Isaiah 139

1
Isaiah 1-39

• 1-12 Words against Judah and Jerusalem
• 13-23 Oracles against Foreign Nations
• 24-27 Isaianic apocalypse
• 28-32 Assyrian Cycle
• 33-35 Salvation appendix
• 36-39 Historical materials//2 Kgs 1817-2019
  Hezekiah and Isaiah (cf. Ahaz and Isaiah in chap.
  7). Exile to Babylon!

2
Events in Isaiah

• Syro Ephraimitic war 734-32 Ahaz king (chaps.
  6-8)
• Revolt of Ashdod vs. Sargon II 711 Hezekiah king
  (chap. 20)
• Invasion of Sennacherib 701 Hezekiah king (chaps.
  36-37)

3
The Unity of Isaiah?

• Isaiah 1//Isaiah 65-66
• Disobedience of Ahaz in 7-8//Faithfulness of
  Hezekiah in 36-39
• Anticipation of Exile in 39 Exile presupposed in
  40-55
• This unity is literary or redactional, not
  historical
• Did 1-39 ever exist as a unit? Did 40-55 exist
  separately?

4
Isaiah 1 and 65-66

• Cultic abuses disrupt the relationship with God.
  I, Yahweh, am fed up with sacrifices. 111 653
  663
• There must be a separation between the righteous
  and the impious. All flesh will worship
  mecorpses of wicked who rebelled
• Judgment of impious leads to a resumption of
  relations with God. You will be faithful city.
• Isaiah 1 and 65-66 form an inclusion.

5
Themes in Isaiah

• The fate of Zion
• conditional on faith 2814-22 (One who TRUSTS
  will not panic)
• after defeat of Zion, its final vindication
• Future of Kingship
• conditional on faith 79 (If you do not stand
  firm in FAITH, you will not stand firm at all)
• after end of kingship, a new messianic figure in
  chaps 9 and 11
• Exodus and covenant--absent in Isaiah 1-39!

6
Outline of Isaiah 5 - 12

• 51-7 Song of the Vineyard
• 58-23 Woes specifying the indictment
• 525 Refrain for all this his anger is not
  turned away.
• Hence 526-30 God will summon Assyrians as his
  agent

7
Outline of Isaiah 5-12 continued

• 61-97 Memorandum about Syro-Ephraimitic War
• 6 Call of Isaiah--legitimizes judgment that
  befalls Judah
• 7 Shear Yashub and Immanuel
• 8 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz
• 91-7 Birth of new royal child

8
Outline of Isaiah 5-12 continued

• 98-21 Refrain for all this his anger is not
  turned away...
• 101-4a Woes specifying the indictment (refrain
  104b for all this his anger is not turned
  away)
• 105-34 Words against Assyrians
• 11 Messianic promises
• 12 Hymn of Thanksgiving (my salvation in v 2
  may be a pun on the name Isaiah)

9
Song of the Vineyard

• V. 1a Prophets introduction
• VV. 1b-2 Prophet comments on the vineyard owners
  expectations
• VV. 3-4 Owners (Yahweh) first address
• VV. 5-6 Owners second address/sentence
• V. 7 Prophets explanation (vineyard Israel
  xpfm//jpvm hqc//hqdc)

10
Isaiahs Call--chapter 6

• 1-2 What the prophet saw--Yahweh enthroned
• 3-4 What the prophet heard--chorus of Seraphim
• 5-7 Prophets uncleanness and purification
• 8 Yahwehs question and prophets response
• 9-10 Commission report
• 11-13 Prophets question and Yahwehs response

11
Isaiah 5-12

• 51-7 Song of the Vineyard (I will make it a
  waste, without rain)
• 58-24 Woes that specify the indictment
• 525 For all this his anger is not turned away
• 526-30 God summons a nation far way (Assyria?)
  as his agent
• 61-97 Memorandum about the Syro-Ephraimite War
• 98-21 For all this his anger is not turned away
• 101-4a Woes that specify the indictment
• 104b For all this his anger is not turned away
• 105-34 Words against Assyria for its
  arroganceremnant of Israel will lean on
  YahwehYahweh the woodsman will chop down the
  tallest trees

12
Sins condemned by Isaiah in Woes

• 58-10 people gobble up land
• 511-17 people drink wine to avoid social
  responsibility
• 520 people call good evil and vice versa (U. S.
  missiles are peacemakers)
• 523 people acquit guilty for a bribe
• 101-4 people use the law (oppressive statutes)
  to defraud the poor (Exod 214-6?)

