Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

"Gentile isles wait and hope in his name for his law"
Isaiah 42:4

"The isles shall wait for His Law" (Isaiah 42:4, MT)
"In His name shall the gentiles hope" (Isaiah 42:4, LXX)

This passage is quoted by Matthew concerning Jesus' mission as "And in His name Gentiles will trust" (12:21) which is fairly close to the Greek Septuagint (LXX) Old Testament version of Isaiah 42:4 but quite different from the Hebrew Masoretic text (MT). Combining the words of the two original language versions gives the somewhat heavy-handed version of our title, "Gentile isles wait and hope in his name for his law".

The Greek version seems to be supported by Matthew with a minor amendment and the early church father Justin Martyr^F1 cites a similar version. The Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIs^a) support the Hebrew.

The Hebrew word for "isles" or "coastlands" is עִיִּים 'îyîym (Strong's #339) and just means a habitable location. The Greek use of "gentiles" from εθνος ‘ethnos (Strong's #1484), from which we get "ethnic", is quite acceptable as a term for peoples or lands and most commonly translates the Hebrew גּוּיִם gôyîm (Strong's #1471), which at first sight has a passing visible similarity with "isles" עִיִּים 'îyîym, but a Hebrew typo should not really be read into this. The same imperfect use of εθνος ‘ethnos to translate עִיִּים 'îyîym "isles" occurs in Isaiah 41:5, so this is no one-off aberrance but a semi-consistent translation choice. It is not totally consistent since Isaiah 51:5, "My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait upon me", uses both אַם ‘am "peoples" (Strong's #5971) and עִיִּים 'îyîymfor which the Greek renders εθνος ‘ethnos and νησος nêsos "island" (Strong's #3250).

The theme of this verse could relate to God, Israel or Christ, or all three. When taken together, Isaiah 42:4 and 51:4-5 both speak of justice and teaching (תּוּרָה tôrâh "law", Strong's #8451) going forth from God and his servant as a light to all peoples. Certainly, "waiting", "hoping" and "trusting" are biblical synonyms.

Finally, "in his name" could be taken as a Hebrew idiom and circumlocution for "in his person" or "in his nature" referring back to both Christ and God. But the Greek conception seems to have come from the fact that ονομα onoma "name" (Strong's #3686) can mean "authority" and may be an application of the idea of "law" in this regard. This then serves Matthew's purpose of giving the "law" a name, "Jesus" (Matthew 12:18-21).

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 123; 135

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