position between these two groups? It is very difficult to answer this question. These chapters obviously bear no relation whatever to the oracles which precede or to those which follow them. They are, as we shall see (in the Introduction prefaced to the commentary), the latest compositions in the entire Book of Isaiah. They seem to have been inserted between the prophecy on Tyre (xxiii) and the denunciation of doom against Samaria (xxviii) because there was no other suitable place for them. Cheyne's solution of the problem of these enigmatical chapters, that Alexander's conquest of Tyre is referred to in xxv. 2, xxvi. 5, may afford the key to the answer to the question why these chapters succeed chap. xxiii, since that chapter is an oracle directed against Tyre and prophesies its destruction. At what time chaps. xxxvi-xxxix were added to the previous collection i-xxxv, it is certainly difficult, if not impossible, to determine with our present information. Duhm considers that this was done by the same editor who redacted chaps. i-xxxv, consequently not long after the compilation of that collection. For a very long time chapters xl-lxvi must have existed as a separate collection of prophecies. This is clear from 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22 foll., in which the passage Isa. xliv. 28 (that Cyrus would cause the temple to be built) is treated as the word of Jeremiah. The so-called Deutero-Isaiah (xl-lxvi) must at that time (circ. 300 B. C.) have been regarded as a body of literature standing quite apart from the Isaianic collection or collections which then existed. On the other hand, in Ecclesiasticus or Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira or son of Sirach, xlviii. 23-25, we read respecting Hezekiah that he- Was strong in the ways of David his father, Which Isaiah the prophet commanded, Who was great and faithful in his vision. In his days the sun went backward, And he added life to the King (Isa. xxxviii. 4-8). › And he comforted them that mourned in Sion (cf. {་ Assuming 180 B. C. as an approximate date for Ecclesiasticus, we can see from the above quotation that by that time the entire collection of the Book of Isaiah (chapszilxvi) had been formed, and it had long been assumed that the discourses in chaps. xl-lxvi were addressed by Isaiah of Jerusalem to those that would mourn in Zion in the coming days of the Exile. In other words, chaps. xllxvi had long been added to the book. This must have been done at some time between 300 and 200 B. C. The Book of Isaiah occupies the first place among the Prophetae Posteriores in all our modern editions of the Hebrew Bible, as it does in the oldest Hebrew MS., the Codex Petropolitanus 916 A. D., and this, we gather, was the place assigned to it in the Jewish canon of the third and fourth century A. D., from the testimony of Origen and of Jerome (in Prologus Galeatus). But we have clear indication that in earlier times the traditional order was different. In the Talmudic treatise Baraitha Baba Bathra, fol. 14, there is a reference to the fact that the order at one time was Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Minor Prophets, which is still preserved in several German and French MSS. In the LXX Isaiah follows " > §6. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS RESPECTING THE PROPHET ISAIAH. CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS STYLE AND THE PROBABLE ORDER OF HIS DISCOURSES. The only trustworthy facts about the life of the great prophet of Jerusalem are to be derived from the Book of Isaiah itself. His name Isaiah signifies Help (or Deliverance) of Yahweh,' or, as Sabaean proper names seem to indicate, 'Yahweh has helped' (or delivered). It is by no means certain that this was his original name. It may have been subsequently assumed by the prophet in reference to his mission, as a sign like the names which he bestowed on his sons Shear-yāshûbh, ' remnant shall return' (or be converted), and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, hasten-spoil speed-booty' (cf. viii. 18 note). He was the son of Amôş, not to be confused with the prophet Amos, as Greek writers like Clemens Alexandrinus (Stromat. i. 327) have done, owing to their ignorance of Hebrew and its sibilants. We know from chaps. vii and viii that Isaiah was married and was the father of several sons. His ministry began in the closing year of Uzziah's life (740-39 B.C., vi. 1). His prophetic calling must therefore have been exercised for more than forty years, and extended over the reigns of