The priestly character of the
gentiles’ offerings is prominent in Hebrew Isaiah 56:6–7. The term used for
their ministry in 56:6 is שׁרת , the regular word in the Hebrew Bible for the
service of the priests and Levites. The same word is used in Isaiah 61:6, where
it is rendered in the LXX by λειτουργός: ὑμεῖς δὲ ἱερεῖς κυρίου κληθήσεσθε,
λειτουργοὶ θεοῦ, “but you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of God”
(61:6). With only one exception, the Hebrew verb שׁרת is consistently
translated in the LXX by the Greek verb λειτουργέω and its cognates, which as
we have seen throughout the Bible, when used in the context of worship, always
connote priestly or sacerdotal functions.
The priestly character of the
service of the gentiles in Isaiah 56:6–7 is also evident in all ancient Greek
translations – except the LXX. Unlike the other ancient Greek versions, the
priestly function of the gentiles is obscured in the Septuagint translation of
Isaiah 56:6, which renders שׁרת as δουλεύω rather than λειτουργέω. The reason
for this, as scholars are widely agreed, was the Septuagint Isaiah translator’s
discomfort with the passage’s depiction of gentiles as exercising Levitical
functions. Only once among its many occurrences in the Old Testament is the
Hebrew verb שׁרת translated in the LXX with δουλεύω rather than λειτουργέω or
its cognates – here in LXX Isaiah 56:6! Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, by
contrast, all translate שׁרת in Isaiah 56:6 with λειτουργέω. This is
significant, for it suggests that Isaiah 56:6–7 may underlie not only
Philippians 4:18, but also the larger theme of the Philippians’ sacrifice
developed throughout the letter. For if, as we know he does elsewhere (e. g. 1
Cor 15:54), Paul is here utilizing a Greek text of Isaiah stemming from the
“proto-Theodotion” recension, it is likely that Isaiah 56:6–7 is the source,
not only of Paul’s language of “an acceptable sacrifice” (θυσία δεκτή) in
Philippians 4:18, but also of Paul’s characterization of the Philippians’ labor
for the gospel as a “priestly ministry” (λειτουργία and its cognates)
throughout the letter (2:17; 2:25: 2:30). (James P. Ware, “The Servants of the
Servant in Isaiah and Philippians,” in Isaiah’s Servants in Early Judaism
and Christianity: The Isaian Servant and the Exegetical Formation of Community
Identity, ed. Jacob Stromberg and Michael A. Lyons [Wissenschaftliche
Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 554; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021], 263-64)
