“He will see light” in Isaiah 53:11

In each witness, “light” is the direct object of the verb “to see.” This is a fairly common idiom, even in Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 9:2). G probably read the same Hebrew consonantal text but as a causative instead of the simple transitive.

The Key Witnesses to Isaiah 53:11 “He will see”

MT (= Vulgate, Peshitta, Targum?)
יִרְאֶה יִשְׂבָּע “He will see, he will be satisfied”

Theodotion
ὄψεται ἐμπλησθήσεται “He will see, he will be filled”

Aquila
ὄψεται ἐμπλησθήσεται “He will see, he will be filled”

Symmachus
ὄψεται χορτασθήσεται “He will see, he will be filled“

The readings of ‘the Three’ are found in Ra 86 and Q as the Edition makes plain below. But I want to comment here on a peculiarity in the Edition and an uncharacteristic infelicity in the second apparatus. Below at v. 11, Ziegler broke up the marginal note in Ra 86 (pictured below) across two separate readings, giving the impression that there were two separate fragments in the margin of the manuscript: (1) ὄψεται and (2) ἐμπλησθήσεται ἐν τῇ γνώσει αὐτοῦ. The obvious problem here is that the reader cannot tell whether the Three had the crucial word φῶς or not. One must actually consult the MS, which is easier now than ever, to see that there is one continuous fragment for the Three which omits φῶς, and therefore, the Three agree with MT. In fact, the Three are the earliest witnesses to the shorter text.

Ziegler’s Göttingen Isaias

Ra 86 (Barb. 549; image from Digivatlib)

Our reading is the top note in the margin with an index to δεῖξαι in the bible text. Clearly, the scribe copied one continuous note for the Three, and we do not have to wonder whether the Three had the longer or shorter reading. In the new critical edition of the Hexaplaric fragments, the one continuous reading of Ra 86 will be supplied so that future researchers will be able to access the correct reading more easily.

Thus, the main witnesses to the proto-Masoretic Text all attest the shorter text, the text without “light.”

Conclusion

A couple of factors probably decide in favor of the longer reading, “he will see light.” First and most significantly, different Qumran texts and G agree. All agree that 1QIsab is a very good representative of proto-MT and it has the longer text against MT. That 1QIsaa (a text not as close to proto-MT), 4QIsad, and G agree with 1QIsab probably shows the independence of the longer reading across witnesses. Second, it’s probable that אור was omitted because ור looks similar to the ה, and thus homoioteleuton accounts for an accidental omission of אור just before the time of the Jewish revisers.

I’m happy to see that many English translations have already adopted this reading (e.g. NIV CSB). I wonder what it would take for them all to adopt it.