Isaiah 1-39

An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture

Gary V. Smith

• Publisher: Holman Reference
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781433672712
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is for the minister or Bible student who wants to understand and expound the Scriptures. Notable features include: * commentary based on THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION; * the NIV text printed in the body of the commentary; * sound scholarly methodology that reflects capable research in the original languages; * interpretation that emphasizes the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole; * readable and applicable exposition.

Isaiah 1–39

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INTRODUCTION OUTLINE

1. Contemporary Meaning and Relevance of Isaiah

2. Historical and Religious Background of Isaiah 1-39

(1) The Time of Uzziah and Jotham

(2) The Time of Ahaz

(3) The Time of Hezekiah

3. The Life and Role of the Prophet Isaiah

(1) Overview of Isaiah's Life

(2) The Role of the Prophet

4. The Masoretic Text and Other Text Traditions

(1) MT and Dead Sea Scrolls

(2) MT and the Greek Texts

(3) MT and the Aramaic Targum

5. Composition of Isaiah 1-39

(1) Early Perspectives

(2) Some Modern Scholarly Approaches

Source Criticism

Composition by a Prophetic School

Redactional Editing

Rhetorical Argumentation

A Canonical Perspective

(3) Signs of Compositional Design and Structure in 1-39

The Structure of the Literary Units

Purpose

6. Theology of Isaiah 1-39

(1) Finding some Unity within the Diversity

(2) Trust the Holy God who Rules the World

The Holy One

All the World

Trust the One who Rules

7. Outline

INTRODUCTION

Most Bible readers are aware of those passages in Isaiah that introduce important theological themes about the Messiah that were fulfilled in the New Testament (e.g., Isa 53). Others have heard about some of the prophet's unusual experiences that stand out as pivotal events strongly impacting his life. The glorious appearance of Israel's Holy God on his throne in the Temple (6:1-8) is one such event that captures the imagination of all who read it. The wonder of the moment is enchanting, as Isaiah observed the seraphim proclaiming God's holiness and as he saw a glimpse of the glory of God sitting on a high throne. One can almost visualize the prophet bowing and humbly confessing his sins. Many have heard sermons that challenged listeners to follow the example of Isaiah and be willing to go and serve God wherever he might send them (6:8). Another well known event might be Isaiah's words of hope to Judah's king Ahaz during the Syro-Ephraimite War (734-732 BC) and his subsequent prediction that a virgin would bear a son called Immanuel (7:1-14). Equally memorable is the story of the Assyrian attack on Jerusalem during the days of Hezekiah (36:1-37:38). In response to Hezekiah's prayer God sent an angel to kill 185,000 Assyrian troops in order to deliver the city of Jerusalem. Of course, in Christian theology there are few passages as central as those about the coming “Servant of the Lord” who will establish justice on the earth (42:1-4), be a covenant and light to the nations (42:6-7; 49:6), and then suffer and die for the sins of all the world (52:12-53:12). These memorable passages only scratch the surface of Isaiah's most important messages, and in some ways they tend to draw attention away from all the other equally important ideas that the prophet communicated to his audience.

1. Contemporary Meaning and Relevance of Isaiah

Sometimes relevance is attached to a verse because readers just “intuitively” know that the prophet's words have a significant application to their life. But what someone proposes as a relevant application may not always make sense to others. Although these supposedly “natural” or “self-evident” insights sometimes are meaningful ways of applying the prophet's theology to some modern situation, it is important to think systematically about the process of discovering the relevance of God's Word so that (a) more of those verses that are not intuitively meaningful can become applicable, (b) embarrassing misapplications that are not truly based on the meaning of a biblical text can be avoided, and (c) a well thought out system of discovering the relevance of ideas in ancient biblical literature can be developed.

The first step in this process of finding contemporary relevance in an ancient text is to discover the meaning each passage had in its original setting. What did Isaiah's words mean or convey to his audience? This raises the issue of defining the meaning of the Hebrew words he employed, the grammatical forms that were used to express these ideas, the temporal setting of the audience, and the theological worldview of the audience (Why was he speaking these words to them?). Since Isaiah's message was directed to a sixth-century audience on the verge of national crisis, it only indirectly relates to people today. The key that enables the modern reader to discover an indirect relevance comes from (a) understanding the meaning of the prophet's message to his audience, (b) developing broad theological principles from these specific incidents and teachings, and (c) finding analogies between the Old Testament theological teaching and the modern world today.

