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Universalism in Second Isaiah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2009

Extract

More scholarly lances have been broken, with apparently less conclusiveness over Isa. 40–55, the so-called Second Isaiah, than over any comparable section of the Old Testament. Ever since B. Duhm1 published towards the end of last century his epoch-making commentary, two interrelated problems have been at the centre of scholarly discussion.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1963

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References

page 166 note 1 Das Buck Jesaja (‘Göttingen Handkommentar zum Alten Testament’, 1892).

page 166 note 2 cf. Rowley, H. H., The Servant of the Lord (London, 1952)Google Scholar. For the most recent discussion of the structure and meaning of the Servant passages cf. Morgenstern, J. in V. T., xi, No. 3, pp. 292ff.Google Scholar

page 167 note 1 cf. C. C. Torrey, The Second Isaiah; H. W. Robinson, The Cross of the Servant. I. Rignell in Lands Universitets Årsskrift, NF, Avd, I, 52, Nr. 5. J. Muilenberg in Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 5. per contra C. R. North, op. cit.; H. H. Rowley, op. cit.; de Leeuw, V., De Ebed Jahweh Profetieen (Dutch with resume in French), 1956Google Scholar. Mowinckel, S., He that Cometh, Eng. trans, by Anderson, G. W., 1956Google Scholar. Engnell, I. in B.J.R.L., 31, 1948, pp. 5495Google Scholar.

page 167 note 2 41.8, 9, 44.1, 2, 21, 45.4, 48.20.

page 167 note 3 For a judicious handling of this issue, cf. Muilenberg, in his Introduction in I.B., Vol. 5, pp. 406ff.Google Scholar

page 167 note 4 For the relationship between prophet and ‘prophetic schools’ cf. S. Mowinckel, Prophecy and Tradition.

page 168 note 1 He that Cometh, p. 207.

page 168 note 2 op. cit., p. 88, cf. H. H. Rowley, The Servant of the Lord and in his earlier books on the missionary motif in Old Testament Israel's Mission to the World, 1939; The Missionary Message of the Old Testament, 1945; The Biblical Doctrine of Election, 1950. P. A. H. de Boer in OTS, xi, pp. 80ff (1956) gives a review of such interpretations.

page 168 note 3 The Servant of the Lord in Deutero-Isaiah—Studies in Old Testament Prophecy, p. 187ff. The essays were presented in 1946, though the volume did not appear till 1950.

page 168 note 4 op. cit., p. 191.

page 168 note 5 ‘Second Isaiah's Message’ in OTS, xi, 1956. Cf. p. 90.

page 169 note 1 In 42 it is said of the Servant: v. 1 ‘mishpat’ for the nations he will bring forth; v. 3 truly (or faithfully) he will bring forth ‘mishpat’; v. 4 it is stated that ‘he will not be crushed or despair until he establishes “;mishpat” on the earth’; in parallelism to which we find the phrase ‘and for his “instruction” (torah) the coastlands wait’.

page 169 note 2 ‘The Servant of God’ (S.B.T., No. 20 Eng. trans, of article in T.W.N.T.) p. 27.

page 169 note 3 cf. 51.4, where it is said of Yahweh in a phrase which significantly gathers together many of the disputed motifs, ‘For my instruction (torah) will go forth from me, and my judgment (mishpat) as a light to the nations.’

page 169 note 4 cf. B.D.B., ad loc.

page 170 note 1 op. cit., p. 193.

page 170 note 2 op. cit., p. 194. For Torah cf. Ostborn, G., Torah in the Old Testament, Lund, 1945Google Scholar, and N. W. Porteous, ‘The Basis of the Ethical Teaching of the Prophets’ in Studies in Old Testament Prophecy, pp. 143–56.

page 170 note 3 P. A. H. de Boer, op. cit., p. 92.

page 170 note 4 op. cit., p. 29, cf. Smith, S., Isaiah Chapters XL-LV (Schweich Lectures 1940)Google Scholar who speaks of ‘restoring due rights to the Jews’ in this context, p. 55.

page 170 note 5 cf. Commentaries by Delitzsch, Skinner (Cambridge), Slokt (Soncino), C. R. North (Torah). In this respect the twofold meaning of the Arabic ‘din’ is usually cited as a parallel, cf. van de Ploeg, J., ‘Sapat and mispat’ in OTS, ii, 1943, pp. 144ff.Google Scholar

page 171 note 1 op. cit., p. 190, cf. J. Morgenstern, VT, xi, No. 3, p. 296, translating 42.4b ‘Until he shall have set right order in the earth Yea for his revelation the Isles do wait.’

page 171 note 2 Kissane, E., The Book of Isaiah, vol. ii, p. 38, Dublin, 1943.Google Scholar

page 171 note 3 Marcus, R. in H.T.R., xxx, 1937, pp. 250251.Google Scholar

page 171 note 4 P. A. H. de Boer's linguistic argument, op. cit., pp. 90–91 concerning followed by is irrelevant if, as is far more likely, is to be taken closely with

page 171 note 5 Snaith, op. cit., p. 194. de Boer, op. cit., p. 92. Snaith's attempt to delete the phrase in 42.6 on the basis of its omission in LXX A.B. is precarious. Our verdict may well have to be ‘not an assured reading’ (Zimmerli, op. cit., p. 29, n. 59 with refs.) but we would need stronger evidence than LXX A.B. to feel any confidence in the deletion.

