12. Isaiah 56-66

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12. Isaiah 56-66

• BOT634 Exegesis of Isaiah

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The Theory of a Trio-Isaiah
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1. Trito-Isaiah in General

• 1.1 "For the sake of simplicity, the various
  critics can be placed in three categories (1)
  those who maintain the unity of chapters 40-66
  (2) those who accept Duhms separation as well as
  his argument for unity of authorship in chapters
  56-66 (though not necessarily accepting his
  fifth-century dating) (3) those who accept his
  separation, but reject the view of unity of
  authorship, recognizing instead a number of
  different authors ranging all the way from the
  seventh century to the third. Hanson, The Dawn
  of Apocalyptic, 34

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1. Trito-Isaiah in General

• 1.2 As is well known, Duhm first separated
  chaps. 56-66 off from Deutero-Isaiah and
  attributed these final chapters to a
  Trito-Isaiah. His major reason for this move,
  apart from an alleged change in literary style,
  arose from his conviction that the historical
  setting of the latter chapters was different from
  Second Isaiah, and that Trito-Isaiah reflected
  the post-exilic Jewish community which had
  returned to Jerusalem. He argued that the
  reference to the temple, to sacrifice and
  sabbaths set apart the chapters from Second
  Isaiah but also antedated the work of Ezra and
  Nehemiah.

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1. Trito-Isaiah in General

• In general, the majority of scholars have
  followed Duhm in his analysis however, there
  remains an important minority which is still
  unconvinced (Maass). There is also disagreement
  whether or not to see Trito-Isaiah as a unified
  composition from many different hands. Childs,
  Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture,
  323

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2. Eissfeldts reasons for the division between
40-55 and 56-66

• 2.1 In the first place, certain passages in
  56-66 do reveal great similarity to
  Deutero-Isaiah, in that they also depict
  salvation as being very close at hand and
  describe this event with the same colors which he
  had employed. This is particularly true of 56.1b,
  8 57.14-19 58.8-9, 10b-12 60-62 65.15-25
  66.6-16. But here, as Zimmerli has shown, there
  is at the same time in the expressions which are
  reminiscent of Deutero-Isaiah a peculiar not
  which makes it essential to derive 56-66 from
  another hand than that of Deutero-Isaiah.
  Eissfeldt, The Old Testament An Introduction,
  342

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2. Eissfeldts reasons for the division between
40-55 and 56-66

• 2.2 Furthermore, there is lacking in the whole
  section the uniform stamp which 40-55 reveals,
  and this makes it most improbable that 56-66 come
  from the same compiler as 40-55, unless we are to
  assume that the compiler wrote 56-66 in quite
  different circumstances from those of 40-55 - a
  view which hardly differs in result from the
  assumption of another compiler. The undoubted
  relationship between 56-66 and 40-55 is therefore
  probably to be explained on the grounds that
  56-66, or at any rate large parts of it, were
  written in conscious dependence on 40-55.
  Eissfeldt, The Old Testament An Introduction,
  342-3

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3. Other Reasons from Muilenburg

• 3.1 ...there is a notable lack of missionary
  interest and concern, though there are passages
  which are as universalistic and wide hearted as
  anything in the Old Testament. Muilenburg,
  Interpreters Bible Isaiah 40-66, 414
• 3.2 The servant of the Lord does not appear in
  the guise represented in Second Isaiah, although
  61.1-3 is considered by many to be another
  servant utterance. Muilenburg, Interpreters
  Bible Isaiah 40-66, 414

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3. Other Reasons from Muilenburg

• 3.3 The eschatology resembles that to chaps.
  34-35 more than that of chaps. 40-55. it is more
  apocalyptic in character, more tragic in its
  pessimism, more dualistic, more cosmic in its
  depth. The new age will be ushered in by the
  creation of a new heaven and earth (65.17 cf.
  66.22). Muilenburg, Interpreters Bible Isaiah
  40-66, 414 
• 3.4 While certain sections are much like Second
  Isaiah in the participation of all Israel in the
  coming salvation (57.14-19 59.21 60.1-62.12),
  others include only the pious community while the
  rebellious and apostates are punished (50.18
  63.1-6 65.12 ff. 66.16-17). Muilenburg,
  Interpreters Bible Isaiah 40-66, 414

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4. Hansons Differences

• (1) The setting of 40-55 is Babylon, that of
  56-66 is Palestine.
• (2) The mood of 40-55 is one of excited
  expectation of an imminent return, that of 56-66
  is one of bitter controversy and disappointment
  after that return has already occurred.
• (3) In 40-55 the entire nation is object of the
  promise of salvation, whereas in 56-66 salvation
  is reserved for one segment of the nation. This
  is reflected, e.g., in the reinterpretation of
  the servant Israel of Second Isaiah as the
  servants comprising only the faithful remnant.

