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Journey of a Passage

Isaiah 60:1–3

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come": Zion's dawn and the nations

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth… And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." The library's Greek and the Vulgate add "Jerusalem" in v. 1. The chapter goes on to camels of Midian and Ephah, gold and incense from Sheba (v. 6), and a city whose light is God, not the sun (vv. 19–20), images that Revelation 21:23–26 reuses.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

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 this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
  • Uncertain connection
Hebrew
  1. The oracle as first spoken or written8th–6th century BC (by section; debated)
  2. Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Qumran Cave 1c. 125 BC (palaeography; reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
  3. 1QIsa-b (1Q8), Qumran Cave 11st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
  4. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The oracle as first spoken or written
Greek
  1. Greek Isaiah (library: Giguet's French)Greek translation c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Isaiah
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 400, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation
  1. Revelation 21:23 (Greek New Testament; library: Statistical Restoration text)1st century AD; edition 2010sUncertain relationship to the verse (which wording it followed is the question)

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 60:1–3. As the Masoretic Text in substance; in v. 1 "the glory" lacks "and" (a letter added and erased); in v. 3 "kings to before your dawning" (le-neged) where the Masoretic Text has "to the brightness of your dawning" (le-nogah), a one-letter difference. 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 60:1–3. As the Masoretic Text, with the article on "thick darkness" (v. 2); "brightness" in v. 3 restored.

  4. 1st century AD; edition 2010s

    Revelation 21:23 (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).

    Καὶ ἡ πόλις οὐ χρείαν ἔχει τοῦ ἡλίου οὐδὲ τῆς σελήνης ἵνα φαίνωσιν αὐτῇ, ἡ γὰρ δόξα τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ ἐφώτισεν αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς τὸ Ἀρνίον.

    And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp is the Lamb

    Revelation's new Jerusalem. Allusion, not a quotation. Compare 60:19–20; Revelation adds the Lamb. KJV: "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

  5. 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).

    Surge, illuminare, Jerusalem, quia venit lumen tuum, et gloria Domini super te orta est. Quia ecce tenebræ operient terram, et caligo populos; super te autem orietur Dominus, et gloria ejus in te videbitur. Et ambulabunt gentes in lumine tuo, et reges in splendore ortus tui.

    Latin numbering: Isaiah 60:1–3. Jerome translated Isaiah from Hebrew (c. AD 400).

  6. 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.

    ק֥וּמִי א֖וֹרִי כִּ֣י בָ֣א אוֹרֵ֑ךְ וּכְב֥וֹד יְהוָ֖ה עָלַ֥יִךְ זָרָֽח׃ כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֤ה הַחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ יְכַסֶּה־אֶ֔רֶץ וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל לְאֻמִּ֑ים וְעָלַ֙יִךְ֙ יִזְרַ֣ח יְהוָ֔ה וּכְבוֹד֖וֹ עָלַ֥יִךְ יֵרָאֶֽה׃ וְהָלְכ֥וּ גוֹיִ֖ם לְאוֹרֵ֑ךְ וּמְלָכִ֖ים לְנֹ֥גַהּ זַרְחֵֽךְ׃

    Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you (v. 1)

    Hebrew numbering: Isaiah 60:1–3.

  7. 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).

    Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

  8. 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.

    Resplendis, Jérusalem, resplendis de lumière; car ta lumière est venue, et la gloire du Seigneur s’est levée sur toi. Voilà que les ténèbres enveloppent la terre, et que les gentils sont dans l’obscurité; mais le Seigneur apparaîtra sur toi, et sa gloire va se montrer en toi. Et les rois viendront à ta lumière, et les nations à ta splendeur.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Isaiah 60:1–3. 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: stable text; a translation addition ("Jerusalem") in Greek and Latin; later reuse in Revelation 21; later Christian association of 60:3, 6 with the magi (Matthew 2:11 does not cite it).

The feminine "you" is Zion, addressed as a woman (compare 52:1–2; 54:1).

The Great Isaiah Scroll reads "kings to before your dawning" in v. 3 (le-neged for le-nogah), a one-letter difference (described from a transcription).

What the evidence shows

  • Strongly supportedRevelation 21:23–26 reuses Isaiah 60:3, 11, 19.
  • Conflicts with current evidenceMatthew 2 cites Isaiah 60. It does not; the link with the magi's gifts is later Christian tradition.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Isaiah 60: Arise, Shine →"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee": darkness covers the earth, but nations and kings come to Zion's light (60:1–3). Her sons and daughters come from far; the wealth of the sea and of the nations comes; camels of Midian and Ephah, "all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense"; flocks of Kedar and rams of Nebaioth on God's altar; ships of Tarshish bring her children and their silver and gold (vv. 4–9). Foreigners build her walls, kings serve her; her gates stand open day and night; the glory of Lebanon beautifies the sanctuary; the sons of her oppressors bow and call her "The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel" (vv. 10–14). For brass, gold; for iron, silver; violence no more; walls called Salvation, gates Praise (vv. 15–18). "The sun shall be no more thy light by day… but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light"; "A little one shall become a thousand" (vv. 19–22).