Jotham, Aḥaz, and Hezekiah. Whether he actually survived the last-mentioned king is uncertain. The later legend that he was sawn asunder in the reign of Manasseh implies that he did. This legend appears to underlie Heb. xi. 37, and finds an echo in the Ascension of Isaiah,' a Jewish apocalypse in Christian framework belonging to the second century A.D. We also find it in Epiphanius's so-called Lives of the Prophets1. Further details respecting the prophet's life and work are not necessary, since they are given under § 2. With reference to the style of the prophet's diction no one will question Canon Driver's dictum : ‘Isaiah's poetical genius is superb.' Probably no ancient Hebrew writer--not even the author of the speeches of Yahweh in Job xxxviii-xlii. 6-possessed a greater faculty of imagination or had a more instinctive perception of the power of words. 'Every word from him,' says Dillmann, 'kindles, stirs and strikes its mark.' The descriptions are simple and natural, never overlaid with detail or 1 See 'Chrestomathy' in Nestle's Short Syriac Grammar in Portae Linguarum Orientalium Series (H. Reuther, Carlsruhe and Leipzig, 1881), p. 53. artificial. The consummation of art in artlessness is fully attained by Isaiah. Compare the simple sublimity of the consecration-vision in Isa. vi with the corresponding consecration-vision and its complex elaboration of wheels and living creatures in Ezek. i. The former occupies seven verses in the recital, the latter twenty-five. Specially remarkable is Isaiah's command of powerful metaphor. He is especially fond of the metaphors of flood, storm, and sound. Cf. viii. 8, 'And it shall pass over unto Judah flooding and coming over, reaching as far as the neck (similarly x. 22, xxviii. 17, and xxx. 28); so also in xxx. 30, Yahweh will display the descent of his arm in fierce wrath and the flame of devouring fire, destruction, tempest of rain, and hail-stones.' As an example of vivid description we would cite the close of the great strophic poem ix. 8-x. 4, verses 25-30. The closing verses descriptive of the advance of a conquering and destroying Assyrian army will be found above, § 2, p. 15. A fine illustration of the power of sound in Isaiah's vocabulary will be found in xvii. 12. Isaiah is also prone to use alliterations and punning assonances, e. g. v. 7 (on which see note). There is a fine balance and even rhythmic flow in his sentences which the student is best able to appreciate when he uses Duhm's valuable commentary (in German), where the rhythmic form is more clearly indicated by the rendering than in any other recent commentary. In addition to these leading general characteristics, we will specify certain particulars whereby the Isaianic oracles may be discriminated from the other later discourses contained in the Book of Isaiah. (a) Allusions to idolatry, necromancy and foreign practices of divination. (6) References to Assyria as the dominant and threatening military power. (c) Denunciation of Egypt as a delusive support and a pretentious fraud. ཝཱཝཱ (d) Denunciation of the social sins of self-aggrandize ment of the powerful at the expense of the poor and weak. Denial of justice to the oppressed. Distortion of justice through bribery. (e) Yahweh designated as the Holy One of Israel,' and the people's true stay and refuge. (ƒ) Ceremonialism rebuked and also pride and selfexaltation in material prosperity. 1 (g) Day of the Lord announced as a destructive ordeal through which the nation must pass and only a purified remnant will survive. The following is approximately the chronological order of the genuine Isaianic oracles. In some cases we have very few data, if any, to guide us. دو xvii on Damascus, probably 736 B. C. i. 1–26, 735 B. C. rather than 701 B. C., when the tone of the prophet was more hopeful. vii. 1-viii. 18, 735-31 B. C. vi, which refers to the prophet's call in 740 B. C. (Uzziah's death-year), was probably composed about 734 B. C. v. I-24, circ. 730 B. C. (?). iii..-iv. I may belong to the period 730-251B.C. xxxii. 9-14 might be assigned to the same period. ix. 8-x. 4; v. 25-30, 726 B. C. } i. 29-31 refers to northern kingdom probably about 725 B. C. xxviii. 1-4, 724 B. C. (circ.). viii. 19–22 might either belong to 735, like the preceding verses, or to any time between 725 and 715. xxviii. 7-13 might be assigned to some time between 724 and 715. ,,XXviii. 14–20 may be conjecturally referred to 713 B. C. Chaps. xv and xvi are an earlier oracle in reference to Moab composed by an unknown writer and employed by Isaiah 713-11 B.C... |