Isaiah 40-66: A Commentary 0664226450

Table of contents :
Contents......Page 9
Deutero-Isaiah 40-55......Page 19
Trito-Isaiah 56-66......Page 312

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CLAUS WESTERMANN

ISAIAH 40-66

e SCM Press Ltd 1969 Translated by David M. G. Stalker from the German Das Buch Jesaia, 40-66 (Das Alte Testament Deutsch 19) first edition 1g66 published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Gottingen Scripture quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright, 1946 and 1952, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches, and are used by permission.

Standard Book No. 664-20851-7 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 6g- 1864 7

Published by The Westminster Press® Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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THE OLD TESTAMENT LIBRARY General Editors

PETER AcKROYD, University of London jAMES BARR, Oxford University BERNHARD W. ANDERSON, Princeton Theological Seminary jAMES L. MAYS, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia Advisory Editor

JoHN BRIGHT, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

CLAUS WESTERMANN

llSAllAH 40=66 A Commentary

The Westminster Press Philadelphia

e SCM Press Ltd 1969 Translated by David M. G. Stalker from the German Das Buch Jesaia, 40-66 (Das Alte Testament Deutsch 19) first edition 1966 published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Gottingen Scripture quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright, 1946 and 1952, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches, and are used by permission.

Standard Book No. 664-20851-7 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 6g-18647

Published by The Westminster Press® Philadelphia, Pennsylvania PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Dedicated to Professor D. Gerhard von Rad, DD my honoured teacher and colleague on his sixty-fifth birthday with gratefulness and admiration

CONTENTS Abbreviations Bibliography

xi xiii PART ONE

DE UTERO-ISAIAH Chapters 40-55 Introduction

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The Period The Prophet Himself The Message of Deutero-Isaiah Traditions in the Prophecy of Deutero-Isaiah The Origin and Growth of the Book Commentary

40.1-11 40.12-31 41.1-5 40.19-20j 41.6-7 41.8-13 41.14-16 41.17-20 41.21-29 42.1-4 42·5--9 42.10-13 42·14-17 42.18-25 43· 1 -7

43.8-15 43·16-21

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6 8 21 27 31

Comfort my people The Creator is the Saviour Who performs and does this? The Manufacture of Idols Fear not! Fear not! I open rivers on the heights The Former and the Latter Things Behold, my Servant I call you in righteousness A New Song I lead the blind in the way Hear, you deaf! Fear not! Trial Speech: You are my witnesses A Proclamation of Salvation: Behold, I am doing a new thing

31 46 62 66 67 74 78 81 92 97 101 105 108 114 119 126

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43·22-28 44·1-5 44·6-8, 21-22 44·9-20 44.24-28; 45· 1-7 45·8 45·9-13 45.14, 15, 16-17 45.18-19 45·20-25 46.1-4 46·5-8 46·9-13 47·1-15 48.1-11 48.12-17 48.18-19 48.20-21 49·1-6 49· 7-12 49·13 49·14-26 50.1-3 5°·4-9 51.1-2,4-8 (along with 50.10-11) 51.3 51.9-52·3 52·4-6 52.7-10 52.11-12 52.13-53·12 54·1-10 54·1I-J7 55·1-5 55.6-1 r

CONTENTS

Trial Speech, Yahweh v. Israel: You have burdened me! An Oracle of Salvation: Water on the Thirsty Land Trial Speech: the First and the Last A Satire on the Manufacture of Idols The Oracle concerning Cyrus Shower, ye heavens The Clay and Its Moulder God is with you He did not create it a chaos All the Ends of the Earth Bearing and Being Borne To whom will you liken me? Remember the former things of old Come down into the dust The Former Things and the New I called you Then your peace would be like a river Go forth from Babylon The Second Servant Song In the day of salvation I help you Sing for joy, 0 heavens! I have graven you on my hands Where is your mother's bill of divorcement? The Third Servant Song My deliverance is for ever A Fragment of a Hymn of Praise Stand up, Stand up! Egypt, Assyria and Babylon Your God is King Depart! The Fourth Servant Song Sing, 0 barren one! The New Salvation Come, all you that thirst The word that goes forth from my mouth

130 1 33

138 144 152 163 164 168 171 174 177 182 183 186 194 199 203 204 206 212 216 217 223 225 232 237 238 248 249 252 253 269 276 280 286