13
Isaiah 71-9

• Context in Syro-Ephraimitic War
• Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel tried to force
  Ahaz, king of Judah, into an anti-Assyrian
  coalition.
• They intended to install the son of Tabeel (v
  6) as a puppet king.

14
Isaiah 71-9 (continued)

• Isaiah takes along Shear Jashub
• Only a remnant of the invading army will return
  home in safety, those who return to Yahweh in
  repentance will survive, or only a very few
  people will survive this catastrophe
• 1021 a remnant will return to the mighty God
  cf. 3015 (In returning and rest you shall be
  saved)

15
Faith in the book of Isaiah

• If you do not stand firm, you will not be made
  firm Isa 79
• 817 I shall wait for Yahweh and hope in him
• 1020 the remnant will lean on Yahweh
• 3020 In quietness and trust will be your
  strength--No! We will speed on horses
• 311 Alas for those who do not look to the Holy
  One of Israel

16
Isaiah 710-14

• Ahaz refuses the sign offered by Isaiah cf. Deut
  616 Do not put the LORD to the test.
• Young woman or virgin Four things I do not
  understand the way of eagle in the sky, of a
  serpent on a rock, of a ship on the seas, of a
  man and young woman making love. Prov 3019

17
Identity of the Woman and the Meaning of Immanuel

• Ms. Ahaz--child Hezekiah?
• Ms. Isaiah--children Shear Jashub
  Maher-shalal-hash-baz, and Immanuel?
• A woman whom Isaiah noticed in the vicinity?
• Collective (women in general)?
• God is with us--Is this good news or bad in
  715-17?

18
Isa 715-17 Six Choices

• Are curds and honey the food of prosperity (A-1)
  or the food of affliction (A-2)?
• Is know in v 15 to be understood temporally
  (B-1 By the time he knows) or as part of a result
  clause (B-2 so that he will know)?
• Is the choice between good and evil moral (C-1)
  or merely a sign of maturity (C-2 old enough to
  make his own decisions)?

19
Isa 715-17 Six Choices

• Does Ephraims departure from Judah refer to the
  prosperous days before the breakup of United
  Monarchy (D-1) or the times of hardship
  immediately thereafter (D-2)?
• Is the king of Assyria in v 17 a gloss (E-1) or
  authentic (E-2)? Does he come against Judah or
  against Judahs enemies?
• Is Immanuel positive (F-1) or negative (F-2)?

20
Isa 715-17and the meaning of Immanuel

• 15 By the time (B1) that he has learnt to reject
  evil and choose good (C1), he will be eating
  curds and honey (A1) 16 before that child has
  learnt to reject evil and choose good, desolation
  will come upon the land before whose two kings
  you cower now. 17 The LORD will bring on you,
  your people, and your house, a time the like of
  which has not been seen since Ephraim broke away
  from Judah (D1, E1, F1). NEB
• D 1--good old days of United Kingdom
• E 1--king of Assyria deleted
• F 1 Immanuel--God is with us positively.

