Isaiah 10:20–23
"A remnant shall return"
"The remnant shall return (shear yashuv)… unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return." The Hebrew "return" becomes "be saved" in the library's Greek (Giguet: "un reste en sera seul sauvé"), and Paul quotes that Greek form in Romans 9:27–28. The Great Isaiah Scroll agrees with the Masoretic Text.
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
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✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
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- The oracle as first spoken or written8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
- Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
- Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
Every witness, in order
8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
The oracle as first spoken or written
No original survives. The oldest copies of Isaiah are the Qumran scrolls: the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a, about 125 BC, nearly complete), 1QIsa-b (1Q8) and some twenty other fragmentary manuscripts.
c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)
Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1
How the site knows this: Described from a published transcription of the manuscript. Described in the site's own words from Martin Abegg's transcription (ETCBC/CACCHT Dead Sea Scrolls dataset v2.0.5); the transcription itself is not reproduced. Photographs and DJD XXXII not yet checked.
Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 10:20–23. "A remnant will return" as in the Masoretic Text. Otherwise the differences are of spelling (fuller use of vowel letters) and small grammatical forms.
1st century AD; edition 2010s
Romans 9:27–28 (Greek New Testament; library: Statistical Restoration text)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: the Greek New Testament editions in the library (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Textform, Statistical Restoration).
¶Ἠσαΐας δὲ κράζει ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, “Ἐὰν ᾖ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης, τὸ ὑπόλειμμα σωθήσεται. Λόγον γὰρ συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων ποιήσει ˚Κύριος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.”
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved
Paul's use in Romans 9. KJV: "Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth."
Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Et erit in die illa: non adjiciet residuum Israël, et hi qui fugerint de domo Jacob, inniti super eo qui percutit eos; sed innitetur super Dominum, Sanctum Israël, in veritate. Reliquiæ convertentur; reliquiæ, inquam, Jacob ad Deum fortem. Si enim fuerit populus tuus, Israël, quasi arena maris, reliquiæ convertentur ex eo; consummatio abbreviata inundabit justitiam. Consummationem enim et abbreviationem Dominus Deus exercituum faciet in medio omnis terræ.
Latin numbering: Isaiah 10:20–23. Jerome translated Isaiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא לֹֽא־יוֹסִ֨יף ע֜וֹד שְׁאָ֤ר יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וּפְלֵיטַ֣ת בֵּֽית־יַעֲקֹ֔ב לְהִשָּׁעֵ֖ן עַל־מַכֵּ֑הוּ וְנִשְׁעַ֗ן עַל־יְהוָ֛ה קְד֥וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בֶּאֱמֶֽת׃ שְׁאָ֥ר יָשׁ֖וּב שְׁאָ֣ר יַעֲקֹ֑ב אֶל־אֵ֖ל גִּבּֽוֹר׃ כִּ֣י אִם־יִהְיֶ֞ה עַמְּךָ֤ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כְּח֣וֹל הַיָּ֔ם שְׁאָ֖ר יָשׁ֣וּב בּ֑וֹ כִּלָּי֥וֹן חָר֖וּץ שׁוֹטֵ֥ף צְדָקָֽה׃ כִּ֥י כָלָ֖ה וְנֶחֱרָצָ֑ה אֲדֹנָ֤י יְהוִה֙ צְבָא֔וֹת עֹשֶׂ֖ה בְּקֶ֥רֶב כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
For though your people Israel be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it will return; destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness (v. 22)
Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 10:20–23.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872
Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Et en ce jour voici ce qui arrivera: ce qui restera d’Israël, et ceux de Jacob qui auront été sauvés n’auront plus foi en ceux qui leur auront nui; mais ils se confieront en vérité à Dieu, au Saint d’Israël. Et ce qui restera de Jacob se confiera au Dieu tout-puissant. Et quand le peuple d’Israël serait aussi nombreux que le sable de la mer, un reste en sera seul sauvé. Parole abrégée et accomplie avec justice; car cette parole abrégée, le Seigneur l’étendra à toute la terre.
Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 10:20–23. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check only); a C check needs Ziegler's Göttingen Isaiah or Rahlfs–Hanhart.
What changed, and why
Classification: Greek = interpretive translation ("saved" for "return"); NT = later quotation following the Greek.
Shear-jashub is also the name of Isaiah's son (7:3): a name that is both warning (only a remnant) and hope (a remnant will return).
"The mighty God" (el gibbor, v. 21) is the title in 9:6.
What the evidence shows
- The library's Greek reads "saved" for "return" in 10:22.
- Romans 9:27 follows the Greek.
Sources
Related lessons
- Isaiah 10: Assyria, the Rod of My Anger →The last stanza of the refrain: woe to those who make unjust laws to rob the poor, widows and orphans (10:1–4). "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger": God sends Assyria against a godless nation, but Assyria intends to destroy many nations and boasts, "By the strength of my hand I have done it" (vv. 5–14). "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" (v. 15). God will burn Assyria's forest (vv. 16–19). "The remnant shall return (shear yashuv)… unto the mighty God"; though Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return (vv. 20–23). Do not fear Assyria (vv. 24–27). The enemy advances town by town to Nob and shakes his fist at Zion; God lops the boughs and fells the forest of Lebanon (vv. 28–34).
- Investigation: Jesus and Isaiah →Isaiah is quoted in the Gospels more than any other prophet. This study registers 55 uses that involve Jesus: 20 in Matthew, 14 in Mark, 12 in Luke and 9 in John. For each it records who speaks (Jesus as the Gospel reports him, the narrator, John the Baptist, a heavenly voice, Simeon, or a later scribe), the Isaiah passage and its original setting, the Gospel's Greek wording, whether the use is an explicit quotation, a quotation without formula, an allusion, a proposed allusion, or a later Christian connection, and how that Gospel uses it. Each Gospel is kept separate.