CONTENTS

55·12-13

lX

You shall go out in joy

PART TWO

TRITO-ISAIAH Chapters 56-66 Introduction

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The Period Structure and Composition of Chapters 56-66

Commentary 56.1-2 56.3-8 56. 9-12 57·1-2 57·3-6 57·7-13 57·14-21 58.1-12 58.13-14 59·1-21 6o-62 60.1-22 61.1-3 61.4-11 62.1-12 63.1-6 63·7-64.11 63·7-14 63.15-64.11 65.1-16a 65.1-7 65.8-16a 65.16b-25 66.1-4 66. 5

295 296

309 Keep justice! I give you monument and name His watchmen are blind The righteous man perishes You Sons of the Sorceress You loved their bed Peace, Peace to the Far and to the Near Fasting that is pleasing to God Hallowing the Sabbath Yahweh's hand is not shortened Arise, shine ! The Spirit of the Lord is upon me The seed that Yahweh blesses I cannot keep silent Who comes here from Ed om? 0 that thou wouldst rend the heavens! I will sing of the gracious deeds of Yahweh . . . 0 that thou wouldst rend the heavens! The Faithless and the Obedient It is written before me My Servants-but You The former troubles are forgotten Heaven is my throne Your brethren who hate you

309 311 316 3 19 321 323 326 33 1 34° 342 352 353 364 368 371 380 385 385 39° 398 398 402 406 4II 415

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66.6-xti 66. I 7 (going together with 6s.3b-s, 7b) 66.18-24 66.x8, xg, 21 66.20, 22-24

CONTENTS

Rejoice with Jerusalem

My Glory among the Nations Eternal Worship and Eternal Destruction

ABBREVIATIONS

ANET AO BH Bib! Bib! Stud BJRL BWANT BZ BZAW CBQ_ EKL EvTh HAT HUCA IB JAOS JBL JNES JPOS JSS KuD LXX MT RGG RSV SBT TB

]. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 2nd ed., 1955 Archiv fiir Orientforschung Biblia Hebraica, ed. Rudolf Kittel, 3rd ed., 1952 Biblica Biblische Studien Bulletin of the John Rylands Library Beitriige zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament Biblische Zeitschrift Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Catholic Biblical Q_uarter!J Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon. Kirchlichtheologisches Handworterbuch, I 955Evangelische Theologie Handbuch zum Alten Testament, ed., 0. Eissfeldt Hebrew Union College Annual Interpreter's Bible Journal of the American Oriental Society Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society Journal of Semitic Studies Kerygma and Dogma, 1955Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) Massoretic text Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart The Revised Standard Version ofthe Bible Studies in Biblical Theology Theologische B iicherei

xu

ThR TLZ TSK TW.NT

v VT ZAW ,ZDPV

ABBREVIATIONS

Theologische Rundschau Theologische Literatur zeitung Theologische Studien und Kritiken Theologisches Worterbuch zum .Neuen Testament Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome (Vulgate) Vetus Testamentum ,Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ,Zeitschrift des Deutschen Paliistinavereins

BIBLIOGRAPHY COMMENTARIES BENTZEN, A., Jesajafortolket, Bind II, Jes. 4o-66, Copenhagen, I943· BuDDE, K., Das Buch]esaja, Kap. 4o-66 (Kautzsch), Ttibingen, I922. GASPARI, W., Lieder und Gottesspriiche der Riickwanderer (Jes. 4o-55), BZAW, 6 5, I93 4 . DUHM, B., Das Buch Jesaja, Gottingen, I892, 4th ed. I922. FELDMANN, F., Das Buch Isaias, Munster, I925/26. HALLER, M., Deuterojesaja, Gottingen, I925. KISSANE, E.]., The Book of Isaiah, Dublin, I943· GLAHN, L., und KoHLER, L., De1 Prophet der Heimkehr, Giessen, I934· KoNIG, E., Das Buch Jesaja, Giitersloh, I926. MUILENBURG,]., 'The Book oflsaiah, Ch. 40-66', IB, V, New York, I956, pp. 38I-773· NoRTH, C. R., The Second Isaiah, Oxford, I964. SKINNER, J., The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Cambridge, I9I5. SMART, J. D., History and Theology in Second Isaiah, A Commentary on Isaiah 35; 40-66, Philadelphia, n.d. ToRREY, C. C. ,The Second Isaiah, New York, I922. VoLZ, P., JesoJa II, Leipzig, I932. ZIEGLER, J., Isaias, Regensburg, I948.

