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.
Their oppressive reign will come to a dramatic end, however, according to v. 13. While the MT simply juxtaposes its descriptions of inept rulers and judgment 13, the LXX subjoins the judgment scene in a more nuanced way by means of a)lla_ nu=n. Even if this phrase should reflect a w prefixed to bcn in G’s Vorlage, the translator’s choice of a)lla_ nu=n strikingly introduces the reversal of conditions in the judgment of the rulers 14.
Whereas in the MT the Lord stands to judge peoples (Mym(), in G he appoints and stations15 to_n lao_n au)tou= for judgment (probably reflecting wm( in G’s Vorlage)16. Although ei)j kri/sin (for both byrl and Nydl) might suggest the Lord marshals his people in preparation for passing judgement on them, v. 14 takes us in a different direction.
The representation of M( )wby +p#mb hwhy by ku/rioj ei)j kri/sin h$cei meta/ shows that the translator had constructed a coherent idea of the action in these verses. While the translation of every other occurrence of this idiom in the LXX connotes entering into litigation17, this Greek phrase means something different 18.
First, since both occurrences of ei)j kri/sin in v. 13 mean "for judgment", ei)j kri/sin here most likely carries the same meaning 19. Second, the translation of )wby with h#cei (rather than ei)se/rxesqai