Isaiah in the New Testament (The New Testament and the Scriptures of Israel)

REVIEWS 305 illustrates how the unchecked quest for ever fainter allusions eventually results in a jettisoning of method...

Author: Steve Moyise | Maarten J. J. Menken

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REVIEWS 305 illustrates how the unchecked quest for ever fainter allusions eventually results in a jettisoning of methodological rigour.

doi:10.1093/jts/flm179 Advance Access publication 6 February 2008

PAUL FOSTER University of Edinburgh [email protected]

Isaiah in the New Testament: The New Testament and the Scriptures of Israel. Edited by STEVE MOYISE and MAATEN J. J. MENKEN. London and New York: T & T Clark (a Continuum imprint), 2005. ISBN 978 056 7030 306. Pbk. £30. THIS is the second in the series of volumes subtitled The New Testament and the Scriptures of Israel. This book focuses on the way that the writings from Isaiah are used primarily in the New Testament, but also in roughly contemporary second Temple Jewish literature. The editors state, in over-exaggerated terms, that ‘the focus is on the book of Isaiah, whose influence is everywhere in the New Testament documents’ (p. 1). They note both the occurrence of quotations and perhaps to a greater degree the presence of ‘a host of allusions, and one could even say that certain central theological concepts, such as ‘‘gospel’’, derive from Isaiah’ (p. 1). Yet there is no attempt from the outset to orient readers by clearly defining the diVerence between citations, allusions, or dependent theological concepts. Such definition is perhaps essential when the categories are so contested and at the same time so central to the study. Hannah’s opening chapter focuses on Jewish literature of the Second Temple period. He takes three representative examples to illustrate both messianic and non-messianic usages of Isaiah in later Jewish texts. Hooker opens her study on Mark by noting the striking reference to Isaiah at the beginning of the Gospel, and the seeming incongruity that this ‘citation’ appears to be a misattribution. Sensibly her focus is mainly on ‘clear citation’, and this results in close and insightful analysis of the texts under investigation (pp. 38–44). Her caution in discussing ‘possible allusions’ is to be welcomed, and she helpfully demonstrates the inadequacy of the appendix of citations and allusion in respect to the later in the 27th edition of the Nestle–Aland text. In chapter 3, Tuckett discusses the usage of Isaiah in Q. He notes that references ‘to Jewish scripture in Q are more often by way ß The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected]

REVIEWS 306 of allusions, using significant words, phrases or ideas that seem to have been generated from OT language or OT stories, where the reference may well be deliberate on the part of the ‘‘author’’/ editor of Q and where such references may well have been ‘‘heard’’ and picked up by the hearers/readers of Q’ (pp. 51–2). Because of their frequency in Matthew’s gospel, Beaton concentrates on the explicit citations. He notes that Isaianic themes contribute significantly to Matthean theology in the areas of ‘Christology, eschatology, the problem of Jewish rejection, gentile inclusion, critique of the Jewish religious establishment and eschatological renewal’ (p. 78). Koet introduces an extremely important control in his study of Luke–Acts, stating that he ‘will discuss sequentially all explicit quotations from Isaiah and allusions to Isaiah texts which are quoted elsewhere in Luke–Acts’ (p. 80). This approach ensures that the potential allusions are drawn from texts that Luke demonstrably knew. Williams notes the four explicit quotations from Isaiah in John’s Gospel. She observes that three of these had already gained a prominence in Christian tradition, but that they have been subjected to thorough-going Johannine reinterpretation (p. 115). The final chapters treat the remainder of the New Testament. Wagner looks at usage in Romans and Galatians. It is noted that Romans has more Isaianic material than any other NT writing—fifteen citations and perhaps a dozen allusions. The concentration of material in chapters 9–11 is highlighted and it is suggested that for Paul ‘Isaiah himself appears as a fellow herald of the good news, who, with Paul, bewails Israel’s widespread rejection of ‘‘our message’’ (Rom. 10:16/Isa. 53:1) (p. 129). Covering the Corinthian correspondence, Wilk lays out his approach in a fairly clear manner: ‘I have to confine myself to those references that show both verbal and thematic correspondence while comprising at least a short sentence’ (p. 133). Wilk’s study leads him to identify four quotations and 11 allusions in the two Corinthian letters. His interest in text form leads him to conclude that Paul deviated considerably from Septuagintal forms and revised the Greek in the direction of the Hebrew text (p. 155). McCullough initially notes the surprising disinterest in Isaiah by the author of Hebrews, especially given the widespread concern for the OT through that text. However, there is an attempt to try to reclaim or rescue the significance of Isaiah for the author of Hebrews by claiming that a reading of Hebrews is enriched by looking at resonances with Isaianic theology (p. 173). The problem with this approach is that it appears to lack

REVIEWS 307 necessary controls and allows for links to be proposed without any strong basis. The study by Steve Moyise, dealing with 1 Peter, is one of the best in this collection. This is because he clearly situates the use of Isaiah by the author of the epistle against the wider backdrop of scriptural usage in the early church. Also the parallels are extremely clearly presented and the textual aYnities are helpfully displayed and discussed. Finally Mathewson notes the diVerent way Scripture is used in the book of Revelation, with no explicit quotations. Consequently he draws on the work of Fekkes to rank the plausibility of proposed allusions. This volume is a useful overview of the way in which NT authors utilized the Isaianic text to further their own theological perspectives. The work lacks a clear statement of methodology although perhaps this would have been impossible in this multiauthored volume. Nonetheless, the treatment would have benefited from a clear statement of the issues that are contested in identifying New Testament passages that may or may not be dependent on the Old Testament text. This book is representative of a burgeoning interest in New Testament scholarship and perhaps its main value is in allowing one to assess the state of scholarship in this area of investigation.

doi:10.1093/jts/flm180 Advance Access publication 6 February 2008

PAUL FOSTER University of Edinburgh [email protected]

Interpreting Translation: Studies on the LXX and Ezekiel in Honour of Johan Lust. Edited by F. GARCI´A MARTI´NEZ and M. VERVENNE, with the collaboration of B. DOYLE. Pp. xliii þ 512. (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 192.) Leuven/Paris/ Dudley, MA: Leuven University Press and Uitgeverij Peeters, 2005. ISBN 90 429 1689 3. Paper n.p. THE general pressure of work on scholars today and the increase in the number of invitations to write for Festschriften often mean that such a volume can be a collection of unrelated if not uninteresting titbits. In this case, however, most of the studies relate to an aspect of Lust’s own work, such as the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel in both Hebrew and Greek, and more generally the Greek versions of the Bible. Some of the studies ß The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected]

ISAIAH IN THE NEW I TESTAMENT

I

Edited by STEVE MOYISE and

Isaiah in the New Testament

The New Testament and the Scriptures of Israel

The Psulmr in the New Teslammt (2004) Zsaiah in the New Tuiamnrt (2005) Ilcutmtnomy in the New Tmtammt (forthcoming)

Isaiah in the New Testament

Edited by

STEVE MOYISE and MAARTEN J.J. MNKEiN

T 8.7 CLARK INTERNATIONAL A Continuum imprint LONDON

NEW

YORK

Publrshed by T&T Clark A Continuum imprint The Tower Builmng I 1 York Road London SEI 7NX

15 East 26th Street New York NY 1tWlO

.

AI1 rreha merwii. N o Dart of this ~ubhcationm v, be revroduced or transrnined in anv form or by any means. electronic or mechanical, incluhng photocopying, recording or any information storage or renteval system, without prior perntission from the publishen. Copyrtght Q Stew Moyise and Maanen J.J. Menkert, 2005 First published 2005

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available fmm the British Library

Typeset by RefirteCatch Ltd. Bungay, Suffolk Prrnted on actd-free paper tn Great Brrtarn ISBN 0567030296 (hardback) 056703030 X (paperback)

Contents

Abbreviations List of Contributors Introduction 1

Isaiah within Judaisni of the Second Teniple Period Dam11 D. Hannah

2

Isaiah in Mark's Gospel hforna D. Hooker

3

Isaiah in Q Christopher Tuckett

4

Isaiah in Matthew's Gospel Richard Beaton

5

Isaiah in Luke-Acts Bart]. Koet

6

Isaiah in John's Gospel Catrin H. Williams

7

Isaiah in Romans and Galatians J. Ross Wagner

8 Isaiah in 1 and 2 Corinthians Florian Wilk 9

Isaiah in Hebrews J Cecil McCullough

10 Isaiah in 1Peter Stew AIoyise 11 Isaiah in Revelation David Mathewson

Index of Quotations and Main Allusions - New Testament Order Index of Quotations and Main Allusions - Isaiah Order Index of Modern Authors

vii

xi

Abbreviations

AB ABRL AGJU

Anchor Bible Anchor Bible Reference Library Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judenturns und des Urchristentums AnBib Analecta biblica Arbeiten zum Neuen Testament und Judentum ANTI Annual o f the Swedish Tlleological Institute ASTl BI3F Friedrich Blass, A. Debrunner and Robert W. Funk, A G w k Cratnmar 4the hreur TEstament and Othcr Early Chrisriarr Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961) BETL Uibliotheca ephemcridum theologicarur~llovaniensium Adolph Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash, 3rd edn (Jerusalem: Wahrman BHM Books, 1967) BHT Beitr5ge zur historischen Theologie Bib Biblica Bulletin oftheJohn Rylands University Library BJRL BNTC Black's New Testament Commentaries BT The Bible Translator BZ Biblische 7Ritscltriji BZNW Beihefie zur ZNW Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology CBET CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Monograph Series ConBNT Coniectanea biblica, New Testament C'rJ Calvin 77zeologicalJournal Discoveries in the Judaean Desert DJ1) DSD Dead Sea Discoveries ECDSS Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls EstBib Ertudios biblicos EUS European University Studies FRLANT F o n c h u n g n zur Religion und Literacur des Alten und Neuen Testaments F o n c h u n g n zur Wissenschati des Judenturns FWJ FzB Fonchungen zur Bibel HBT Horizons in Biblicul 'Z'?zeology

ISAIAH IN THE NEW l'hSTAMEN1

t4KAT 13NT HI ICY IBS

Halldkonlt~lentarzurn Alten Testament Hat~dbuchzurn Neuen Testament Hebrelu Utlrotr College Arlnrtal I n ~ hBrblrral Studre3 ICC Internatronal C r ~ t l c aComn~entary l 1EJ Israel ExploratronJournal JBL journal of Btblltr~lLrtvrature JS Journal c f i v r s h Studrle~ Jo~trndlof Ncur Eaitcrtr Studlcs INES ~ Q K Jeun~hQuarterly Rev~ew Journal for rCic Study c$ Judarsm r n 1124 krsrati, N~llen~stlc and Ronlan J‘?J 1Jenod JSN.1' Jourttaljor the Study (?f title Estarrtent JSNTSup Jc~trrnal-fortire Study gfthe hhc, Esmment, Supplerrlent Series JSOT Jourtml for tire Study OJ the Old Estament JSOTSup Joctrtraljjr tlrc Study cftiv Old Estament, Suppiernent Serles JSS Journal gfSc*ntrtrcStrcdres J75 Jourtrul4 7"heol(grialStudres KuD Kery~nrairnd Dogma M N T C Moffatt New Testament Cotnrnentary Nestle and Aland, hrovunr 'Testamenturn Graece (Stuttgart: Deuache NA?Urbelgesellcchaft,27th edn, 1993) NCH New Century Brble NET Neute\tamentlrche Enwurfe zur Theologre N I C N T New lnterriaaollal Cornrner~taryor1 the New Testament NIGTC The New Ir~tertlatlonalGreek Testanlent Commentary N Novum 7irstnmentunr Nov'I'Sup Novurn ?i.ctantctztum, Supplement Serres Neukrrcherler theologrcche Dasertanonen und Habrl~tatlonen NTDH iV T S M w 'Estarnetrt Studres zum Neuer~Testan~ent OTKN'T Okumenrscher Ta~chenbuchkon~r~zenwr OTL Old Testament Llbrary OTM Old Teqtarnent Mer5age J H. Charlesworth, ed , Old Testantent Pirudepyrapha OTI' OT~ (ludtestametitrsrhc Studretr A Rahlfs, ed ,Septuagrrrta. Id est Mtus 'IFstanrenturngraecetructa LXX RahIFi rtrterprctes (Stuttgrt: r>eutsche Urbelgesellschafi, 1935,1979) RB Rei~uebrbllque RrvB Kj~rrstabrbltca SBL Soc~etyof Brblrcal L~terature SUL1>S SBL I>rs\ertatlon Serres SULSylrrS SUL Sy~nposlumSerrec; Studrcs 111Judarsnl 111 Late At~nqulty SJLA SNTSMS Socrety for New Testament Studres Monograph Serles

ABBREVIATIONS

ST

Studrn theologrm

STDJ SUNT SVTI' TDNI'

TFT

Studies on the Texts ofthe Desert ofJudah Studlen zur Umwelt dec Neuen Testament5 Studla in Veter15 T e s t a ~ ~ ~pseudep~gnpha e~in Gerhard Klttel and Gerhard Frtedrlch, eds, 77reologtcal l>rirronary of rhr hFeu~ Tcstnmetir tr. Geoffrey W. Bromlley (10 vo1.i. Grand Raplds: Eerdnuns, 1964-76) Publlcatie.; van de Theologtsche Facultelt Ttlburg

RnJ TRu

Thwrty Journnl Tlteol~tscheRurrdschau

TSAJ

Teste und Studlen zunl Antlkerl Judenturn

TynHul

'Tyncfale BltNettn

UBS4 CT VTSup W13C

Un~tedB~bleSo~let~es' Greek N e w Estanrrnt, 4th edn

i+"KI WUNT %A W Ziegler

k r u s Tesramentum Verus zsrantentunt,

Supplement Serles Word Rlbhcal Gomrnentary We~rtntnsreril7reologrialJ(?urr~al

W~rsenschaftllcheUnter5uchungn zurn Neuen Temlnent fittscltrtftfur dre alttstatrterztlrihe U'rssensclrafr

J Zlegler, Irarcts (Septuagtnta Vetu\ Testamenturn Grdecum, XIV, Gonmge11:Vandenhae~k& Rupre~ht,3rd edn, 1983) Zcrtsrlrriji fur die tieutrttan~ertrlrckr IV~ssenschafl B r r ~ i h n ffur i Theolo'qre und Krrrhe

List of Contributors

RIcriAao BUTON 1s Assistant Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theologtcal Seminary, and author of Isaiah's Christ in Matthfu!'s ChpeI ( C a n ~ b r ~ d g e Un~vers~ty Press, 2002). ~ A R R E L Ln. HANNAH

is a Research Fellow, Oxford Early C:hristian Gospels Project, and a Retained Lecturer in Theology, R n ~ b r o k eCollege, Oxford. He is author of iMithael and Christ: ,bfichde/ Traditions and Angel Christolqqy in Early Christianity (Mohr Siebeck, 1999).

