The third edition of the Greek New Testament by the United Bible Societies includes two helpful appendices that treat how the New Testament authors used the Old Testament: Index of Quotations; Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels.
My reading through the Septuagint has brought to light a number of additional passages that should be added to the latter index. The following discussion of one example illustrates the value of finding these additional allusions and verbal parallels.
Isaiah 26:14-15 speaks about dead people who will not live:
BGT Isaiah 26:14 οἱ δὲ νεκροὶ ζωὴν οὐ μὴ ἴδωσιν οὐδὲ ἰατροὶ οὐ μὴ ἀναστήσωσιν διὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγες καὶ ἀπώλεσας καὶ ἦρας πᾶν ἄρσεν αὐτῶν 15 πρόσθες αὐτοῖς κακά κύριε πρόσθες κακὰ πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐνδόξοις τῆς γῆς
LXE Isaiah 26:14 But the dead shall not see life, neither shall physicians by any means raise them up: therefore thou hast brought wrath upon them, and slain them, and hast taken away every male of them. Bring more evils upon them, O Lord; 15 bring more evils on the glorious ones of the earth.
KJV Isaiah 26:14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. 15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
NAU Isaiah 26:14 The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out all remembrance of them. 15 You have increased the nation, O LORD, You have increased the nation, You are glorified; You have extended all the borders of the land.
John 3:36 has closely parallel teaching from Jesus:
SCR John 3:36 ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον• ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν τῷ υἱῷ, οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.
KJV John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
BGT John 3:36 ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον• ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν τῷ υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μένει ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.
NAU John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The specific parallel of interest here concerns a denial of life for some people:
οἱ δὲ νεκροὶ ζωὴν οὐ μὴ ἴδωσιν (“But the dead shall not see life,” LXE)
ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν τῷ υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν (“and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,” KJV)
Although the subjects (οἱ νεκροὶ vs. ὁ ἀπειθῶν) differ in these verses, both use the same verb (ἴδωσιν and ὄψεται, which are both from ὁράω) and object (ζωὴν) to deny that certain people will see life. The context in the Greek of both verses speaks of God’s judgment on people, and putting the teaching of the two together suggests that Jesus may have had in view that those who die not believing in the Son will not see life in the resurrection of the just (cf. John 5:28-29).
If this analysis and interpretation of this parallel between these two passages are correct, adding an entry for Isaiah 26:15 matched with John 3:36 to the Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels would seem warranted.
Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
