Chris A. Franke
The book of Isaiah deals with people, places, and events spanning several centuries, from 733 BCE to some time around 515 BCE. Chapters 1–39, referred to as First or Proto-Isaiah, focus on the time when Israel and Judah were under Assyrian rule. An ominous message to King Hezekiah announces the rise of the Babylonian Empire in Isaiah 39. The result is that nothing will be left of his kingdom, Judah, and his Davidic lineage will come to an end. The backdrop of the following chapters, 40–66, includes the Babylonian destruction of Judah and the exile of many of its citizens in 587 BCE; the rise of the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE; and the restoration of life in Jerusalem after Cyrus allowed all exiles to return home. While the name Isaiah never appears in 40–66, Isaiah 1–39 and 40–66 share common features, including emphasis on Jerusalem/Zion, reference to the Davidic monarchy, and common images and names of God.
Chapters 40–66 treat two different eras. Chapters 40–55 are addressed to exiles living in Babylon during the rule of Cyrus (538–515 BCE). Their liberation from Babylonian oppression is soon to come. Chapters 56–66 recount the situation in the newly formed Judah, now called Yehud, after the exiles return home and are united with those who had remained in the land after the fall of the kingdom.
Chapters 40–55 are usually identified as Second or Deutero-Isaiah and 56–66 as Third or Trito-Isaiah. Scholars disagree about the authorship of these two sections of the book of Isaiah. Some hold that they represent two different authors or prophets. The mostly hopeful messages of Deutero-Isaiah (abbreviated as DI) and its Babylonian setting are very different from the more somber and sometimes threatening tone and setting in Yehud of Trito-Isaiah (abbreviated as TI). Others see continuity between the two. The strongest defense of single authorship is the consistent literary style throughout. A geographical change does not in itself warrant asserting a new author. In this article, the book of Isaiah is abbreviated as BOI. DI indicates chapters 40–55 and TI chapters 56–66. The view here asserts a single authorial voice.
Other suggestions describing the authorship of DI include the following. Ulrich Berges proposes that cultic representatives are the authorial group responsible for the composition of 40–55 (Berges, 587–88). The people who were sent into exile after the destruction of Jerusalem surely included the priests familiar with temple worship and other cultic activities. They could also be responsible for composition of prayers and/or psalms used in worship.
Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer (26–30) proposes the possibility of female authorship of 40–55. In support of this view, she cites the many metaphors that compare God to a woman, the references to female socio-sexual roles, descriptions of tasks related to motherhood, and the absence of negative images of women.
Isaiah 40:1–31: Israel’s God Is Incomparable
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Chapter 40 is the beginning of another major section of the BOI. It represents momentous changes of time, place, and mood from chapters 1–39, which are set in mid- to late eighth-century Jerusalem. The time and place of Isaiah 40–55 is 539 BCE, when Babylonia succumbed to Cyrus the Great of Persia. DI’s message is addressed to the community of exiles living in Babylon. The chapter begins with words of comfort and reassurance and promises change for those living under Babylonian rule (40:1–2).
What is known about the exiles who lived in Babylonian territory? Some scholars describe their living conditions as relatively benign. Life continued in exile with little if any disadvantage to the exiles. However, data from sociological and psychological sciences reveal a very different view of people forcibly removed from a secure existence in their homeland. Living as minorities in a foreign country offered little if any security or civil rights. “The Judean experience of deportation … was a severe and traumatic personal, social, and psychological event” (Moore and Kelle, 364). Convincing people who suffered under such conditions for half a century that God was on their side would have been a difficult task. They would need constant and reliable reassurance that God is aware of their existence. DI not only acknowledges their long term of suffering but in a stunning admission also acknowledges that they “received from YHWH’s hand” twice as much punishment as they deserved for their sins. Their fortunes are soon to be reversed. A way will be prepared in the wilderness, and God will lead them back home.
Isaiah 40–66 is filled with a variety of images demonstrating YHWH’s power and will to save. The long poem in 40:12–31 is the first of many such demonstrations. The prominent image of God in these verses is of a powerful, all-knowing, everlasting Creator. The literary device of the rhetorical question is used here and elsewhere in DI. It often appears in connection with repetition, another technique by which DI gets the attention of the audience: “To whom then will you liken God?” (40:18) and “To whom then will you compare me?” (40:25). The intent is not to demand answers of the audience but to assert the obvious. No one can be compared to YHWH. YHWH is incomparable. The author takes an argumentative or polemical tone. The defensive aspect of the polemic is because the other side of the issue is all too obvious to the audience. They have good reason to doubt.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Anyone who has ever listened to Handel’s Messiah will be familiar with the BOI. The libretto contains seventeen citations from the BOI (Davies, 464–84). The Messiah to whom Handel points is Jesus as described in the Synoptic Gospels. Mark’s Gospel begins with an allusion to the BOI, showing John the Baptist preparing way of the Lord (Mark 1:2–3). Since the New Testament cites the BOI more times than any other Old Testament text, it is not surprising that Handel’s librettist, Charles Jennens, used numerous texts from Isaiah. The librettist repeats Isa. 40:1–5 almost word for word in the first three pieces. The only phrase omitted is the troubling “double payment from the LORD for all her sins.” Other citations from Isaiah 40 in the Messiah include 40:9, which describes the messenger who brings the good news, and 40:11, describing God the shepherd gently leading the lambs.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
The frequent use of motifs and ideas from the BOI in the New Testament and later Christian interpretations has led many Christians to believe that the only way to understand Isaiah is through a christological lens. Knowledge of events in Israel’s history as well as an awareness of how these texts were used well before New Testament times is crucial to a wider view of the importance of the BOI. From early on in Jewish tradition, selections from Isaiah 40–60 that recall the destruction of the temple and the exile from Judah were read in synagogues before the high holy days (Paul, 71). The message of comfort in 40:1 is the first of these readings, which mark the period of personal and national mourning for Jews. Sabbath readings in current Jewish liturgy are filled with selections from the book of Isaiah. Both Jewish and Christian traditions have appropriated texts from Second Isaiah for liturgical use.
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
DI has been called the “spider poet” because of the tangled web of connections found throughout 40–55 (Kim, 178). Chapters 41:1–44:8 illustrate this phenomenon. Motifs include the nations, the making of idols, Israel/Jacob as God’s chosen, the servant, and transformation of the wilderness. Many of these motifs appear throughout the rest of 40–66. God is portrayed as warrior, attorney or judge, a woman giving birth, king, comforter. Literary genres adapted from ancient Near Eastern documents include terminology reflecting a courtroom trial, hymns used in liturgies, and rhetorical questions, all of which would be familiar to DI’s audience in Babylon.
Isaiah 41 begins with a courtroom setting. God puts the nations on trial, demanding proof that they and their deities are powerful. Are they able to control events, predict the future? Do they have power enough to terrify or harm others? As evidence that it is YHWH who is able to control events, predict the future, and terrify nations, God has called up Cyrus the Persian king to defeat the Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE. The gods are unable to prove that they can control and predict the future. They remain silent and ineffectual in contrast to God’s powerful acts on behalf of Jacob/Israel. A distinctive feature in this section is God speaking in the first person, emphatically asserting that “I have held my peace, I have kept still,” “I will cry out,” “I will lay waste mountains,” “I will turn the rivers into islands,” “I will lead the blind,” “I will turn the darkness before them into light,” “these are the things I will do,” “I will not forsake them” (Isa. 42:14–16). An English translation of 41:1–44:8 reveals over 130 occurrences of first-person pronouns.