MORNA D. HOOKER 1s the Lady Margaret's Professor Emerlta, Unlvers~tyof Can~brtdge,and Fellow of Kob~nsanC:ollege, and author of n r e Gospel according to St. Mark (A&C Black, 1991).

K ~ E Tof, the 13epartment of B~bllcalSnldles, Catholtc Theolog~cal Unlven~ty,Utrecht, as author of Frvtp Studres on the Inteyreratrotz 4,Gnpture In Luke-Acts (Peeters, 1989). BART J.

DAVID M A l H E W S o N 1s Assistant Professor of U~bl~cal Studles, Gordon CoUege, Massachusetts, and author of A New Henvm and Nav Earth: The hfeantng and Funrtrorz of the Old %tantent rn Revelatrorr 21.1-22.5 (Shefield Academtc Press, 2003).

1s Professor of New Testament, Union Theolog~cal College, Belfast, and e d ~ t o of r Irish Rtbltcal Studres.

J. C E C I L MCCULLOUGH

MAARTEN J.J. MENKEN is Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Catholic Theological University, Utrecht, and author of h-latthac!'.~ Bible (Leuven University Press - Perten, 2004).

SrEVE MOYISE IS Principal Lecturer In Tlreology, Un~vrrs~tyCollege Chlchester, and author of Ttre Old 7?stamunt rn the New (T&T Clark, 2001). Professor of New Testament, Unlvers~ty of Oxford,and author of Q and the H~storyoj'Eady Cltnsrranrty (T&T Clark, 1996). CHRISTOPHER T U C K E T ~ IS

~ 0 9 sWAGNER 1s Assoc~ateProfessor of New Testament, t'r~nceton T l ~ e o logleal Sern~nary,and author of Heralds of the Good Nnca. Paul avid lsarali 'Irz C o m r t ' rn the Letter to the Romans (Brill, 2002).

J.

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FLORIAN WILK is Professor of New Testament, Georg-August University, Gomngen, and author of Die Bedetttung desjesajabuches fir Paulus (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998).

C:ATR~N N. WILLIAMS 1s Lecturer in New Testament, Keble College, Oxford, and author of 1 am He: The Intcrpntatiat~of Ani Hd'in jcruish and Early Christian Literature (Mohr Siebeck, 2002).

Introduction

It is surely no coincidence that the books most tiequently quoted in the Jlead Sea Scrolls, namely Psalms, Isaiah and Ileuterononly, are also the books most frequently quoted in the New Testanlent. In this volume, the focus is on the book of Isaiah, whose influe~lceis everywhere it] the New Testan~eritdocuments. We find quotations concerning the birth of Jesus, his ministry and niission (andJohn the Baptist), his opponents, his rejection, his sacrificial death, the mission of the church, particularly the inclusion of the gentiles, and a host of issues facing the early church. We also find a host of allusions, and one could even say that certain central theological concepts, such as 'gospel', derive from Isaiah. It is not surprising that J.EA. Sawyer entitled his book on the influence of Isaiah in the history of Christianity, 77re I:!fih Gospel: Isaiulr in [/re History qf Christianity.' 111Chapter 1 , Uarrell Hannah offers a survey of the use of Isaiah in Sccorld Temple Judaism. He focuses his study on three passages which have particular relevance to the New Testament. First, the messiariic branch of tsa. 10:3311:10, which is found in several Q u n ~ r a nwritings, various apocalypses, the I'salms qfSt)ktmot~and the Sibyllitre 0racI.s. These texts aniply demonstrate the ir~iportanceof Isa. 10:3.3-1 1:lO for conceptions of the Messiah and messianic age in various stra~ldsof Judaism. Second, Isaiah's awesome vision of God, recorded in Isaiah 6, appears in various apocalypses, later Hekhalot literature and in two prayen. In addition, the Qed14J;tlt('Holy, Holy, Holy') from Isa. 6:3 plays an important role in Jewish liturgy, though the origins of this are much debated. Third, the so-called Servant songs (Isa. 42:l--4;49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:1.3-53:12) occur in both messianic and non-messianic texts, thol~gh Hannah concurs with former scholarship that nowhere is vicdrious sufferirtg ever attributed to this figure. In the Syr~opticgospels, key passages are Isa. 5:l-2,6:9-10.29: 13,34:4,40:3 and 56:7.Mark's gospel, studied here by Morna Hooker, opens with a (rnixed) quotation from Isa. 40:3 ('Prepare the way of the Lord') and sonic scholars believe this provides the tkanlework for understanding the whole book ('The beginning of the good news . . . is written in Isaiah the prophet'). The next

'

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ISAIAH IN THE NEW 'TESTAMENT

quotation occurs in the parables chapter, where Mark draws on the words of Isaiah's colnnlission (Isa. 6:9-10) to explain the blindness of 'outsiders'. Isa. 29:13 is used to accuse the Pharisees of hypocrisy in Mark 7:6-7, and the parable of the tenants (Mark 12:l-11) draws on the allegory of the vineyard (Isaiah 5) to assert that the owner 'will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others' (Mark 12:9).Isa. 34:4 provides some of the colour for the apocalyptic scenario in Mark 13, while Jesus' action in the temple is explained by a combined quotation of Isa. 56:7 ('My house shall be called a house of prayer far all the nations') and Jer. 7:11 ('But you have made it a den of robbers'). As Hooker points out, the interpretation of these words has a significant effect on one's understanding ofJesus' mission. There are possible allusions to Isaiah elsewhere. As long ago as 1959, Hooker challenged the comnlon assumption that Mark is basing his portrait ofJesus on the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53,' and she sees no reason to revise that conclusion. The additional Isaiah ~naterialthat appears in both Matthew and Luke is co~nnionlyexplained by reference to a lost source known as Q, arid this niaterial is surveyed by Cllristopher Tucken. Here, the most important text is Isaiah 61. In an episode where John the Baptist sends messengers to ask whether Jesus is the 'one who is to come', Jesus is said to reply: 'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them' (Lk. 722). The first half of this saying draws on Isa.26:19,29:18-19 and 35:% but the final clause comes h m Isa.61:I. It has also been suggested that this text might lie behind some of the beatitudes where blessings are pronounced o n the poor and those who mourn. Some scholars think this is sufficient evidence for attributing the use of Isaiah 61 to ,~ the focus of this chapter is on the Q document. the historical J ~ s u sthough The quotations from Isaiah in Matthew's gospel an: discussed by Richard 13eaton. Manhew borrowed Isaiah quotations h m Mark (Isa. 40:3 in Matt. 5 3 ; Isa. 6:9-10 in Matt. 13:13; Isa. 29: 13 in Matt. 15:8-9; Isa. 5 6 7 in Matt. 2 1 :1 3; Isa. 13:10.34 in Matt. 24:29),but he also inserted several himself, as part of the characteristically Matthean series of fulfilment quotations (Isa. 7:14 in Matt. 1 :23;Isa. 8:23b-L):1 in Man. 4: 15-1 6; Isa. 5 3 4 in Man. 8:17; Isa. 42: 1 - 4 in Matt. 1218-21). Beaton focuses upon the functional and theological role of the quotations from Isaiah in Matthew. All of them, but in particular the fulfilme~ltquotations, have both a christological and an eschatological function and significance. They show Jesus to be the Messiah of a11 Israel to which gentiles can now also belong, the Son of God to whom God has given his Spirit, the compassionate Servant who heals the sick; in all these qualities, he is the one who inaugurates the Kingdom of God. The citations are not mere

'

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' J.I>.C;. 2

proof-texts, but the results of early Christian and especially Matthean exegesis of Isaiah. Q's use of lsaiah 61 is greatly expanded in Luke's gospel, where Jesus is said to read this very passage in a synagogue service and pronounce, 'Today, this scripture has been hlfilled In your hearing' (Lk. 4:21). In fact, the quoted text o m t s a phrase from Isa. 61:l and ~ntroducesa phrase fiom Isa. 58:6, maklng it exmmely unlikely that we have the exact words ofJecuc. Bart Koet explores what this nnght mean for Luke and his readers In hic chapter on Luke-Actc. lsalah 58 warns the people against prous observance whrle neglecting the poor. According to Koet, Luke nlcludes thls text because he hopes the rich will be persuaded t o give away their possessions. In Luke-Acts, the influence of lsaiah 53 is not in doubt, for there is an episode where a certain eunuch h m Ethiopia is reading this very text and asks Philip, 'Does the prophet say thrs about himself or about tonleone else?' (Acts 8 3 4 ) . We are not told what Phtllp sald but 'searnng from the scrrpture, he proclaimed to hlm the good news about Jesus' (Acts 8:35). In 22:37 ('For 1 tell you, thls scripture must be fillfilled In me, "And he was counted among the lawlms"'), Luke quotes froni Isa. 53:12. There are also quotations of Isa. 66: 1-2 (Acts 7:49), Isa 55.3 (Actc 1334). Isa 49% (Acts 13:47) The book ends wrth an extended quotation of ha. 69-10. now applred to those who reject Paul's preachrng. John's gospel shares two of the lsaiah texts quoted in the other gospels (Isa. 6:lO; 4 0 3 ) though, as Catrin Willianis points out, they are used sonlewhat differently. The gospel also contains explicit quotations of Isa. 54:13 (John 6:45) and 5 3 1 (John 12:38). The forirler is in the 'bread of life' discourse and appears rather general ('And they shall all be taught by God'). Williams says the quotation 'is not only to be understood with reference to Jesus' own wod5 (6:4-2-16), but the protnise of a new kind of teaching, whose content is true knowledge of God, is said to find its fulfilnient in Jesus'.' The quotation of Isa. 53: 1 ('who has believed our message?') occurs just before the quotation of Isa. 6:lO.leading to the tantalizing statenlent that 'Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him' (John 12:41). This could suggest that what Isaiah saw in his teniple vision \vas the pre-existent Jesus but Williams prefers the explanation that Isaiah foresaw the glory ofJesus' earthly life. Two scholars consider the use of Isaiah in R u l . J. Ross Wagner draws on his receiit nlonograph t o surnmarizs the use of Isaiah in ~ o m a n s . 'The main Isaiah texts quoted in Ronlans are 1 :9 (Korn. 929);8: 14 (Ronl. 933); 10:2223 (Ram. 9:27-28); 1 1:10 (Kom. 15: 12); 27:') (l\orn. 11:2&27); 28: 16 (Roi11. 9:33/10: 1 1); 28:22 (llom. 9:27-28); 29: 10 (Roin. 11:s); 4 5 2 3 (Koni. 14:ll); 5 2 5 (Ronl. 224); 52:7 (Icom. 10:15);52: 15 (Rom. 1521);53: 1 (Rom. 10: 16);

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t n rht Irrfrr to rl~rKomarrr

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMEN1

59:7-8 (Kom. 3: 15-17); 59:20-21 (Konl. 1 1:26-27); 65: 1-2 (Rom. 10:2021). Fro111thls extensive IN, Wagner concludes that 'Paul turns to Isa~an~c texts that speak of Israel's dellverance b n i judgement and exzle and findc there prophenc prefipratzons both o f d ~ eredemption God has now accomphshed for Jews and gentile? in Chrrst and of the rnleslon of those called to proclalnl <;ad's salvation to the ends of the earth1.*Wagner also discusses the of Isa. 54: 1 in tlie Sarah and Hagar allegory of Galatians 4. Florian Wilk discusses the Isaiah nlaterial in the Corinthians corrrspondence. The two letters contain four marked quotations (Isa. 2 9 1 4 in 1 Cor. 1:1% lsa. 28:11-12 in 1 Cor. 1421; lsa. 25:X in 1 Cor. 15:54; Isa. 49:8 in 2 Cor. 0:2), and four quotation-like allusions (Isa. 40: 13 in 1 Cor. 2 1 6 ; Isa. 4 5 1 4 in 1 Cor. 1425; Isa. 22: 13 in 1 Cor. 15:32; Isa. 9: 1[2j in 2 Cor. 46). Seven other allu\ronc ceern to be probable W ~ l kpotnu out that In the Instances dlscu.rsed by hlni, Paul ha\ thoroughly lntcgrated the Old Testament mater~alsand Interpreted tlteni In accordance wlth t h e ~ rcontexts. In Rul's vlew, lsa~ah pn)pliecler refer to Chrlstlan realltles sucf~as God's savlng act In Chrlst, Paul's apoctolate or the pantucla A\ J C e c ~ McCullough l states at the beginning of h ~ chapter s on Hebrews, rt I\ surprlslng that out of 24 e x p l r ~ ~quotatronc, t only one cori1e.i h n i the hook of lcalah (IQ 8.17-1 8 In Heb 2 13) However, thls 1s not the whole ctory and McCullough also dlscclsses some significant allusions (Isa. 1:11 in Heb. 9: 13; lsa. 2h:ZO ln Heb. 10:37; Isa. 3 5 3 in Heb. 12:12; Isa. 45: 17 in Heb. 5 9 ; lsa. 5 3 1 2 in Heb. 9:2X). As for the quotation. the author of Hebrews strangely nlzertc the phrase, 'And agarn', tn the rntddle of the quotatton, as t i he were br~nglngtogether two d~spar.ltetexts ('"I w ~ l lput my trust In him.'" And a g a ~ ~"Here i, an1 I and the chtldren whom God ha5 glveri me"')). The s t ~hernleneutlcal c Issues. quotation ralces numerctus I ~ n ~ m ~and 1s on a par wlth I
INTRODUCTION

