Isaiah 49:8
The Day of Salvation
Wording onlyQuoted by the apostles in 2 Corinthians 6:2, in the older Greek wording
Paul’s “now is the accepted time” rests on a promise Yahuah made to His Servant. He quoted it word for word.
Side by Side
The Older Text
Septuagint, translated before Messiah
Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee: and I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations.
The Later Text
Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross
Thus saith Yahuah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people.
Quoted in 2 Corinthians 6:2
The apostle’s Old Testament
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Your KJV reads: “heard” and “helped” in Isaiah, then Paul’s Greek wording, “heard” and “succoured,” in 2 Corinthians. The Hebrew word behind “heard” means “answered.”
See what changed and why ↓What Your Bible Says
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV
Paul quotes Isaiah, then turns it into a call: the day Yahuah promised has arrived. Do not let it pass.
What the Jewish Bible Says
Thus saith Yahuah, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee.
Isaiah 49:8 KJV
The KJV says “heard,” but the Hebrew word means “answered.” Yahuah speaks to His Servant: at the right time He answered Him and helped Him.
What Changed
Very little. The Hebrew says “answered,” the Greek says “heard.” To be answered, a man must first be heard. “Helped” and “succoured” are two old English words for the same thing; the Hebrew and the Greek both mean “helped.” Your KJV simply chose a different English word in each Testament.
The Greek also says the Servant is a covenant “of the nations,” where the Hebrew says “of the people.” Two verses earlier both texts already make Him “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6), so nothing is lost either way.
Purpose of the Change
No motive evident: wording variation only. The pair still matters because Paul quoted the Greek wording exactly, the Old Testament his readers were holding.
The Bottom Line
Paul quoted the Greek word for word. The Hebrew says the same thing in its own words.
The day of deliverance belongs to the One on the throne: “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10).
Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it
Who Heard Whom?
In Isaiah 49 Yahuah is speaking to His Servant. The Servant cries out, and Yahuah hears, answers, and helps Him. Hebrews says the same of Messiah: He offered up prayers “unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (Hebrews 5:7). The One who is heard and helped is not the One who hears and helps. Yahuah alone is the Savior; the Son is the Servant He upheld.
An Honest Note
“I will preserve thee” and “I have formed thee” come from the same Hebrew letters, which can be read from either of two verbs. That is a translation choice, not a change to the Hebrew.