At the heart of an historical understanding of this prophetic book lies a consideration of the history of Isaiah in two related senses. First, how did Isaiah become a book? And second, how does Isaiah present the past? This volume devotes itself to these two lines of inquiry and their relationship.
The book of Isaiah is a product of history. The nature of that history and what it means that Isaiah is a product of it are hardly matters of consensus in the field. Nonetheless, Isaianic scholarship has put its collective finger on the crux of the methodological problem. At the heart of an historical understanding of this prophetic book lies a consideration of the word »history« in two distinct but related applications. First, what historical processes led to the book's final form? How did Isaiah become a book? And second, what kind of historical representation does the book offer to the reader? How does Isaiah present the past? For most scholars, answering either question involves asking the other. To understand better the history of Isaiah, this volume of essays devotes itself to these two lines of inquiry and their relationship.
Table of contents:
Part 1: Perspectives on Studying the History of Isaiah
Shawn Zelig Aster: The Contribution of Assyriology to the Study of Isaiah -
Stephen B. Chapman: Delitzsch's Fourth Edition -
J. Blake Couey: Poetry and Composition in the Book of Isaiah -
Christopher B. Hays: Linguistic Dating of Hebrew Prophetic Texts: A Quantitative Approach with Special Attention to Isaiah 24-27 -
Noam Mizrahi: Isaiah between Transmission and Reception: Isaiah 58:13-14 according to 4QIsan (4Q67) -
J. J. M. Roberts: Isaiah 14:24-27: Genuine Isaianic Expectations or Josianic Redaction? A Critical Evaluation of the Theory of a Major Josianic Edition of the Isaianic Tradition -
Christopher R. Seitz: The Presentation of History in the Book of Isaiah -
Ronald L. Troxel: Textual Criticism and Diachronic Study of the Book of Isaiah -
Archibald L. H. M. van Wieringen: A Tale of Two Worlds: A Synchronic Reading of Isaiah 7:1-17 and Its Diachronic Consequences for the Book
Part 2: The Biblical Traditions and the History of Isaiah
Avigail Aravna: Sending Subtle Threads of Influence into the Past: A Reexamination of the Relationship between Isaiah 24:6 and Jeremiah 23:10 -
Ulrich Berges: »Sing to the LORD a New Song«: The Tradents of the Book of Isaiah and the Psalter -
Anja Klein: Praying Exodus: Biblical History in the Prayer of the Servants (Isa 63:7-64:11) -
Andreas Schüle: Remember Abraham—or not: Ancestral Traditions in the Book of Isaiah -
Ethan Schwartz: Mirrors of Moses in Isaiah 1-12 -
Jacob Stromberg: Hezekiah and the Oracles Against the Nations in Isaiah -
Philip Yoo: Torah Yet to Come: Divine Activity in Isaiah 56-66
Part 3: The Ancient Near East and the History of Isaiah
Peter Dubovský: Inverting Assyrian Propaganda in Isaiah's Historiography: Writing the Hezekiah-Sennacherib Conflict in the Light of the Ashurbanipal-Teumman War -
Joachim Eck: Metamorphoses of a Tyrant: Isaiah 14:4b-21 Read in Its Wider Context -
Judith Gärtner: The Kabod of YHWH: A Key Isaianic Theme from the Assyrian Empire to the Eschaton -
J. Todd Hibbard: A
Fortschreibung from the Assyrian Crisis of 701? Isaiah 30:18-26 as an Update to Isaiah 30:8-17 -
Reinhard Müller: »Ashur Will Be Terror Stricken«: Isaiah 30:27-33 as Inverted Political Prophecy -
Kim Lan Nguyen: Cyrus: A Righteousness -
Konrad Schmid: Theological Interpretation of Assyrian Propaganda in the Book of Isaiah -
Daniel J. D. Stulac: Go-out from Babylon/There!: A Canonical Approach to Departure in Isaiah 48:20 and 52:11 -
Marvin A. Sweeney: Reading the Final Form of Isaiah as a Persian Period Text -
H. G. M. Williamson: Decoding Isaiah 13