The courtroom scene in 43:9–13 brings a new and far more serious challenge to the nations. They have no witnesses who can prove that their gods exist. The nations were initially asked to show that they and their gods were powerful. YHWH now asserts that
before me no god was formed,
nor will there be any after me. (43:10)
thus denying the nature or existence of the gods.
While the nations tremble with fright, YHWH comforts Jacob/Israel: “Do not fear, for I am with you” (43:5). The “fear not” formula appears throughout DI, beginning with God’s opening message to the exiles (40:9). It underlies the prophet’s message in 41:1–44:8. The phrase “fear not” is adapted from an ancient Near Eastern literary-theological motif used to indicate that the gods support their kings and people. Shalom Paul cites an example of the goddess Ishtar reassuring Assyrian kings that she will deliver their enemies for destruction (Paul, 166). Also familiar in these documents is the phrase “grasping the right hand,” which demonstrates that a king or god supports his people. DI uses this formula in 41:10 and 13 to indicate divine support.
The hymn of praise in 42:10–12 is a familiar genre frequently used in their worship services. All are commanded to lift up their voices and sing to give glory to YHWH and declare God’s praise! The hymn genre most likely originated in a cultic setting. When a group of people gathers to worship, part of their worship includes praying and singing. Motifs for these prayers include complaint, lament, and thanksgiving, which are used in Isaiah 40–66. All of these genres reflect significant events with which the audience was familiar. These features will immediately direct the audience’s attention to the significance or tone of the message.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Scholars reading Isaiah 40–66 over the years have proposed a wide variety of strategies to understand its complicated features. One of the most significant contributions to understanding the literary dimensions of DI was made by James Muilenburg in his commentary in The Interpreter’s Bible. Using the results of form-critical studies of Isaiah 40–66, he showed that the prophet used typical forms of the time but tweaked them, adding to or altering the formulas to give new depth and nuance to the message.
The cult of the Babylonian gods is described in some detail beginning in Isa. 41:6–7. DI emphasizes idolatry and especially the construction of images of Babylonian deities in chapters 40–47. The disparaging polemics against the construction and worship of statues is evidence that the exiles in Babylon were familiar with and perhaps attracted to these practices. Accentuated here is YHWH’s power over nations, kings, and their deities; the idea that YHWH is “the first and the last”; and the idea that “there is no god besides me” and “no savior besides me.”
Some have referred to DI as the exponent of monotheism in Israel. While one might speak of incipient monotheism in DI, it is not so much a question of how many gods there are but rather what kind of a god YHWH is. Israel’s repeated attention to a single deity over the course of their history is the background of the later development of a full-fledged monotheism. See Mark Smith’s discussions of this fascinating and complicated aspect of Israelite history and religion (Smith 1990; 2001).
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
The BOI often uses the metaphor of regeneration of land, plant life, and waters and compares these to the condition of human existence. The repeated references to life-giving water in DI and TI reflect the devastated conditions of the land reduced to a wasteland by the ravages of war. Recent interest in ecological issues has encouraged Bible scholars to address this issue.
Patricia K. Tull brings these issues to her study of Isaiah, demonstrating that Isaiah uses “plant imagery to tie human spiritual and societal health to environmental well-being” (Tull, 27). She indicates that it is sometimes impossible to tell when the text is to be understood literally or metaphorically. Referring to a group of farmers who studied Genesis 3, she cites their observation that “when humans are disconnected from God, the soil will be the first to suffer.”
Isaiah 44:9–20: The Folly of Making and Worshiping Images of Deities
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Scattered through Isaiah 40–48 are references to features of Babylonian religion, especially the making and use of images of gods in the Babylonian pantheon. DI’s perspective on images, artisans who make them, and those who worship them is consistently negative and critical. Isaiah 44:9–20 features a detailed description of the construction of images or idols (for DI the terms are synonymous), from the planting of the trees used for carvings to the iron workshop in which images are forged. The tone of this anti-idol passage is scathing sarcasm and ridicule. DI derides those who burn wood to cook their meals and warm their hands and then bow down to a statue made of the same kind of wood. Such a person is a “shepherd of ashes with a deluded mind” (44:20, author’s trans.).
A recent commentary by Shalom Paul is a rich source of background information for Babylonian history, literature, religion, and culture during the time of the formation of Isaiah 40–66. Paul describes an event during the reign of Babylonian king Nabonidus, who made dramatic changes in the Babylonian cult. One of the most significant was to change the order of the gods in the pantheon. The chief god Marduk was deposed and replaced with another god. Nabonidus also canceled celebration of a religious holiday, which enraged the populace. Marduk’s priests, understandably upset, published a document attacking Nabonidus’s behavior, claiming that he “looks at representations [of the gods] and utters blasphemies” (Paul, 13).
DI’s familiarity with the Babylonian scene is clear from the details included in the anti-idol passages. He takes for granted that his audience living under Babylonian rule for decades is familiar with these practices. Understood in light of the political situation in Babylon, it is not difficult to understand DI’s polemical tone. In the words of DI, Marduk’s “devotees shall be put to shame” (44:11) when their emperor deposed their chief god. Critique of the gods is critique of Babylonian politics. DI’s exilic audience would relish the disarray of Babylonian’s inept and divided leadership.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
DI uses satire in several poems that describe Babylonian practices and politics; for example, Isaiah 46–47. Satire is used to ridicule, diminish, or attack an individual, an institution, or a culture. It evokes in the audience feelings of scorn or contempt for the subject. Putting the drudgery of the artisans in elegant, poetic language heightens the level of ridicule and mockery. Some consider this literary feature to be beneath the soaring language of DI. However, reading it in light of oppressive conditions in Babylonia makes DI’s satirical critique a fit way to disempower an oppressive empire.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
What significance might this satire on images of deities have for diverse religious groups? Orthodoxy has a tradition of the veneration of icons. The veneration of the Bible itself is a traditional practice for some Christians. Hindu practices include processions of images of deities as part of its tradition. Another way to reflect on this question is to ask: How is the divine made present in the world?
“Laughing at Idols” is the title of an article by George M. Soares-Prabhu (1995, 110), who critiques DI’s ridiculing the Babylonian practice of making statues of their gods. He interprets Isa. 44:9–20 from his perspective of religion and politics in India, where many world religions exist “in tolerable harmony,” and contrasts this with DI’s “inadequate view of God.” Soares-Prabhu highlights the value of pluralist Indian interpretations as a corrective to intolerance often seen in Western religions, which emphasize monotheism. Familiarity with interpretations of the Bible from the perspective of the social location of the reader opens up the richness of the biblical text for all cultures.
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
The message of hope in 44:1–6 is resumed in verse 21 after the polemic against the image makers. DI again asserts that, while they cannot predict the future, predictions made by God’s messengers will be fulfilled. The ruins of Jerusalem and other cities of Judah will be rebuilt and repopulated (44:26), and the foundation of the new temple will be laid (44:28). As proof that this will happen, DI introduces Cyrus, king of Persia, who has defeated the hapless Nabonidus, ruler of Babylonia. God’s purpose will be carried out by Cyrus, who YHWH calls “my shepherd” (44:28).