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4. Hansons Differences

• (4) In 40-55 the polemic against idolatry is
  carried on in a humorously ironical manner, while
  in 56-66 that polemic become sardonic and bitter.
• (5) As closer examination will illustrate, 56-66
  represent a point more advanced on the typology
  of prophetic genres, as well as on the continuum
  from prophetic eschatology to apocalyptic
  eschatology.
• (6) Stylistic and metric differences are in
  evidence, as will also be demonstrated below.
  Hanson, The Dawn of Apocalyptic, 36-37

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Historical Setting
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1. Difficulty in Establishing Historical Setting

• 1.1 Partly because Third Isaiah is so bereft of
  concrete historical indicators, it has given rise
  to wide-ranging and speculative proposals as to
  historical and social location from the preexilic
  period (for 56.9-57.13) to the late Hellenistic
  period (for 65 66.3-24), as being
  representative of theocratic ideals (Duhm), to
  their opponent in the name of inclusivity and
  apocalyptic fervor (Pauritisch 1971 Wallis 1971
  Hanson 1975). Seitz, Book of Isaiah (Third
  Isaiah), ABD, III, 502
• 1.2 Three dates of varying degree of reliability
  to establish a general historical framework a la
  Hanson
• 1.2.1 (1) Cyrus edict in 538 with the apparent
  return of exiles which ensued

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1. Difficulty in Establishing Historical Setting

• 1.2.2 (2) reconstruction of the temple from 520
  until 515
• 1.2.3 (3) the reconstruction undertaken by Ezra
  and Nehemiah around the middle of the fifth
  century (this date is the least reliable of the
  three). Hanson, The Dawn of Apocalyptic, 33
• 1.3 Biblical Sources according to Hanson
• 1.3.1 (1) Ezra 1-6 seems at first blush to offer
  the necessary data, providing a sketch of the
  period from the return from exile to the
  dedication of the temple, but the historical
  reliability of this source is uncertain,
  especially in the light of its marked theological
  Tendenz thus it must be used with extreme
  caution, preferably only when corroborated by
  other strong evidence.

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1. Difficulty in Establishing Historical Setting

• 1.3.2 (2) Haggai and Zechariah are a welcome
  source of information from the period circa 520.
• 1.3.3 (3) Malachi sheds light on the spiritual
  conditions in Judah toward the middle of the
  fifth century. The memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah
  also contribute to our knowledge of this period
  or a somewhat later period, depending on how one
  solves the problem of the dates of those two
  figures.
• 1.3.4 (4) Finally, some of the prophecies of
  Jeremiah and Ezekiel afford glimpses into the
  conditions existing in Judah after 586. Hanson,
  The Dawn of Apocalyptic, 33

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2. Temple References and Dating of Text

• 2.1 ...it is difficult to know how to use the
  obscure references to the temple to date TI more
  specifically (compare 56.7 60.13 62.7 63.18
  64.11). Westermann (p. 296) uses the reference at
  60.13 to argue that the temple has not yet been
  built (see also his treatment of 63.15-64.11).
  Others see the argument over inclusion in chap.
  56 as evidence that the temple is already
  standing and community life well under way, a
  view that is made possible in Westermanns model
  by his theory of levels of text development,
  ultimately carrying us into the period of the
  reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah (455 BCE). Seitz,
  Book of Isaiah (Third Isaiah), ABD, III, 503

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2. Temple References and Dating of Text

• 2.2 It must be determined whether the theory of
  TI turns exclusively on too tidy a view of the
  destruction of the temple and its subsequent
  restoration. In this light it should be
  remembered that if chaps. 56-66 are read more
  narrowly in the context of the book of Isaiah, as
  against their putative diachronic neighbors
  Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and Ezra-Nehemiah, a
  very different picture of the role of the temple
  emerges for nowhere in Isaiah is the destruction
  of the temple explicitly related. Rather, what we
  have is a depiction of Gods judgment over the
  cosmos and the nations (Isaiah 13-27), and the
  proclamation of a thorough cleansing of Zion,
  resulting in a completely new state of affairs
  (21-5 12.1-6 cf. 65.17-25). In other words,
  the fall of the temple and its restoration as
  such are not meaningful literary, historical, or
  theological indexes in Isaiah. Seitz, Book of
  Isaiah (Third Isaiah), ABD, III, 503

