Though clearly dependent on First Isaiah’s message, Second Isaiah is also easily distinguishable. Second Isaiah shares the eighth-century prophet’s emphasis on the holiness of God and his vision of God as the great king, and he at least adapts the earlier prophet’s ideal of the Davidic king, democratizing it to apply it to the entire nation. Unlike First Isaiah, however, the message of Second Isaiah is primarily that of consolation, and this message is couched in a distinctive style. In relatively long, markedly lyrical oracles, Second Isaiah reassures the exiles that God still controls history. Despite present appearances, the Lord will soon demonstrate his power by bringing the Israelites back to their own country in a second exodus more glorious than the first. Before this God, who has created all things, the Babylonian idols are as nothing; God’s judgment on both the Babylonians and their gods is imminent.
Third Isaiah
CHAPTERS 56–66 ARE SO SIMILAR stylistically to Second Isaiah that they must be attributed either to the same author or to some disciple or disciples who used the poetry of Second Isaiah as a model. The historical setting presupposed is, however, different from that of Second Isaiah. The audience addressed by Third Isaiah is once more living in the land of Judah. Isa 66.1 suggests that work had already begun on rebuilding the temple, work completed in the years 520–515 BCE. The initial return from Babylonian exile has already taken place, but this second exodus has not been as glorious as Second Isaiah predicted, and life for the returnees in Judah remains very harsh. In these difficult circumstances there are both economic oppression and, in an attempt to cope with life’s problems, a resurgence in the pagan rituals long indigenous in Israel. In response to this situation Third Isaiah announces God’s imminent judgment on the oppressors and syncretists. The prophet promises the righteous that God’s glorious deliverance of Israel, long promised by Second Isaiah, is soon to be realized. Soon the wealth of the nations will pour into Jerusalem along with the rest of Israel’s exiles, and the shame and sorrow of the recent past will be replaced with eternal joy and prosperity.
An Overarching Unity
DESPITE THE DIFFERENT HISTORICAL SETTINGS to which the various parts of the book may be attributed and the clear evidence of multiple authorship, there is also a certain overarching unity to the book. All parts of the book share a common theological tradition, and the later parts seem to take up, adapt, respond to, or reverse announcements made in earlier parts of the book while staying in that same theological tradition. Like most other prophetic books, the book of Isaiah moves in a general way from oracles predominantly of judgment to those of salvation. In response to these observations, recent scholarship has begun to turn its primary attention away from the traditional historical-critical issues of historical setting and authorship toward an attempt to explain this overarching unity. Some scholars see this unity as the result of a thorough reediting of the book by the latest authors or their disciples in the exilic or postexilic periods. In its most extreme form, this scholarly trend also explores how the prophetic collection as a whole has been edited to shape interconnections within the whole prophetic corpus.
Most scholars, even of the most traditional historical-critical mold, would admit there has been some late editing of the earlier parts of the book, but the evidence for a thorough, intentional, coherent editing of the book as a whole is not very persuasive. Such reconstructions are far more hypothetical than the reconstructions of traditional historical criticism. Historical reconstructions at least have attested external historical events as a control over pure speculation. Battles and political crises are public events that leave records elsewhere than in the prophetic book itself. In contrast, editorial work by its very nature is private and, barring the discovery of earlier manuscripts showing variant text forms, the reconstruction of such work never rises above the level of more or less plausible hypotheses. In this author’s opinion, the editorial processes even within the material that may be confidently attributed to the eighth-century BCE Isaiah of Jerusalem are often less than transparent. Thus the opinion reflected in these notes is that the overarching unity of the book owes more to a common theological tradition in which all the authors stood than to any consistent and coherent editing the book has undergone. The common theological tradition and the fact that the later authors were responding to and commenting on the earlier oracles in the book are sufficient explanation for the overarching unity. [J. J. M. ROBERTS]
ISAIAH 1
1The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Wickedness of Judah
2Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib;
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
4Ah, sinful nation,
people laden with iniquity,
offspring who do evil,
children who deal corruptly,
who have forsaken the LORD,
who have despised the Holy One of Israel,
who are utterly estranged!
5Why do you seek further beatings?
Why do you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
6From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds;
they have not been drained, or bound up,
or softened with oil.
7Your country lies desolate,
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
aliens devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
8And daughter Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a shelter in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9If the LORD of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
12When you come to appear before me,a
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
13bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
14Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
17learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
18Come now, let us argue it out,
says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
19If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The Degenerate City
21How the faithful city
has become a whore!
She that was full of justice,
righteousness lodged in her—
but now murderers!
22Your silver has become dross,
your wine is mixed with water.
23Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan,
and the widow’s cause does not come before them.
24Therefore says the Sovereign, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:
Ah, I will pour out my wrath on my enemies,
and avenge myself on my foes!
25I will turn my hand against you;
I will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.
26And I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.
27Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
28But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together,
and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29For you shall be ashamed of the oaks
in which you delighted;
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.
30For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.
31The strong shall become like tinder,
and their workb like a spark;
they and their work shall burn together,
with no one to quench them.
next chapter
* * *
a Or see my face
b Or its makers
1.1 Superscription. In contrast to other superscriptions found in Isaiah (2.1; 13.1; 14.28; 15.1; 17.1; 19.1; 21.1, 11, 13; 22.1; 23.1; 30.6), this superscription is intended as a heading for all of chs. 1–39 (cf. Jer 1.1–3; Ezek 1.1–3). It characterizes the book as a prophetic message from God given to Judah by Isaiah, and it puts the message in a limited historical context.