It must be kept in mind that the audience for these messages is the exiles living in Babylonia under Babylonian rule. They are familiar with the Babylonian scene. They know about the coming of Cyrus, the fall of Nabonidus, and would also be familiar with the form and style of official messages about Babylonian kings. The motif of rebuilding cities and their temples is often attributed to kings in Mesopotamian documents (Paul, 247). To get the attention of this audience, DI uses a variety of examples with which the exiles would be familiar.
One of the most deeply disturbing ideas for the exiles was the loss of the Davidic monarchy and the temple. God’s promise of the permanence of these institutions had been broken. DI explains that God’s covenant promise of an eternal Davidic line continues through Cyrus, who now takes on David’s title as “the anointed one” (45:1). As a caution to those who are critical of a foreigner as the anointed one, DI makes several striking comparisons. God is a potter, and the critics are the clay pots. The potter asks if the clay can criticize its maker. In two other images, God is a father and a mother. The critics are again asked if anyone questions their parents about who they are making. No answer is needed: the critics’ position is ridiculous. To dispel further objections, God announces that Cyrus “will build my city and set my exiles free” (45:13).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The ramifications of the assertion that God is sole creator of all things are far reaching. God can make Cyrus king and can strip other kings of their robes, signs of their power. For DI, the belief that God is one can result in only one conclusion: all nations will “follow you,” “bow down to you,” “come over in chains,” and must admit that “God is with you alone” (45:14). This is described as a “fantasy nourished by resentment at subjection to the great powers” (Blenkinsopp, 262). Such a sentiment can be understood by any people at any time who live under the oppression of a powerful empire.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Bible scholar Ada María Isasi-Díaz speaks of her experience living in exile from Cuba and her yearning to return home lest she forget her own country (Isasi-Díaz, 149–63). She found solace and understanding in Psalm 137, a lament of exiles yearning for their homeland. This psalm asks God to remember the fall of Jerusalem. It includes the desire for vengeance against the enemy, much like that against Babylon in Isa. 45:13–14, and expresses the wish that the babies of the enemies will be dashed against the rock. Isasi-Díaz asks: What is the theology behind this psalm?
Her personal experiences influence how she reads such texts. Seeing injustice against the poor and experiencing the effects of sexism in her church and ethnic prejudice as a Cuban living in America shaped her hermeneutical strategy. Rather than trying to read a text “objectively,” that is, trying to come to the original meaning of the text, she realized the importance of clarifying her own perspective and her purpose for reading that text. She emphasizes the three-way relationship between “the reader, the writer, and the text.” A reader’s questions influence what the text could have meant in the past and what it means today. She describes her approach to the text as “oppression-liberation.”
The language of Psalm 137 and Isa. 45:13–14 can express both personal and community grief for suffering terrible losses, including the loss of order in their world. Isasi-Díaz, while uncomfortable with the strong and vengeful sentiments, prays this psalm because it has a cathartic effect. It allows her to express a troubling feeling. She also notes that there is a great difference between words of vengeance and acts of vengeance.
Isaiah 46:1–13: Babylonian Street Scene—A Procession of Idols Carried on Beasts of Burden
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Chapter 46 is the polar opposite of the triumphant march of the exiles returning home in Isaiah 40. Bel and Nebo, chief gods of Babylonia, are carried in an ignominious procession out of their homeland into captivity. One of the motifs in previous chapters has been the folly of making images and worshiping them. This begins in 40:18–20 and is repeated in every succeeding chapter.
This scene in 46:1–7 would have been familiar to the exiles in Babylon. On the occasion of the New Year festival, the images of Bel and Nebo were carried in a procession through the streets. Bel is a title for the god Marduk, Babylon’s protector. Nebo was his son, who during the New Year celebration was to write down the fate of the cities for the coming year. A very different occasion in Mesopotamian culture was transporting images of gods out of a threatened or destroyed city. Yet another example was seizure of the statues by the conquering enemy. This was done for economic reasons, to confiscate the precious metals and stones set in the statues. It also mocked the impotency of gods of the defeated nation.
Chapter 46 describes the gods as heavy loads on weary animals. They all stoop and stumble and bow down. The phrase “bow down” can refer to obeisance to a high authority, such as a king, or an act of worship of a god. But here it highlights their utter ineffectuality and proves that they are unable to “save” or “deliver” anyone. God addresses Jacob/Israel, emphasizing that, unlike these statues, which can save no one, “I carried you from the beginning.” “I made,” “I will bear,” “I will carry,” “I will save” (46:3–4). Furthermore, God accuses them of being “rebels.” Here, as elsewhere in these anti-idolatry passages, the offenders are rebellious Israel. God reminds them,
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like me. (46:9)
This recalls the infamous first idol-making event at the foot of Mount Sinai, when people worshiped the golden calf as their god (Exod. 32:1–14). YHWH initially threatened extermination of the community but relented from this plan.
Chapter 46 contrasts the downward spiral of Bel and Nebo and their supporters with the elevation of YHWH, who insists that “I will fulfill my intention” to a “stubborn” and perhaps unconvinced group of exiles. YHWH’s word has been spoken; deliverance is at hand.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Previous scholarship approached DI (as well as other prophetic texts) with the idea that it was made up of conventional genres, short units that originated in the spoken word. In the process of writing, these shorter units were thought to have been brought together to connect similar themes or motifs. However, the poetry of DI transcends more traditional techniques and adds nuance to conventional formulas (Franke 1994, 263). An example of the literary genius of this prophet/poet is the image of procession to contrast the fate of Jacob/Israel and that of their captors. Procession for the enemies in 46:1–2 means going into captivity. In Isaiah 47, deposed Babylon falls from her throne to earth, down to the underworld. Processions for the exiles will lead them out of captivity back to their homeland in 40:3–5; 48:20–21; and 51:9–52:2. This extended image is an essential aspect of the prophet’s message to the exiles; it is far more than a mere assemblage of loosely related themes.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
While DI’s message is often characterized as a message of comfort and consolation to those living under Babylonian rule, a crucial element in chapter 46 is the accusation against Jacob/Israel of idolatry, and warnings of the consequences. Just as Isaiah 40 begins with comfort to the disconsolate, it also includes a brief polemic against idolatry, accusing the audience of comparing God to an idol made by human hands. In many of the anti-idolatry sections in DI, the issue is not denying the existence of God. The offense is comparing God to idols or considering them equals to Israel’s God. The prophet’s audience is not Babylonians. It is the exiles living in Babylon who have taken on the religious practices of their captors.
Isaiah 47:1–15: The Fall of Virgin Daughter Babylon
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Chapter 47 is a pivot on which the main ideas and message of DI turn (Franke 1991). In the previous chapters, the disconsolate exiles lived in fear of their conquerors, doubted that God could or would come to their rescue, needed constant encouragement that they had not been forgotten, and wondered if they were still being punished for their infidelities. DI describes numerous examples of differences between the god of Jacob and the gods of the Babylonian Empire in 40–46. The critique of the Babylonian images and especially the artisans who made them pervades this section. While YHWH was powerful and carried the people, the Babylonian deities could not even move but had to be carried by those who worshiped them.
Here God speaks directly to “virgin daughter Babylon.” In the ancient world, cities were often described figuratively as women needing protection of kings. In satirical language, God ridicules all of Babylon’s claims. She thought: she’d be queen forever; she was secure; she’d never be widowed; and she would never lose her children. She thought she could hide her evil deeds. She thought her astrologers could predict her future or use magic to control events.
