myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

Isaiah 55:1–3

"Ho, every one that thirsteth": the free invitation and the sure mercies of David

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters… buy wine and milk without money and without price… I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." In the Great Isaiah Scroll a few words of v. 1 are missing, probably by a skip in copying. Paul quotes the Greek of v. 3 ("the holy and sure things of David") in Acts 13:34 of Jesus' resurrection.

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

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

Every witness, in order

  1. 8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)

    The oracle as first spoken or written

    – No copy survives

    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.

  2. c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)

    Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    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 55:1–3. In v. 1 lacks "and eat; yea, come, buy," probably because the scribe's eye skipped from one "come, buy" to the next; v. 3 as the Masoretic Text, including "the sure mercies of David." Otherwise the differences are of spelling (fuller use of vowel letters) and small grammatical forms.

  3. 1st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)

    1QIsa-b (1Q8), Qumran Cave 1

    ◐ Contains part of itDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    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 55:1–3. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. Preserves vv. 2–3 in agreement with the Masoretic Text.

  4. 1st century AD (reported)

    4QIsa-c (4Q57), Qumran Cave 4

    ◐ Contains part of itDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    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 55:1–3. A fragmentary copy: only parts of these verses survive, and in the transcription much of the passage is restored by the editors. Preserves parts of vv. 1–3; what survives agrees with the Masoretic Text.

  5. 1st century AD; edition 2010s

    Acts 13:34 (Greek New Testament; library: Statistical Restoration text)

    ✓ Contains this passageUncertain relationship to the verse (which wording it followed is the question)

    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).

    Ὅτι δὲ ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν, μηκέτι μέλλοντα ὑποστρέφειν εἰς διαφθοράν, οὕτως εἴρηκεν, ὅτι ‘Δώσω ὑμῖν τὰ ὅσια Δαυὶδ τὰ πιστά.’

    And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has said thus: I will give you the holy and sure things of David

    Paul's speech at Pisidian Antioch (Luke's report). KJV: "And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David."

  6. Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Omnes sitientes, venite ad aquas, et qui non habetis argentum, properate, emite, et comedite: venite, emite absque argento et absque ulla commutatione vinum et lac. Quare appenditis argentum non in panibus, et laborem vestrum non in saturitate? Audite, audientes me, et comedite bonum, et delectabitur in crassitudine anima vestra. Inclinate aurem vestram, et venite ad me; audite, et vivet anima vestra, et feriam vobiscum pactum sempiternum, misericordias David fideles.

    Latin numbering: Isaiah 55:1–3. Jerome translated Isaiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).

  7. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    ה֤וֹי כָּל־צָמֵא֙ לְכ֣וּ לַמַּ֔יִם וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵֽין־ל֖וֹ כָּ֑סֶף לְכ֤וּ שִׁבְרוּ֙ וֶֽאֱכֹ֔לוּ וּלְכ֣וּ שִׁבְר֗וּ בְּלוֹא־כֶ֛סֶף וּבְל֥וֹא מְחִ֖יר יַ֥יִן וְחָלָֽב׃ לָ֤מָּה תִשְׁקְלוּ־כֶ֙סֶף֙ בְּֽלוֹא־לֶ֔חֶם וִיגִיעֲכֶ֖ם בְּל֣וֹא לְשָׂבְעָ֑ה שִׁמְע֨וּ שָׁמ֤וֹעַ אֵלַי֙ וְאִכְלוּ־ט֔וֹב וְתִתְעַנַּ֥ג בַּדֶּ֖שֶׁן נַפְשְׁכֶֽם׃ הַטּ֤וּ אָזְנְכֶם֙ וּלְכ֣וּ אֵלַ֔י שִׁמְע֖וּ וּתְחִ֣י נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם וְאֶכְרְתָ֤ה לָכֶם֙ בְּרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֔ם חַֽסְדֵ֥י דָוִ֖ד הַנֶּאֱמָנִֽים׃

    Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (v. 1)

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 55:1–3.

  8. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

  9. Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Isaiah

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Vous qui êtes altérés, venez à l’eau; vous qui n’avez point d’argent, allez et achetez; sans argent et sans échange, nourrissez-vous de graisse et de vin. Pourquoi faites-vous cas de l’argent et vous fatiguez-vous pour ce qui ne rassasie pas? Écoutez-moi, et vous mangerez ce qui est vraiment bon; et votre âme se délectera des vrais biens. Prêtez-moi des oreilles attentives, et suivez mes voies; écoutez-moi, et votre âme vivra des vrais biens, et je ferai avec vous une alliance éternelle, et les promesses faites à David seront vérifiées.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 55:1–3. 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: an accidental omission in 1QIsa-a; later quotation in Acts with a different focus (one son of David rather than the people).

The library's Greek: "fat and wine" for "wine and milk"; the Vulgate "vinum et lac."

John 7:37 ("If any man thirst") and Revelation 22:17 echo v. 1 without quoting it.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documented1QIsa-a lacks part of 55:1. Described from a transcription.
  • Independently documentedActs 13:34 quotes Isaiah 55:3.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Isaiah 55: Ho, Every One That Thirsteth →"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (55:1). Why spend money on what does not satisfy? Listen and live: "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David"; nations will run to you (vv. 2–5). "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found"; let the wicked return, "for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (vv. 6–9). As rain and snow water the earth, "so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void" (vv. 10–11). "For ye shall go out with joy… and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (vv. 12–13).