SURVEYS FaHRER, G., 'Neuere Literatur zur alttestamentlichen Prophetie', ThR, I95I, I952, I962. MowiNCKEL, S., 'Neuere Forschungen zu Deuterojesaja', AO, XVI, Leiden, I938, pp. I-40. NoRTH, C. R., 'The Interpretation of Deutero-Isaiah', Festschrift for Mowinckel, Oslo, I 955, pp. I 33-45· WESTERMANN, C., 'Sprache und Struktur der Prophetie Deuterojesajas', Forschung am Alten Testament, TB, Munich, I 964, Erster Teil: Der Stand der Diskussion, pp. 92-I 17·

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OTHER WORKS

BEGRICH, J., Studien zu Deuterojesaja, I938, new impression, TB, 20, Munich, 1963. BLANK, s. H., 'Studies in Deutero-Isaiah', HUCA, I5, I940, pp. I-46. BoER, P. A. H. DE, Second Isaiah's Message, Leiden, I956. ELLIGER, K., Deuterojesaja in seinem Verhiiltnis zu Tritojesaja, BWANT, IV, 1 I, I933· GRESSMANN, H., 'Die literarische Analyse Deuterojesajas', ZAW, 34, I9I4, pp. 254-97. KoHLER, L., Deuterojesaja, stilkritisch untersucht, Giessen, I 923. MowiNCKEL, S., 'Die Komposition des deuterojesajanischen Buches', ZAW, 49, I 93 I' pp. 87-I I 2; 242-60. NoRTH, C. R., 'The "Former Things" and the "New Things" in Deutero-Isaiah', Studies in Old Testament Proj;hecy, Edinburgh, 1950, pp. III-26. PoRTEous, N. W., 'Jerusalem-Zion, The Growth of a Symbol', Festschriftfor W. Rudolph, Ti.ibingen, 196I, pp. 235-52. RAn, G. voN, Old Testament Theology, II, Edinburgh I965, pp. 238-62, Deutero-Isaiah. RIGNELL, L., A Study of Isaiah, Ch. 4o-55, Lund, I956. RoBERTS, B. J., 'The Second Isaiah Scroll from Qumran', BJRL, 42, I959, pp. I32-44. ScHARBERT, J., Heilsmittler in Alten Testament. Freiburg, I964. pp. q8-2 I 2, Mittler in Is. 40-66. SMITH, S., Isaiah, Ch. XL-LV, Literary Criticism and History, Schweich Lectures, London, I 944· STEINMANN, J., Le livre de la consolation d'Israel, Paris, 1960. WALDOW, H. C. voN, 'Anlass und Hintergrund der Verki.indigung des Deuterojesaja', Dissertation, Bonn, I 955· WESTERMANN, C., 'Sprache und Struktur der Prophetic Deuterojesajas', Forschung am Allen Testament, TB, 24, Munich, I964, pp. 92170. SURVEYS ON THE SERVANT SONGS HAAG, H., 'Ebed-Jahwe-Forschung 1948-58', BZ, 1959, pp. 174204. MowrNCKEL, S., He that Cometh, Oxford, 1959, pp. r87-26o. NoRTH, C. R., The Suffering Servant in Deutero-Isaiah, 2nd. ed., Oxford, 1956.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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RowLEY, H. H., The Servant of the Lord and other Essays on the Old Testament, London, 1952. Also the survey given by 0. EISSFELDT (see his The Old Testament, an Introduction, Oxford, rg65) and G. Fohrer (see above.) BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TRITO-ISAIAH ABRAMOWSKI, R., 'Zum literarischen Problem vonjes. 56-66', TSK, 96fg7, 1925, pp. 90-143· ELLIGER, K., Die Einheit Tritojesajas, BWANT, 45, Stuttgart, 1928. 'Der Prophet Tritojesaja', ZAW, n.s. 8, 1931, pp. 112-40. GLAHN, L. and KoHLER, L., Der Prophet der Heimkehr (Jesaja 4o-66), Giessen, I 934· KESSLER, W., 'Studie zur religiosen Situation im ersten nachexilischen J ahrhundert und zur Auslegung vonJ esaja 56-66', Wissenschaftliche

.(eitschrijt der Martin Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg, 1956(57, r, pp. 41-74· 'Zur Auslegung von Jes. 56-66', TLZ, 1956, cols. 335-8. OnEBERG, H., Trito-lsaiah (56-66), Uppsala, 1931. ZrMMERLI, W. ,'Zur Sprache Tritojesajas', Schw. Th. Umschau 3(4, 1950, pp. 1-13.