From the beginning words in 47:1, it is clear that Babylon’s future will be grim. Instead of being seated on a throne, she will sit in the dust, on the ground. Even more, she will go into “darkness,” intimating her passage to the underworld.
To Babylon’s humiliation, she will be stripped of her garments: veil and robe will be removed, legs uncovered. In summary, her “nakedness” and “shame” will be seen by all. The latter terms indicate exposure of her genitalia. For her crimes—showing no mercy to the exiles and especially abusing the elderly—there will be no one to save her. Just as the Babylonian deities in chapter 46 bowed down and went into captivity, so Virgin Daughter Babylon will exchange her royal status for that of slavery.
This poem has features similar to satirical laments for the dead elsewhere in Isaiah (14:3–21), as well as in lamenting the death of gods in ancient Near Eastern literature (Anderson, 60–82). These laments include the hubris of the gods or nations in their belief that they will rule forever. They also fall from their thrones, sit on the ground, and descend into the underworld.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The fall of Babylon has been interpreted from the perspective of anthropology as a rite of passage (Kruger). The various details of Babylon’s passage—loss of status, the shame of removing her garments and exposure, doing menial work—portray her as a queen turned slave. This description is an example of a sociocultural antitype of Babylon’s status as queen. It can also be read as an antitype of the status of Jerusalem/Zion. Later chapters describe the elevation of Zion’s status from widow to bride, rejected and captive to redeemed, and barren to mother of many. DI uses the fall of Babylon as a contrast to the rise of Jerusalem.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
In chapter 47, Babylon is portrayed as the object of God’s punishment. She is subjected to physical abuse and punishment, which strips her of her power. She loses her husband and children and remains alone with no one to save her. How are readers today to understand this in a meaningful way? What theological problems does such a view create?
One of the most significant challenges in reading the Bible in the modern world is how to deal with the ancient Near Eastern view of women that pervades biblical texts. In the ancient world, women were viewed as the property of men. It was commonly accepted that the ideal male was powerful, able to provide his city/family with food, shelter, and protection. Sexual fidelity is not included in the list for men. The ideal female was submissive, in need of protection, faithful to her spouse. Women were the property of their male protector, husband or father or brother. They were second-class citizens at best.
In recent years, scholars have discussed this question by providing important background information to the origins of this point of view. The Women’s Bible Commentary, now in its third edition (Newsom, Ringe, and Lapsley), provides data to support the need of a more informed view of this matter in biblical texts, both Old and New Testament.
It is no longer justifiable for interpreters to take the biblical view of women and men as acceptable views for the world today. Citing biblical views about women out of context is not sufficient evidence to draw conclusions and make rules for society today. It is not only insufficient but also damaging to both women and men. In this matter as well as many others, a contextual view of society and culture is essential to understand values and practices in the Bible.
Isaiah 48:1–22: God Warns Israel and Announces a New Exodus
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
In this chapter, several literary techniques are used by the author/editor to make connections to earlier sections, and also to segue to following material. Chapter 48 links chapters 40–47 and 49–55 by motifs or themes. These include God as Creator, Holy One of Israel, Redeemer. Cyrus, identified as “the one whom YHWH loves,” is the ruler who will defeat Babylon. God declares past and future events to Jacob/Israel to demonstrate the power and reliability of the divine word over against the lifeless idols and images. However, exiles persist in their stubbornness and obstinacy.
A striking feature amid these accusations against intransigent Jacob/Israel is the depth of God’s passionate reaction to their treachery. God’s response is mixed. On the one hand, the people’s infidelity enrages God almost to the point of exterminating them. God’s reputation is at stake, only deferring from punishing them “for my name’s sake,” “for my own sake.” God is incredulous at their behavior: “Why should my name be profaned?” (48:9–11). On the other hand, God speaks as a teacher or parent “who teaches you for your own good,” observing wistfully that things would have been different if only “you had paid attention to my commandments” (48:17–19).
In the final verses (48:20–21), DI urges the audience to “go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea” and reminds them of the exodus from Egypt. This recalls 40:1, the good news of a “highway for our God” on which they would be led through the wilderness. Øystein Lund (227–29) shows that 48:17–22 returns to several key themes in 40:12–31: YHWH’s knowledge of the future and power over military and/or political events. The repetition of words or motifs at the beginning and end of a section is called an inclusio. It is a structuring device to indicate the beginning and end of a section within a text. It functions much like chapter divisions do in books today. Chapter 48 is a turning point in the direction of Isaiah 40–55. The terse statement in 48:22—“no peace for the wicked”—also points to the very end of the BOI, since it anticipates similar threatening sentiments in 57:21 and 66:24.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Scholars refer to Isaiah 48 as the “problem child” of biblical criticism because of its range of motifs, grammatical peculiarities, contradictions in God’s past and present actions, and excessive repetition. Some of God’s actions are harsh and seemingly contradictory to the message of consolation with which DI begins. Scholars vary wildly in their assessment of this chapter. A form-critical approach fails to solve the problems. One proposal asserts that certain material was added by another writer or editor. Another eliminates repetitious features.
In a commentary that stands outside the prevailing thought of most Isaiah scholarship in the first half of the twentieth century, Charles Cutler Torrey (372–80) views Isaiah 48 as an integrated whole. It begins and ends on a note of rebuke and acknowledges that Israel, though unworthy, is the chosen people. Torrey also notes a close connection in time between the composition of Isaiah 46 and 47, as well as to motifs throughout Isaiah 40–66.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Chapter 48, more than any other chapter in the BOI, deals with Israel’s relationship with God in all its permutations. It highlights the tension between Israel’s dependence on God and its obduracy to God’s word. Walter Brueggemann sees this originating in “the tension deep within the character of Yahweh” (Brueggemann, 100), speaking of the motifs of displacement and restoration that underlie Isaiah 48. He applies this to our own Western culture with the disappearance of certitude and the difficulties of maintaining a social infrastructure.
From one perspective, the problem is God’s credibility and dependability. From another, it is the people of God. Rémi Lack describes the problem well: the only obstacle to salvation is the apathy of the people and their refusal to accept that a foreigner, Cyrus, is the instrument of that salvation (Lack, 106).
Works such as Brueggemann’s and Lack’s, which read the BOI as an integrated whole, are examples of canonical readings. This method of exegesis is a more recent development in biblical scholarship, which offers yet another way to read and understand complicated biblical texts.
Isaiah 49:1–52:12: Daughter Zion, the Servant, and the Role of the Nations in Judah’s Future
Chapter 49 begins a new section of DI. Previous characters and places important in Isaiah 40–48—Cyrus as God’s anointed, the artisans and their ineffectual statues, and Babylon—are no longer mentioned. The word pair Jacob/Israel occurs for the last time in 49:5–6 and is replaced by Jerusalem/Zion. Key figures—Zion/Jerusalem, the nations, and the servant—are intertwined in 49:1–52:12. These three figures are treated in three separate sections.
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
A major emphasis in Isaiah 49–55 is on Zion/Jerusalem. From the beginning of DI, the biggest challenge was to convince the exiles that God is not only willing to save them but also has the power to do so. The message of comfort and consolation with which DI begins (40:1) is repeated in 49:13; 51:3, 12. However, Zion remains unconvinced by these claims. YHWH has abandoned and forgotten her (49:14). The term “abandoned” is often used of a husband leaving his wife. Zion challenges God in 51:9 to “Awake, awake, put on strength!” Isaiah scholar Luis Schökel describes 51:9–52:6 as a “bold and affectionate dialogue” between Zion and her husband (Schökel, 179).