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2. Temple References and Dating of Text

• 2.3 It has often been argued that the references
  to the temple (56.5, 7 60.7) and the walls of
  Jerusalem (60.10) are proof that the temple had
  been rebuilt but that the walls had not. This
  would indicate a date between 516 and 444. But
  what is said about the temple may be in
  expectation of the future rather than description
  of the present, very much as 62.6 must be
  anticipation of the building of the walls, if the
  chapters are a unity and the walls had not yet
  been built. In 63.7-64.11 the temple is in ruins,
  from which we must suppose that the passage dates
  from shortly after 586, unless - which is
  questionable - disaster had befallen the 516
  temple. North, Isaiah, IDB, II, 742

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3. Israelite Communities Left in Palestine,
Exiled to Babylon and After

• 3.1 Perhaps the most obscure area of knowledge
  concerns life within the Israelite community not
  deported - surely the largest population group,
  and one we know to have existed as a worshiping
  community during the exilic period from various
  incidental references (Zech 7.5 Jer 41.5 book
  of Lamentations). Seitz, Book of Isaiah (Third
  Isaiah), ABD, III, 503

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STRUCTURAL OBSERVATIONS
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1. The Macrostructural unites of Isa 1 and 65-66

• 1.1 The negative sequences of cultic infidelity
  (specifically worship in gardens 1.29-31 65.3
  66.17).
• 1.2 Separation of wrongdoers from the righteous
  prior to the restoration and renaming of the
  righteous (renaming 1.26 Jerusalem 65.15
  Gods servant).
• 1.3 Wrongdoers being put to shame (1.29 66.5
  cf. 65.15) and punished with fire (1.31
  66.15-16, 24).
• Carr, Reaching for Unity in Isaiah, JSOT, 57,
  (1993), 72-73

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THEME 1.2-2.4 63.7-66.24
Heaven and Earth Merismus 1.2 66.1
Sons metaphor Judah devastated 1.2-9 63.7-64.11
Anti-cultic Polemic 1.10-20 66.1-6
Personification 1.21-26 66.7-13
Redemption/Judgment of Zion 1.27-31 66.14-17
Gathering the Nations to Zion 2.2-4 66.18-24
Wicked consumed by unquenchable fire 1.31 66.24
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2. Westermann's Outline

• 56.1-8 concerning sabbath-keeping and admission
  to worship
• 56.9-12 denunciation of leaders who 'turn to
  their own way'
• 57.1-58.14 denunciation of idolatry promise to
  the faithful
• 59.1-15a lament on behalf of the community
• 59.15b-20 the divine warrior intervenes
• 60-62 promise of salvation
• 63.1-6 the divine warrior intervenes
• 63.7-64.12 lament on behalf of the community
• 65.1-25 denunciation of idolatry promise of the
  faithful
• 66.3-4 denunciation of those who 'choose their
  own ways'
• 66.1-24 concerning temple, sacrifice, admission
  to worship

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2. Westermann's Outline

• 2.1 The Centrality of Chapters 60-62
• 2.1.1 Chapters 60-62 form the nucleus of the
  message contained in the book of Trito-Isaiah.
  They reproduce the message of a prophet of the
  period after the exile. They also form a literary
  unit. Two characteristics in particular make it
  possible to be certain about all this. First,
  chap. 60-62 contain a message of salvation and
  nothing but salvation. Secondly, this message
  shows from first to last a provenance from, or a
  harking back to, that of Deutero-Isaiah.
  Westermann, OTL Isaiah 40-66, 296

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2. Westermann's Outline

• 2.1.2 ...the three chapters, 60-62, are based on
  the three component parts of a lament - chap. 60
  is the lament because of enemies (countered by
  the train of nations coming to Zion), chap. 61
  the lament in the first person plural (countered
  by the building of Zion and the restoration of
  her honor), and chap. 62 the charge made against
  God. It is countered, in the middle of the
  chapter, by the proclamation that God has turned
  back again towards his chosen people (vv. 4b-5
  and vv. 11f.) Westermann, OTL Isaiah 40-66,
  373