PART ONE

DE UTE R 0- ISAIAH Chapters 40-55

INTRODUCTION THE PERIOD HE TIME OF Deutero-Isaiah's activity lay for certain between the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 and the downfall of the Babylonian empire in 539· All the evidence points to a date towards the end of this period, probably some time after 550, the year which saw the beginning of the victorious campaign of Cyrus. An attempt has been made to mark off different stages in the prophet's work (Begrich), but this remains very doubtful. The content of ch5. 40-55, does, however, show that Deutero-Isaiah was active for some considerable length of time, perhaps several years. The general outline of the political events of the period is known. a I. The Babylonian empire remained at the height of its power under Nebuchadnezzar (604-562), the greatest ruler it ever had. After destroying Jerusalem, he undertook a further series of campaigns in the west. In 585 he began the siege of Tyre, but, in spite of a thirteen years' investment of the city, failed to take it. According to Jer. 52.30, he made a further campaign against Judah, leading to yet another deportation; this, however, is all we know of it. In 586 he marched against Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar's death was followed by the first signs of the decline of Babylon. Within the seven years leading up to the accession of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon (556-539), there were three changes in the throne; Nabonidus, who was of priestly descent, was particularly devoted to the moon-god Sin, and restored her temple in Haran, thereby antagonizing the powerful priesthood of Marduk in Babylon, a factor which played no small part in the fall of Babylon. '' · Nabonidus made Tema, in the Arabian desert, his new capital, ! ,

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a For what follows, cf. the history of Israel as given in the works of Martin Noth and john Bright, the articles on the history ofisrael and on Babylonian and Persian history in RGG and EKL and the literature given there. The most thorough treatment of this period of history is contained in Sidney Smith, Isaiah Ch. XL-LV, Schweich Lectures, British Academy, 1944, Part II, History of the years 556-539·

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INTRODUCTION

remaining there for eight years, during which he left the government in Babylon in the hands of his son Sheshbazzar. 2. By now the kingdom of Media had become Babylon's chief rival. Cyaxares of Media had been her ally in the overthrow of Assyria. Thereafter he enlarged the scope of his sway, and made Ecbatana his capital. In the west his kingdom extended as far as the Halys, the frontier of Lydia. His successor was his son Astyages (585-550), whose vassal Cyrus, king of Anshan in southern Iran (formerly Elam), rose against him. In this, Cyrus had the support of Nabonidus, who hoped that the power of Media would thereby be diminished. However, by 550 Cyrus had captured Ecbatana and made himself master of the kingdom. At this point the Lydian king Croesus, feeling that he himself was now in danger, took the field against Cyrus, but there was no decisive engagement. Once Croesus disbanded his forces, Cyrus made forced marches during the winter on Sardis, and the city fell in 546. (Deutero-lsaiah appears to allude to this in 41.2-3 and 45.1-3.) Some time before this, Babylon had entered into a defensive pact with Egypt and Lydia, but after the latter's fall, she found that she herself was face to face with the menace of Cyrus, who, in the three years following 546, still further extended the limits of his territory, although the details are not known. This at last brought Nabonidus back to Babylon. But it was too late. The forces arrayed against him there, in his own country, in particular the priesthood of Marduk, were too strong, and put any marshalling of the empire's total resources out of the question. Not a few of the Babylonians actually hailed the coming of Cyrus, for they looked on him as their liberator (the Cyrus cylinder). The northern parts of the empire broke away. One of Nabonidus' generals, Gobryas (Gubaru), deserted to Cyrus and, appearing at the Tigris, inflicted a crushing defeat on his fellow-countrymen at Opis. Nabonidus fled to Borsippa. Led by Gobryas, Cyrus' troops entered the city of Babylon without striking a blow (539). The mighty worldempire had fallen, as Deutero-Isaiah (particularly Isa. 47) and other prophets (particularly J cr. 50-5 I) had proclaimed it would. Babylon's entire empire came under the sovereignty of Cyrus. Surveying the course of world-history from the height of the Babylonian empire's power down to the time when the swift rise to greatness of the Persian empire in turn spelt its downfall, one can only stand back in amazement at the closeness with which DeuteroIsaiah's utterances on the subject are answered by the mighty sweep

