Isaiah 24–27: The So-Called Isaiah Apocalypse

Isaiah 24–27 has long been recognized as a self-contained section within the larger book of Isaiah. After introducing and summarizing the content of this section, this chapter explores the numerous features and critical questions raised by this material. The issues include the customary questions of date, structure, and redaction, as well as matters raised by these chapters specifically: the identity of the unnamed city, covenant, resurrection, intertextuality, and their alleged apocalyptic character. Scholarship on all of these questions reveals an exceptionally diverse range of views given that the section comprises only four chapters. While this chapter does not seek to resolve most of these interpretive difficulties, it does argue that the designation of these chapter as the “Isaiah Apocalypse” should be dropped.

Use of Metaphors

This chapter reviews major trends and trajectories within previous research on metaphors in Isaiah, including rhetorical, structuralist, redaction-critical, ideological, and feminist approaches. In addition, it surveys recurring types of imagery that inform this prophetic book’s perspective on the relationship between Yhwh and his people. Various images of empires are discussed as examples of propagandistic rhetoric. Some metaphors are analyzed in more detail. It is thus demonstrated that the conceptual metaphor “people are plants,” with its emphasis on the transience of human existence, pervades the book of Isaiah. Among metaphors used about Yhwh, special attention is paid to “God is a parent.” The concluding section discusses the various feminine roles ascribed to personified Zion in several passages in chapters 40–66: daughter, wife, and mother.

The Poetic Structures in Isaiah

Because the book of Isaiah consists largely of poetry, understanding its poetic structures is essential for interpretation. The basic poetic unit is the line. Although single lines occur occasionally, most lines are grouped into couplets or triplets by parallelism or enjambment; these couplets or triplets are then connected to form whole poems. Structural devices at every level involve both repetition and variation. Most of the poems in Isaiah are loosely organized by a variety of devices, and no two poems are exactly alike. Large sections of the book are joined by similar kinds of devices, so that the book as a whole displays a poetic structure.

Monotheism in Isaiah

The monotheistic confession in Isa 40–48 is best understood against the historical context of Israel’s political and religious crisis situation in the final years of Neo-Babylonian rule. According to Deutero-Isaiah, Yhwh is unique and incomparable because he alone truly predicts the “future” (Isa 41:22–29)—currently the triumph of Cyrus—which will lead to Israel’s liberation from Babylonian captivity (Isa 45). This prediction is directed against the Babylonian deities’ claim to possess the power of destiny and the future, predominantly against Bel-Marduk, to whom both Nabonidus and his opponents appeal in their various political assertions regarding Cyrus. According to the Babylonian conviction, Bel-Marduk has the universal divine power, who, on the one hand, directs the course of the stars and thus determines the astral omens and, on the other hand, directs the course of history (cf. Cyrus Cylinder). As an antithesis, however, Deutero-Isaiah proclaims Yhwh as the sovereign divine creator and leader of the courses of the stars in heaven as well as the course of history on earth (Isa 45:12–13). Moreover, the conflict between Nabonidus and the Marduk priesthood over the question of the highest divine power (Sîn versus Marduk) may have had a kind of “catalytic” function in Deutero-Isaiah’s formulation of the monotheistic confession.

Eschatology in Isaiah

This chapter presupposes that the eschatological language of the book of Isaiah is a working rhetorical device for expressing something else underneath it rather than a straightforward description of one’s visionary experience of the afterlife or the end series of this world. Accordingly, it addresses the eschatologically addressed rhetorical discourses in Isaiah. Using adjectival consultation to define “eschatologically,” it argues that the language of these eschatological texts is strong enough to be universal (spatial fullness), ultimate (temporal fullness), and radical (fullness in degree). This strategy aims to rationalize the national crises, as well as to encourage readers to practice proper ethics during those critical and liminal periods. The book of Isaiah illustrates several dystopias and utopias in the eschatologically addressed discourses with the two fixed points—Jerusalem and the Remnants—to serve as witnesses through the ages. Overall, these discourses seek to reassure readers of all ages to understand the divine transformation plan and to join the Torah-based community on Mount Zion for the eternal hope in this world.