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2. Westermann's Outline

• 2.1.3 ...these, too, can be reckoned as forming
  part of the nucleus of Trito-Isaiahs message.
  They are 57.14-20 65.16b-25 and 66.6-16. These,
  too, are a message of salvation and nothing but
  salvation, they also presuppose Deutero-Isaiahs
  proclamation. Westermann, OTL Isaiah 40-66,
  296
• 2.1.4 ...Westermann has overplayed the notion
  that SI and nuclear TI sections are predominantly
  salvation oracles. SI contains material that
  reflects internal community debate (42.18-20
  43.22-24 44.25 45.9-13 46.12-13 48.22
  50.10-11 54.15-17), especially when one includes
  the persistent exhortation that marks SI it is
  difficult to see how distinct the TI material is
  on this score. Seitz, Book of Isaiah (Third
  Isaiah), ABD, III, 506

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2. Westermann's Outline

• 2.2 Isaiah 59 and 63f as Framework
• 2.2.1 "The nucleus, chaps. 60-62, is set within
  the framework of two laments, chaps. 59 and 63f.
  The purpose is to connect the proclamation with
  the nations laments it gives Gods answer to
  the supplication. Westermann, OTL Isaiah
  40-66, 300
• 2.2.2 Chapter 59... forms a means of connecting
  two stands in chaps. 55-66. As a lament, it is
  part of the framework of chaps. 60-62, and the
  prophetic charge which goes on to give a picture
  of the transgressors, connects it with a
  different strand.... The first part of it is
  composed of the small amount of material gathered
  together in 56.9-57.13. This contains three
  prophetic oracles of Judgment, 56.9-12 57.3-6
  and 57.7-13. Westermann, OTL Isaiah 40-66,
  302

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2. Westermann's Outline

• 2.3 Summation of Westermanns Redactional
  development of Trito-Isaiah
• 2.3.1 The nucleus was formed by chaps. 60-62,
  the proclamation of salvation made by the prophet
  Trito-Isaiah. This was set within the frame of
  the two community laments, chaps. 59 and 63/64.
  This corresponds to the relationship that existed
  between the prophets proclamation and the
  exiles services of lamentation. Together with
  this block were transmitted a few unconnected
  utterance of Trito-Isaiah (57.14-20 65.16b-25
  66.6-16 and perhaps 58.1-12). These were later
  joined to the collection, and along with them
  other utterances, the author of which was not
  Trito-Isaiah. The latter had been transmitted
  separately, as is shown by the fact that they
  were all given additions or insertions.

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2. Westermann's Outline

• 2.3.2 A second strand is made up of a number of
  independent utterances and additions, in all of
  which the main feature of the situation in face
  of which they were uttered is the rise of a
  cleavage between the devout and the transgressors
  (56.9-57.13 57.21 59.2-8 65.1-16a 66.3f.
  66.5, 17).
• 2.3.3 The third strand, found only in chaps.
  60-66, seeks to amend Trito-Isaiahs friendly and
  open disposition towards foreign nations by
  proclaiming judgment upon them (60.12 63.1-6
  66.6, 15f. 66.20, 22 ff.).
• 2.3.4 A fourth strand consists of additions at
  the beginning and the end of the book (56.1f.,
  3-8 66.18f., 21.) These are of particular
  importance as witness to the openness of the
  community to Gentiles and its missionary
  character, and to the keeping of the sabbath.
  66.1f. may also form part of this strand, but
  this is not certain.

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An Analysis of Isaiah 55-66
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A. Prophetic instructions (56.1-8)

• Here, to keep the sabbath and to refrain from
  doing evil are in parallel clauses. Justice
  (jpvm) and righteousness (hqdc) have many nuances
  in Deutero-Isaiah in this context they have a
  cultic-legal flavor. The passage is an assurance
  to foreign proselytes and (Jewish) eunuchs that
  if they hold fast by Yahwehs covenant, they
  shall have equal access to Yahweh to his temple
  with born and unmutilated Jews.

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B. Blind Leaders and corrupt worship (56.9-57.13)

• 56.9-57.13 is a scathing invective against
  corrupt religious leaders (56.9-57.2) and
  licentious nature-worship (57.3-13).

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C. Persisting grace (57.14-21)

• The remaining verses of chap. 57 are entirely in
  the spirit of DI. The transcendent God dwells
  with the man who is of a contrite and humble
  spirit. This paradox is expressed with a
  simplicity that make it sound entirely natural.
  It is not said that God in spite of his holiness
  dwells with the lowly and meek, but that he
  dwells (so the Hebrew) in eternity and with the
  lowly and meek.