THE PERIOD

5 of events themselves, with their strongly marked rhythm of rise and fall. The very fact that the prophet neither expected nor proclaimed that his own people had any active role to play in the events allowed him to discern God's hand in history on the grandiose scale that matched the events of his day: Behold, nations are like a drop in the bucket . Who brings the princes to naught . . . Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown . . . Then he blows upon them, and they wither, The tempest carries them off like stubble. g. Israel during the exile. While the large-scale world events of Deutero-Isaiah's time are well-known and attested, our knowledge of Judah during the period of the exile, and of the fortunes of those taken to Babylon, is both scanty and uncertain. Among the uncertainties are the numbers of those deported in 597, 587 and 582. Jer. 52.28-go puts the sum-total at 4,6oo: we do not, however, know whether this includes women and children. If it does not, the figure comes to between I 2,ooo and I 5,ooo. We do know that a considerable part of the population was not, in fact, deported; and this also implies the persistence of no small measure of intellectual and religious life. Our main source of information here is the collection called 'Lamentations', which originated in Judah after the fall ofJerusalem. Probably the Deuteronomic histories, too, originated in the homeland during the exile. Even prophecy did not completely cease in Judah with the exile; witness, among other evidence, the oracles against Babylon collected inJer. 50-51, which in all likelihood were composed there at the same time as Deutero-Isaiah, and which display some striking parallels to him. Nevertheless, the most important written evidence of continuance of Israel's traditions after the fall of Jerusalem came into being outside Judah, among the exiles in Babylon: it consists in the prophecies of Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah. Those taken to Babylon were the leading sections of the community. As we know, even after the first deportation in 597 it was possible for the Israelites to build houses, engage in farming and other means oflivelihood, and continue to live in families (Jer. 29.5f.), while notices in the Book of Ezekiel leave no doubt that they were settled in communties of their own, and could therefore continue to enjoy some measure of communal life (Ezek. g.rs; 8.1; 14.1; 33.30f.). This also implies the possibility of coming

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INTRODUCTION

together for worship. Thus, the national traditions of worship were not completely broken off even among the exiles. Neither in Ezekiel nor in Deutero-Isaiah is there the slightest evidence that they were forced to worship the gods of Babylon. Rather-as has been made clear, particularly by von Waldow in his An/ass und Hintergrund der Verkiindigung Deuterojesajas-the very close affinities between the preaching ofDeutero-Isaiah and the communal lamentation as made in public worship prove in themselves that worship persisted in one form or another. Since there could be no sacrifices, the main emphasis was necessarily put on the oral element in worship: we have every reason for believing that one, at least, of the roots of the synagogue service is to be found in the exile. At the same time, however, several of Deutero-Isaiah's utterances suggest, as was only to be expected, that the downfall of the state, the destruction of the temple, and the end of the Davidic dynasty also meant, in many people's eyes, the end of Yahweh's action on behalf of his people. Victory had gone to the gods of Babylon, and the pomp of the worship offered to them must have made a tremendous impression. For many, therefore, the old faith lost its fervour, and not a few turned to the gods who now had the mastery. This situation finds its echo in Deutero-Isaiah, in a special feature of his diction. His language is from first to last evocative, arousing, even insistent-witness the way in which he piles imperative on imperative. This accords well with the situation just outlined. It was the way he adopted to speak to men whose faith was flagging, and who were at the point of letting themselves drift. At the same time, he used it to address men who kept clinging to the past, even when their observance of traditional usage had no power to lead them to expect any new thing from their God. THE PROPHET HIMSELF We know practically nothing about Deutero-Isaiah himself, not even his name. Only once, and even then only for a moment, does he let himself be seen. This is in the prologue, in 40.6-7, which gives his cail. The prophet hears a voice summoning him to preach, and counters it with the question 'What shall I cry?', lamenting, as his reason for asking it, that all things are transient: 'All flesh is grass.' Although the answer he receives begins by endorsing his plaintive description of the situation, it nevertheless goes on to add, 'but the