Lastly, David Mathewson considers the Isaiah material i r ~the book of Revelation. There are no explicit quotations in Revelation but the book is saturated with allusiorls and echoes. Mathewson discusses the Isaiah material under four headings: visionary experience and language (Isaiah 6 ) ;christological titles and descriptions (Isaiah 11,22,41,44,48,49,63,65);eschatological judgement (Isaiah 2,21,23,34,47,50,52); eschatological salvation (Isaiah 25, 43,49,54-55,60-61,65). He concludes that 'texts about Cod are now applied to Christ, and texts which origi~lallyapplied to Israel now apply to the transcultural people of God, the church'.' It seems that the large majority of the quotations from the book of Isaiah in the New Testarrlexlt comes h r n the LXX - which is only what one would expect with first-century authors writing in Greek for a Greek-speaking audience. It is, of course, much more difficult to establish the textual affinities of allusions, but here as well the LXX seems to have been the major source. Nevertheless, there are some instances where influer~ceof the Hebrew text can be den~onsmted,or where there are ind~canonsthat the author niade use of a LXX text that had been revlsed towards the Hebrew. New Testament writers also modified their Isaiah text when modification was necessary in their eyes; on the whole, this process of change and the devices used in it d o not sigrlificantly differ from what was accepted it1 contemporary Judaism. What differs is ofterl the theological motive behirld the alterations. The editors are aware that the present collection of essays does not cover the use of Isaiah in the entire New Testament. Nestle-Alar~d'~corlsiders Jarnes 5:4 ('to the ears of the Lord of hosts') to be a quotation of Isa. 5:9, and 2 Pet. 3: 13 ('new heavens and a new earth') to be a quotation of Isa. 65: 17/66:22. Wowever, o ~ d ya few other allusions are listed in James and 2 Peter and so it was declded not to ~ncluciechapters on these Ephesra~lstn~ghthave qualrfied, wlth over a dozen or co alluc~onsI~\ted,but then we could easlly find double or treble t h ~ snumber of alluc~oncIn the bookc reprewnted here. The New Testatnent writings that have been included are those in which lsa~ah plays a major role, and so this coUectior~gives an accurate overview of the significance of Iqaiah in the New Testalllent.

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Chrptcr l I . p 2tlo NA" Itar $even aU~lrlon<111 li2 Thmulonnns.fimr ln the P.wtoral eprrtlo, ttircc In I'h~l~pp~atir, two in C o l o ~ u mand one cac h In 1 John and Jude

Chapter 1

Isaiah within Judaism of the Second Temple Period Darrell D. Hannah

It is a revealing fact that the two Old Testament books most often cited or alluded to in the New Testament, the books of I3alms and Isaiah, are also among the three Old Testament books best attested at Qumran: portions of36 different copies of the book of Psalms, 29 ofDeuteronomy and 21 of the book of Isaiah have been recovered &om the eleven caves in and around Wadi Qumran.' Interestingly, Deuteronomy joins Psaln~sand Isaiah as the OT books most often utilized by N T authors if allusions are neglected and citations alone are counted.' That two variant forms of Judaism, i.e., early Christianity and Qumran Essenisn~,in their different ways, attached such importance to the Psalnm, 13euteronomy and Isaiah, testifies eloquently to the usefulness and authority of these books within Second Temple Judaisnl as a whole. In what follows, I shall examine the book of Isaiah within Second Tenlple Judaism, excluding early Christianity. This examination will, of necessity, have to be brief and can in no sense claim to be comprehensive. It will, however, provide an illustrative guide to the significance and influence of the book thought to contain the prophecies of Isaiah son of Amoz within the multifarious Judaisn~sof the period just before and during which the documents of the New Testament were written.' This overview will concentrate on three

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J C VartderKarii. Thr &ad

'ipo h l l , hduy (Grand Raptds, MI Eerdmas, 1994). pp 30-32. (; Vermes. An Innnduchon ro rhr <:on~plrre I h d k a &rolls (I ondon \CM Prerr), pp 172-77 However. grven the trapnetitary IIlNre ot riiurt ot the biblr~alnianuscripa hnni Qurnnn.these numbers tntrst he trertcd w ~ t hwmc cautton Thrre always rcma~nsthe pnurhrhty that h-agxi~enuwlii'h are now regarded rs horn mffrrrnt scmllr or~gttiallybclonged to one and die wnre scroll. espcctallv d ~ r i o r e t h m one r*-rtbc ~5 tnvulved m tlie pmducuoa of that scroll Note the helpfill comtnena of E Tov, 'The Text of lutrh at Quoiran'. tn C C' Dntylt-i and (' A Evaru, eds. Minrtt{q and Redtnfl rhr SooN of lsalah Yrudres oJan ltiurpwrtl*: Imdtrton (VTSup 70 2. Leiden B r a . 1997).p 491. n 1 The nve~ity-seventhediuotr of the Nesde-Almd Novutn Iesramrnrum Gmer (NA")ha 110 citaoons of the Psahas, 103 of Isaiah and 54 of Deuterooor~iyGetirsls a i d Evojus follow with 4)and 45. mpecnvely Accordml: to NA"', when alluaom art mcluded, both C;enma arrd Faodus tltghdy oumuniber Deutrmnoniy Althoitgh thry ur to he dated aftcr the rtestrucuon of the tcniple, becanre ofthetr rffimty w t h texts from the \econd Tettiple pcrtod I wll tnclude m thu essay ducuv~otiof 4 Ezra, 2 &mu11 and the Apdlypse oJ Abraltant n u s , the niajortty of ewdente exanuned hem falls wtthrri the perrod 200 a< to AD I(Wf

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

lsaianic passages whose infltre~lceis anlong the greatest and most widespread: 0:l-13; 10:33-11:10; and the so-called Servant songs (42: 1-7; 49:l-9a; .50:4-11 and 53: 1.2-53: 12). These passages are also among the most in~portant Isaianic texts for the New Testanlent authors and early Christianity generally. I will begin, however, with a succinct discussion ofwhat we can know,and what we cannot, regarding the text of Isaiah in the Second Temple period, giving special attention to the manuscripts discovered in the Judean desert in the middle part of the twentieth century. A more extended examination will then be given to the Isaianic passages just mentioned. 'ntc Test of the Book of

billah trr

rhc Second Temple Penod

As stated above, the caves tn and around Qumran have yrelded 21 Afferent cop1e.r of the book of Isa~ah.Elghteen of these have come from Cave 4 ( 4 Q 5 5 4 9 b = 4QIra" 3,4 one froni Cave 5 (5Q3)$and two, arguably the most ~ 1 (lQlsal; 1Ql5.1'3.~ Another fragment h m Murabba'at famous, h n Cave shoi~ldbe ~rlcluded(Mur 3),' although t h ~ slnanuscrlpt cannot be connected w ~ t hthe community of Quri~ran.Most of thete 22 marluscrlpts are very fiabm~entary,oken prewrvlng no more than a few lrnes of text. For example, the nvo pleces of leather w h ~ c hmake up 4Q62a (= 4QIsa1) preserve no more than 24 words or parts of words from Isa 56:7-8 and 57:5-8. 4Q69a (= JQlcaq), 4Q69b (= 4QIsa') and 5Q3 are even more snslgrnficant, contalnlng only five, three and seven wor&\, or parts of words, h r n Isa. 54:lO-13,30:23 arid 40:16, 18-14). respectively. At the other end of the scale, nearly the whole of the book 15 to be found In the most fatnous copy of Isa~ahh m Qumran, IQlta" T h ~ s the , second longest of all the scrolls from the Judran desert? except for a few small lacunae and erasures, preserves every word of the book. In between there reman the substannal portlonc of lQlsah, and, to a letser degree, 4Q56 (= 4Qlsa9, 4Q57 (= 4QIsa') and 4Q58 (= 4Qlsa7. Chronolog~callythece textual wttnetrec to the book of lsarah ttretch f i n 1 c. 100 BC (lQlcaa) to the per~odof the F ~ nJewlsh t Revolt (Mur 3).'

' \ec I'W \heknrr nnd E Ulrtclr in F Ulrrch rr a1 . eJs. Qrrntmrt (3arv 4 X Iht f+oplr~rs(DJV XV.

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<)\ford ('lr~rrdonI ' r ~ s ,19Y7),pp 7-111 It should be noted that all t h e mnuwrrptr arc nude of Irntt~rr,r u q ~ JQh'i t (= 4Qpaplufi. w h ~ IS ~ orr h papyru\ \ee J T Mllrk in M Balllet. J T Mthh and K dc Vaou, Lcs jwrrltv prres' d~ Qrmrarr (1)JI) Ill, Oufi>rd C l a ~ t l d o rPres. ~ lYh2).p 173 lQ1ul has ~ C I publ~~lred I rio l e s than three tlrnes. tnmt mc eritly by I> W Parry and E Q r m n . 7hr (.r~rlr I~arah kr111l (IQfta") A .\'?A, 1 drrrorr (Lerdcrt Rrdl, 1991)) 1(21uh w a pithluhed by E L \ukcnrh. Ihr &ad .ha Crollr o(rhc Hrbmc, I Strr.nrtry Urruulcni M A ~ I CPrrulThe S Hebrew Unr\rrrrty. 1955).pp 10-31. Plates 1-15 I' Beno~t.J F Mll~kand R de V ~ u xLrr yrorrri de MuraMMLr (I)JI) 11, (IxfimI ('larrnthn I'rcrs. 196l),pp 79-80 Onlv thc Trrtrplr \~rnll(I IQlO) IS longer \re P W Flrrrt Thr I \ ~ r r h\crt>lb t n r o ~thr Jtrdean I>csm' In Rmylcr and Evara. Clfnrtnf a d Kntd~tt* pp 4814')

ISAIAH WITHIN JUDAISM OF THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of these finds for our understanding of the text of Isaiah. Prior to the discovery of 1Qlsa" we were dependent on copies no earlier than the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries for the Hebrew text of Isaiah. I refer above all to Codex Cairensis of the Prophets copied in 895 AD, the Aleppo Codex, which dates h n the ~ first half of the tenth century, and Codex Leningradensis h m 1008 AD.'" With the great Isaiah scroll we obtained a witness a thousand years earlier than these medieval manuscripts. The first and most obvious gain for the textual criticism of Isaiah occasioned by these discoveries was the evidence it afforded for the great antiquity of the Masoretic text (MT). The second Isaiah scroll fi-om cave 1 contains a text for all intents and purposes equivalent to the MT." This is not to say that there are no differences between 1Q1saband the MT; it is to say that what differences do exist are nearly all minor.l2 The same is true for most of the manuscripts h m cave 4. Among those of some length, 4Qlsa" 4QIsah, 4QIsad, 4Qlsac, 4Qlsa'and 4QIsa" all stand particularly close to M T in terms of test. Most of the others, 4Q1sah', 5 4 3 and Mur 3,are too fragmentary to be certain, but also seen1 to be related to the MT. O f the mar~uscriptstiom cave 4, this points conclusively to the only 4QIsaC stands somewhat apart.'"All d the Masoretes. antiquity of the text of Isaiah f ~ e by O n the other hand, both 1Qlsa"nd 4Q1saC,while probably not representing a distinct text-type, differ in a number of details h r n the MT. The vast majority of these differences are either (1) due to scribal errors or (2) onhographical and, less often, tnorphological. Chief among the orthographical and morphological variants is the use of consonants, especially the yod and mu!, as niatres lectiotzir, i.e., consonants indicating vowel sounds. These differences, of course, are of lirrlited significance for textual criticism. Indeed, there is good reason to suppose that this plFnnP (or full) spelling, which is typical of 'virtually all the Q u n ~ r a nsectarian writing',14 reflects the pronunciation current when these scrolls were copied.'' Nonetheless,even when these orthographical variarlts are set aside, 1Q1saAand 4QIsa' kequently go their own way vis-d-vis the M T and one another. The plethora of 'true', and not ~r~erely orthographic,

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See E Wurthucrr~.7hc &n01 I/ICOld f~cwmmrAn Itttrodttrrrott fo Bbltrt Hebmrrrr, tr E F Khodn (Lond,>tt %'M, 1970).pp 1 2 4 I " 50 already Sukenrk, Ikud .%d .%OIL-,pp 30-31 CC also Tov. 'Text of Isnah', pp 505-07 " Prohdbly the orrly one ofany ulpllfrcance otrurs a t 53 I I the M I',\upp>rtedhy the Syrtac Pcsh~ttn. the Latm Vulgate drad the Tarptri, reads ;Is7 WQJ ('Otrr of hn aaguah be shall see ') IQIla', l Q l u b 2nd 4QIsaa all agme that YHWH's servarrt wrll 'see Irght' nn ;IKV ~ ~ hlY1). l l l except that 1Qlw' h a the plFnF spellrng of ;mtm, There IS also a srrl~lllacuria m 4QIu" hut IU reamng a not tn doubt The addrnor~of - ~ ('lrght') c fin& wrnc +upport u1 the L n &noroC novov rq; vu~fi;aOro\i, 6~1t,araOrQ ('Out o f the ariprah of hrs qoul, he w r show to hrni light .) Fee To\. 'Text ot twrat~'.p 507 XIV,'Text of la~ah',p SOX, etnphas~sorrgrn~l \re cxp F Y Kuscber. 71tr l ~ n q t ~ yand r 1~11$1curlr Rukqmund ofrltr batalt $1011 (IQIsd) (Lerden Wr111.1074)