1.2–20 God brings a legal suit against his people because of their breach of the Mosaic covenant.
1.2–3 The accusation. Heavens and earth are summoned as witnesses (cf. Deut 32.1; Ps 50; Mic 6.1–8) in this lawsuit because they were witnesses when the covenant was originally made (Deut 4.23–26; 30.19; 31.24–30). God, the father of the people of Israel, charges them with being rebellious children (Deut 32.5–6), a crime subject to the death penalty in Israelite law (Deut 21.18–21).
1.3 Israel is sometimes used as a specific reference to the Northern Kingdom, but here it is an inclusive designation for God’s people, since Zion, the capital city of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, is mentioned (v. 8). The nation’s behavior shows less understanding than that normally encountered in dumb animals (cf. Jer 8.7).
1.4–9 Direct address to Israel underscoring the folly of its wicked behavior.
1.4 Ah, sometimes translated Ho (55.1), a simple exclamation to get the attention of those being addressed (5.8, 11, 18). The following words identify them as God’s wicked children mentioned in v. 2. Holy One of Israel, one of Isaiah’s favorite designations for God (5.19, 24; 10.20; 12.6; 17.7; 29.19; 30.11–12, 15; 31.1; 37.23). It expresses the unapproachable majesty and sanctity of this God (cf. 6.1–5), who nonetheless graciously chose Israel and lives in its midst (12.6; Ex 24.9–11).
1.5–6 To treat such a holy God with contempt is utter folly. Israel has already been disciplined so harshly that it is like a person whose whole body is covered with untreated wounds yet who continues to provoke more punishment.
1.7–8 The historical reality behind Isaiah’s metaphor of discipline appears to be the desolation of the land caused by one of the Assyrian invasions, probably that of Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Zion, another name for Jerusalem, which Sennacherib isolated and besieged. Daughter Zion, personification of the city as a young woman carrying an undertone of affection or sympathy.
1.9 LORD of hosts, another of Isaiah’s choice designations for God; it occurs fifty-six times in chs. 1–39. The epithet portrays God as the king and leader of the army of heavenly beings (1 Kings 22.19) and thus underscores God’s great imperial power (2 Sam 6.2; Ps 24.10; Isa 6.3). Sodom and Gomorrah were proverbial as cities utterly destroyed by God (13.19; Gen 19.24–29; Deut 29.23; Jer 49.18; 50.40; Am 4.11; Zeph 2.9).
1.10–17 God rejects ritual worship until such rituals are accompanied by a genuine change to moral behavior (cf. 29.13–14; Jer 6.20; 7.1–15; Am 5.21–24).
1.10 Sodom and Gomorrah were also proverbial as utterly wicked cities (3.9; Gen 19.1–23; Deut 32.32; Jer 23.14; Lam 4.6).
1.14 My soul, a Hebrew idiom meaning “I.”
1.15 Hands…full of blood, hands stained by murder and violent oppression.
1.17 Because of their relative powerlessness orphans and widows were two classes of people often subject to oppression in ancient Near Eastern societies. Following the Near Eastern legal tradition, Israelite law extended special concern for their protection (Ex 22.21; Deut 24.17; 27.19), and this concern is also reflected in Israel’s other religious literature (Job 31.16; Ps 94.6; Jer 7.6; Zech 7.10).
1.18–20 The covenantal choice of life or death (cf. Deut 30.19–20).
1.18 Argue, as in a lawsuit before a judge (cf. Job 23.7). The use of scarlet and crimson as metaphors for wickedness probably arose from the association of these colors with blood (cf. v. 15); cloth of this color was used in certain sin offerings (Lev 14.4–6, 49–52; Num 19.6).
1.21–28 The once glorious city must be purged to restore it to its former honor.
1.21–23 God laments the city’s corruption. Whore. Cf. Jer 3.6–10; Ezek 16, 23; Hos 1–3.
1.24–28 God’s solution is a purging judgment.
1.24 Mighty One of Israel, a unique Isaian variant of the more common epithet Mighty One of Jacob (49.26; 60.16; Gen 49.24; Ps 132.2, 5) portraying God as a warrior.
1.25 As with lye, better “in a furnace” (cf. 48.10), since lye was not used in the smelting process.
1.26 The judges and counselors can only refer to royal officials of the Davidic era, since Jerusalem first became an Israelite city in his day (2 Sam 5.6–9).
1.27–28 Only the repentant will survive the judgment (cf. vv. 18–20; 33.14–16).
1.29–31 The prophet condemns sacred groves as pagan cult symbols (17.10–11); in the religious reform of his contemporary King Hezekiah they were destroyed (2 Kings 18.4).
1.31 Strong here refers to the oak (cf. Am 2.9). Their work, better its makers (see text note a); it refers to the human keepers of the grove. There is a wordplay in Hebrew between its makers and their work in the following line.
ISAIAH 2
The Future House of God
1The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2In days to come
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
3Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Judgment Pronounced on Arrogance
5O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the LORD!
6For you have forsaken the ways ofa your people,
O house of Jacob.
Indeed they are full of divinersb from the east
and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they clasp hands with foreigners.
7Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
9And so people are humbled,
and everyone is brought low—
do not forgive them!
10Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust
from the terror of the LORD,
and from the glory of his majesty.
11The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low,
and the pride of everyone shall be humbled;
and the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.
12For the LORD of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high;c
13against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
14against all the high mountains,
and against all the lofty hills;
15against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
16against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.d
17The haughtiness of people shall be humbled,
and the pride of everyone shall be brought low;
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