Isaiah 30:15–16
"In returning and rest shall ye be saved"
"In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses." Isaiah's counsel against the Egyptian alliance. The Hebrew witnesses agree (1QIsa-a; 1QIsa-b and 4QIsa-c partly). The Vulgate is close (si revertamini et quiescatis); the library's Greek reads very differently: "when, having turned away, you lament, you will be saved."
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
- 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
- 1QIsa-b (1Q8), Qumran Cave 11st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
- 4QIsa-c (4Q57), Qumran Cave 41st century AD (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 30:15–16. "In returning and rest… in quietness and in trust" as in the Masoretic Text. Otherwise the differences are of spelling (fuller use of vowel letters) and small grammatical forms.
1st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)
1QIsa-b (1Q8), 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 30:15–16. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. Only a few letters survive.
1st century AD (reported)
4QIsa-c (4Q57), Qumran Cave 4
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 30:15–16. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. What survives agrees with the Masoretic Text.
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).
Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus, Sanctus Israël: Si revertamini et quiescatis, salvi eritis; in silentio et in spe erit fortitudo vestra. Et noluistis, et dixistis: Nequaquam, sed ad equos fugiemus: ideo fugietis; et: Super veloces ascendemus: ideo velociores erunt qui persequentur vos.
Latin numbering: Isaiah 30:15–16. 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.
כִּ֣י כֹֽה־אָמַר֩ אֲדֹנָ֨י יְהוִ֜ה קְד֣וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל בְּשׁוּבָ֤ה וָנַ֙חַת֙ תִּוָּ֣שֵׁע֔וּן בְּהַשְׁקֵט֙ וּבְבִטְחָ֔ה תִּהְיֶ֖ה גְּבֽוּרַתְכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֖א אֲבִיתֶֽם׃ וַתֹּ֨אמְר֥וּ לֹא־כִ֛י עַל־ס֥וּס נָנ֖וּס עַל־כֵּ֣ן תְּנוּס֑וּן וְעַל־קַ֣ל נִרְכָּ֔ב עַל־כֵּ֖ן יִקַּ֥לּוּ רֹדְפֵיכֶֽם׃
In returning and rest you will be saved; in quietness and trust will be your strength; but you were not willing (v. 15)
Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 30:15–16.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
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.
Voici ce que dit le Seigneur, le Seigneur saint d’Israël: Lorsque après t’être perverti tu te lamenteras, tu seras sauvé, et tu sauras où tu étais; car tu croyais en des vanités, des vanités étaient ta force, et tu n’as pas voulu m’entendre. Mais vous avez dit: Nous fuirons à cheval; à cause de cela, vous fuirez. Vous avez dit: Nous serons sur des chevaux agiles; à cause de cela, ils seront agiles aussi les chevaux qui vous poursuivront.
Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 30:15–16. 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: stable Hebrew text; the Greek is an interpretive translation.
Shuvah: "returning," repentance, or turning back from the alliance; nachat: "rest," as in 28:12.
Compare 7:4 ("Take heed, and be quiet; fear not").
What the evidence shows
- The Hebrew witnesses agree on 30:15.
- The library's Greek turns "returning and rest" into lament. Giguet; C check.
Sources
Related lessons
- Isaiah 30: In Returning and Rest →Woe to the rebellious children who make plans without God and go down to Egypt for shelter; Pharaoh's protection will be their shame (30:1–5). A caravan carries treasure through the dangerous Negev to a people who cannot help: Egypt is "Rahab who sits still" (vv. 6–7). Write it on a tablet as a witness: this people say to the seers, "See not," and want smooth words (vv. 8–14). "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not" (vv. 15–17). Yet God waits to be gracious: no more weeping; your teacher's voice behind you: "This is the way, walk ye in it"; rain, harvest, a sevenfold sun (vv. 18–26). God comes in fire against Assyria; Topheth is prepared for the king (vv. 27–33).