The first words God uses to answer Zion’s accusation relate to Zion as a wife and mother. The most convincing argument is the image of a mother’s relationship to her child. God asks a rhetorical question, “Can a mother forget her nursing child or show no compassion for the child of her womb?” (49:15). The motifs of mother and child and wife continue through to 49:26. God promises that soon Zion will have so many children that she will need a bigger tent in which to live. God reminds Zion that “you are my people” (51:16). God responds to Zion by mirroring her previous command to “wake up” and orders her to “rouse yourself,” “wake up,” and “depart!” Captive Jerusalem must rise from the dust, remove the bonds from her neck, and garb herself in festive apparel. Her redemption is at hand.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
It has long been clear that the Bible is filled with many images of God as male: king, warrior, husband, father. However, the increase of women scholars in biblical studies has given rise to a wider context for interpreting texts. Much of the terminology in chapters 49–54 emphasizes feminine roles to describe God’s relationship to Zion. The interpretive history of DI has been expanded with the awareness of significant images and metaphors for women. Previously overlooked ideas are now highlighted and brought to the fore. Interest in feminist and gender issues, especially in the BOI, has grown within recent years. Hanne Løland in her book on gendered God language in the Bible reads three texts in DI that compare God to a woman and emphasize the bodily connections between mother and child. In 42:14, God is portrayed as a pregnant women giving birth to her child. In 46:3–4, God has carried Israel from pregnancy through birth through to old age. Last, the comparison intensifies in 49:15. God asks (rhetorically) whether a mother can forget her nursing child or have no compassion for the child of her womb. Here YHWH is compared to a mother who loves her child. Some scholars are uneasy with the idea that God would be portrayed in feminine imagery and protest that God’s love is contrasted to or greater than that of a mother. However, the same protest could be raised in comparing God with a warrior, or father, or some other masculine figure.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
One of the most important features of DI’s emphasis on Jerusalem/Zion in recent scholarship is the recognition of the importance of feminine figures. The difficulty and beauty of moving into postmodernity is that there is not just one correct interpretation of a given text. The nature and identity of communities that read texts influences how and why interpretations vary. One rabbi explains it this way, asking, “How do donkeys read the Bible?” The answer is: they look for stories about donkeys. When reading a text, everyone brings personal experiences to their interpretation of that text. When women began studying the Bible in seminaries and universities, they brought new questions, ideas, and insights to the fore. Studies of Zion/Jerusalem in Isaiah 40–66 have increased in recent years as scholars, both women and men, incorporate the identity and role of Zion into their reading of the BOI.
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
The term “nations” (Heb., goyim) appears throughout Isaiah 40–55; it is a synonym for “coastlands” and “peoples.” These chapters contain several descriptions of who or what the nations are and why they are significant in DI. Richard Clifford calls chapter 49 “a press release to all the nations” (Clifford, 150). The coastlands are addressed by the servant who functions as a “light to the nations” (49:1–6). Zion/Israel, once called the slave of rulers, changes places with the nations. The message to the nations is that their rulers will work as ignominious servants, prostrating themselves and licking the dust of the feet of Zion and her children (49:22–23). The oppressors become the oppressed. A technique frequently used in DI called inner-biblical allusion is the citation of another biblical text to enhance meaning. The image of Zion’s oppressive rulers losing their power is a foil to a text in Jer. 13:18, which portrays the opposite situation: Israel’s king and queen mother lose their crowns and must take a lowly seat when Babylon destroys Judah (Willey, 203). In Isaiah 49, the tables are turned. A somewhat different view of the role of the nations is also alluded to in this section. For example, the “coastlands” wait for God and hope in God’s powerful arm (51:5). In 52:10b, all nations and “the ends of the earth shall see / the salvation of our God.”
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
An important aspect of biblical studies is textual criticism. Since there are many ancient manuscripts of the Bible in various languages, text critics study these texts to arrive at an authoritative reading of a given word or words when more than one possible reading exists. For Isaiah scholars, the discovery of the Isaiah manuscript among the Dead Sea Scrolls has given much insight into the BOI. With respect to Isa. 52:5, one of the scribes of the Dead Sea Scrolls made a change in the translation of verse 5, as did the Greek translator in the Septuagint. This may reflect ancient concerns about the meaning and/or significance of this verse. Joseph Blenkinsopp observes that attempts at “a coherent reading of 52:1–12 have not been successful” (Blenkinsopp, 340).
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Past and present interpretations of the role of the nations in DI have vigorously debated the question of whether DI’s prophecies were nationalistic or had a universalistic, inclusive view of the nations, including them among the redeemed. When referring to the nations, some Isaiah commentaries have used highly charged theologized perspectives that go far beyond evidence in the text. The term goyim has been translated as “heathens,” “pagans,” or “gentiles.” The messenger “who brings good news” in 52:7 is called an “evangelical herald of the Gospel” in a recent Christian commentary (Lessing, 9). Yet other Christian interpreters see these texts as encouraging missionary work to convert pagans. However, the contemporary concept of conversion is not a feature of Old or New Testament religion (see “Conversion,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp. 1131–33).
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
The identity and role of the servant in DI is one of the most controversial issues in the BOI.
Reading the servant passages in the context of the Babylonian exile and its aftermath is essential to understanding the servant’s role.
Questions asked about the servant abound: Who is the servant? Is the servant an individual, or are there many? Can the servant be identified with any individual important in Israelite history? Is it a collective term applied to all Israel? What is the role or work of the servant? Is the servant a prophet, teacher, priest, or the author of Isaiah 40–55? What is the reason for the servant’s suffering?
In 49:1–53:12, the servant appears three times. In 49:1–7, he is called from birth by God to restore the survivors of Israel but laments that his work has been in vain. In 50:4–10, his role is to teach and sustain the weary community. However, he is not well received and endures persecution at their hands. The longest section devoted to the servant is Isa. 52:13–53:12. Though 52:13 begins with an announcement that the servant will prosper and be lifted up, this positive view does not continue. The servant’s life is a pattern of rejection, misery, and continual violence from birth until his ignominious death. In the end, the righteous servant who intercedes on behalf of the community will see his descendants prosper, and he will be numbered among the great ones.
The role and possible identity of the servant can be more clearly understood within the sociopolitical setting of the exiles’ life under Babylonian rule (Gottwald, 499–501). The prophet’s ringing praises of Cyrus the Persian as liberator of the exiles (44:28–45:4) could be seen as threats to the Babylonian Empire. Some among the exiles supported the prophet’s view; others feared that his words would bring retaliation against the exiles for their antigovernment stance. Alternately, a pro-Babylon position among the exiles is not hard to imagine. After living there for years, many adapted to this new life, perhaps supporting the status quo of Babylonian rule and their own social and political security. The execution of a traitor can be seen as an understandable response by the Babylonian government (Ceresko, 1–14).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The identity and role of the servant is one of the most discussed issues in DI scholarship. In the late 1800s, Bernhard Duhm proposed that four sections in DI—42:1–4 or 7; 49:1–4; 50:4–9; and 52:13–53:12—were so different in composition, style, and content that they must have come from another author and were inserted into the BOI at a later time. A distinction was made between Israel/Jacob as servant and the innocent servant in these four passages, which came to be called the Suffering Servant Songs. Most scholars today consider the so-called Servant Songs consistent with the literary style and content of the rest of DI. Other occurrences of the term “servant” elsewhere in DI refer to Israel and allude to the suffering of the exiles. The sociopolitical explanations of Norman Gottwald and Anthony Ceresko relating to the servant in Isaiah 52–53 are understandable within the Babylonian context before the return to Judah. They may also shed light on the continuing challenges for community life after the return as described in Isaiah 56–66.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Many Christian interpreters identify the “Suffering Servant” exclusively with Jesus and identify those who attacked the servant with Jews. Two problems arise with these views. To speak of Jesus, who lived in the first century CE, would be meaningless to exiles living in Babylonia in the sixth century BCE. In addition, this view fans the fires of antisemitism for those who hold such a misinterpretation today.