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ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

variant realngs offered by the great Isaiah scroll caused no little excitement in academic studies and the popular press following the initial partial publications of 1Qlsa" Some suggested that the unique readings of the nlanuscript had a claim to originality." However, in a series of articles, H.M. Orlinsky subjected a nunlber of the scroll's variants to critical scrutiny and concluded that the text of 1 QIsaa is secondary to that of M T and represents a debasing or vulgarizing of the M T text." Orlinsky's arguments carried the day and had the effect of regulating 1Qlsa" to the nether world of textual studies. Many today would still agree with his assessment. Thus, Emnlanuel Tov refers to the 'liberties' which the scribes of 1Qlsa' and 4QIsa' took in their copying.'n Others, however, would argue for the need to re-assess tQIsaa and its unique readings. Hoegenhaven, for example, holds that '[nlo direct dependence between 1QIsaa and M T can be demonstrated', and he would urge that it is 'highly probable If he is right, that' 1QIsahnd M T 'reflect traditions closely int~rrelated'.'~ then there exists a greater possibility that some of the many variant readings of lQlsaa could be rnore original than Orlinsky allowed. However, it is clear that while 1QIsa' and 4QIsaC may not be as closely related to M T as the other manuscripts from cave 4, they are nonetheless broadly speaking 'Masoretic' in text-type. Hoegenhaven would describe M T and t Q l s a b s representing two branches of the same family tree.N' Orlinsky would see 1Qlsahs a debased and corrupt copy of a proto-Masoretic exemplar." Either way, we have to do with basically the same text-type. In this regard, the state of text of the book of Isaiah &verges significantly tiom that of, say, the books of Samuel or Jeremiah, or even the I'entateuch. In the case of Samuel, for example, the LXX preserves a non-Masoretic form of text, a form of text now known to go back to a Hebrew firlage, for it is also found in 4QSamb. Similarly, the two text-types of the book ofJeremiah, one found in the M T and the other in the LXX, were both current at Qumran." For Isaiah,

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E g , W Ilauitlgdrtncr. 1)er pddsunr\che tidn~ischrrheniund.Zwe~tcrBer~cht'.7 R e 19 (Ic)51),pp 97-154, held that whrlc rnort of the vdrrrnt readlogs of 1Qlsa' were clearly secondtry, mm). deserved scrrous anenoon " H M Orlrnsk), 'Ftu&ca III \t Mark'%I m a h Srn~ll'JH1.69 (19501,pp I4V-(A. 'Stu&cs In St Mark's luilh \cmll I I YISWAHI ' 111 42 11'. JM.5 1 1 (1952). pp 153-56. '\tu&er u? 'it Mark'%Isaiah k m l l I l l Masnrco< ;rm 111 lurdh XLII,25',J\ 2 (1050-51).pp 151-54,'Stu&m m Ct Mark's luiah \cn>ll IV'JQR 43 (1952-53),pp32WO.'Studte\ in St Mark's lslirh kmll V.IEJ4 (1%4),ppiX,and 'Studies in St Mark's I u ~ a h\cn)ll VI', H11(3A 25 (IY54).pp 85-92 Lf also dle conclusion of Kumhcr. Lirnfuaqc and hr~fluuru&ukpund, pp 2-3 'Vov. 'Te~toflurah.' p 508 " J Hoegei~hawn.'The Fust I ~ i a h\cmU irorn Qunrran (IQls3 rrrd the M r s o m c Text Soine Reflccuorr* with \pecial Regard to Inrdr I-IZ'.J.\OI 28 (1984).pp 17-15, quoung p 31 Cf aha S Talrnon.'l>\la rq d Wru~e*.to Ancrent Exegesis o f t l ~ eUmk ofIsatah',AS711 (1962).pp 62-72 " Hoepenhavm. 'Tlrc Frnt Isaiah \
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ISAIAH WITHIN JUDAISM OF THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

even in the case of the LXX, the translator must have worked, at least partially, tiom a Masoretic or Masoretic-like text, although he niay also have had access to a different recension of the Hebrew." The fact that all the manuscripts of Isaiah from the Judean desert either preserve texts which are clearly protoMasoretic (lQlsah,4Qlsaa."dq or are related to the M T (1Qlsa" 4QIsac)),and that even the LXX in most cases renders the MT, should not lead us to the conclusion that no other recension of the Hebrew text of Isaiah existed. We sinlply cannot know that. We can know that the text of Isaiah circulated in a Inore homogeneous form than other books of the Hebrew Bible and that the Masoretic text reaches back, at least, to the second century BC. Isaiah 10:33-11:10 I turn now to a rnore detailed examination of some passages in the book of Isaiah whose influence was particularly felt in varied forms of Second Temple Judaism. I b e g n with one-of the most frequently cited and influential-of biblical messianic texts, Isaiah 10:33-11: 10. This farnous passage is alluded to or cited in a variety of Second Temple period works, ranging from compositions of the Qumran conlmunity (1QSb; 4QpIsa" 4Q228) to the Psalms of Solomotl to various apocalypses (including the Similitudes ofEnoclr, 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra), to the third Sibyllirre OracC. It is possible that the earliest allusions to Isaiah 11 already occur in Deutero-Isahh: 11.2 in 42:l and 11:4 in 49:l-2. Even if these are deemed uncertain, there can be no question about the use of 11:6-9 by Trito-Isaiah (65:25).'" The latest use would be that of 4 Ezra o r 2 Baruch, both of which date fmm amund the beginning of the second century AD. It comes as no surprise, given the content of 10:3.3-11: 10,that each of our sources, with the exception of Deutero-Isaiah, understands this passage to speak of a/the Messiah and/or the 'messianic' age. The Davidic lineage, the blessing of Yahweh's spirit which this figure enjoys, the ease with which he dispatches his enemies, the righteousness which characterizes his judgements, and the utopian conditions which accompany his reign all make this an obvious reading.

The naniralness of such an lnterpretatlon was not lost on the scholar5 and scribes of the Q u ~ n r a ncommunity. In the Rultl oJ' Blessrtrgs (lQSb), for \ec csp I L Seelrpann, The .kpruug~nrL'mon of bat& A Duwstcw o f ~ r hi M c ~ n r(Lerden Brtll, 1'148). pp 58-64 Seehgtrunn allows that there arc place where the best cxplanaaon ofthc LXX a that the translator had hetore htm r Hebrew text lffercrit fiom the MT Nonethelw, other p a u a q den~omtntche tliust haw had accm to the MT Cf also Tov, 'Text oilwwh', p 508.and A varr der Ki>orj,'lurah 111 the Septua~nt',rn Boyln and Evans. Wnfrug 'tud Rtadrnq, pp 517-18 " So, e g ( Wcsternunn, Iratah 40-66,n D M G Stalker (OTL. Phrkdclphra Wcsmunstcr Press. IVhV),pp 410-I1 Unless otherwise rated, all quotations h n t Qunmn rnatcrd come h m C; Gdrc~aMartiriex m d E J C T~gchelrar,edr and m, f i e 1kd Sea .%/Is Study Edttto~(2 vols. Lcidrn Brill. 1997. 1998) "

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ISAIAII IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

example, the blessing for 'the P r ~ n c eof the C o n g m g t ~ o n conslsts ' In large measure of an adaptation of Isaiah 11:2-5: 70 bless the prrnce ofthe congregatron, [May]the Lord rat[5e vlou to an everlasung he~yht.ltkea fortt[fied]tower upon a cnsed rampart May you he 1 ] wrth the power of your [nrouth ) With your scepter may you lay wdste the earth Wlth the breath of your hpc nlav you klU the wcked May he grve [you a splrtt of counlsel and of werlasung fortttude. .irprr~tof knowledge and fear of God May jusuce be the belt of [your lolm, and loyaltly the belt of your hrps (tQ5b [= 1 Q28b1, w 20,2326) The K u k of Blcssrng, 1s. of course, found on the same ccroll as the Rule of the (,'clrntrrrtnlty (IQS) and the 41/lrssrar~rcRule or Rule afthe rhaongregacron (IQSa), whrch wac copled sonieonie around 100-75 ~ c , "although the date of the actual composltlon of these documents 1s undoubtedly earher. It 1s generally recobm~zedthat 'the P r ~ n c eof the Congregat~on'and 'the i'rlnce ofthe whole Congregat~on' are t1tle5 for the 1)avidlc Mess~ahspecific to the Quniran conlmunlty The latter appears 111 the Damascus Document (CI) A ~11.20vrn 3)" and the Iihr Scroll (v 1 ) In contexts which are amenable to a rnecslanlc reacilng A\ we shall see, the t ~ d ealso appears in the two other texts whlch quote Isa 10 3.3-1 1 10 At any rate, the eschatological anterpretatlon of lsa~ah 10-1 1 by the author of IQSb nc clear from the context. It a expected that 'the I'rlnce of the Congregat~on'will renew the covenant and establish 'the klngcioni of hlr people for ever' (v 21) T h ~ rand other deal]\ have led come Interpreters to vlew the blescnlp conta~nedIn thls docunlent as reserved for use In the eschatolog~calage Others, however, suspect ~t w a s used by the conlnlunlty rn a prolept~cmanner However that Is decldcd, ~t 15 clear the found 111 lra~ah11 a proof text for the I)avld~c author of The Kult. ofBlf~~~rr\qc Mecs~ah'cadvent, htc conquest of the earth, his endowment w ~ t hthe Sp~rltof God and h ~ juct c and faithful character A very srnlilar Interpretation IS atte\ted 111 the M'ar Rule (44285 5 ) T h ~ s docurnetit I\ now thought to be related in some way to the CZ/arLC;,i)ll,perhaps r ~ it\ loct e n d ~ n ~ . Ifso. ' " it could date anywhere horn the second half a p o r t ~ o of

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EM. (:n>rs.'The ~'a1nec~rapl1rc.dl L ) t c ~of tile Md1111ur1pts'.rrr J.H. Charleswvorth rt dl., cds, 7hc I)ctrd .+,I Swllr: firhhnri .4n111rurr. 'jtrd Gmk 7irx.o riath lirflrsh Pdnibriom. 1. llv K r k of tlrc (:ommtrrrrrr m d Kclarvcf Ikuu~nrno(Tohrnycrrr: Mohr Srcbc.ck, lCH4),p. 57. Cf .dso M.A. Knthb, 'Ihc Qumrorr ~~ommrrnrry ((:rmbrrdp: (:drllhrrdgc Urnvcnrty I'rru. IYX?), p. 78. " Thrr parlsyc Appears 111 rnorr than orrc fbrrrr: In 4Q266 3 111.21-25 the text IS vrrtirally rdcnncal to thnt 111 (:I) A v11.20Lvnr.3;(:I> fl XIS I l b l 3 , lrowcvcr, drtfcrs ~ubstantrrllyand t l ~ crcfcrmcc to 'the Prrrrcc ofthe wltolc (:onyrcgdrron' t i replaced hv onc to the Meurah(s) o f h m n and lurel. " So J. r. Mrhk. In 1>J1> I. p. 120; and L.H. Srhltfnran, KmI~trinr~~ [Ire Dczrd Sm Scn~lls:7hor ;Clearrrt{f,for Jr,d,nsfn nrrd ~rrrsrrart~ry (ARRL; New York. I h)trhlccbv. 1'195). pp. 115-16, '90 ti Stcyrn~nnn.771c Lrhrdry ~?f@o~trort. (h1 rkr l i w , r e ~Qtmrriw, , John rhr Ilugrtsr, erdJcsrrr ((:amhrldyc: Errrtrlunr. 1998).p. 116; rrrd, rcntatrvely. (;. Verntcs. 7 k(Xlmpletr I k d Scit . k l k In Etr&sh (1.orak)n: Allerr Lniei Propurn Pr-i. 1997). p. 374. v \ o e.g M (;. Ahegg. ' M r ~ ~ r r r nHope i dnd 4Q2Xi: A Ke~sessnent'.JBL 113 (Ii?94), pp. XI-91. who rtrcr the rrrirerjudgcrr~cnroiJ T Mrhk,'M~lki-rrilcq rt Mrlki-rrsa' &nr Ies dncrcns Ccrm jn16 et ihritrrn.;',US 23 (1972). p 143.