Consequently, a clear understanding of the original meaning of Isaiah's words must precede any attempt to make an application. In the commentary section below, the focus will be on determining the meaning of Isaiah's messages to his original audience by following the exegetical process of interpreting the Hebrew words he spoke in light of their semantic, grammatical, and syntactic meaning in that historical setting. This should enable the modern reader to comprehend what the original audience understood when the prophet spoke. Once the first step is complete, one can formulate some theological principle from that chapter. From time to time within the commentary, theological principles are suggested in the final “Theological Implications” section of the commentary and a few questions of application are broached.

Since Assyria does not exist anymore, Isaiah's message of woe on Assyria and its proud king in 10:5-19 does not apply directly to the situation in any modern nation. Based on the authority of God's prophetic word, one cannot say that God was predicting the demise of Brazil or any other country today, because that was not what the prophet said. He specifically addressed only the fall of Assyria at that time. Nevertheless, there are timeless theological principles that are illustrated in the way God dealt with this particular proud king of Assyria. When one finds similar divine attitudes toward other proud people in Isaiah (cf.2:9-12,17,22; 3:16; 13:19; 16:5-6) and other books of Scripture, one can hypothesize that God has a timeless, consistent theological approach to dealing with leaders who proudly ignore God and pretend that they are sovereignly in control of the future. Discovering broad theological principles consistent with God's instructions in other passages helps the reader distinguish between ideas that are bound by time and those principles that broadly define God's ways throughout Scripture.

Sometimes it can be quite difficult to see how a principle might apply in contemporary situations. Could one suggest that the principles drawn from God's dealings with the proud king of Assyria might apply to arrogant presidents or prime ministers of nations today? Might that principle function today as a word of warning to governors or mayors who ignore God's role in controlling modern history, or could it even be a sober reminder for bosses in industry and principals in schools not to take too much credit for accomplishing things that God actually does? Although the biblical text does not speak to these situations, the principle is that pride often causes leaders to ignore God's sovereignty and arrogantly claim authority and power over things that they do not fully control.

Another central theological theme in the book of Isaiah is the challenge to trust God.¹ Issues related to trusting God will repeatedly come up as theological principles that could be relevant to life today. Many people in the self-sufficient modern world, proudly independent of God's guidance, want to control their own future rather than trust God.

For example, during King Uzziah's reign people were wealthy, safe (2:7), and proud (3:16-17). They trusted in their own human ability to provide happiness and success (2:22) and thought that they did not need God. They were not exalting God alone; instead, they were exalting themselves (2:11,17). Their pride caused God to send the prophet Isaiah to warn the people of Judah not to trust in mankind (2:22) but to trust God and glorify him. If they did not repent and start exalting God, he would destroy their land and take away their pride. He would demonstrate that he alone was God and was in control of their lives. The principles that guided God's way of dealing with the wealthy who proudly trusted themselves has not changed.

Similar theological principles are evident in a very different situation a few years later when the weak King Ahaz was threatened with total defeat following the foreign invasion of Judah and her subsequent destruction (except the city of Jerusalem; 7:1; 1 Kgs 16; 2 Chr 28). Isaiah approached Ahaz and told him not to fear these armies, but to trust God for victory over his enemies (7:4-9). Unfortunately, Ahaz refused to trust God, but instead called on the Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III to deliver him from those who were attacking Jerusalem (2 Kgs 16:16,20-21). Because Ahaz was unfaithful to God and failed to trust him, God brought great judgment on the land (7:18-25). Here again those who proudly fail to trust God are humbled, but in a unique setting quite different from the situation that Uzziah faced.

As one traces the themes of pride and trust through the messages of this book, one discovers the consistent theological message that (a) in all kinds of situat...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Editors
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Editor's Preface
• Author's Preface
• Abbreviations
• Table of Contents
• Isaiah 1-39
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Selected Bibliography
• Selected Subject Index
• Person Index
• Selected Scripture Index