THE PROPHET HIMSELF

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word of our God stands for ever'. No intimation of a call could be briefer: yet it does supply us with some reliable information about the prophet. I. Deutero-Isaiah regarded himself as the lineal descendant of the pre-exilic prophets. This is shown, first, by the fact that, in substantiation of his message he adduces a call, and, second, that like Isaiah and Jeremiah, his first reaction is to shrink from it. The thesis just stated is frequently confirmed throughout the book, particularly in 43.22-28, where the way in which Deutero-Isaiah ranks himself alongside the pre-exilic prophets of doom is left in no doubt whatsoever. 2. Deutero-Isaiah completely identified himself with his fellowcountrymen. For when he demurred at the summons to preach, his reluctance was not the expression of his own personal lament, but of that of his fellow-exiles (as the gloss, 'surely the people is grass', rightly understood it). He was at one with them in believing that the downfall of the nation was the result of divine judgment ('for the breath of Yahweh blows upon it'), and that all that remained for the survivors was to acknowledge the justice of the sentence, the line also taken by the psalms of lamentation composed during the period. Deutero-Isaiah's insistence on his solidarity with his people is supremely important for our understanding of him. One of its implications is that he had not been made a prophet because he had some clearer insight into the existing situation than they, or because he kept hoping and trusting that this situation would change, or because of the strength of his faith. The thoughts of his fellow-exiles were his thoughts, too, and he had been every bit as flagging and weary as they. It was a word from outside himself, a command, that made him a prophet, as it had done his predecessors. This was the source of all that he was to say, as well as its substantiation. It was 'the word of our God', and it alone, as God guaranteed, would not become void (Isa. 55.6-II). Since God still spoke it, Deutero-Isaiah was able to preach. 3· This is why Deutero-Isaiah's preaching is throughout simply the putting forth of this word that was now being spoken. It is also the reason for his complete concealment of himself in its shadow. It was essential that there should be a spokesman for the new word which God was now speaking. But he is merely the voice. And the word itself has one theme: 'Cry to her that her time of service is ended' (40.2). This is the one motif on which all the forms used by Deutero-Isaiah

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INTRODUCTION

turn; hence the situation to which he addressed himself was also uniform and unchanging. No special occasions were required to move him to speech, nor had he any need, like the pre-exilic prophets, to adopt special modes of address for different sets of people or for representatives of different interests. Deutero-Isaiah's whole proclamation is summed up in its opening and closing statements (40.8 and 56.6- I I), concerning the word of God. 4· The cry, 'the grass withers, the flower fades', in 40.7 is taken from the Psalter (e.g., Ps. go). A leading characteristic of DeuteroIsaiah's prophecy lies in its affinities with the diction of this book. The prophet's familiarity with the psalms must have been quite exceptional. It is, of course, true that they played a leading part in the exiles' services of worship, and that everyone, therefore, who joined in these might have been as well versed as he. Remarkably enough, however, there is absolutely no trace of this in Ezekiel; instead, what runs through his proclamation is a wide range offorms taken from the usage of the priesthood (Zimmerli). Perhaps, then, Deutero-Isaiah was in some way connected with the temple singers, who were the people principally in charge of the Psalter and its transmission. If so, his writing would yield excellent support to the contention that the Sitz im Leben of the Psalms was not the isolation of a cultic milieu, but rather the heart of the chosen people's life whence it radiated into every area. Since Deutero-Isaiah's gospel embraced the whole of his people's life, only on such conditions could he clothe it so largely in the diction of the Psalter. Leaving aside for the moment the interpretation of the servant songs, apart from 40.6ff. there is absolutely nothing in the nature of a direct allusion to the prophet, and no further information about him. If we wish to know more about him, we must listen to his message. THE MESSAGE OF DEUTERO-ISAIAH .~.