Contemporary interpretations of the Suffering Servant have been meaningful to indigenous people in countries around the world. Jorge Pixley (95–96) relates accounts of Latinas in San Salvador and Nicaragua who worked in communities to change their impoverished conditions. Offering educational opportunities and organizing groups of women resulted in the slaying of those who encouraged social action. Pixley compares the deaths of such leaders to that of the servant in Isaiah, calling them martyrs. Attempts at social transformation can and do result in persecution if the government feels threatened.
Another comparison is made between the Suffering Servant and the minjung of Korea. This term refers to people who are politically oppressed, economically exploited, socially alienated, religiously discriminated against, and denied education (Moon, 113). In Kwangju, capital of the poorest region in the country, protesters in 1980 demonstrated against the government, which had ignored their plight for years. Peaceful rallies were put down by military paratroopers, and in the end more than three thousand people were killed or injured. Moon compares the Suffering Servant to the minjung who gave their lives to liberate others.
Isaiah 54:1–17: Zion Transformed from Barren Woman and Destroyed City to Mother of Many and Rebuilt City
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
The addressee and subject of God’s messages in previous chapters is Zion (Isa. 49:14–50:2, 51:2–3; 51:11–52:9). She is described as a barren woman; bride; mother; widow; divorced woman; an afraid and abandoned woman grieving the loss of her children; one who suffered devastation and destruction, famine and sword and captivity; and a destroyed and soon to be rebuilt city. In six verses (54:1–6), the prophet lists all the previously used epithets of the defeated people and then overturns them.
A tent that will be enlarged for all of Zion’s children is a metaphor for the expansion of her descendants throughout the world. The dispossessed will now advance to possess and populate the nations (54:3). The shame of abandonment, widowhood, or divorce will be forgotten because God “your Maker is your husband … your Redeemer” (54:5).
One of the most striking declarations in this section is God’s admission that
for a brief moment I abandoned you …
in overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you. (54:7–8)
Her husband acknowledges her terrible suffering and unjust punishments and promises to amend his ways. In terms of the marriage metaphor, it is understandable that one or both parties might admit their shortcomings. While it is not typical to hear God acknowledge fault in this or any relationship in the Bible, this sentiment was earlier expressed in Isa. 40:2 with God’s admission that Jerusalem’s penalty was excessive.
Another view of Zion in 54:11–17 is as a city about to be rebuilt. A new Jerusalem is described in fantastical terminology. The image of a bejeweled city recalls descriptions of Mesopotamian palaces (Paul, 427). Jerusalem’s children will be taught by God and will live in great prosperity. The city will never be taken over by oppressors; no weapons will be strong enough to overtake it. No one will be able to speak against her.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Does God apologize to Zion for having abandoned her, or is God’s wrath against the people justified? Two commentators on Isaiah 40–66 explain God’s treatment of Zion in verses 6–7. Instead of “a brief moment,” Paul translates “in a fit of rage,” reading the Hebrew term rega‘ as an “antonym of love,” not a measure of time. He further explains that the “Lord’s rapprochement with Israel is based not on their regret but on His love” (Paul, 423). Blenkinsopp reads God’s statement as a standard accusation used in Assyrian treaties as the result of breaking a treaty (Blenkinsopp, 363). It seems jarring or out of place amid the effusive language of joy to introduce such explanations or defenses of God in these passionate reassurances to Zion.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
One of the most basic discussions in the Bible, both Old and New Testament, relates to the questions of God’s anger and why throughout history innocent people have suffered. The way scholars have interpreted Isa. 54:7–8 serves as an example of the wide range of explanations. Some consider that God’s wrath is justified; people deserve punishment for their sinful acts. Others emphasize that a relationship between God and people is based not on strict rules or punitive treatment, but on a familial model that emphasizes love, acceptance, understanding, and forgiveness.
Isaiah 55:1–13: God’s Word Is Reliable
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
This short chapter is a dense and complicated review of past motifs and allusions to future themes woven together by the underpinnings of the reliability of God’s word. As such, it functions to link Isaiah 40–54 to 56–66. The entire BOI is connected by the assertion in 1:20, repeated in 40:5 and 58:14, that “The mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
The word that goes forth from God’s mouth will accomplish God’s purpose for the exiles. Several images are used throughout 55:1–13 to illustrate their future. They will be given the basic sustenance of water and bread and also lavished with wine, milk, and rich food. Offers of such fare to people living in disadvantaged conditions would catch the audience’s attention. God’s word is compared to rain and snow falling from the heavens; just as these water the earth providing seeds for the sower and bread for the eater, God’s word will provide life for the people. Similar images of renewed fertility continue in 55:12–13. A once thorny, weed-filled wilderness will be replaced by the growth of fragrant trees. Those who suffered as they were led into captivity through a hostile desert environment will return to fruitful land and an everlasting memorial that will never be “cut off.” The transformation of the wilderness announced numerous times in DI will become a reality.
Another image of transformation, in 55:3–4, recalls God’s covenant with David. In a radical change to the original terms of this agreement—that there would always be a Davidic descendant on the throne in Jerusalem—God alters the promise and makes an eternal covenant with the exiles, who will return to Jerusalem. The Davidic monarchy is not mentioned elsewhere in DI; it perhaps is inserted here to allude to the importance of the Davidic kingship in First Isaiah.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
A problem with God’s promise of a permanent Davidic dynasty is that neither the dynasty nor Jerusalem survived. Here is another reason for exiles to doubt God’s power and/or will to restore them. How was DI’s audience to understand the arcane reference to the new “everlasting covenant” in 55:3? Many commentaries and articles have taken on these cryptic verses. Some reconceptualize the promise, referring to the “democratization” of the Davidic monarchy in which leadership resides in the entire community. Another explanation is that roles filled by individuals in the past will be taken over by a wider circle of people in the future (Clifford, 192).
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Chapter 55 sums up motifs from previous chapters. It also functions as a connection with the following chapters. In Isaiah 56–66, the issue of leadership in Jerusalem in the postexilic period continues to be problematic. Reference to the “memorial” and “everlasting sign” of the regeneration of the land is considered by some to be a garden or park that memorializes the return home. Others view it as a metaphor for the renewal of creation. Jewish tradition has interpreted the “memorial, / for an everlasting sign” that will never be cut off (55:13) as a reference to the Sabbath. This refers to the importance of keeping the Sabbath in 56:4–7, as well as the promise to the foreigner and eunuch that they will not be cut off from the community in Jerusalem. It does not, however, resolve the underlying issue—the continuing problem of fulfillment of God’s promises to the exiles.
