Drinking Deeply with Delight”: an Investigation of Transformative Images in Isaiah 1 and 65-66
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“DRINKING DEEPLY WITH DELIGHT”: AN INVESTIGATION OF TRANSFORMATIVE IMAGES IN ISAIAH 1 AND 65-66 A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Peter Radford May 2016 Dissertation Approvals: Dr. Jeremy Schipper, Dissertation Advisor, Department of Religion Dr. Mark Leuchter, Department of Religion Dr. Vasiliki Limberis, Department of Religion Dr. Daniel O’Hara, Department of English ABSTRACT This project examines the images used in the beginning and ending chapters of Isaiah. The purpose of this project is to trace the transformation of specific images from their introduction in Isaiah 1 to their re-interpretation in Isaiah 65-66. While this analysis uses the verbal parallels (shared vocabulary) as a starting point, the present project seeks to move beyond the analysis of verbal parallels. The discovery and analysis of these transformed images forges a deeper connection between the first and last chapters of Isaiah. The three images are as follows: The first image occurs in Isaiah 1:2-4 where YHWH is described as a spurned parent. This image is transformed and reinterpreted in Isaiah 66:13 where YHWH is described as a comforting mother. The second image occurs in Isaiah 1:15 which pictures YHWH as an unresponsive deity. This image is transformed in Isaiah 65:24 where YHWH is presented as an attentive god. The third image occurs in 1:21 where Zion is pictured as a prostitute. This image is transformed in 66:10-11 where Jerusalem is presented as a birthing and nursing mother. On this basis the present project proposes rhetorical and literary purposes behind the repetition/transformation of images in Isaiah 65-66. These purposes are explored in conjunction with the analysis of each image. In addition, this project identifies effective reading strategies for the book as a whole and contributes to a growing trend that sees Isaiah as a literary unity. ii This dissertation is dedicated to my wife and partner, Jennifer Radford, and my two children, Ayla and Petra. The three of you are a constant source of joy and inspiration. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ vi INTRODUCTION Introduction ................................................................................................................. vii Thesis and Chapter Summaries ................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1. A SELECTIVE SURVEY OF SCHOLARSHIP ON ISAIAH Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Recent Summaries of Twenty-First Century Scholarship on Isaiah ..............................2 Intertextuality in Isaiah ................................................................................................15 Approaches to the Connections between Isaiah 1 and 65-66 ......................................40 Three Related Studies in Isaiah....................................................................................52 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................62 2. A SPURNED PARENT AND COMFORTING MOTHER Introduction ..................................................................................................................63 A Spurned Parent in Isaiah 1 .......................................................................................65 The Comforting Mother of Isaiah 66 ...........................................................................82 The Transformation from Spurned Parent to Comforting Mother .............................100 Conclusion .................................................................................................................104 3. AN UNRESPONSIVE IDOL AND AN ATTENTIVE DEITY Introduction ................................................................................................................106 YHWH as an Unresponsive Idol (1:15) .....................................................................107 YHWH as an Attentive Deity (65:24) .......................................................................133 The Transformation from Unresponsive Idol to Attentive Deity ..............................142 Conclusion .................................................................................................................148 4. A PROSTITUTE AND A BIRTHING AND NURSING MOTHER Introduction ................................................................................................................149 Jerusalem as a Prostitute in Isaiah 1:21 .....................................................................149 Zion as a Birthing and Nursing Mother Isaiah 66:7-12 .............................................168 iv The Transformation of Jerusalem, the Prostitute to Zion, the Birthing and Nursing Mother ...............................................................................183 Conclusion .................................................................................................................187 5. TRANSFORMED IMAGES AND BEYOND Introduction ................................................................................................................189 A Summary of Three Transformed Images ...............................................................189 Other Transformed Images in Isaiah..........................................................................196 Transformed Images in Historical Context ................................................................201 Conclusion .................................................................................................................207 WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................209 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AB The Anchor Bible ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary BSac Bibliotheca Sacra BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CBR Currents in Biblical Research CBQ Catholic Bible Quarterly CC Continental Commentaries ECC Eerdmans Critical Commentary EQ Evangelical Quarterly ExAud Ex Auditu HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology IB Interpreter’s Bible IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching ICC International Critical Commentary Int Interpretation JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JHebS Journal of Hebrew Scriptures JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series JSQ Jewish Studies Quarterly LCBI Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation NAC The New American Commentary NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament NIDOTTE New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis OTE Old Testament Essays OTL Old Testament Library RBL Review of Biblical Literature RC Religion Compass RelArts Religion and the Arts SBL Society of Biblical Literature TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament VT Vetus Testamentum VTSup Vetus Testamentum Supplements vi WBC Word Biblical Commentary WTJ Westminster Theological Journal WW World and World ZAW Zeitchrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft vii --INTRODUCTION-- Introduction The idea of writing a monograph on the book of Isaiah in order to contribute to Isaianic scholarship is analogous to trying to assist the recession of the Great Lakes with an eye dropper. Indeed the scholarship on the book of Isaiah is both vast and exhaustive. In the past 200 years, the interpretation of Isaiah has followed a somewhat predictable path through history. By predictable, I am noting that scholarship on Isaiah reflects the general currents in biblical scholarship over the past two centuries. In some ways, the interpretation of Isaiah has served as a barometer of sorts to measure the current state of biblical scholarship within a given historical period. It might be said that as Isaiah scholarship goes so goes that of the prophets and, to a certain degree, the rest of the Hebrew Bible. As early as the 18th century, Isaiah became something of a proving ground for critical theory. Outside the Pentateuch, no other book received the amount of attention by critical scholars as Isaiah. Johann Eichhorn published his work on the Hebrew Bible in 1783 which set forth the idea that chapters 40-66 of Isaiah were composed by a different author than Isaiah, the son of Amoz.1 His initial work, along with that of Döderlein, opened an avenue of inquiry that sought to support this hypothesis.2 Scholars of this persuasion challenged centuries of consensus when they suggested that they saw in the 1 Johann G. Eichhorn, Einleitung in das Alte Testament (Göttingen: Carl Eduard Rosenbusch, 1823). 2 J. C. Doderlein, Esaias (Alsofi: Schupfelian, 1789). latter chapters of Isaiah evidence that these chapters were written from a different historical perspective than the historical perspective presented in the earlier chapters. One such observation noted that, in some passages, the audience who is addressed in chapters 40-66 seemed to already be in exile. Similar arguments were offered concerning the differences