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of the second century BC to early in the first century AD." However that may be,it has been demonstrated that 11Q14 is yet another copy of the sarne text." The fragments which make up 4 4 2 8 5 and 1 1 4 1 4 appear to describe the end of the eschatological war, with the Kittim fleeing before the Prince of the Congregation a i d his forces (4Q285 6 + 4 7), the king of the Kittim being brought befbre the t'rince of the Congregat~onto stand trial (6 + 4 10; 5 3), and, In fulfiln~entof Isa. 10:34-11:l, 'the Prince of the Congreganon, the Bran[ch of Dav~d],w ~ l kill l h ~ m (5 ' 5)." A priest, presumably the High Prlest (but there is a lacuna in the text), then gives an order, seemingly to clear the land of the corpses of the Kimm (5 5 4 ) . Finally, there follows a pronouncement of eschatological blessing on the land, presumably made by the High l'riest (1 + 11414). There is much here that recalls the War ScroN, including the Kittin1 as the eschatological Enemy (1QM i.2,4,6,9,12 passinr), the names of the archangels (4Q285 10 3 and I Q M ix.15-16; xvii.6-8), the significant role attributed to the High Priest ( I Q M xv.4-xvi.1; xvi.13-xvii.g),as well as the presence of the Prince of the Congregation (1QM v. 1). Three details call for closer attention. First, the messianic title 'the I'rince of the Congregation' is supplemented by another, 'the Branch of David'. This is clearly related to Isa. 11:1, 'a shoot h m the stock of Jesse', but more directly dependent upon Jeremiah's 'a righteous branch for Llavid' (23:5; cf. 33:15) and Zechariah's 'the Branch' (3:s; cf. 6:12). Indeed, 'the Branch of David' appears to have been a favourite designation for the Davidic Messiah at QUIXIran (4QFlor 1 i.11; 4 4 2 5 2 v.3-4). Second, the quotation fmm Isaiall begins not with 1 1 :1, but with 10:34, which must have been understood as a pmphecy of the downfall of the Kittim. This, as we shall see, is paralleled in the Isaiah Pe-
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O n the vexed questrorr of the &ffcreoc rrcensrons ofthe MI /nroN and thea data, see J. 1)uharme. 'War Scroll ( l Q M , lQ.33)'. rn J. H. Charlaworth PI '11.. e&.. 7he Ihad .%a .%~>lls:Hebw, Aramuk, a d Greek P.xrs.2: Dantasnrs Dorummf, 14hr .%ON, atrd Rclafrd l h m r t t u (Tiihrr~gen:Mohr Sieheck, 1995). pp. 8.3-4. '"1~s. W.J. Lyora, 'Pos\rurrlg rhe Land: t)>cQutnrari Sect and the Euhawlogrcal V~ctory'.USU 3 (1996). pp. 130-5 I. Cf. also Ahegg. 'Messrrnrc Hope'. So ornost rrltcrpreten rerrder m n ! m mm KW! m.Ho~vever.rrrthe first ptrhbcation of tlus text. Mrchael Wise translated rt 'they vr.111 put to death the 1.edJer of the C:or~uiiutiiry,the Bnnlzh of Ddvrdl'. See R. Erser~tiwndnd M. Wrse, 77rt31A-d Sra Srrvlh L ~ K O M T D(Shaftsbury, ~ 1)onct: Elerilent. 1992). p. 20. Whrle t h s IS a gnrrmwtrcally possihlr mndarion, rt has nothrng to cornnrcod 11. Context, as well as rlorrnal Hebrew syntax, strongly supporn the renderrng gtven in the text. Sre. among others. (;. Verrnes,'The Oxford Forum for Qunuan Research Sernltlar on the Rule of War fronr Cave 4 (4Q285)'.JS 43 (1992), pp. 85-90; M. Bocknloehl. 'A "Slarn Messrah" rn 1 Q Serekh Mrlhar~uh(4Q285)?'. T~rBtl.13(1W2), pp, 155-69; Schiffinm, Rrrlairn~t!f,pp. 344-47; and Abca, 'Mcss~amcHope'. (:f R . Bauckharn. 'Tlir Mlrsranlc Iritrrpretauon of Isa. 10.34 In the Derd Sea Scmlh, 2 Baruch and the Preachrng ofJohri the Bapust'. 1)SD 2 (1995). pp. 202-16.

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ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

fourth kingdom, 'whose power is harsher and more evil than those which were before it' (39:5). The final ruler of that kingdom, i.e., Rome, d l be brought bband before the Messiah, 'who will convict him of all his wicked deeds and will assemble and set before him aU the works of his host'. The Anointed O n e will then kill the Ronlan emperor (40:l-2)." A very similar exegesis of Isa. 10:33-11: 10 emerges t k m the Isaiah Peshm (4(2plsa"4Q161)). There we read that Yahweh's destruction of the trees of Lebanon in lsa. 10:3.3-34 portends the defeat of the Kittim at the hands of Israel (8-10 iii. 1-9). Then after the lenlnla of Isa. 11:1-5 there follows: [The tnterpretanon of the word concerns the Branch] of I>avld whtch wtll qpmut tn the fi[nal days. since w t h the breath of hts lrps he wU exccute] hu [enelmy and God d support htm w ~ t h[the splrrt of clourage [ thjrone of glory, hloly] cmwn and mulncolour[edl vcstn~entc[ ] m h a hand He wtll rule over the pe[ople]s and Magog [ j htc sword wrll jiidge [a111 the pcoples And s for what he says '14e w d not budge by appearanccsj or gtw vedctc on hearsay,' la lnterpretanon whtch [ ] and a c c o d n g to what they teach htm, hc wtll judge, and upon thetr authorrty [ j w t h hmt wtll go (4Qplsaa 8-10 out o ~ r cof the prtesu of renown, holdrng m 111s hand clothes (of) tit 11-25)

Here again, if the reconstructions are accepted, we encounter the messianic title 'the Branch of David', the detail that an enemy will be executed by the llavidic Messiah, the eschatological defeat of the Kittin1 and judgement of the nations, and a significant role for priests. It should be noted that in the immediate context, in the interpretation of Isa. 10:24-27, there is a reference to 'the Prince of the Congregation' (2-4 ii. 15). The depiction of the eschatological war here dovetails nicely with that found in 44285. Indeed, the two seem to be of one piece.x The Qumran sectarians, then, found in Isa. 10:3-3-11: 10 an obvious prophecy of the Davidrc Messiah. This appears to have been true throughout the community's history, for The Rule qf Blessing is a relatively early composition, while the Isaiah Pesher is rather late. Qumran messianism has been subject to divergent interpretations. I'robably the dominant view is that the sectarians looked fonvard to the advent of two principal messianic figures, a royal or L)aviciic Messiah, the Messiah of Israel, and a priestly Messiah, the Messiah of Aaron, both of whom would be preceded by a prophet who may also have been considered in some sense messianic (1Q S ix.11; cf. C l l xii.23; xiv. 19; xx. I). While not all texts explicitly mention two Messiahs, those which at first sight do not fit this scher~lecan, on reflection, be understood to cohere with a dual messianic idealology. Thus, reference to the [High] Priest in 44285, the Uavimc Messiah's subordination to the priests in 4Qplsa'and the probability

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Tile mRslaoon crtcd a dut o f A FJ Klijn, '2 ( S y r u ~Apocllyp~ot) Baruch'. In O'PI,pp 615-52 The L w d Pes-ihn perhaps darn 'from the Lst thud of the first century B C E ' So M P Horgan m J W Charlerworth er 51. r h , Ik &ad % .a ~ l Ifrbmu, l A ~ m a x und Gwek Inrs, 6B Pclhrmm. Othn Commnlranr? 'md Rdrlrrtrd I h m n l i (Tubrngerl Mohr Siebeck, 2002). p 35

ISAIAH W I T H I N JUDAISM OF THE S E C O N D TEMPLE PERIOD

that a blessing of the priestly Messiah preceded that of the Prince of the Congregation in a now lost portion of IQSb all fit well with an expectation of two Messiahs. This has been the prevalent view in Qumran scholarship and still cornnlands notable support." I find it the nlost compelling. However, there are those who dissent h m this position. For example, there are those who hold that the Qumran corpus taken in its entirety simply does not provide a consistent n~essianismthroughout: there was development and there were competing views; some expected one Messiah, others two Messial~s.~' Finally, Martin Abegg thinks that, taken as a whole, the Qumran sectarian texts express the hope for a 13avidic Messiah and only I QS ix. 1l looks for a priestly Messiah as his confederate.'" The Qumranian exegesis of Isa. 10:331I :10 does not offer a conclusive answer to this question; it can be made to fit all three of the solutions just mentioned. Nonetheless, the coherence of interpretation found in three different sectarian texts, IQSb, 4 4 2 8 5 and 4Qp1saJ, argues against incoherence in sectarian messianic doctrine.

Roughly contemporary with the texts from Qumran are the e~ghteenPsalms of Solomon, at least partially written in the aftermath of Pon~pey'sdesecration of the temple in 6 3 BC and his subsequent death in Egypt in 48 BC: (cf. As

Sol. 2:l-2, 26; 8:15-24; 17:l-14).4' The final two psalms in this collection reflect the messianic concerns of the author or comnlunity which produced them. The passages in which the Davidic Messiah's advent and work are portrayed read like a catena of allusions to Isa. 1l:l-5, sprinkled with a few allusions to Ps. 2:&9. The Messiah, the son of Llavid (17:21), is 'girded with strength, that he might shatter unrighteous rulers' (17:22; cf. Isa. 115 ) . He is endowed with wisdorn and righteousness (17:23), strong in the holy spirit (17:37; cf. 18:7b), and 'wise in prudent counsel, together with strength and righteousness' (17:37;cf. 18:7b).All of which recalls Isa. 1 1:l-2. Moreover, it is stated that he will 'judge peoples and natiotis in the wisdom of his righteousness' (17:29), which combines key phrases fiom Isa. 11.3 (judge), 11.2 (wisdom), and 11:4-5 (righteousness). Most striking, however, is the way that the

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E g ,J J C olltns.' "He ShaU not Judge by What HISEyes Sec ' Mcss:arttr Authortty m the [>cad Sea FcmUs', DSI) 2 (IWi), pp 1 4 5 4 4 , idm, 771~ Scrprrr atrd rhc \far fi ,Ucsaahr of flu fid .kJ .\nolls rmd C ) l h n . 4 ~ r n tLfcrafurr (ABRL. New York I>ot~bte&y,1995). crp pp 74-101. arid FM C rosr. 'Notes or1 the Docu~neo f the Two Mmahs at Qunmn and the Extnranorucal Dnn~elApalyprr (4Q246)'.m 1) W Parry and \ D Rtcks, edr, Cumrr Kereurrh and Twhr~olqtc~~l 1)Pmloptnmts on the Ded S ~ L%lk I (STDJ 20. Lridcn Brd, 1%). pp 1 - 1 3 \o e g Sch~fhun,Rrrlmmt~g,pp 321-26 M C; A k a , 'The Mm$t.di at Q u ~ n n nArc We Full See~ngDouble", IlSD 2 (19%).pp 1 2 5 1 4 Thc trandauon o f the Prr 61 crtrd a that of 5 P Hrnck,'Thc Psalr~lsof hlornon', tn H F D Fparh, ed, Tlu Apa-ryplral CNd Esmmr (Oxford Clircndon Prru. 19H4), pp 649-82 On thls &mug o f the Prr Sol cf r g ,C o l h . Sqcn und Sur, pp 4V-5 1 . E k hurn. '& Htsrory of rht ICILIIJ~ I*apk tn the Age o(Jcsw Chnrr A New t~tgltshEdirton rev ard rd C. Vcrrne F MtILr. M C;ooJmm er a1 (E&nbur& T&T Clark. 1971-86). 111 I pp 193-04

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ISAIAH I N 'THE N E W TESTAMP.N'I

detail in fsa. 11:4b, about striking the earth with his mouth and killing the wicked with the breath of his lips, is combined with Ps. 2:9: May he smath the ctntten' arrogance l ~ k ea potter's veswl Wtth a rod ofrron ma) he break rn ptecm all thew substarrce May he destroy the lawless natrons by the word ofhts mouth, So thdt, at h ~ rebuke, s rlatlons flee before hmr, And may he r e p m w srtlnen by the word oftherr o m hearts (17 23b-25) For he wtll smrte the earth wlth the word ofhis niouth for ever: He will bless the people o f t h e Lon3 urtth wisdont and joy;. . . (17%) Blessed art they w h o shall be tn thoce da).i, Seetng the good t h ~ n y of t the Lord whtcli he wrll perfurln for the gerieratton that a t o conre, Urtder the rod o f dtrctphne o f the Lord's anornted ln the fear o f hrs God,

(1 8 6-7a)

The war-like language, especially that borrowed h m Ps. 2:9, smashing 'the sinners' arrogance like a potter's vessel' and 'with a rod of iron may he break in pieces all their substance', suggt.sts that this Messiah is a warrior whose career will begin by leading the armies of the righteous of Israel against sinners.'" Interestindy, the l.?ta/ms of,~o/ontot~here follows the LXX version of Isa. 11:4 rather than the MT. For according to the former, the Shoot ofJesse will strike the earth 'with the tuord ( 5 9 My@) of his n ~ o u d ~whereas ', the Hebrew has 'wlth the rod (qm) of his mouth'. However, the language of 18:7a, 'the rod of discipline of the Lord's anointed', revcals that the author was not ignorant of the Hebrew text of Isa. 11:4. 1 suspect that the translator of LXX Isaiah ~5 r~lerelythe first in a long line of interpreters who, quite naturally given 1 1:4a, took the MT's 'rod of his mouth' as a metaphor for the Messiah's judicial pronouncement ofjudgement (cf. also 1 E n . 622, 4 E z r a 13:33-38, Arc. ha. 4:1X, Targum of Isaiah lot. cir., and, perhaps, 2 Thess. 2:8)," rather than a statenlent of his ability to literally effect execution by the mere spoken word (cf. bclow o n 4 Ezra 13).The Pxalms qf Solomon, then, attest a very similar exegesis of Isa. 10:3-%11:10 t o that which we encountered at Qumran. Srrrtrlrtudes crf E n o c h " W h ~ l ethe conception of the I)av~dlcMessla11 held by the author of the Psalms ~flfSilnwrondoes not appear to have differed s~gnlticantlyh m the expectanon of the I'rlnce of the Congregation shared by the Qumran sectarians, the same

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&% uuuron 111 C olhns. Xlf,m and Smr, pp 54-56 Thrc exegesfi has tdcnufied thc 'rod of hn rnouth' oflsa 11 J w t h the ' ~ m nrod' of Ps 2 9 '' 7111s orrtaphortcal understandmg of 1 1 J IS crpc~tallyclear m the lsarah Targum It rendem l u 1 1 411wrth ' and he shall ~trlkcthc unncn ufthc Idnd with the commwrd ( w x ~of ) hs rnr>uth.and wtth thc rpcakrnq Pfma) of h1.i ltps the miked shaU drc' " U ~ tod~crwne l ~ rtrtcd, thc w~nsltronof the S~tn~lrtu&scrtcd hcrr u that of M Black, 1 %B~w k if I n ~ v hor I I nruh 4 \no t n ~ l i i ktdzrtnn ('iVTP 7 , Le~dcnBrtll. 1085)