Isaiah 56:1–59:21: Problems after the Return—Relationship between the Returnees and Those Who Remained in Judah
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Chapters 56–66 (TI) are set in Yehud (a term for Judah as a Persian province) after the exiles return to begin life in what remained of their ravaged homeland. The returnees, the Diaspora, include those who left Babylonia as well others who were exiled elsewhere after the destruction of Jerusalem. They joined people who remained in the land after 587 and eked out an existence with no infrastructure: no economic security, no food, and no governing bodies.
Chapters 56–66 continue in a literary style similar to that of 40–55. The same themes and motifs appear with variations. Two major sections in TI (Isa. 56:1–59:21 and 63:1–66:24.) reflect the current troubled realities of life in Yehud. Chapters 60–62, however, focus on hopes for the future in a restored Jerusalem and temple.
In this mixed community, disagreements reach a high pitch. Factions argue about who is in charge, what is considered evidence of faith, what rules govern worship, and who is allowed to participate in this new community. One group emphasizes an inclusive viewpoint, accepting participation by all regardless of ethnicity or background. Another is more exclusive in perspective, especially with respect to foreigners and the indigenous populace.
Chapters 56–59 describe bitter conflicts in the newly constituted Yehud. Issues in Isaiah 56 include proper observation of the Sabbath, rules about sacrificial offerings, and the role of foreigners and eunuchs in worship. The latter are assured that if they keep the Sabbath and the covenant they will not be separated from the community. God will gather outcasts because “my house shall be called a house of prayer / for all peoples” (56:7).
Another issue is misuse of authority by leaders. The shepherds and sentinels who are supposed to protect their community are compared to wild animals and dogs with voracious appetites for food and drink (56:9–12). Leaders are referred to as offspring of a sorceress and are accused of slaughtering their children (57:3–5). Their adulterous mother, the sorceress, is the focus of the attack in 57:6–13. Her sexual behavior is explicitly described in what can be called the most violent, lurid polemic in the Bible. Imagery relating to adultery committed by a woman is found in other prophetic literature. In the book of Hosea, the prophet’s wife Gomer is accused of being unfaithful. However, it is not found elsewhere in Isaiah 40–66.
Chapters 58–59 return to the theme of the divided community and inadequate ritual behaviors. The issue in 58:1–9 is the efficacy of fasting. People protest that, while they fast and humble themselves, God does not acknowledge their acts. However, their behaviors belie the significance of fasting: they oppress their workers, quarrel with one another, and engage in acts of violence. An air of sarcasm and impatience underlies God’s accusations that they fast only for show. God redefines fasting as acts of social justice: freeing the oppressed; sharing food with the hungry, homes with the homeless, clothes with the naked; and satisfying needs of the afflicted (58:6–7, 10). The grievous nature of the people’s offenses intensifies in 59:1–4. Their hands are filled with blood, and they speak lying words; they have corrupted the court system. God’s defense is that their own sins prevent them from seeing God’s face and hearing God’s word.
Chapters 58–59 have a homiletic tone. People claiming to seek God’s presence indulge in unacceptable behaviors. If they change these behaviors, they will dwell in the light of God’s presence. Conditions that guarantee God’s guidance and sustenance are laid out in 58:10–14. People respond with a lament in which they admit their sins and take responsibility for the divisions within the community (59:9–15). In fact, their offenses have contributed to the continuing chaotic conditions.
God grows increasingly indignant at their vile behavior and asks: “Shall I be appeased for these things?” (57:6); “Have I not kept silent and closed my eyes and so you did not fear me?” (57:11); and “Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?” (58:5). Specific references to God’s wrath continue in 57:16–17. A finale to all this bloodshed and violence is a spectacular theophany of God as an angry warrior (59:15a–19). God, appalled at the lack of justice, puts on garments of vengeance and a mantle of fury. God’s wrath will punish all adversaries and enemies; they will be repaid according to their deeds.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The eunuch laments that he has no children to carry on his name (56:5). But God promises that, if he observes the covenant, he will not be forgotten, and will be given an everlasting “monument and a name” (Heb., yād vāshēm). Yad Vashem is the name of a holocaust memorial complex in Jerusalem that preserves the memory of the six million people killed during World War II. Names, photos, films, and other artifacts of those killed ensure that they will have an “everlasting name that will not be cut off.”
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
The BOI begins with a blistering critique of people who bring sacrifices and burnt offerings while oppressing the poor in their community (Isa. 1:10–20). God refuses to acknowledge their prayers and warns that they will be devoured by the sword unless they defend the widow and the orphan. This phrase is used throughout the Bible; it refers to the neediest in society, who have no means of supporting themselves. Isaiah 58:13 repeats the accusation from Isa. 1:12 that people are “trampling the Sabbath,” and redefines the meaning of fasting and Sabbath observation as restoring justice, freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked.
Of all the passages in the Bible cited as a command to the faithful, the one most often repeated is the command to care for the widow and the orphan. Unfortunately, all too many well-intentioned believers direct their attention to other offenses. As a result, the oppressed and needy continue to be ignored, not seen or heard. Society often overlooks the existence of the poor. Data from the National Coalition for the Homeless shows 3.5 million people (1.35 million of them children) experience homelessness in a given year (DeYoung et al., 875).
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
An issue continuing throughout Isaiah 40–66 is the deferment of God’s promise of comfort and deliverance. From the very beginning (Isaiah 40), the disconsolate exiles protested that their
way is hidden from the LORD,
and [their] right is disregarded by [their] God. (40:17)
When the exiles returned to their homeland, hopes of a new and improved life failed to materialize. Life in a fractured and fractious community as described in Isaiah 56–59 brought different problems.
Chapters 60–62 form a stark contrast to the surrounding sections, 56–59 and 63:1–65:16, which portray difficulties, intrigues, and rancorous disagreements among groups in Yehud. From beginning to end, chapters 60–62 emphasize the glorious future of the once devastated Jerusalem. It will be restored to include Zion’s children, and also kings and peoples of other nations. Numerous images describe the return of fertility to land and people, the radiance of rebuilt Jerusalem, and the shining beauty of the city and its inhabitants, all of which demonstrate the reversal of Zion’s fortune.
One of the most notable features of 60–62 is the reappearance of feminine images of Zion. These include the feminine forms of address, as well as references to Zion as a wife, bride, and mother, as in 49, 52, and 54. Chapter 60 swarms with feminine grammatical forms. Recalling 49:15–21, Zion is again directly addressed by God in 60:1–22 (Wells, 198–202). A key image of the city’s restoration in chapter 60 is that of light. Zion will be radiant as nations are drawn to her. God’s everlasting glory will replace the light of sun and moon. Also repeated from DI is God’s apology (60:10). Because people received a double portion of shame, they will now possess a double portion of everlasting joy (61:7).
