Review of Studies in Isaiah by Wasserman et al JHS

Whereas the city had no place in Yhwh's earliest dealings with Israel's ancestors and with the people itself, some of the First Testament's most spectacular visions relate to the city. The story that starts in a garden ends in a city." 2 "Zion" is not a static category that can be reduced to a system; it is far too nuanced. Too see Jerusalem in its full splendor, one must engage the narrative of Scripture, paying attention to the progressive revelation of God's purposes for his city. In theory and in practice, I am an advocate of biblical theology, by which I engage the movement and tension of Scripture in a hermeneutic of self-involvement. As we explore how Isaiah paints the city Zion, I hope to model that which has been modeled for me.

Bulletin for Biblical Research

I find twelve dominant theological themes emerging from Isaiah (in this paper, "Isaiah" refers to the book except where the context makes clear that it refers to the eighth-century prophet Isaiah ben Amoz). These are revelation via divine initiative and the mediation of a prophet, and the ongoing significance of Yhwh's words; Yhwh as Israel's holy one; the spelling out of Yhwh's holiness in uprightness and mercy; Israel as Yhwh's people, rebellious but chosen; Jerusalem as Yhwh's city, also rebellious but chosen; the remnant of Israel, surviving by Yhwh's grace and challenged now to be responsive; the nations as threatened by destruction but destined to recognize Yhwh; the destiny of empires and their kings; divine sovereignty and human responsibility; divine planning and human planning; the significance of the Davidic promise; and the day of Yhwh as a near event and a more distant one.

Within the most influential book in the course of history is “the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz.” This is the book of Isaiah — the epitome of prophetic eloquence. Isaiah uses alliteration and parallelism to prophesy of God, the Holy One of Israel, who will save His people. Isaiah is a compelling work challenging critics to reconsider predictive prophecies. This introduction to the book of Isaiah searches for a compelling plea to challenge scholarship to reconsider its approach to Isaiah. The methodological approach of this introduction notes the link of ancient witnesses to Isaian authorship. This approach also examines the structure of Isaiah’s text compared to its theological messages. By affirming Isaiah’s textual background, scholarship can cross-examine the suppositions of historical criticism. The conclusion will result with either a growth of complex ideas or a simplified understanding of facts.

R.P. Gordon and H.M. Bartsad (eds), “Thus Speaks Ishtar of Arbela”: Prophecy in Israel, Assyria, and Egypt in the Neo- Assyrian Period (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns), 273–300, 2013

The most important figure in this complete turnaround , as he sees it, is Steck, but he pays due regard to his predecessors in redaction criticism in the persons of Hertzberg, von Rad, and especially Zimmerli, and to those who followed him, such as Barth, Vermeylen, Kaiser, and Kratz. After some further discussion of the consequences of this newer approach, Becker then turns for help in reconstructing this earliest portrayal of the person of the prophet to extra-biblical material which has long been known but only recently introduced in detail to this particular discussion, namely the evidence for prophets and prophecy from second millennium b.c.e. Mari, which he considers of less help for his present purpose, and especially the records of Neo-Assyrian prophecy. The point which he stresses here is that these prophets moved in court circles and served in some sort of advisory role to the king. They were generally supportive of his endeavours, and even if they ventured some more critical remarks it was always with a constructive intent, to advance the well-being of the institution. They were never categorically critical of the king or state in the way that the eighth-century Israelite and Judean prophets have been thought to be. He thinks the same is probably true of the enigmatic reference to the prophet in the Judean Lachish Letter 3. Returning in the light of this religio-historical background to the eighthcentury prophets, Becker then makes the claim, which he has substantiated in much fuller detail elsewhere, 2 that the judgment sayings which have traditionally been thought to be the core, if not the whole message, of the prophets are, in fact, of later, and often very much later, date, reflecting at least on the fall of Samaria and more probably on the sixth-century fall of Jerusalem. In the case of Isaiah, to go no further for the moment, the sayings of judgment against Judah's enemies to the north in 8:1-4 and 17:1-3 will have been closest to the original words of the prophet, thereby promising deliverance for threatened Judah, and only much later, by a literary move designed to maintain the vitality and applicability of the given word of God, was this turned redactionally to pronounce a like judgment on Judah also (e.g., in 8:5-8). This shift in approach as outlined by Becker represents, as he is well aware, as complete a change of direction from previous paradigms as it is possible to imagine. For a century and more the debate with regard to these prophets has been whether any of the oracles of salvation could be regarded as authentic, and, if they were, in what sense they should be understood. Duhm, for instance, believed that there were some hopeful passages from Isaiah himself, but suggested that they were very much the private writings of his later years. Others,

