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Collection Abstr Phd.Pdf II III IV Presenter: Moniraj---------------Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Corinna Körting--------------Title: Creation Thought in Isaiah 40-48 ABSTRACT THE STRUCTURE AND FORMATION OF ISAIAH 40-55 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CREATION THOUGHT The book of Isaiah is considered to be one of the complex books in the Old Testament due to the vast timeline that the 66 chapters appear to span. Since the end of 18th century critical researches with the help of traditional methods and the post- critical readings influence both the identification of multipartite divisions and the interpretation of their micro-structural manifestations.1 Although the unity of the book is emphasized today for intensive application and to interpret its messages, still the role of the redactors with their perspectives in the formation of Isaiah cannot be ignored. At various stages in the process of redaction, emphasis was given to various themes in order to underline the message of the redactors. Therefore, this present study aims to analyze the structure and formation of Isaiah 40-552 with accentuating on the creation thought that are present particularly in the chapters 40-48. Hence this investigation has two objectives: on the one hand it aims to analyze the structure and formation of Isaiah 40-55, where the redactional process of the book will be highlighted. And on the other hand the investigation will concentrate on the creation thought present especially in the chapters 40-55. The manner in which the author of Isaiah 40-55 (particularly 40-48) understands and utilizes the creation thought needs a fresh examination in order to comprehend its context along with the redactional emphasis. --- ARAVIND JEYAKUMAR MONIRAJ 1 Bernhard Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia (HKAT; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1892); S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the OT (9th ed.; ITL; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1913), 204–46; Otto Eissfeldt, The OT: An Introduction (trans. Peter R. Ackroyd; New York: Harper & Row, 1965), 303–46; Erich Zenger et al., Einleitung in das Alte Testament (5th ed.; KST; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2004), 427–51; cf. R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the OT (Peabody, MA: Prince, 1999 [1969]), 764–800; O. T. Allis, The Unity of Isaiah: A Study in Prophecy (Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1950). Some scholars interpret Ibn Ezra’s comments on Isa 40:1 as hinting at multiple authorship (Uriel Simon, “Ibn Ezra between Medievalism and Modernism: The Case of Isaiah XL–LXVI,” in Congress Volume: Salamanca, 1983 [ed. J. A. Emerton; VTSup 36; 1983], 257–71; M. Friedländer, The Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah [London: N. Trübner, 1873], 170–71). 2 The traditional nomenclature Deutero-Isaiah is avoided here, since the researcher is with the conviction that Isaiah 40-55 cannot be confined to one particular author. Presentation in Helsinki Presenter: Moniraj---------------Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Corinna Körting--------------Title: Creation Thought in Isaiah 40-48 THE DOCTORAL RESEARCH IN A NUT SHELL REDISCOVERING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CREATION THEME IN ISAIAH 40-55 “Creation” is one of the significant themes in the Hebrew Bible and this appears basically in three literary genres, namely, as a mythical narrative in Genesis 1 and 2, as hymns in the book of Psalms, in the wisdom literature (for example in the book of Job and Proverbs) and also in the prophetic books.3 The assertion that God created everything in the cosmos is expressed throughout the Hebrew Bible in a variety of ways. However, the creation theme in Isaiah 40-554 which refers Yahweh as the sole creator of the universe and His ability to create, re-create and renew the whole creation or to transform the nature, is one of the most distinctive features that can be observed only in Isaiah 40-55 when compared with the other books of the Hebrew Bible and therefore it deserves special attention and investigation. The prophet introduces creation as a ‘new theological theme’5 and it serves as one of the fundamental elements providing unity and structure to the book.6 3 Anderson traces four main sources of creation traditions in the OT: the creation stories in Genesis, Deutero-Isaiah, the book of Psalms, and the Wisdom Literature. Bernhard Anderson, From Creation to New Creation (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), 19. 