C t the

ISAIAH W I T H I N J U D A I S M OF 'THE S E C O N D T E M P L E P E R I O D

Etloch. In this cannot be said for the nlessianic figure of the Similitudes apocalypse of uncertain dateJ5we encounter probably the most transcendent Messiah in pre-Christian Judaism. The Elect O n e or Son of Man, the two designations most ofien used for the Messiah in this apocalypse, sits on the divine throne and judges on behalf of God, or the Lord of Spirits, at the " Elect One seems to belong more to eschatological j ~ d g e m e n t . ~ The the heavenly realm than to an earthly one. He is, nonetheless, identified with the Messiah (48:10; 5 2 4 ) and, if certain allusions to Isaiah 11 are to be taken at face value, even the Llavidic Messiah. The first, rather subtle, allusion occurs in 46:3. The chapter begins with Enoch's vision of 'One who had a head of days' and of 'another whose countenance had the appearance of a man' ( 4 6 : l ) The . use of Daniel 7 here is unmistakable. Enoch asks the identity of the second figure and his ongelus interpres informs him that '[tjhis is the Son of Man to whom righteousness (sedq) belonp, and righteousness (srdq) dwells with him; and all the treasuries of that which is hidden he reveals because the Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and whose cause before the Lord of Spirits triumphs by uprightness (ret') for ever' (46:3).This recalls Isa. 11:5,in which righteousness (JIy) and faithfi~lness ( ~ J I ware ; ~the ) two belb which the 'Shoot of Jesse' will wear. As Michael Knibb has pointed out, the Ethiopic translation of Isaiah here uses the same nouns, sedq and ref',as in the Ethiopic text of 1 Br. 463," which nukes the allusion even clearer and suggests it was at least recognized by the Ethiopic translator of 1 Enoclr. Since what follows in 46:4--8 draws extensively o n Isa. 14:-3-23, we can be fairly confident that in v. 3 we do indeed have a conscious borrowing from Isa. 1 1 :5."* N o ambiguity, however, surround5 the next allusion. The poetic description of the Elect O n e in I Etloch 4 9 recalls Isaiah 1 1 at many points. Indeed, 1 En. 4 9 3 reads like a reforlnulation of Isa. 11:2: 'And in hinl dwells the spirit of wisdom, and the spirit which gives insight, and the spirit of understanding and might, and the spirit of those who sleep in righteousness'. The author of the Sitnilitudes is clearly dependent on Isa. 1 1 :2"%nd has altered it in accordance

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In recent sclrolanhrp the Sirnilitr~drs are dated to etcher the first century acr or the first cenatry CE. For the latter, cf., e.g.. M.A. Kntbh, 'The Date of the Panhln olEnocl1: A Crtucal Kevtew'. MS 25 (197%7Y),pp. 345-59 and J.J. C:oLnr, ?'he A~mrrilypticIrnaRi,ratiorr:Ati Infmdrritiort toJeudh Ayucnlyptu lir~tatr~re, 2rrJ edrr (Crtnhrrdgc: Eerdnrrtrs, I'r)X),pp. 177-78. For thc formcr.cf., c.g.,ti.W.E. Nrckelshurg.Jc~~rirltLfvrattrrr betrrvrrr fltc*BtMe and the Mis/rrtcrh (London: SCM Press, 1981). pp. 221-23. "" Cf. I>.[>. Hatrtlrh. 'The Throne of H n Glory: The Dtvinc Throne and Heavenly Mrdtaton 111 Kevelauorr atld the Sm~htudesof Enoch'. Zh'W 94 (2003), pp. 68-96. M.A. Ktuhb. 'lratan~cTramtiom rn the Book of Enoch'. rn J. Barton and D.J. l\etnrcr, eds, ,4lier fhr GIIP: E~sayrIN Honor of Rex .Macon (Macon, GA: Mcrcer Umverstty P m . 1 0 6 ) .pp. 217-20. See the drscuston ur Knthh. 'lsaranrc Tndruora'.p. 221. '" Thts IS wtdely accepted among tntcrpreters,cf., e.g.. A. Drllnutm. Dac Bruh Hmoclt (Letpztg: Fr. Chr. Wrlh. Vogel. 185.7). p. 163; R.H. Chdrle5, 7hr Hook of EnhcIt or 1 1 S 1 ~ (Oxfl>rd: h Clarendon Pres. 1912). p. 96;E. Sjoberg, T)rr z\fettsr/~ensohtt itn Afhiopischnt Hetrothlnult (Lund: <;leerup. 1946),pp. 97100:J. TI.telsohrr,l h arccrruukltrRirltrer: l Jntersruhrortgctt:t<m fradtttons~sc/ricIrtliihn,
ISAIAH IN THE N E W TESTAMENT

with his own theology and interests. The terms 'spirit of wisdom, . . . the spirit which gives insight, . . . spirit of understanding and might' are equivalent with the second through fourth qualities of Isa. 112, but the last, 'the spirit of those who sleep in righteousness', at first sight appears to be a monumental non sequitur. However. it not only recalls the author's preoccupation with the future life and the intermediate state, it also seems to be his interpretation of Isaiah's 'knowledge and fear of Yahweh'. For it is precisely those who know and fear or honour the LORDwho will 'sleep in righteousness'. The Elect One, then, is filled with the same 'spirit' which inspired those who knew and feared the LORDand who now 'sleep in righteousness'."' Turning to the rest of the chapter, Theisohn has denionsuated that 49:4 is a re-ordering of Isa. 11:3b.The negative statements that the Shoot ofJesse will rely neither on sight nor on hearing are transformed into positive ones: the Elect O n e sees all things, even that which has been kept secret, and he is able to detect lies for what they are." Finally, both I Enoch 49 and Isa. 11:l-10 place a certain emphasis on the righteousness of the messianic figure. There can be no doubt that the author of the Similitudes drew on this descripuon of the endowment of the Shoot of Ilavid with 'the splrit of the LORD'to make the point that the Elect O n e wa.~divinely enabled to fulfil the role of eschatological Judge '' The final aUusion to lsdlah I f occurs near the cllmax of the Similitudes. At the beglnnning of chapter 62 the Lord of Spir~tsplaces the Elect O n e 'on the throne of his glory' 53 Then, 'the spirit of righeousness' 15 'poured out' on the U slay all sinners and all Elect O n e and, we are told, 'the word of his mouth w the unrighteou5 are destroyed tiom before h a face' (62:2).The debt owed to Isa. 11:2,4 is manifest. The Elect One will, by virtue of the judicial powers bestowed on him by the Lord of Spirits, condemn the wicked to destruction. The transcendent and heavenly Messiah of the Similitudes blfiis the prophecy of Isa. 1 1 :4 merely by speaking, that is,by pronouncing the verdict of condemnation. As intimated above, the author, however, did not understand Isa. 11:4 in a literal manner. For it is the Elect One's word (rtagara),i.e., his sentence of judgement, which slays sinners. According to 62:1&11, the k i n g and mighty ones, the sinners par excellence of the Similitudes, will hastily depart - still living - from the presence of the Son of rnan and be handed over to the angels of punishment.

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\ Mowarckcl, Fir 77mt Comerh ntr hfesiah C:oonrrpr in the Clld Gstamint arrd h e Judrurm, rr <; W Andcmn (New York Abrngdorr Press, 1954). p 777 Theuohn. 1X.r au~nwahlteR u h t ~ rpp , 59-64 Cf n p the k u s t o o to Thrrsohn, T)n o&hlte K,ihtef, pp 56-59 A'cordrng to Dtllmar~n'* ernendanon, whtch has found w~deac ceptancc among urterprcten,of iranabara ('and he st') to uu-'anbaro ('md he cnrsed h ~ m to .id)

ISAIAH W I T H I N JUDAISM O F T H E S E C O N D TEMPLE PERIOD

4 Ezra" If, on the basis of Isa. 11:4, the transcendent Messiah of the Similitudes merely renders judgement by his spoken word, a very different picture confronts us in the messianic figure &om 4 Ezra - or more precisely in the source which lay behind the vision recorded in 4 Ezra 13. In this vision, which is plainly indebted to Daniel 7, the seer 'Ezra' sees 'something like the figure of a man' ascend h t n the heart of the sea and fly on the clouds of heaven (13:3a-c). Everything trembles under his gaze and all who hear his voice melt as wax in the fire (13:3d--4). This superhuman 'Man' carves out a mountain and stands upon it (13:6-7; cf. Dan. 2:34, 44-45). A multitude gathers from across the earth to 'wage war' with the hunlan figure (13:5,8). At their attempted assault, the human figure '[sends] forth from his mouth as it were a stream of fire, and from his lips a flaming breath, and h m his tongue . . . a storm of sparks', which instantly consumes the onrushing multitude (13:l(t11). In the interpretation of the vision, which follows, the human figure is identified with 'he whom the Most High has been keeping for many ages,through whom he will deliver his creation' (13:26)'~and is ternled 'my son', i.e., the son of God (13:32, 37).56Significantly, the 'stream of fire', 'flaming breath' and 'storm of sparks' are interpreted metaphorically: And he. nly son, will reprove the assembled nations for their ungodliness (this was sy~nbolizedby the storm), and will reproach them to their face with their evil thoughts and with the torments with w h c h they are to b e tortured (which is symbolized by the flames); and he will destroy them without effort by the law (whrch was symbolized by the fire). (13:37-38)

This exegesis of Isa. 11:4 is not unlike that which we encountered in the Psalms of Solonion and the Similitudes of Enoch: the fire, flames and storm all represent verbal pronouncements made by the messianic figure. That the execution of the 'assembled nations' will be 'without effort by the law', if that is the correct reading," would support such an interpretation: the Messiah will destroy them in that he will announce his verdict of their condemnation. Michael Stone, however, has demonstrated that the vision of 13:l-13 was originally independent of its interpretation in 13:21-56. A number of

"

57

Unlor othenvtsc noted. I rlte B M Metzger'r trmnslmon, 'The Fourth Book of Ezra', rn U 7 P I pp 5 1 6 5 9 Ctung the aanshnon of M E Stone, Fourflt Ezra (Hermenera. M~nnrapnluFortress P m , 1990). p 392 Stone follows the rerdrng ofthe Syrrac. Ethroprc dnd other VT~SION The h h n , whrch IS followed by Mctzger, drffrrr Stone, Fourrh Lxra, pp 2 0 7 4 8 argues forcefully that the ongrnal text spoke of 'tny servant' He posrulates that the Hehmw read W ,whrch wu rendered rrito Greek rs naiq The latter, of course. can mean ctther 'chsld', 'mn'. 'boy', etc or 'servant' The Greek translator Intended the latter, but the Chrl~tuntranslawn of thc Lam, Syria< and Copac vcnrons took rt m the former wnw Ths nay be correct, but 44246 demonstrates that 'son of God' could be used niessmrwlly by Second Tmiplc J e w %I the Syrlac The Lann, althouj$ corrupt, supports the Syruc The two h b r c w m o w and the Arnieman onut the phnsc, wh~lethe Eduoptc mads 'he wll dermy them wrth the~rsm'

ISAIAH IN THE N E W TESTAMENT

elentents in the vision which are not conlnlerlted on in the interpretation, other ele~nentsin the interpretation which correspond to'nothing in the vision, and the overall coherence of the interpretation with the whole of 4 Ezr~lwhich the vision does not share, poirlt irresistibly to this c o ~ l c l u s i o n . ~ ~ Once this original independence of the vision h n the ~ interpretation is appreciated, the different fornls the messianic hope takes in each becomes clear. In the interpretation, the messianic figure hnctions primarily judicially, as an eschatological judge. In the vision, on the other hand, he serves a military role, as well as a cosmic one. In the interpetation, we have to d o with a mere human figure; in the vision, with a superrlatural one." This means that in 4 Exm's source, Isa. 11:4b may well have been understood in a literal manner: with nothing but his spoken word. the Messiah will conquer Israel's er~e~nies (:ertainly, the 'strearn of fire', 'flaming breath' and 'stor111of sparks' point in that direction. However that rnay be, both the vision and the interpretation of 4 Ezra 13 have taken up what, by the end of the first cer~turycn, nlust have been a conlrrlorl ropes in Jewish messianic expectation. Moreover, as no other detail h n l Isa. I0:33-11: 10 appears in 4 Ezra 13,it may be that neither the author of 4 Ezra nor, although this is less certain, the author of his source appreciated the origin of this topos. This is especially so if, as appears likely, 13: 11 contains an echo of Ps.2:'). As we have seen, the two, Ira. 11 :4 and 1's. 2 9 , were read in l i g h t of each other as early as t h e l'salnrs of so lot not^. By the time of the con~positionof 4 Ezra, the combination ofthe content ofthese two verses had apparently so shaped certain expectations about the Messiah that it was possible for an author to use such language independent of any reflection on Isaiah 1 1.

