light has dawned
on them (φως ανετειλεν αυτοις).” The difference in tenses is
what one expects, as Matthew sees the imperative and future tenses of Isaiah
fulfilled in Jesus’ appearance in “Galilee of the nations.” With Jesus’ arrival,
the “great light” prophesied by Isaiah has dawned upon the people there, and
they have seen it. Hence, these witnesses are no longer described in the
present tense, as in Isaiah, as the people “who walk” (ο πορευομενος) in darkness and as those “who
live” (οι κατοικουντες) in the country and in the shadow
of death, but in the perfect these as “those who sat” (ο καθημενος) in darkness and those “who sat”
(οι καθημενοι) in the region and shadow of
death. These changes are part of Matthew’s application of Isaiah’s prophecy to
the appearance of Jesus, which is explicitly seen as the fulfillment of his
prophecy: “so that which had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be
fulfilled (ινα πληρωθη το ρηθεν δια ‘Ησαιου του προφητου λεγοντος)” (Matt 4:14).
Secondly, and most importantly, in the very last segment of his
quotation from Isaiah, Matthew uses a different verb to describe the activity
of the great light. He doesn’t use the verb “shine” (λαμπειν) that Isaiah uses when he says
that “light will shine on you (φως λαμψει εφ ‘υμας),” but he uses the verb “dawn” (ανατελλειν): “light has dawned on them (φως ανετειλεν αυτοις).” This doesn’t seem to be an
insignificant difference, because further on in Isaiah, in so-called
Trito-Isaiah (Isa 56-66), the combination of light and dawning occurs twice:
once directly (58:10), and once more indirectly (60:1-2). . . . it seems that
Matthew’s quotation of Isaiah is a conflation of the main text of Isaiah
8:23-9:1 with the notion, derived from Trito-Isaiah, that this light, or its splendor,
“daw dawned.” The direct combination of “light” and “dawning” is found in
Isaiah 58:10, where Trito-Isaiah, addressing Jerusalem, and apparently echoing
the wording of Isaiah 8:23-9:1, prophesies: “then your light shall dawn in the
darkness (τοτε ανατελει εν τω σκοτει το φως σου)” (58:10). The same notion re-occurs, somewhat less directly, in
Isaiah 60:1-6, where Trito-Isaiah describes the return of exiles to Jerusalem,
where the glory and splendor of God’s light dawns upon them: “Shine, shine, O
Jerusalem, for your light has come (και η δοξα κυριου επι σε ανατεταλκεν). Look, darkness and gloom shall
cover the earth upon the nations, but the Lord will appear upon you, and his
glory will be seen upon you (Isa 60:1-2). In this passage, the “glory” or “splendor”
(δοξα) of the Lord is said to have
dawned, but as this statement occurs in parallel with the proclamation that
Jerusalem’s “light” (φως)
has come, this light must be identical with the “glory” or “splendor” of God,
so that it is the light that also dawns. Hence, it seems that Matthew, in
quotation of Isaiah 8:23-9:1, includes the notion of the dawning of the light,
which he derives from Trito-Isaiah, where the notion occurs in two instances:
either directly or more indirectly. (George van Kotten, “Matthew, the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of
Matthew’s Gospel in Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries BCE and CE”
in The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from
Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy,
ed. Peter Barthel and George van Kooten [Leiden: Brill, 2015], 610-12)