It is here assumed that chs. 40-55 of the book oflsaiah are independent of the rest of it, and represent the prophecy of someone who lived during the exile in Babylon, and worked among the exiles there. That he and the prophet Isaiah, the author of chs. 1-39, whose date is in the eighth century, are two quite different people, no longer needs proof. The first person to differentiate between them was Doderlein, in I 77 5; his thesis was accepted by Eichhorn (I 780-83);

THE MESSAGE OF DEUTERO·ISAIAH

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and since then, it has steadily won its way to universal recognition in Old Testament scholarship. In his commentary on Isaiah (1892), Duhm suggested that Deutero-Isaiah's own proclamation ended with ch. 55, and that chs. 56-66 belonged to the post-exilic period. He also separated out . the so-called servant songs (42.1-4; 49.1-6; 50.4-g; 52.13-53.12). To the author of chs. 56-66 he gave the name ofTrito-Isaiah. Duhm's thesis in regard to these last chapters has also been largely accepted, although considerable difference of opinion still remains as to their relationship with chs. 40-55, and in particular, as to their own unity and proper order. I have stated the reasons for my own view of the origin and composition of the Book ofDeutero-lsaiah in my article 'Sprache und Struktur der Prophetic Deuterojesajas', TB, 24 (1964), pp. 92-17o,a the first part of which gives a survey of criticism up to that date, as far as it concerns the structure and composition of lsa. 40-55. The unique feature of the prophecy of Deutero-lsaiah is this, the hour summoned him to the task of proclaiming salvation, and nothing but salvation, to his people; at the same time, however, he wears the mantle of the pre-exilic prophets of doom. He is a prophet of salvation _standing in the ranks of the prophets of doom. The explanation is quite simple. The fall ofJ erusalem meant that the judgment predicted by the eighth- and seventh-century prophets had been fulfilled. Any possibility, therefore, of prophecy's continuing now depended on its being prophecy of salvation. Another instance of the same change of front within the ranks of the prophets of doom is to be found in Ezekiel. Up to the fall ofJerusalem, his sole theme was the impending judgment. But once the city actually fell, he turned into a prophet of salvation. This characteristic mark of Deutero-lsaiah's prophecy draws · attention to a basic feature oflsraelite prophecy in general. Prophecy is not merely foretelling the future. The prophets of doom in their day were commissioned to speak God's word of judgment to a particular situation for which this was the word of God. In just the same way, Deutero-lsaiah in his day had to speak the word appropriate to a different situation. It is quite impossible to dissociate the prophetic word from the time at which it was uttered. Although the God whose words the prophets proclaimed to his chosen people remained the " Henceforth cited as 'Sprache und Struktur'.

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INTRODUCTION

same, this was not always so of his words. Thus, God's word can never be of the nature of general teaching-perennially valid without reference to its original context. It is a living word, changing with the changing years. What means did the prophet use to proclaim this exceptional message of salvation which he was commissioned to deliver? The first thing to be realized is that he made a very restricted selection from the various available modes of expression and forms of specifically prophetic diction. Not only is there no prophetic proclamation of judgment-this formed no part of his task; there is also a complete absence of accounts of specific events. Absent, too, arc words addressed to individuals, to particular sets of people, and to officials (in the exile these last no longer existed). Nor arc there accounts of visions or anything else touching the prophet himself. Yet, although we find practically nothing but the one narrow field of oracles of salvation, the number of variations which he devised on this one theme allotted to him, is little short of amazing. Central to his message is the oracle of salvation, or the promise of this, with its cry, 'Fear not', which forms the basis of the divine promise of grace given in answer to an individual's lament. We also find the proclamation of salvation: this runs through the whole of the prophecy, and is sometimes found in association with the promise of salvation, though it may also stand alone. In addition, from time to time, Deutero-Isaiah clothed his message of salvation in the language of the psalms of praise. Again, . the oracle concerning Cyrus, which is the pivot on which all that is , r,,, said in the book turns, is integrally related to the message of salvation. \ 1 ', The disputations with Israel and the trial speeches against her are also, if less directly, words of salvation, for they join issue with the mental attitude of weariness or despair that set itself against the message of salvation. The relationship of the sentence passed on the gods of the foreign nations to the message of salvation is this: there Yahweh is shown to be the one and only God who, in spite of the disaster of s86, continues to have dealings with his chosen people. The oracle against Babylon in ch. 4 7 (and also in 46. r f., the tidings of the fall of the gods of Babylon because of the victory of Cyrus), as well as the hymns of praise which run right through the book and the commands to exult at Israel's redemption as a thing already accomplished-these, too, arc all indirect proclamations of salvation. Up to ch. 45 (the Cyrus oracle) these direct or indirect proclamations of salvation are generally found in pure form: thereafter they