page 171 note 6 op. cit., p. 59.

page 172 note 1 Zimmerli, op. cit., p. 30, cf. C. R. North (Torch ad loc), Rowley, Kissane, etc.

page 172 note 2 Mowinckel, op. cit., p. 192.

page 172 note 3 de Boer, op. cit., p. 94, following J. Pedersen in Der Eid bet den Semiten in deriving from a root to bundle up or consolidate, cf. Snaith, op. cit., p. 194. S. Smith who regards Cyrus as the Servant speaks here of Cyrus as ‘a living covenant’ … who is to bring men sitting in darkness from the house without light, the rule of Babylon into the light, his own direct rule (op. cit., p. 59).

page 172 note 4 I. Rignell, op. cit., p. 34. Snaith's linguistic argument, op. cit., p. 194, concerning the distinction between (singular) generally equivalent to the people of Israel, and (singular or plural) generally meaning the Gentiles, hardly has much force in context since in 42.5 is used in what is obviously a collective sense meaning mankind. Yahweh is there described in the following terms: Presumably Yahweh did not give the breath of life to the people of Israel alone. Israelite religious nationalism hardly went as far as that! cf. Morgenstern, op. cit.

page 173 note 1 C. C. Torrey, op. cit., p. 327, cf. Muilenberg, ad loc, Kissane, ad loc.

page 173 note 2 op. cit., p. 29, n. 59.

page 173 note 3 If we examine the rendering of the key phrases in 42.1–7 in Mofiatt, Knox and the RSV we find that apart from Moflatt and Knox's rendering of ‘berith ‘am’ as ‘rescuing of my people’ and ‘a covenant with my people’ respectively, the translations carry missionary overtones. The LXX and the Targum are of little help being capable of the same ambiguity as is inherent in the Hebrew.

page 173 note 4 Muilenberg's commentary in I.B.5 is a noteworthy exception to this statement, cf. Lindhagen, C., The Servant Motif in the Old Testament, Uppsala, 1950.Google Scholar

page 174 note 1 R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 474.

page 174 note 2 The Teaching of Jesus, p. 181.

page 175 note 1 God Was in Christ, p. iogf.

page 175 note 2 The Book of Jonah is no exception to this since Jonah in the story represents Israel.

page 175 note 3 Certainly no later than the ninth century and probably a century earlier. It then reflects a tradition current in Israel prior to the time of the ‘writing’ prophets.

page 176 note 1 For the significance of ‘the blessing’ and its opposite ‘the curse’ in Old Testament thought, cf. Pedersen, J., Israel, I–II, pp. 182ff.Google Scholar

page 178 note 1 cf. the successive rhetorical questions in chapter 4O.18ff, 27ff, each presupposing some doubt; and the dominant ‘fear not’, e.g. 41.10, 13, 14, 43.1, 44.8.

page 178 note 2 e.g. 40.21–26, 41.2–10, 42.5–17, 45.1–8, 18–19.

page 178 note 3 e.g. 40.18–20, 44.9–18, 46.1–2.

page 178 note 4 e.g. 41.1ff, 42.21, 45.20ff.

page 179 note 1 41.14, 16, 20, 43.3, 14, 45.11, 47.4, 48.17, 49.7, 54.5, 55.5.

page 179 note 2 41.21, 43.15, 44.6. Cf. Ps. 72 for a good description of the expectations surrounding the person of the King in Israel.

page 179 note 3 41.14, 43.14, 44.6, 24, 47.4, 49.7, 26, 54.5, 8. For an interesting discussion of the relationship between social custom and theological reflection in this word, cf. D. Daube, Biblical Law, pp. 39–62.

page 179 note 4 43.16–21, 42.10–13.

page 179 note 5 This is true even of 52.13–53.12 where humiliation and suffering are the prelude to a victorious fulfilment of Yahweh's purposes in the Servant.

page 179 note 6 C. C. Torrey's attempt to excise all references to Cyrus are no more convincing than S. Smith's attempt to equate Cyrus with the Servant and thus assign all the oracles to certain phases in the known career of Cyrus.

page 179 note 7 e.g. 47, 45.14.

page 180 note 1 e.g. P. A. H. de Boer, p. 90. He adds in a note: ‘If the whole earth is meant here and not the scattered Jewish people the emphasis of the sentence remains on Israel's God Yhwh. The Judaean country is the only place of salvation.’ In terms of the Old Testament paradox of mission nothing in this statement is inconsistent with universalism!

page 180 note 2 Snaith, op. cit., p. 197.

page 181 note 1 P. A. H. de Boer, op. cit., p. 56. Snaith offers no comment on this verse.

page 181 note 2 This is the reason why Israel's humiliation and suffering, as well as exaltation, are in faith held to be a means of ‘justifying or vindicating many’, 53.11. Humiliation and suffering are likewise Yahweh's doing, cf. 42.24–25.

page 182 note 1 D. M. Baillie, op. cit.

page 182 note 2 cf. A. E. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C.; E. G. Kraeling, The Brooklyn Aramaic Papyri.

page 183 note 1 cf. Zcch. 9.1–10, Isa. 61.1–8, and perhaps Ruth.

page 184 note 1 Vol. CXLV No. 3880, 25th May, 1961, Assembly Supplement, p. 13.