The Voice of Him That Crieth In The Wilderness – Did The Gospels Misquote Isaiah Chapter 40?

By: Matthew D. Dyer

    In the Gospel of Matthew, we are introduced to John the Baptist who is said to have been the one who was prophesied in the Book of Isaiah who was going to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight.

Matthew 3:3 (King James Version) states:
“For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

We find this same reference being made again at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, and in the Gospel of Luke.

Mark 1:2-3 (King James Version) states:
“As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

Luke 3:4-6 (King James Version) states:
“As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

In all three of the synoptic Gospels the writers are referencing a prophecy given in the Book of Isaiah in chapter 40.

Isaiah chapter 40:3-5 (King James Version) states:
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” 

    In this passage it appears on a surface reading of the King James Version we have a real problem because it appears all three of the synoptic Gospels are misquoting this prophecy by saying “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” instead of saying “Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Now that may not seem like a huge difference, but when you are quoting a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah and saying it is speaking of Jesus the Christ, one would expect the writers of the Gospels to be very accurate in what they are quoting because people will go look that prophecy up and read it for themselves. The truth is, we don’t have all three Gospel authors misquoting Scripture, rather they are quoting from the Greek Old Testament, also called the Septuagint (LXX), and not from the Hebrew.

Isaiah chapter 40:3-4 (Brenton Septuagint Translation) states:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.”

Isaiah chapter 40:3-4 (Apostolic Bible Polyglot) states:
“A voice yelling in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight the roads of our God! Every ravine shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered; and all the crooked paths shall be for straight, and the rough into smooth plains.”

Isaiah chapter 40:3-4 (Charles Thomas Septuagint) states:
“A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight the roads for our God. Let every valley be filled up, and every mountain and hill be levelled: and let all the crooked be made a straight road, and the rough way, smooth plains.”

    As we see in these three English translations of the Greek Old Testament that the quotations match up with what is quoted in the Gospels and reveals to us that they were NOT misquoting Scripture. There is also something very important about this prophecy that should not be overlooked, and that is the writers of the Gospels are quoting a passage about God and contributing that to Jesus, which is proof that they looked at Jesus as being God in the flesh. This can also be seen in the Hebrew text, because the English word “LORD” is the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, which is the word for the personal name of God. Sometimes translated as Yahweh or Jehovah. For more information on this, please read my book Is Jesus God? Or a god? – Scriptural Proof That Jesus Is God In The Flesh.