THE MESSAGE OF DEUTERO-ISAIAH

II

usually occur in poems of some considerable length in which several different forms are combined. The variety of forms which Deutero-Isaiah used to express the gospel of salvation makes him unique in the Old Testament. Neither before nor after him did anyone devise so many different ways of expressing it. I. The most characteristic form of Deutero-Isaiah's words of salvation is the promise, or oracle, of salvation~ a The word of salvation receives its peculiar stamp from its origin in the cult. As Begrich was the first to show, here Deutero-Isaiah · starts from the priestly oracle of salvation, the answer communicated · by the priest to an individual lament, as we see it in I Sam. I. It is · introduced by the call 'Do not fear' (so Lam. 3·57), and the promise of salvation is substantiated by means of a clause with the verb in the perfect tense (andjor a noun clause). Strictly, the answer is the \ promise that a prayer is to be granted: the priest thereby promises '· that God has hearkened to the supplication. It rests on the assumption that God has already decided how he means to act: this is why it is couched in the perfect tense. As long as the exile lasted, there could be no oracles of salvation. Deutero-Isaiah, however, detached the form from its original cultic setting, and changed it into a promise ,' of salvation decided upon by God for the nation. To Deutero-Isaiah's appropriation of the oracle of salvation are due three basic characteristics of his preaching. His differs from all, other Old Testament preaching of salvation in that its essence is the proclamation of an event regarded as having already come about; peutero-Isaiah proclaimed that the great change from judgment to L.~ ; ' ~ .salvation was already accomplished fact. This holds true beyond the· passages whose literary form shows them to be promises of salvation. The prologue itself starts with this accomplished fact, 'Cry to her that her time of service is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.' The same standpoint is also taken in the psalms of praise. Their structure, a simple one, is a summons, in the imperative mood, to give praise or . to exult, substantiated by a past tense: 'For the Lord has redeemed Israel .• .' (44.23). The reason for the exultation for which these hymns appeal is that something has already been brought about. BIt stands alone in 41.8-13, 14-16; 43·1-4, 5-7; 44·1-5 and is frequently combined with other forms. There are also echoes of it in other oracles. Cf. 'Sprache und Struktur', pp. 117-20, and, at greater length, 'Das Heilswort bei Deuterojesaja', EvTh, 7 (1964), pp. 355-73·

I2

INTRODUCTION

. The hymns just mentioned also reveal the second leading characteristic of Deutero-Isaiah's gospel, joy. His gospel spontaneously evokes joy. The moment the exiles arrive back home, Zion-Jerusalem becomes a herald of joy (4o.g; 52.8); from then on, page after page, there are commands to exult and rejoice. They reach out far beyond the little band directly affected by the saving event (41.I6; 5I.II; 52 .g; 54· I ; 55· I), for they are addressed to the inhabitants round about (42.IIf.), to the ends ofthe earth (42.Io), to the sea and the islands, the desert and its inhabitants (42. rof.), to the wild beasts of the desert (43.20), to heaven and earth, mountains and trees (44.23; 49· I 3; 55· I 2). But there is more to it than expressing commands to rejoice: since by its very nature Deutero-Isaiah's message was bound to evoke joy as its inevitable response, it is itself everywhere irradiated with joy. The way in which this second basic characteristic of DeuteroIsaiah's preaching follows from the first may be illustrated by the story ofHannah in I Sam. I. Verse ro runs, 'She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly.' Immediately, however, she received the assurance that her prayer was granted, 'then the woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer sad' (v. r8). God heard her supplication, and this turned her mourning into joy. A simple proclamation of salvation produces expectancy, it cheers and makes the spirit new; it does not, however, awaken the joy that there and then finds expression in exultation. Hebrew has no word for the anticipation of joy; there is no verb in the 'being joyous' category with which to render our concept of 'looking forward to something'. 'Rejoicing' (in both verb and noun forms) always denotes reaction to something that has already taken place. Thus, the second characteristic of Deutero-Isaiah's preaching, the distinctive note of joy, stems from the element of what has already been accomplished, inherent in the assurance of salvation. (This is paralleled in the saving message of the New Testament: it, too, is rooted in a past event. This is why it evokes joy in those who accept it, as is seen in Luke or the Epistle to the Philippians: 'Behold, I bring you good news of great joy . . . to you is born this day the Saviour.') A third distinctive note owes its origin to the fact that DeuteroIsaiah's assurance of salvation is based on an oracle of salvation addressed to an individual. This is what makes possible the amazingly personal language which he uses in his gospel. Th!"