21
Isa 715-17 and the Meaning of Immanuel

• 15 He will eat the sparse fare of curds and honey
  (A2) so that (B2) he will know how to reject what
  is wrong and choose what is right (C1). 16 For
  before the boy learns how to reject what is wrong
  and choose what is right, the land whose two
  kings you now dread will be abandoned. 17 Yahweh
  will bring upon you, your people, and your
  fathers house bad days (D2), which have not
  existed since the aftermath of the time when
  Ephraim left Judah. That is, he will bring the
  king of Assyria (E2, F2).
• God is with us in judgment

22
Further Oracles in 7-8

• 718-25 Assyria will devastate the land
• 81-4 Assyria will carry off Ephraim and
  Syria--Maher-shalal-hash-baz
• 85-8 Lack of faith leads to the Assyrian
  invasion of Immanuels land
• 89-10 God with us means defeat for nations
• 811-15 People should fear Yahweh rather than the
  nations

23
816-18 The Prophet and his children as signs

• Isaiah retires temporarily--waits for Yahweh,
  hopes in him
• Isaiah himself Yahweh saves
• Shear-jashub only a remnant will survive the
  coming disaster
• Immanuel God is with us
• Maher-shalal-hash-baz the spoil speeds, the
  prey hastens

24
Isaiah 7-8//36-39

• Isaiah and Ahaz//Isaiah and Hezekiah
• Ahaz shows unfaith in the crisis of 734-32 chs
  7-8//Hezekiah shows his faith in the Assyrian
  crisis of 701 when Jerusalem is threatened with
  death 36-37
• Hezekiah trusts in Yahweh during mortal illness
  ch 38

25
Isaiah 36-39

• 361-3738//2 Kgs 1813 1817-1937
• 2 Kgs 1814-16 Hezekiah capitulates to the
  Assyrian kingnot included in Isaiahno blemish
  on Hezekiahs faith
• 381-22 Hezekiahs illness, recovery, prayer of
  thanksgiving//2 Kgs 204-11. I will deliver you
  and this city from the hand of the king of
  Assyria.
• Isaiah 389-20 Psalm of Hezekiahwithout a
  parallel in Kingsshows Hezekiahs faith
• 391-8//2 Kgs 2012-19 Hezekiah welcomes a
  delegation from Babylon and Isaiahs response
• What is to be the fate of Jerusalem and the
  Davidic dynasty in view of threat posed by
  Babylon? Introduces Isaiah 40-55

26
Purpose of 36-39

• Confirms prophetic power of Isaiah (hence no
  report of capitulation by Hezekiah or fall of
  Jerusalem to Assyrians)
• Yahweh cares for city during reign of faithful
  king Hezekiah
• Provides bridge between previous prophecies of
  Assyrian period and those of Babylonian exile
• Yahweh spared Jerusalem in the Assyrian period,
  but these chapters warn of darker days aheadcf.
  chaps 7-8
• Isaiahs words of judgment in the Assyrian period
  are to be fulfilled in the Babylonian period

27
Hezekiah, man of faith

• Faithful deeds of Hezekiah thrown into his teeth
  by foreigners 364-10
• Hezekiah rends his garment, asks Isaiah to pray
  371-2
• Hezekiah prays, and his prayer turns Yahweh
  against Sennacherib 3721-35
• Signs offered by Yahweh are accepted by Hezekiah
  and not scorned 3730, 387, 22

28
Swords into Plowshares Isa 22-5//Mic 41-5

• Utopia?
• Heaven?
• Gods in-breaking future?
• Liturgical response in Isa 25 (O household of
  Jacob, come let US walk in the light of Yahweh)
  and Mic 45
• Christian eschatology--1 Corinthians 15

29
Isaiah 1-33//34-66

• 1-33 anticipate punishment restoration of
  Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel.
• 34-66 presuppose downfall of Edom and Babylon in
  the age of Zions restoration.
• 1-33 Yahwehs sovereignty is future
• 34-66 this sovereignty is a current event
  (downfall of Edom 35 and the Assyrians 36-37 the
  rise of Cyrus)

30
Isa 715-17 and the Meaning of Immanuel

• 15 By the time (B1) he is old enough to make his
  own decisions (C2), people will be drinking milk
  and honey (A1). 16 Even before that time comes,
  the lands of those two kings who terrify you will
  be deserted. 17 The LORD is going to bring on
  you, on your people, and on the whole royal
  family, days of trouble worse than any that have
  come since the kingdom of Israel separated from
  Judah (D2)--he is going to bring the king of
  Assyria (E2, F2). TEV