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Isaiah 57:19

The New Testament’s use of Isaiah

7 places · 3 kinds of echo

The source

I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”

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Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.

Quotation1

A formal citation — high verbal volume, often introduced by a saying-formula.

Eph 2:17

'Preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near' quotes 'Peace, peace, to the far and to the near.' The double 'peace' and the far/near pair are reproduced verbatim in sense, making this the clearest formal citation in the chapter.

High confidence

Allusion2

A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.

Eph 2:13

'You who once were far off are made near' draws directly on Isaiah's 'Peace, peace, to the far and to the near.' The far/near pairing is the controlling OT text here, used both at 2:13 and quoted at 2:17, and its volume and recurrence make it the structural backbone of the pericope.

High confidence
Acts 2:37-41

'To all who are far off' (tois eis makran, v.39) echoes Isaiah's 'Peace, peace, to the far and to the near' (Isa 57:19 LXX, 'those far off and those near'), an OT idiom for the inclusion of the distant/diaspora and, ultimately, the nations. Moderate verbal volume on the 'far off' phrase; thematic coherence with Acts' universal mission is high. Reused in NT reconciliation language elsewhere, supporting recurrence.

Medium confidence

Echo4

A fainter, low-volume reuse, carried by recurrence or thematic coherence.

Acts 10:34-43 ?

'Peace, peace, to him that is far off, and to him that is near' undergirds the proclamation of peace now extended to the far-off Gentiles in Cornelius's house; coherent with the chapter's inclusion theme.

Medium confidence
John 14:25-27 ?

'Peace, peace, to the far and to the near, says the LORD; and I will heal him' is God's gift of peace to his people, the prophetic backdrop to Jesus bestowing his own peace. Medium for the shared divine-gift-of-peace motif; John heightens it by contrasting Jesus' peace with the world's hollow giving.

Medium confidence
Heb 13:7–19

A second, fainter source for ‘fruit of lips’ — Isa 57:19 LXX literally speaks of ‘the fruit of the lips’ (karpon cheileōn). Low volume and contested as the primary referent (Hosea is the better fit for the praise-as-sacrifice sense), but the exact lexical match means it cannot be excluded from a maximal inventory (Hays' criterion of availability).

Low confidence
Rom 5:1-11 ?

"Peace with God" for the reconciled (5:1, 5:10-11): "Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the LORD; and I will heal him." The prophetic announcement of peace and healing to estranged people faintly anticipates peace and reconciliation language. Contested.

Low confidence
Elsewhere in Isaiah 57
Isaiah 57:15 2Isaiah 57:20 3