1 Peter 2.24. Although it is not a marked citation of Scripture, 1 Pet. 2.24 is commonly thought to be a conflation of words from Isa. 53.12 and 53.4. Given the significance of the larger Isaianic passage in early Christianity, it is probable that readers would have noticed this scriptural use. Additionally, as Karen Jobes notes, there are numerous references to Isaiah 53 LXX in the wider context of 1 Pet. 2.21-25. Her presentation, which we follow below, uses bold and italics to mark connections with Isaiah:
2:20b Rather, if because of doing good
you suffer and endure it, this is grace before God.
2.21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf,
leaving you an example in order that you might follow in his footsteps.
2.23 [He,], who did not commit sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth
[Isa. 53.9]:
2 23 [He,] who when reviled did not retaliate, when he suffered he
did not make threats [Isa. 57.3c-d], but instead trusted [Isa.
53.6c, 12] the one who judges justly [Isa. 53.8a]
2.24 [He,] who himself bore our sins [Isa. 53.4a, 12] in his body upon
the tree, so that being separated from sin we might live to righteousness; [He,]
by whose wounds you are healed [Isa. 53.5d].
2.25 For you were like wandering sheep [Isa. 53.6a], but now you have
returned to the Shepherd and overseer of your souls.
Given the
significant influence of Isaiah 53 LXX on vv. 21-25, we are on firm ground in
positing a reference to Isa. 53.12 and 53.4 in 1 Pet. 2.24.
Table
1.4. Comparison of 1 Pet. 2.24, Isa. 53.4, and Isa. 53.2
|
Isa. 53.4 |
1 Pet. 2.24 |
Isa. 53.12 |
|
οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται, καὶ
ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει. |
ὃς τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν ἐν τῷ
σώματι αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον, ἵνα ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ
ζήσωμεν· οὗ τῷ μώλωπι ἰάθητε. |
διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν μεριεῖ σκῦλα,
ἀνθʼ ὧν παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐλογίσθη, καὶ
αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν
παρεδόθη. |
The phrase
as αυτος αμαρτιας πολλων ανηνεγκεν (‘he born the sins of the many’, Isa. 53.12)
appears as τας αμαρτιας
ημων
αυτος ανηνεγκεν(‘he
bore our sins’) in 1 Pet. 2.24. The apparent reason for the change to ‘our sins’
is that the author of 1 Peter has personalized the quotation for his Christian
readers. In other words, the larger literary context of Isaiah 53 LXX was used
as a literary resource in order to make the quotation allusion more rhetorically
effective for the writer’s audience. (Sean A. Adams and Seth M. Ehorn, “Introduction,”
in Composite Citations in Antiquity, ed. Sean A. Adams and Seth M.
Ehorn, 2 vols. [Library of New Testament Studies 593; London: T&T Clark, 2018],
2:13-14)
