A Biblical Theology of the Book of Isaiah

Douglas W. Kennard

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781725254787, 9781725254794
• eBook ISBN: 9781725254800
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Using a biblical theology method (explained in SwJT 56: 1 [2013] 227-57), this book reflects the content of the text of Isaiah within its Jewish-Christian context.

chapter 1

Introduction

As a book, Isaiah has impacted the theology of Judaism and Christianity more than any other biblical book except perhaps Deuteronomy. Additionally, Isaiah joins with Deuteronomy and the Psalms as the most frequently quoted and interpreted books of the Bible within early Judaism, NT literature, and Christian patristic literature. Walter Brueggemann announced that “the book of Isaiah is like a mighty oratorio whereby Israel sings its story of faith.”1 Carol Dempsey wrote that the book of Isaiah is “one of the richest and most complex books of all prophetic literature in the Bible. Grand in style, lush in imagery, and unparalleled in a theological agenda and message.”2

A biblical theology tries to surface and describe God and his relations presented in the biblical text.3 Obviously, these textual understandings are filtered through the subjective perspectives of the interpreter who can reasonably describe what the text says in its trajectory.4 However, this is not an attempt to get behind the text into the mind of an author, for all that is known from the author is what the text actually says in its trajectory. So, this is not a theology of human author(s) for likely Isaiah (or other authors) believes additional things not composed within the book. Furthermore, this approach embraces the ancient Near Eastern context, which may have sources that inform the text, even though the present emphasis is describing the Isaiah text.5 Likewise, this contextual approach is sensitive to development within textual and confessional traditions, within which the book of Isaiah contributes. However, the emphasis of this study is the contributions from the text of Isaiah. Therefore, this is a theology of the manuscript of Isaiah. John Oswalt identified that “the book of Isaiah is the most holistic of the biblical books. In its present form it encompasses the sweep of biblical theology better than any other single book in the canon.”6

In A Biblical Theology of the Book of Isaiah, the author will treat the book, without conjecturing whether it had been produced by various authors. Even if one critically divides the book of Isaiah into parts, a case could be made for presenting a theology of the whole book of Isaiah because major themes can be found in all portions of the book.7 There is actually very little in the book identifying how the composite book came together. For example, the book of Isaiah identified several times that a vision, or word of God, came to or from Isaiah the prophet (1:1; 2:1; 7:3; 13:1; 20:2–3; 37:2, 5–6, 21; 38:1, 4, 21; 39:3, 5, 8). This is a significant list identifying that a prophet named Isaiah is actively involved with the first half of the book. Noticing this fact and that the topics change emphasis from judgment to salvation with chapters 40–66, Ibn Ezra proposed that the second half of the book is likely written by someone other than Isaiah.8 The emphasis of the incomparable Yahweh and the servant bringing in kingdom shifts to another emphasis of kingdom itself, prompting Duhm to divide Isaiah 56–66 from the rest of t...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Sovereign Yahweh
• Chapter 3: Sovereign’s Attributes
• Chapter 4: Humanity under God
• Chapter 5: Israel in Covenant Relationship with Yahweh
• Chapter 6: Sin and Judgment
• Chapter 7: Motifs of Judgment
• Chapter 8: The Nations in Judgment
• Chapter 9: Redemption and Salvation
• Chapter 10: Prophecies of the Sign-Child
• Chapter 11: Davidic Branch
• Chapter 12: Servant of Yahweh
• Chapter 13: Exodus unto Kingdom
• Chapter 14: Kingdom
• Select Bibliography