Sin and Punishment in the Book of Isaiah

This chapter explores the themes of sin and punishment through the lens of a theodicy that the authors and redactors of Isaiah offer to justify Yhwh’s actions and to instruct the Israelites to stay loyal to him. The three parts of Isaiah agree that the exile was Yhwh’s punishment for the Israelites’ rebellion demonstrated through social injustice and idolatry. However, because of the different historical realities that they address, they present varied understandings of the identity of the sinners and of the rationale for their punishment. The chapter also surveys the changes in recent scholarship in the study of sin and of the correspondence between sin and punishment in the Hebrew Bible. It draws attention to the fact that amid all the declarations of the Israelites’ sins, Isaiah gives voice to the human experience of unjust punishment.

Isaiah 40–55

This chapter traces the scholarship on Isa 40–55 in three areas of study: composition, relationship to the book as a whole, and primary message(s). It observes that redaction-critical approaches have produced a variety of proposals, and points to poetics and orality studies as areas for consideration in ongoing composition work. It highlights the central role the exilic chapters play in the whole book by looking at whole-book formation studies and the features these chapters share with the remaining chapters. The chapter suggests that poetic juxtaposition may be a useful model for considering the book’s unity. Finally, it points to the construction of an encounter with Yhwh in response to the exiles’ sense of abandonment as the primary meaning of Isa 40–55. This relational message of reconciliation and restoration of trust lessens audience resistance poetically. The comfort motif, the homecoming theme, and personification also contribute to this message.

The Narratives about Isaiah and Their Relationship with 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles

This chapter explores the narratives about King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah found in 2 Kgs 18–20, Isa 36–39, and 2 Chron 32. First it comments briefly on the historicity of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701 bce. Thereafter, it responds to the stalled source and redaction debate by putting forth an entirely new proposal for the development of these texts. Finally, it interprets each of the resulting prophet-king narratives in their own literary settings in order to stress how context reshapes meaning. In the book of Kings, Hezekiah is a complex character whose reign is tainted by his intertextual connections to other kings; he is part of the monarchy that ultimately failed to save its people from attack and eventual exile. In Isaiah, Hezekiah functions as a moral warning for returning exiles to maintain purity and heed the prophets. In Chronicles, Hezekiah is exalted—over and against the kings before and after him—as a divine devotee who prays faithfully and cares for God’s temple. In each book, the characters are formed around a unique theological message rather than historical veracity. Highlighting these differences undergirds the conception of the biblical text as a didactic rolling corpus that evolved over time and produced multiple meanings for each new setting. As such, it invites readers to update the narratives for their own contemporary contexts rather than simply search for historicity.

The Poetic Vision of Isaiah

This chapter is an attempt to meet Robert Carroll’s challenge to account for and imaginatively interpret the visionary quality of Isaiah’s poetry. It begins with a discussion of biblical poetry and eschews formalistic definitions, showing how parallelism, like other formal devices, is a technique for generating meaning. It then considers the visionary quality of the poetry, as a divine message, and the trajectory from the vision to the book. The book can be read and reread in many different ways, and it tells several intertwining stories, all centering on the aporia of the exile and the hope of restoration. The chapter focuses on one of these stories, that of the family romance, which concerns especially issues of gender, including the gender of God.

Reading Isaiah in Asia

This chapter discusses four areas of interaction between the book of Isaiah and the author’s context as a Chinese Singaporean woman. First, the Asian emphasis on the family underscores the fatherhood of God in Isaiah, while Isaiah’s depiction of God’s fatherly grace is a model for the Asian family. Secondly, Isaiah’s maternal imagery of God provides a corrective to Confucian patriarchy in a complementary rather than combative way. Thirdly, Isaiah’s favorite title for God as “the Holy One” fits in with Asia’s religious context, but the relational aspect of the Holy One “of Israel” reveals the personal nature of the Divine. Fourthly, Isaiah’s monotheistic faith challenges Singapore’s pluralistic society, but the universal message of the Suffering Servant crosses boundaries for the good of all.