F~nally,and for the sake of completeness, the end of the t h ~ r dSrhyllrnc Oracle chould be nlent~oned"I L ~ n t s741-795 detcrtbe the parad~c~cal condrt~onc w h ~ c hwrll follow the final judgement and accompany the escl~atolog~cal K~ngdornof God. A fme adaptloll of ha. 11.6-9 LXX conclude tills de~cr~pt~on: Wolvec and lambs wll eat grass together Leopard5 wrll feed together w ~ t hkrds

'* \tone. tv~$rtlrLzra, pp

"

rnountalns

70(rJ(Ht. L C 1150 pp 210-12

'" Note that the pmwous \won ( 4 1 z n ~11-12)

"

111 the

rn ulnch the Mm\r.~ha 5ymbohred hy a t&ng Iron. d0vetdd.i nrccl) urth rtre ir~tcrpmtat~oo, hut not the vlslnn. of ~h 1? In chr 11-12, the Merstah a a human frgurc whrch prnnouncn judgement on the Roman cmprre and ra frrlal rulers Thts pornt further suppow \tone's contermon that thc vsrorr of 13 1-13 conla troni pre-cxrsung tnarrrrd Thc translatrnn oi the Ghyll~trc( h ~ luwd ~ < rn thrs scrtron 1% that by John J Colhns, 'Srbylhne Onclm'. 01 1' I, pp 317-472 < ollrru phi- the tlnrd Oracle rn Egvpt, rn the perrcd 160-150 nc F. see ha d~uusstorlm (71I' 1. pp 354-50

ISAIAH WI'I'HIN JUDAISM OF THE SECOND 'I'EMPLE PERIOD

K O V I IbIe~a n w ~ l spend l t h e nrght wrth calves T h e flesh-erung lrorl w ~ l eat l husks at t h e manger lrke a n ox, a n d mere rr~farltc hrldrerl w J l lead tt~ertl w ~ t ropes h For h e wrll rrlake t h e beacts o n earth harnrleu Serpents a n d acps wrll sleep wrth babrer a n d wrll n o t hart11 them, for t h e hand of G o d wrll bc u p o n t l ~ e r n(11 788-795)

Interestingly, there appears to have been no influence kom the parallel in Isa. 65:25; the 'Sibyl' has on this occasion apparently only had Isaiah 11 before her." O f more significance is that fact that Isaiah's reference to Mount Zion has been dropped, resulting in a universalized text: it is those in all the world who turn to God, and not just the Jews and Jerusalem, who will experience this age of peace and prosperity (cf. esp. 11. 732-740,750-758,772-775). O f even more importance is the absence of any n~essianicfigure in this conception of the eschatological kingdom. To be sure, 11.052456 does credit 'a king fiorn the sun', sent by God, with ridhng the world of war. This solar king, if indeed it is the same figure, is mentioned again at 11.708-709: 'No hand of evil war, but rather the Inl~riortalhimself and the hand of the Holy O n e will be fighting for them'. Nonetheless, nothing else is said concernirlg this 'Gentile Messiah's'" role in the salvation of the Jews, and no role whatsoever is attributed to him in the final judgement or in the inaupration ofthe eschatological kingdom. The Deity alone b r i n g each of these to fulfilment. 111this, the third Sibyllirre Oracle stands apart korn all the other texts which cite or allude to Isaiah 11. That a messianic understanding of Isa. 10:34-11:10 continued in Judaism in the rabbinic period and beyond is shown by such texts as j. Ber. 2:4 (15b),"" the Targum on Isa. ll:l-lO,"i and S f i r Zerubhabcl (BHiCI

h"he

two dct.nk whrch on first ughr nught suggeu rnflueace Goni l u . 65:25 lose all fon-c upon esanunruon. Frnt. at v. 7c the L X P R ' reacLs 'bcrth the i ~ o nand the ox shall sat straw together'. whrle 4 b . Or rn.7')l prc5umes esrcrly what we read III Isa. 6525: 'and the Ilon shall eat straw 2s an e 1s Found rn LXX.L'"' Second. hot11 Sih Or lo. 7 8 8 6 and l u . 65251 ox'. However. t h ~ s~ n r text tend to speak ISI the plural of wolve~.hrnh\,chrldren,etc..whereas 1 s . I1 : f r 9 u x s only the rtrrp;t~iar. G ~ v e nthe adapnvc nature of Sih Or. 111.78Xff..however, thlr a very slrght evrdeocc For the ~nflucricc of lsa. 05:25. "' CoLrn. 077'1, pp. 354-56, arwrs cogntly that tire ' h n s f i n 1 the run' rnust n k r to a future (fn)rir rhr pcrspccuvr ofthe aurlior) P t o l c m r Lsig. The story III quesuorr ts aru~buredto K.Bun (= I<.Abrn I), an early fourth-century rdhb~acnve rn horh l'alcsnnc and Babyloma. The story, however, could he much carher. It a%urh.hy r u d ~ n gI s . I(k3-i ('Lebanon [= dre rerriple] w ~ r h~u majcst~crrca W I fall') m conjuncaon ~ 7 t hIra. 11:l ('There sliall come forth a shoot front Jesse'), that the Meslab was born on the very day the terirple was destrnycd. It seems more natnral to place the orrgrn ofsuch a m & u o n edrl~er.~rrune&arely after 70 C6,rather than Irter. "' llruce C:hdtori h.n nude a convrncnig case for rlie earhat sobsmttrm, whrrh he terrru 'an exegenrrl lianiework', of the Isrrh Targtrtn machmg hack to the p e r 1 4 henveen 70 m d 135 cs. If he rs correct. ZIT. Iro 11:l-9 tiwy be contentporrry wttlr 4 Ezm and 2 R-muit, See 8.1). Chdton. 711~ C;lory qfIsr&/: 71r 7hrolay ottd I+otmirnc~oJrke Isaidh 7aqz:lenUSOTSup 23; Shefield:JSOT Pmn. 1983). pp. 12.%7-102.

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESI'AMENT

11.54-57).'*'It also passed tnto early Chrtst1antty.a~2 Thes5. 2:s; Kotn. 15: 12; 1 Pet. 4: 14;'" Rev. 5 5 ; 19:11-21 .hX Asc. Isa. 4: 18 and, perhaps, Matt. 2:23 attest. The populrrtty of thlr text for Second Temple Jews who sought rts \upport, and gutdance, for thew messtantc beheis ts undensable and unsurprtring gtven tts content. That tt was taker) up by early (;hrtsttans and repeated by the rabbts was only to have been expected.

If the ac~thorttyof Iwah 11 was felt ottly In tert~tsof ntecstansc or esthatologxal cpeculatton, the ~nfluerlceof I~atah'svlcton touched a number ofdlffere r ~ tarea\, but espectally apocalypttc vl\ronc of God and the lrtcirhy. The lnrportance of Isatah 6 In both can ccarc-ely be overesttnlatrd C't\~otr$of (;od Lrtrltrottetl

Xogether wlth Ezektel 1 and, to a le\.ier degree, 1 Kgs 22 19-22, Isatah's revelatton of God ctlthroned 111 the temple \wc drawn on by apocalyptlt seers, and later by Merkavah mysttc.i.a\ they \ought to mdute thetr vtvonary expertence.i to verbal reprecentatton '' Detatls fmni Icatah 6, a5 well as Ezektel 1 and 1 Klngs 22, appear tn vtstotir of God recorded tn Second Ternple apocalypses of Etrcxh, the Aporalypcr ofilhralram, (the &)ok of Ubtilii~rs,Ilantel, the Swr~lrrrcti~s and, perhaps, ilettamenr oJ h j r and 2 Enoch), later Hekhalot Itterature (3 Enc~ih, H~*kltalorZutarti), dnd In two pnyers (T ,i.fo.s 4 2, 2 Bar 21 7) Take for example 1 Err 14 8b-20 Behold' clouds were callrng nic III IIIY ~ 1 ~ 1 0 1and 1, dark cloud, u r n . crying out to me, trre-balls and I~ghtntngswere hasten~ngme on dnd drrv~ngme, and w~ndc,tn my vltron, were hzartng me alnfi. and they rarted nre upwards and carried and hmught rile ~ n t o the heavens IThere fo1low.i an eutended de.icrtptron of the t u o chatilber.; of the heavenly tenlple. w h ~ c hare comtructed of tongue.; of hre, ha~lstonesand $now] And I beheld them a lo@ throne, in appearance w a s l ~ k cthe crvwl\ of Ice and the wlieels thereof u ~ r le~ k ethe .ihtn~ngtun. and 11s sdes wcn thinihtrn And fron~underneath the rhmne came forth ttman,\ ot blar~ngfire, arid I war uriablr to look on 11 And the Great Glory sat themon. rnii h1.i rnlnlcnt wac brrghtcr than the cun, and w h ~ t e rthan any 5110%

-'

In this our earliest non-canonical vision of God, the characterization of the

.

" Thir Hchrew apocalvysc is verb late pmhahlv no carlier than the %c>cnrh<entun \o,c g H L \trrtL arid C, \tenthcqer, Incroducrion ro rhc Ialmud attd Mtdrach, rr M Hock~iiiiehl(Fdmhurgh TRT C Lrk, IaNl).p 36s ( 1 abo Matt '3 th/Luls 1 22 John I 12, Eph 1 17 " Frp \ \ 15.21 C f r l w K m 1 l 6 , 2 12.16 " k c thc mpertrlly t~rlpfultreatment of th~rthcttie ui C Rowhid. Ihc O p t t f ~ ~ t i m 4 \tu& of 4 p a l y y r u tn Judrrtrm u r d Lady < hnrrrrrnrry (Londorr 'iP( K , I'tXZ). pp 7% 88 ? I S 2 7 ' An adaptrr~onot Wbrk'r tranrlrrron \cc rlotcr 7 2 and 73 &low I

ISAIAH W I T H I N JUDAISM OF T H E SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

throne as 'lofty' or 'high' recalls Isaiah 6:lc." In both visions the Deity's raiment is remarked upon, although in the Book of Watchers Isaiah's laconic 'the hen1 of his robe filled the temple' has become a description of the &vine garment's luminosity (1 En. 14:20). Moreover, both visions are located in a temple: in 1 Enoch it is clear that the heavenly sanctuary is intended, while this is a distinct possibility for Isaiah - although it is also possible that in the latter Yahweh and his entourage have journeyed to appear to Isaiah in the Jerusalem temple (cf. Ezekiel 1). To be sure, the author of this vision has also drawn heavily on Ezekiel's vision ofthe throne-chariot, as its wheels (1 En. 14:18),72 and the fkquent reference to fire, ice and lightning (1 En. 14:9-17) make clear.'.' The same combination of Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel I confronts us in the brief description of the enthroned Deity in Dan. 7:9-10. Here the Ancient of Days sits on a throne as in Isa. 6:l, is surrounded by angelic attendants as in Isa. 6:23, and mention is made of the divine garments as in Isa. 6: lc. However, Ezekiel and Ermh also serve as important sources: the throne is supplied with wheels (Ezek. I :15-21; 1 En. 14:18) and fire figures prominently as material for the throne (Ezek. 1:4,13; 1 En. 14:9-17). The language of Dan. 7:9-10, however, is otien closest to 1 Glnclt 14, especially in the description of the divine robes (Dan. 7:9d-e and 1 En. 14:20b), the 'thousand thousand' which attend the Deity (Dan. 7:10c--d and 1 En. 14:22d) and river of fire which flows front the throne (Ilan. 7:lOa-b and 1 En. 14:lVa). Not unexpectedly, when we turn to the vision of God in the Similitudes 4 Enoch (1 Enoch 39-40), Isaiah 6 remains in the background, but it is 1 Enoch 14 whose influence is most apparent. Enoch's transportation to heaven by means of a storm-wind (39:3) recalls 14:8, the 'thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads' who stand 'before the glory of the Lord of Spiriu' (40:l) draws on both 1 En. 14:22 and Dan. 7:10, while the extended description of the four 'F'resences' which stand on the four sides of the throne (40:2-10) owes more to 1 Erloch 9-10 and 20 than to either Isaiah 6 or Ezekiel 1,

"

Lf n p the tww Greek venrons c t h v Bpovov 6vqAov (1 Ln 14 18) and c t h v rov xuptov raBqpavov Cnt Bpovov 6vqh.G rut hrqppcvou ( l u 6 1 LXX)

"

Roth the C;reek and Ethtoprc \enrons h m have a srr~gularthe fornrcr speaks ofthe rhmnc'x whccl (rpqhs) and the latter of the throne's 'nnurt' or 'crrcumferencc' (kebab) It IS probable, however that u r have here an error of a ( hruam scribe who did not rcalru that m Jewish tradruon God's throne was a chrrrot (bf Ezek 1 15-21. Dan 7 9) U~lformnately,the Aranurc of thu verse IS not prcxrvcd If at the end of 14 18 one toUow the Ethroprc, nther than the rdnlrnedly corrupt Greek t e a , one unght trrld ra tt an dluuon to the Tmhqron ofthc Senphun The Ethtopt~reads 'and dle sound (or vorce) of Clreruhrnm' Of coune, Isrrah atmhutcs the three-fold 'Holy' to Senphrm. not Cheruhm~. hut thc two could he earlly comhrned (urn Rev 4 8) However, 1thtnk tt probable that the Ethroprc IS rnerely an attempt to rruke sense of the Lorrupt Greek vemon and that the orqpnal prohahly spoke of the '.irdes' of the throne, uhrch wvas 'corl~tructed' of Cheruhrm See my amcle 'Of Cheruhtrn and the Drvrne Throne Rev 5 6 tn Context', NTS 49 (2003), pp 533-35, where I follow arrd develop a suggnuorr ntadc by J T Mhk, The Boob o f t m h Atrnwarr Fmmtr oJ@tmrh Caw 4 (Oxfixd CLrendon, l976), pp 1'++200

''