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D. The service pleasing to God (58.1-14)

• There is evidence that during the Exile regular
  fasts were observed (Zech 7.1-7 8.18-19). There
  is always danger that statutory religious
  observances can come to lack sincerity. From Isa
  58.1-12 it appears that fasting made people
  quarrelsome and that on the fast days they
  engaged in business (vs. 3 RSV mg.) and bulled
  their workers. The prophet is bidden to ask them
  whether they can properly call this fasting. The
  denunciation of social unrighteousness is
  entirely in the spirit of the pre-exilic
  prophets. In 58.13-14 the sabbath is to be
  treated as holy ground, a day when business is to
  be put aside (vs. 13 RSV mg.).

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E. Gods intervention (59.1-21)

• The theme of chap. 59 is that Yahwehs delay in
  coming to the help of his people is not due to
  inability on his part but to their sins. A vivid
  description of these is followed by a community
  lament and confession. Finally, Yahweh himself
  takes the initiative and intervenes, coming in
  judgment like a pent-up stream (vs. 19 ERV mg.).
  He will come as Redeemer. There is no thought of
  incarnation, but in the light of the NT sequel
  the interpretation....

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F. The Glory of the Lord (60.1-22)

• Chap. 60 opens with a magnificent description of
  the sunrise glory of Yahweh upon Jerusalem while
  the rest of the world still lies in darkness. The
  nations are attracted to the brightness and
  themselves bring back the exiles. The Holy City
  shall be mistress of the nations foreigners will
  rebuild her walls, and their kings be her
  servants. The material and moral prosperity of
  Zion will be without precedent. There will be no
  more need of run and moon, because Yahweh will be
  her everlasting light (cf. Rev 21.23).

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G. Glad tidings of salvation to Zion (61.1-11)

• The opening verses of 61 were read by Jesus in
  the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his
  ministry (Luk 4.16-20), with the significant
  omission of the words and the day of vengeance
  of our God. They have sometimes been taken as a
  Servant Song, but it is more probably that the
  speaker is the prophet. The rest of the chapter
  is very similar to the chapter preceding. A
  glorious future waits the Jews, who are
  collectively to exercise the same priestly
  functions in the world-wide community of the
  people of God as the priests exercise toward lay
  Israelite.

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H. The messianic people (62.1-12)

• 62.1-5 reverts to the theme of Zion as the bride
  of Yahweh (cf. 50.1-2 54). For the meaningless
  your sons (vs. 5) read, with only a vowel
  change, your builder - i.e., Yahweh. Yahweh
  will station watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem
  to remind him continually of his promise to make
  the city a praise in the earth. (vs. 7)

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J. The year of redemption (63.1-6)

• The dramatic poem 63.1-6 has literary affinities
  with 59.15-20 61.2, and recalls the figure of
  the berserk warrior of 42.13. Antiphonal voices
  are heard. The first must be that of the prophet
  the second is the voice of Yahweh, solitary, and
  mighty in power and salvation. The words I have
  trodden the wines press alone (vs. 3 have
  sometime in the language of devotion been
  interpreted of Christs agony on the Cross. This
  was not the intention the writer. Nevertheless,
  in the light of the sequel, it has a measure of
  justification (42.13).

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K. A prophets intercessory prayer (63.7-64.12)

• 63.7-64.12 is one of the most moving passages in
  the OT. It is a community lament, in which appeal
  is made to Yahwehs steadfast love manifested in
  the past history of his people. The words in all
  their affliction should be joined to the end of
  63.8, and vs. 9 should be translated It was
  neither envoy nor messenger, but his own presence
  lit, face that saved them (cf. Ex 33.14)....
  The whole is an impassioned appeal to Yahweh to
  come to the deliverance of his people. The
  passage is significant in that twice in it the
  spirit of Yahweh is called his holy Spirit, and
  it is often noted that there is a measure of
  hypostatization in the conception of the Spirit.

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L. Judgment and salvation (65.1-25)

• God is ready to be found, but he is not found by
  those who will not trouble to seek him. This is
  appropriately followed by a denunciation of
  ghoulish worship. Yet God will not destroy the
  whole people (vs. 8-10), though destruction
  awaits those who deliver themselves over to gods
  like Gad (luck) and Meni (fate vs. 11-12).
  The chapter concludes with descriptions of a new
  creation and the long life of those who shall
  live in the redeemed community.

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M. The new birth of Zion and the fire of judgment
(66.1-16)

• The concluding chapter (66) moves between the
  two poles of judgment and salvation. The most
  natural interpretation of the first paragraph is
  that it dates from ca. 520 and is a protest
  against temple and sacrifice as such. However
  this may be, the verses are the clearest
  foreshadowing in the OT of the dominical word
  God is spirit, and those who worship him must
  worship in spirit and truth (Jon 4.24).

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N. An eschatological summary (66.17-24)