Isaiah 24 27 And The Origin Of Apocalyptic

In this addition to the critically acclaimed "The Old Testament Library", internationally renowned scholar Brevard Childs writes on what arguably is the Old Testament's most important theological book. Childs furnishes a fresh translation from the original Hebrew and discusses questions of text, linguistics, historical background and literary architecture. He also presents a theological interpretation of the text.

Situates a hotly contested section of Isaiah within its historical and cultural contexts, correcting misunderstandings of older scholarship.

Isaiah 24–27, the so-called Isaiah Apocalypse, is often regarded as one of the latest sections added to the book of Isaiah. The formation and interpretation of these chapters are widely recognized as important matters for understanding the compositional history of Isaiah, emerging religious thought in the Persian period, and scribal techniques for late biblical materials. The essays in this volume explore these and other important issues of Isaiah 24–27 in light of the abundant recent research on these chapters. In addition, this volume outlines new directions forward for research on these pivotal chapters and their place in Isaiah and the prophetic literature generally. The contributors are Micaël Bürki, Paul Kang-Kul Cho, Stephen L. Cook, Wilson de A. Cunha, Carol J. Dempsey, Janling Fu, Christopher B. Hays, J. Todd Hibbard, Hyun Chul Paul Kim, Beth Steiner, John T. Willis, Archibald L. H. M. van Wieringen, and Annemarieke van der Woude.

J. Todd Hibbard examines the way in which Isaiah 24-27 reuses earlier texts and traditions as part of its literary strategy. He analyzes those literary connections under the rubric of intertextuality, an idea taken over from modern literary studies. Intertextuality is normally recognized as describing an orientation to one or more texts, but does not define a particular methodology. Moreover, because intertextuality is a term that is used in biblical studies in a variety of ways, the first part of this work seeks to define a methodology based on an intertextual approach that is useful for studying prophetic texts. This methodology attempts to understand the ways in which an ancient author may have appropriated an earlier text in a new composition. It requires that texts share common vocabulary and themes, be chronologically possible, and exegetically meaningful to be a true intertextual connection. In terms of literary technique, the author recognizes that intertextual connections may be forged through citations, allusions, and echoes. Finally, he considers several possible purposes for such intertextual connections. The major exegetical categories for understanding the intertextual connections noted in Isaiah 24-27 include texts which universalize earlier judgment passages, texts which universalize earlier restoration and salvation passages, and texts which respond to earlier prophetic texts that are considered unfulfilled.

Breaking with common views on Jewish proto-apocalyptic literature, in a postmodern manner, this work approaches one particular proto-apocalyptic text, Isaiah 24-27, the so-called "Isaiah Apocalypse", intertextually. This reading finds that the Isaiah Apocalypse redeploys and controls other texts, helping secure the authority of those texts as well as its own vision of the end. The first chapter surveys approaches to late Israelite prophecy and presents a new "intertextual" way of viewing this material. The chapters that follow investigate the "eternal covenant" and its role in intertextual space; Isaiah 25's construal of Israel's relationship to other nations; the central role of the "righteous" in Isaiah 26; and Isaiah 27, which points towards the victory of YHWH’s order over chaos. Readers interested in the development of Jewish apocalyptic literature, the social arrangements of second-Temple Judaism, and postmodern treatments of biblical texts will find this volume useful.

The analysis of metaphors constitutes an ideal point of entry into the exegesis of Biblical Hebrew poetic texts because it forces the exegete to examine the said text from a variety of perspectives. How can one discern the presence of metaphorical speech? What are the various types of metaphorical speech available to and employed by the biblical poet? How does the structure of a piece of Hebrew poetry carry its metaphorical dimensions? How did the biblical poet make use of the various types of metaphor and to what end? Can we ultimately gain access to the poet's meaning? The present study endeavours to provide at least a partial answer to these questions. In maintaining focus on the biblical text, moreover, the author hopes to anchor some of the abstractions of metaphorical theory with chosen examples taken from the so-called 'Apocalypse of Isaiah'. The Hebrew prophets constitute fertile ground in their use of metaphorical language for speaking the unspeakable, especially concerning the relationship between the people and God.

The Isaiah ‘Apocalypse’, Isaiah 24-27, is an enigmatic text. Linguistic structure and literary composition can not be discerned easily. The contributions to this volume, the result of studies and discussions which have taken place in the Dutch Isaiah Workshop, treat various aspects of this problem. The overall structure of the ‘Apocalypse’ is investigated from three rather new points of view, that of text syntax, verse structure and traditional, e.g. Massoretic, segmentation. Other studies of this volume deal with difficult passages and interesting themes. Attention is also given to the most persistent interpretative problem: what is the cohesion of the text as far as time, place and action or actants are concerned? An annotated translation and a select bibliography complete this stimulating volume.