Ronald L. Troxel, «Economic Plunder as a Leitmotif in LXX-Isaiah», Vol. 83 (2002) 375-391
The translator of LXX-Isaiah is known to have perceived in the prophet’s words presages of events in his day and to have expressed those in his translation. Some such themes recur often enough to merit designating them leitmotifs. Such is the case with the description of the people’s plunder through taxation as portrayed in 3,12-15; 5,5.17; 6,13; 9,3-4. Each of these descriptions arises through a unique construal of Hebrew syntax or an assumption of novel semantic ranges for Hebrew lexemes. The appearance of this theme in each of these otherwise unrelated passages merits designating it a leitmotif.
The reasoning behind the translator’s use of pra/ktwr is disclosed by his choice of kai_ oi( a)paitou=ntej for My#nw, based on construing My#n as a participle from h#$n (= )#$n). In that light, oi( a)paitou=ntej denotes "those who demand payment", a meaning a)paitei=n bears in the papyri, where it is frequently used for the collection of taxes 7. Thus, the translation of wy#gn by pra/ktorej (parallel to oi( a)paitou=ntej for My#n) reflects the Hellenistic system of tax collection, revealing that the translator cast these abusive rulers as "tax farmers" 8.
While kalamw=ntai reflects the translator’s association of llw(m with twllw(, "gleanings" (cf. 24,13), that choice was equally studied, given the variety of equivalents for -ll( earlier in the chapter (kai_ e)mpai=ktai for Mylwl(tw in v. 4 [cf. 66,4]; meta_ a)nomi/aj for Mhyll(mw in v. 8 9; tw=n e!rgwn for Mhyll(m in v. 10). This translation, no doubt encouraged by the mention of the vineyard in v. 14, creates a striking metaphor in which (as Ottley observed) kalamw=ntai approaches "the sense of English ‘fleece’" 10. The picture is of a people unduly taxed under the rule of tax farmers 11.
Thus, while v. 12 in the MT demeans Judah’s officials for childish behavior and ridicules as "women" those misleading the people, the LXX depicts leaders who are guilty of imposing onerous taxes, behavior also referred to as "troubling the paths of this people" 12.