S. Hasegawa, C. Levin, and K. Radner (eds), The Last Days of the Kingdom of Israel (BZAW 511; Berlin: de Gruyter), 383–98, 2019

Isaiah and the Fall of the Kingdom of Israel Isaiah of Jerusaleml ived during the closing decades of the existenceo ft he neighbouring Kingdom of Israel and for some twenty years, at least,thereafter. Although he refers on anumber of occasions to what Biblical scholars label "The NorthernK ingdom," his references tend to be concentrated on events ad ecade or so before the final fall of Samaria. His allusions to the latter are generallyoblique, using the fate of Samaria as awarningofthe danger in which the southern Judah and Jerusalem stand if they continue with their present policies and lifestyle. In terms of political history,with which this volume is chieflyconcerned, it is thereforec lear that our harvest from Isaiah will be meagre. In addition to that, however,Ishallinthis paper try also to outline some of the ideological implications that follow from the fall of Samaria. In terms of the history of religion and the languagethat givese xpression to it,wemay find that Isaiah,both as historical prophet and as book, has much to contribute. It should come as no surprise if Istressfinally by wayofintroduction that by almostuniversalconsent onlyamodest amount of what is found in the book of Isaiah actuallyd erives straight from the eighth century. From chapter 40 onwards,despite manyr eferences to Jacob and Israel, all the material was written in the sixth and later centuries,ofc ourse. Equally, all agree that ag ood deal in chapters 1-39 alsocomes from the time after Isaiah himself, but exactlywhat is more controversial. In ahistorical study,such as the present one, thatisobviously am atter for concern, and Is hall have spacet om ake onlyafew remarks to justify the positions Ia dopt.What it is importantt ob ear in mind, however,i s that while Ia mu ndertaking as everelyd iachronic analysis that does not mean that we should simplydiscard the latermaterial. Rather,weshould value it highly as first-hand evidence of the later reception of material that mayhaveapplied originallyt oIsrael and Samaria. That reception, from earliest days on, is important evidence of the great impact on the development of subsequent thought that Isaiah had. Iw ant to begin with terminology, and specificallyw ith the ways in which Isaiah labelled the NorthernK ingdom. The so-called refrain poem in 9:7-20 makes for agood starting point.Inchapter 9wehavethreestanzas, each closed by an almostidentical refrain in verses

Theological Journal Kerugma, 2019

In this study, spiritual, social-ethic and political background will be scrutinized to assist to understand Isaiah chapter 62 comprehensively. Spiritual life of God's people is declined in the book of Isaiah because of idolatries and nations. Hebrew people make idols out of trees and worship pagan wooden idols (40:18-20; 44:9-20). Isaiah employs prophetic images for the covenant-breaking idolatry and worship of other gods by adultery and illicit sexual intercourse. It is clear that Isaiah is not exclusively interested in the interpersonal and social relationship structures within Israel. He is also concerned with the broader canvas of international politics.

2010

The aim of this article is to represent conclusions for scholarly exegesis from recent developments in the field of the prophets, especially those pertaining to the Book of Isaiah. In order to do this, the author will pay attention in this article to the following aspects: (1) The prophet's book before the prophet's word; (2) The prophet as authority of the book; (3) Deutero-Isaiah: from hypothesis to author personality; (4) An anonymous prophet? The critical objections against the Deutero-Isaiah hypothesis; (5) The figure of the prophet and the redaction-critical research of Isa 40-55; (6) The temple-singer hypothesis as alternative: from the individual to the collective; (7