4 R. J. Clifford, “The Hebrew Scriptures and the Theology of Creation,” TS 46 (1985), 507-523; R. J. Clifford, “The Unity of the Book of Isaiah and its Cosmogonic Language,” CBQ 55 (1993), 1-17; J. I. Durham, “Isaiah 40-55: A New Creation, a New Exodus, a New Messiah,” in J. M. O’Brien and F. L. Horton Jr. (eds.), The Yahweh/Baal Confrontation and Other Studies in Biblical Literature and Archaeology: Essays in Honour of Emmett Willard Hamrick: When Religions Collide (Studies in the Bible and Early Christianity, 35; Lampeter: Mellen Biblical Press, 1995), 47-56; M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture: A Literary Reading of Selected Texts (Oxford: Oneworld, 1998); N. C. Habel, “„He Who Stretches Out the Heavens‟,” CBQ 34 (1972), 417-430; P. B. Harner, “Creation Faith in Deutero-Isaiah,” VT 17 (1967), 298-336; J. G. Janzen, “On the Moral Nature of God’s Power: Yahweh and the Sea in Job and DeuteroIsaiah,” CBQ 56 (1994), 458-478; T. M. Ludwig, “The Traditions of the Establishing of the Earth in Deutero-Isaiah,” JBL 92 (1973), 345-357; T. W. Mann, “Stars, Sprouts, and Streams: the Creative Redeemer of Second Isaiah,” in W. P. Brown and S. D. McBride Jr. (eds.), God Who Creates: Essays in Honor of W. Sibley Towner (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2000), 135-151; T. N. D. Mettinger, “Fighting the Powers of Chaos and Hell—towards the Biblical Portrait of God,” transl. F.H. Cryer, ST 39 (1985), 21-38; B. C. Ollenburger, “Isaiah’s Creation Theology,” Ex auditu 3 (1987), 54-71; C. Stuhlmueller, Creative Redemption in Deutero-Isaiah (AnBib, 43; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1970); C. Stuhlmueller, “First and Last” and “Yahweh-creator” in Deutero-Isaiah,” CBQ 29 (1967), 189-205; J. Vermeylen, “Le motif de creation dans le Deutéro-Isaïe,” in L. Devousseaux (ed.), La Création dans l‟Orient Ancien: Congrès de l‟ACFEB, Lille (1985) (LD, 127; Paris: CERF, 1987), 183-240. 5 Richard J. Clifford, “The Unity of the Book of Isaiah and its Cosmogonic Language,” 2. 6 Menahem Haran, “The Literary Structure and Chronological Framework of the Prophecies in Is.XL-XLVIII,” in Congress Volume: Bonn, 1962 (VTSup, 9; Leiden: Brill, 1963), 134. Presentation in Helsinki Presenter: Moniraj---------------Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Corinna Körting--------------Title: Creation Thought in Isaiah 40-48 The creation terminology and imagery appear predominantly in Isaiah 40-48 (40:12-31; 41:17-21; 43:1-7, 16-21; 44:2, 24-28; 45:1-8, 18-21; 50:2) with a brief citation in 51: 9-11 to describe Yahweh’s imminent redemption/restoration of the exiled Israel. It has been constantly investigated and emphasized by the researchers that the prophet has never treated ‘creation’ as a topic for its own sake and it has no independent status, but rather it is only an ancillary or a supplementary element to the election tradition.7 At the same time creation theme serves as a polemic against the allegedly more powerful Babylonian gods and the religious ideology found in, among other texts, the Enûma Eliš.8 However, the interesting question is – why creation language is used in such a context and time and therefore these distinct creation traditions or imageries need more investigation to determine both their history in cult and the function they serve in prophet’s proclamation of the message of salvation and hope. The assertion of Yahweh as creator can be observed because of the wide variety of creational verbs employed in DI. The list of verbs are as follows: arb (to create – 16 times), hf[ (to make – 24 times), rcy (to form – 15 times), l[p (to work – thrice), hjn (to stretch out – 5 times), rsy (to find – 5 times), [qr (to spread out – twice), xmc (to sprout – 5 times), !wk (to establish – twice), xmj (to extend – once) and [jn (to plant – twice).9 Isaiah 40-55 (esp. 40-48) utilizes the creation verbs in the 7 Gerhard von Rad, „Das theologische Problem des alttestamentlichen Schöpfungsglauben,“ in P. Volz – F. Stummer – J. Hempel (eds.), Werden und Wesen des Alten Testaments (BZAW 66; Berlin: Töpelmann, 1936) 138-147. For him at no point in the whole DI dies the doctrine of creation appear in its own right; it never forms the main theme of a pronouncement, not provides the motive of a prophetic utterance. It is there, but applied by the prophet in the course of his argument it performs only an ancillary function; According to Anderson, Creation symbolism is absorbed into Exodus symbolism, the prophet has taken creation completely out of the realm of mythology and him creation is a historical event now. Bernhard Anderson, Creation versus Chaos (New York: Association, 1967), 131. 8 Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, “Continuity and Discontinuity in Isaiah 40-66. History of Research,” in Continuity and Discontinuity – Chronological and Thematic Development in Isaiah 40-66, edited by Lena- Sofia Tiemeyer and Hans M. Barstad (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014), 40. 9 The root verb arb appears 48 times in the OT out of which it is used 21 times in Isaiah. It appears only once in First-Isaiah and four times in Trito-Isaiah. Out the 21 occurrences, 18 times God is the subject of the verb and the context is invariably creation. All the verbs referring to creation have Presentation in Helsinki Presenter: Moniraj---------------Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Corinna Körting--------------Title: Creation Thought in Isaiah 40-48 context of diversified themes.
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