Isaiah 45:23

Every Tongue Shall Confess

Quoted by the apostles in Romans 14:11, in the older Greek wording

Side by Side

The Older Text

Septuagint, translated before Messiah

By myself I swear, righteousness shall surely proceed out of my mouth; my words shall not be frustrated; that to me every knee shall bend, and every tongue shall confess to God.

The Later Text

Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross

I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Quoted in Romans 14:11

The apostle’s Old Testament

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Your KJV reads: the Hebrew in Isaiah (“every tongue shall swear”), then the Greek wording in Romans (“every tongue shall confess to God”).

See what changed and why ↓

What Your Bible Says

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Romans 14:11 KJV

Paul uses the verse to remind believers that each one will give account to Elohim. No one should judge his brother.

What the Jewish Bible Says

I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Isaiah 45:23 KJV

In the Hebrew, every tongue will swear allegiance to Yahuah. Two verses earlier He says, “there is no God else beside me” (Isaiah 45:21).

What Changed

“Swear” became “confess.” To swear by Yahuah is to own Him as your Elohim. To confess Him is the same act in other words. Paul took the Greek form.

Whose Glory?

Paul uses the same verse in Philippians 2. There, Elohim “hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” Every knee bows at the name of Yahushua, and every tongue confesses that He is Lord, “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11). The Father exalts. The Father gives the name. The Father receives the glory. Isaiah’s One Elohim is still the One at the end of the line. The Son is honored by Him, not counted beside Him.

Purpose of the Change

No motive evident: wording variation only. The pair still matters because Paul quoted the Greek wording, “confess to God,” in Romans, and used the same verse again in Philippians.

The Bottom Line

Paul quoted the Greek. Swear or confess, every tongue owns the one Elohim.

In the end every creature sings to two, and does not confuse them: “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13).

Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it

An Honest Note

The Greek copies do not all agree here. The standard printed Greek text reads “confess to God,” the words Paul quotes. One very old Greek copy reads “swear by God,” like the Hebrew. Brenton’s English Septuagint was made from a Greek text based on that copy, so it says “swear by God.” Some scholars think certain copies were brought into line with Paul. Others think Paul’s wording is the older Greek. The panel above gives the wording Paul used.

As I Live

Paul opens with “As I live, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 45:23 opens with “I have sworn by myself.” Both are Yahuah’s oath by His own life. Paul gave the oath in a form Isaiah uses a few chapters later: “As I live, saith Yahuah” (Isaiah 49:18).

The Son Under the Father

Paul says the same in another place: when all things are put under the Son, “then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).