Much of Isaiah 60–62 uses motifs and language from 40–55, often showing how the situation of Zion/Jerusalem is renewed and transformed. The people begin a new life in Yehud with a mixed group that includes returnees, those who had stayed in the remains of a destroyed Jerusalem, as well as foreigners with no national or ethnic connections to the original Jacob/Israel community.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The relationship of the nations/foreigners to the returnees is introduced in two ways. Striking images describe the reversal of status among foreigners, kings, nations, and the renewed Zion. Foreigners will build the city walls; kings will bow down to Zion and bring their wealth to her (60:10–12). They will also do the work of shepherding and farming while the once oppressed will serve as priests and ministers of God (61:5–6). Are foreigners accepted or rejected in this new community? One view is that 60:2–7 portrays a tolerance, even acceptance, of gentiles whose offerings God regards as “acceptable on my altar” (Smith-Christopher, 126–27). Reading the same verses, another view is that in Isaiah 60–63, foreigners are viewed in a negative light because of their ancestry, ethnicity, and/or national identity. One explanation for these differing views is that in a later period a redactor (editor) of TI acknowledged that foreigners were eventually incorporated into the community.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
It could be said that cognitive dissonance is a consistent feature of the audiences’ mind-set throughout Isaiah 40–66. They hold in tension a belief in God’s promise of comfort and extravagant prosperity alongside an experience of continuously deferred hope. Some interpreters have characterized views of the future in TI as eschatological or apocalyptic. The term eschatology refers to an end time or climax of history. The term apocalyptic is applied to types of literature that arose in the Hellenistic and Roman period around 333 BCE, several centuries after the destruction of Babylon. Works such as the books of Enoch and Daniel anticipated catastrophic and imminent upheavals: earthquakes, massacres, world war against unholy nations, and the like. Referring to DI or TI as eschatological or apocalyptic is misleading and vague. When people in any age imagine a better future in positive and exaggerated terms, it does not necessarily indicate that they are thinking of the end time, or the last days. It can be a sign of hope for what is to come.
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Chapters 60–62 describe the restoration of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Jerusalem’s radiant light replaces sun and moon. Daughter Zion’s fortunes are reversed. Violence ceases. Absent from this idyllic picture is any note of the bitter divisions among the community that marked chapters 56–59. The last chapters of the BOI (63–66) return to the somber view of the state of affairs in Yehud with an additional feature. A contrast is drawn between the fates of two groups within the community. Those engaging in illegitimate ritual practices are “destined to the sword,” while God’s servants will rejoice in Jerusalem.
Chapter 63 begins with the appearance of a mysterious figure whose garments are splattered with the blood of Edom. God is portrayed here as a warrior who has taken vengeance against Edom, a longtime enemy of Israel. A number of commentators, offended by the violent image, deny that the wrathful warrior could be God. However, the motif of God’s wrath throughout Isaiah 57–59, and the warrior image elsewhere in TI (in 59:15b–19 and 66:14b–16), are consistent with God as an angry warrior. A major difference between these passages is that in chapter 59 God’s anger is directed against injustices within the Jerusalem community; in chapter 63, it is aimed at Israel’s enemies.
The remaining chapters consist of a lament in which people bemoan the loss of God’s help (63:7–64:12), and God’s response to their desperate pleas (65:1–15). Jerusalem’s destiny is portrayed in chapter 66 in surprising and graphic images of reward for the faithful and punishment for the intransigent reprobates.
In the lament, people again remind God of unfulfilled promises. The tone of their complaints reaches a desperate pitch. They ask: Where is the one who led Moses through the sea? Where is your zeal and your might, your compassion? They blame God for hardening their hearts and causing them to sin. Still suffering from the loss of their nation and their temple, they ask, “Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?” (64:12). God speaks in self-defense, asserting that though “I held out my hands all day long” (65:2), rebellious people angered God with idolatrous rituals. God warns them that they will receive full payment for their actions and promises to destine them to slaughter (65:1–15).
Not all will be destroyed in the fiery blast of God’s anger. A group within the community, the servants who did not forsake God, will inherit blessings. The contrasting destinies of these two groups are listed in 65:13–15. The chosen, God’s servants who have followed God’s commands, will live and rejoice in a glorious new Jerusalem. God is about to create a new heaven and earth where all ills will be forgotten. Descriptive language for this new state of life in chapter 65 is taken from earlier Isaiah texts, including the peaceable community, where predatory animals and their prey will eat together (11:6–9), and from the blossoming wilderness of Isaiah 35.
The last chapter alludes to previous motifs from chapters 60–62. One of the most striking is the recurrence of Jerusalem as a mother and wife. In 66:7–13, Zion/Jerusalem is portrayed as a woman giving birth after a speedy labor, nursing the child from her glorious bosom, carrying the baby in her arms, and dandling the baby on her knees. God is also compared to a mother and to a midwife who assists in the delivery of the child. These images emphasize physical features of a mother giving birth and caring for her child. Her birth pains last for only a moment. Her womb is opened: 66:9 literally translated is “breaking” (the membrane). She nurses the child from her “consoling breast” and “glorious nipple” (Franke 2009).
These images are complicated. Zion/Jerusalem and God are portrayed as mother. In previous chapters, these same images appear in similar combinations. God is a woman gasping in labor pains (42:13–14); God is compared to both a father and to a mother in labor (45:10), and to a nursing mother who has compassion for the child of her womb (49:5). Some scholars disagree that God is portrayed here or anywhere as a woman and read these passages as a contrast, saying that God’s love is greater than that of a mother. It is difficult to defend such a position in view of the passages cited above. Images of Zion as a bride, a once barren woman, a mother who has lost her children, a woman once captive now dressed in beautiful garments, a widow, a divorced woman, a wife rejected and then taken back by God are recapitulated in glowing portrayals of God and Jerusalem/Zion in Isaiah 60–62 and 65–66.
The BOI contains a pastiche of ideas and forms. Ritual offenses are contrasted with emphasis on appropriate offerings and Sabbath observance. Many nations will be called to Jerusalem to bring offerings to God on Mount Zion. The last verse, 66:24, describes a ghastly scene: the bodies of all who have rebelled against God burn in unquenchable fire. However, in Jewish tradition, books of the Bible should end with a positive perspective. Therefore, verse 24 is sometimes followed by the repetition of verse 23:
From new moon to new moon,
And from Sabbath to Sabbath,
All flesh shall come to worship before me
All flesh will come to worship before God.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
While the violence of the Divine Warrior image is shocking, it has been used from New Testament times to the present. The bloodied warrior appears in Revelation 14, describing the fall of Babylon. The son of man and others wield sharp sickles, harvesting the earth of evil. The “wine press of God’s wrath” yields vast quantities of blood. It has also been used to illustrate and justify war in US history in the name of truth and justice. The Divine Warrior inspired Julia Ward Howe to compose a Civil War song still sung today in many contexts. Recall the first verse of this song.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on. Glory, Glory, Halleluiah.
Another use of Isaiah 66 is found in Brahms’s Eine Deutsches Requiem. Grieving mourners long for the one who has died, but they are reassured: “I will again behold you, and your heart will be joyful.… Look at me.… I have found comfort at last. I will give you comfort, as one whom his own mother comforts.”
Selections from the BOI have caused difficulties for some Roman Catholic authorities that have recently made changes in the liturgy. The document Liturgiam Authenticum aims at using transcendent language and warns against Isaiah texts because they often portray God as too human. However, use of images taken from human life and experience in the BOI is what makes it such an important text in Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible is the primary source of “sacred vocabulary.” Problematic texts should be used, explored, read, and discussed. Texts that make a divine-human connection and cause problems for readers are precisely those texts that advance the development of theological and religious thinking.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
After the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11, the world was forever changed. Scholars responded to this event, realizing the need to address directly questions of vengeance and violence in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. At the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature that followed 9/11, many research and study groups changed their direction and began to focus on these issues in the Bible, in religion, in churches, and in other religious bodies. This topic now forms a major body of study in areas of scholarship (Franke and O’Brien). Religious groups—Jews, Christians, and Muslims—also make this issue part of interfaith discussions.
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