ISAIAH IN THE N E W TFSI'AMIINT

ilthough the four 't'resence\' rllay have rts ultimate orlgln in thetour 'lrv~ng creatures' of Ezekrel 1 Nonetheless, rt m r~npossrblethat the author of the Simrlrtudt~rdrew on Isatah only vla the texts of f Enoclr and Danlel. For he rnclude\ a verclon of the Trrslra~ptonof the Seraphlm rn 39.12-13 As we shall see, rt IS po\rrble that for t h ~ she borrowed dlrectly from the Irturgy of temple or synagogue, rather than from the book of Isarah. Even so, he could not have I I~turgywac the been Ignorant that the scr~ptlrralba\~rfor these words I ~ the vr\lorr of Isa~ah. Srnnlarly, ~nthe ilpoca-alypirof Abralmtn, whlch probably dates ffom c. 100 AD, \\e find elements fro111both Ezeklel 1 arid Isalah 6 In the descrrptlon of the '(our fiery I~vrngcreatures' wtio are srtuated under the d~vlnethrone (18:3;cf. Ezek 1.26) 1)etalls taken h-orn Ezekiel's vlslon predom~nate,but the l~vrng creatures' \IX wing by whrch they cover then faces and feet, and w t h w h ~ c h thev fly, ha\ beer1 taken directly frolr~the Seraphlrn of Isa. 6:2,as a the fact that their primary hnction is to sing hymns to the Ileity. Other echoes to Isaiah 6 n ~ a ybe found in the prayers recorded in 2 BQ~. 21:4-11 (v.7) and TiI4o.i. 4 3 - 4 (v. 2), while further apocalyptic visions of God which depend on Isaiah 6 irrclude '1.' Lrvi 5:1 a r ~ d2 Ir't~c)clr20-21. Unforturiatelv it is not certain whether thew latter YO are Jewlsh or Chrrctlan producnons, nor even ~f they stem frorn the Second Terrlple per~odor were con~posedat a later time. What Is clear is that speculatron on (;od arid hrs throne whrch was tnfortned by lcalah 0 corrt~nucdrn Judarsm afier I00 ( E, especrally w~thlriMerkavah mysnclsm (3 Etr 1 12 [$2], 19 7 1$30],22 13 1fj341.35.h [953], 40.2 [ § 5 8 ] ;Hekhalor Zutilrtr $350) The Kcvelatrori ofJohn (esp 4-25) and the .4scensron if'lsatnlr serve as two prornlnent exirnple5 of the slnlrlar tnsplratron Isatah 6 afforded Chrlsnan authon '' Tlluc, the vl\~onof lsarah ac recorded In Isa. 6: 1-13 hnctroned as one of the two rnarn Scrtptural source5 (along wrth Ezek~el 1 ) for vlsrons of God in apocalyptrc I~terature,both Jewlsh and Chrlst~an.Even when a later text such as 1 fitmilt 14 or I )antel 7 served a5 an author's prrniary authority, one can ~trll detect Isa~ah6 and Ezekrel 1 as twin fountahheads behlnd all apocalyptic crsrons of God In Fecond Teniple l~teratureIt 1s surpraslng, then, that lsalah 6 seenrs to have had so lrttle Impact In the sectarran I~teraturefrorn Qumran. To be sure, thrs absence rrlay be due to the accidents of the fragmentary preservatron of the scrolls from the Judean de\ert Aker all, very few apocalyp~es \nrvlve 1x1 the Qunlran corpus and those that do are qulte hgmentary. Moreover, one copy of the Iiatah I)t.sher (4Oplsab = 4Q162) breaks off at Isa. 5 30 If only the re\t of ~ t sfinal colunrn ti,~dsurv~vedwe probably would have an example of Qumran exegesls of Isarah's vlslon to compare w ~ t hthe

"Other allunorn

to luidh r mot^ III errlv C hrirtrrrr literature u~cludcJohn 12 37-41. cap v 41 For rile intcrpreatron of lurrli f? in ;tie Awcr~r~on Isutalt. Jcwlsh Chratianlt) md Chippn. wc D O Hanriah, 'lsalah r Vision i r k tlrr hucrrsrorr of Isaiah and the Early <'hunti', rrS 50 (1999). pp Xct-lol

ISAIAH WITHIN JUDAISM OF THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

apocalypses.'5 Nonetheless, ~t 1s str~klngand puzzling that a work l ~ k ethe Sc~ngsof the Sabhatir Samfice (or S l r ~ r vVlar t ha-,$l~ahbat), w h ~ c hIncorporates so much whlch pretigures later Merkavah mystlclsnl, contaln-i no clear allus~onto Isa~ah6. The absence of the Q e d u f a h 1s part~cularlycurlous. The Qedubh in Second X~npleJitdaism

The Qedufdh, constructed of the Seraphim's thrice-holy hymn in Isa. 6:3 and that of the living creatures (or Cherubim) in Ezek. 3:12, has an important role in the synagogue liturgy, being recited in two different contexts. in the Ydser benediction before the Senti and in the ;4tnidalr.'"oday the former takes the following form: Re'rder T h e name of the great, m ~ g h t yand awesome G o d and Krng, holy IS H e And they all take upon thenlselves the yoke of the krngdom of heaven o n e from the other, and grve leave t o o n e another to c a n c n 6 their Maker In tnnyurl <prrrt,wrth pure speech and holy n~elodv,they all respond rn unnon, e x c l r n ~ r n gwtth awe Con~rqartotrHoly, holy, holy I$ the LORD ofhost$ the whole earth IS full o f Hrs glorv Rradcr T h e n the Ophdnrm and ttre holy Chdyoth, rrsrng w l t l ~a roarrng nolse toward the Seraphrm, rn turn utter pnrse and say Cot!frcganorr Blesxd be the glory o f the LORD h111 IS place Kvadrr To the blessed G o d they offer pleasdnt mciodres.

There are many gaps in our knowledge of the early development of the Jewish liturgy, particularly in the pre-70 period, and much we sin~plycannot know. Nonetheless, many scholars would place the origins of the QeduSbh within Second Temple Judaism, perhaps in the temple liturgy." The coupling of Isa. 6:3 and Ezek. 3 1 2 brings together the only two occasions in the Hebrew Bible when the praise of angelic b r i n g is actually recorded; thus the absence of any allusion to it in the Sitirot has puzzled scholars.'" There is, however, one possible 'hidden' allusior~to the Qeduhh at the beginning of the song for the seventh Sabbath (44403 1 i.31):

''

1 i

This a not ahu~lutclyiertatn, for 'the hihlrcal test of Irdrah doer not =em to have been fnUo\vcd contrnuously'. So M.I? Horgao. Pesharim: Qutnran Ittrerpreranons of Bibliurl Dooks (CBQMS 8; Wrshingcon: <:dtholrc. B~hl~cdl Arsocutron. 1070).pp. 8647. '" 'Thew a also cilr Upd1r&111ite Stdra. hut 10orrgrns am tn the RPI hftdrah, riot the cynagoque. " Crted tiom S. Srnpr, n.,711~Aurhorir~dDaily Pmyn Book of rite I inired F i c b w Con~nyariotrsofrlrt C:omntont~.nlrh(London: Clay's,1998).pp. 61-64. '" See J. Hrmetnann, Praypr in dv ilalmrrd: hrms und Ihrcernr (FWJ 9):Berltn: Walter de Cruyrer, 1Y77), pp. 2Xk31. Hernen~annhtt~rselfdoes nor thrnk that the QednIuh origirtdted 111 the rrrriple Lturgy, but see the scholars he ctta on p. 231, n. 33. Ttre carl~rstevrdmce b)r the Qed~rIult. rn the form rt has corrie down nr the Itturgy, IS found in r. Bn 1.9, In a mdrtion conccrrtlng R. Judah. Thrs denionstntes that rt w a s fixed hy the end of the tecond century or the hrgrnning of the thrrd at the latrst. C:C r g . B Nt111n. (11m1ra11Pmp611d Rr-I~~iws Pwtry. cr.J Chipnun (STUJ 12: Laden: l h t U 1994). p. 367; 1). Fdk, I)cltly, .Sabbath, mtd Frstiwl Prnyrn in rhr Dead Sea Jimlls (STIIJ 27; Leiden: UrrU. IWH), p. 130: and E. Cliarrrn. 'Lrturg~calCommunion wlth the Angels at Qumran', 111 I l K . Falk, F. Garcia Mdrtinez and E.M. ScltuUer, e&, Silptrnhal, D'turftcitl and Porriial '1i.l.~~ liom Qumratt (STUJ 35; 1.etdcti:Br~ll.?(M)O). pp. LT)-l!X).

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Let the holiest of the godhke ones sanctifj, the King of glory who sanctifies by lus holiness all his holy ones 1(%b v l p ' I fz& &K wrp m)

3w

The and are clearly not correct and the translation above assumes the emendations, proposed by Anna Maria Schwemer, of ('sanctifies') and ltmp ('by his holiness'), respectively. With these two 'errors' obscuring the text, there are exactly three occurrences ofcognates ofthe substantive p be set apart', 'to sanctifi.'). Schwemer ('holy') and ~ t sverbal forrn ~ r ('to argues that the 'errors' are lntent~onaland were meant to create a three-fold 'Holy' and a hldden allu51on to the Seraph~m'shymn, the first part of the Qddah She finds evldence for the ~ntenuonalnature of these 'errors' through a clever bit of gen~atrla.The two erroneous letters 9 and Y also serve as the nurnerals 30 and 70, recpectlvely Thelr sum, 100, tr~pledylelds 300, the numer~calvalue of the letter, V , they have both r e p l a ~ e d . ~Schwemer ' has hrther Identified an alluslon to Ezek. 3 1 2 , the QeduJbh's second component, later In the same song (4Q403 I 11 15-16). Whlle ~t 1s poss~bleto explaln as nothing more than a transcriptional error for ('let [them] magnify'), cannot be so easily explained. the 7 and a being pronounced similarly,8' 1v Moreover, other 'hidden' allusions to the three-fold 'Holy' of Isa. 6:3 have been located, by various scholars, in Psalrn 99, the LXX version of the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2) and in the apocryphal psalrn H y m n to the Cfeutor (1 lQPs" 20:9-15)."

Whether or not one accepts these veiled allusions to Isa. h:3 and Ezek. 5 1 2 , the dilemma remains as to why the Shirot, which goes into such detailed description of the Seraphim, Cherubim and the divine throne, never cites either of the angelic 'hymns' found on the pages of the Hebrew Bible. Esther Chazon, finding another allusion to Ezek. 3:12 in the twelfih song (44405 20 ii 21-22 7-10) and accepting Schwemer's arguments about the hidden allusion in the seventh song, has argued that it nlust be presumed that the angels actually recite the hymns of Isa. h:3 and Ezek. 3:12. The 'hymns' are never quoted, however, because in the Sltirot, '[tlhe human worshippers describe the angelic praise, and echo it in kind', but, out ofa sense of human inadequacy on the part of the Qumran sectarians, 'never repeat the angel's words ~ e t b a t i m ' . ~ If this is correct, and I think it very plausible, then we may well have in the Songs of the Sahhatlz Sacriie evidence for the liturgical use of both Isa. 6:3 and Ezek. 3:12. However that rnay be, the Sitniliticdes ofEnoc.h present us with our earliest, A M k hwcnrer '<.<)nah Konq uurld srme Koarphernchafi m den Sabbrdredrrnaus Qumran', rrr M Hcrrgel and A M Lhwrnier.cds. Koniyshemrh~zfiGottcs und L~nmlurhnKnlr rm]udmtnm, Orrhnsfnrrum und m dm hcllmrstuthm &"rItW U N T 55. Tubrr~genMohr [\lehe~k],l W l ) , p p 45-1 18, a p 97-99 k h m e r hss hrcn followed by Fak, LhXlrfy, Sabbath, d Fnnual Pmym, pp 1 J(b-41 '' 5th e g C hazon. ' L I N ~ IComnmu~non', L~~ p 1(YI, n 17. and J R Ih\-&a. L l m ~ Minks ~ l (E('DF5 6, ( ~ r n ~Kaprds. d MI Emrdrnan~. 2000). p 124 " Scc d ~ thelpful . srrnulrary m Fdk,Duriy, .k)aMmth,and IcxhLal CSaym, pp 141-42 '' C hazot~.'Ltturgr~aILorlrrnran~on p 1 0 1

.

.

ISAIAH W I T H I N JUDAISM OF

THE S E C O N D TEMPLE PERIOD

clear allusion - almost citation - of Isa. 6:3.Early in Enoch's vision he sees and reports: Those w h o sleep not bless You; they stand before Your glory and bless, praise and extol saylng: 'Holy, Holy, Holy IS the Lord o f Spirits w h o fils the earth wlth spirits'. And there my eyes saw all those that sleep not; they stand before H i m and Mess and say: 'Blessed are You and blessed is the name o f the Lord o f Spirits for ever and ever'. ( I En. 39: 12-1 3)

It is interesting that this early Qedujbh does not include Ezek. 3:12, but has in its place a different Benediction. There are perhaps three different explanations for this: (1) Ezek. 3 1 2 may not have been included in the Qedttfah when the Similitudes were composed; (2) there may not as yet have been a fixed Benediction as a response to the three-fold 'Holy,' but rather a choice between a (3) the Similitudes here give witness to a sectarian nurnber of Benedictiotz~;~~ liturgy different h m that of Cormnon Judaism. N o final decision between these can be made, given our ignorance of the temple and synagogue liturgy during our period, but the fact that an obvious interpretive 'spin' is here being given to Isaiah 6 3 , 'The Lord of Spirits fills the earth with spirits',suggests that the last option may have some truth to it. At any rate, this passage shows that the liturguical use of Isa. 6:3 reaches well back into the Second Temple period.n5 The So-CZalled Servant Songs

We turn now to the four passages tiom Deutero-Isaiah which were 'discovered' and isolated by Bernhard Duhm in 1892 as the so-called Servant songs: 4 2 : 1 4 (5-8); 49:1-6 (7-9a); 50:4-9 (10-1 1); 52:13-53:12.X6 Their demarcation is today generally contested in scholarshipn and I intend no defence of their separate existence here. Nonetheless, they contain passages

* We know ofat least three 'Ikoedrcooru' whrch were used m anaqurty Ezek 3 12, the Sonrlrtudes' Benedlruon c~tedahove, and Ps 118 2 b whlch entered Into Chrrsaan hturgy as r mpow to the .%IKIIIS or lncltnq~on *' That the author of tlrc Srrn~ltrr~dr~ u r r d e n t d there tu be a lox ionrrecuon between tlre 'rrghteous m d eleit' - fix whrch read the author's sect - and the angcl~chose (39 4-5.61 12,70 1-4,cf a h 51 4-5) mcam that rt u hrghly unhkely that he was here uidulg~ngm 'pure' exegeus wtuih had no hturgrcd srpticarice Other Jewrsh texts are from urne to trnre adduced as ev~dcncefor Second Ten~plcbturg~caluse of tlir Qdurah. such as 2 h 21 1 (long rec ), Apor rMo* 40 5, far Abr 3 3, 20 12 (ref A), and Test I s u 6 4-6.24 AU these, however, are works of unccrnrn date and were pmcrved by Chruuam, the rmhogrun In than may well be due to Chrunan ~nfluenie " B I)uhm, Da BurhJesqa, (HKAT.Gotungen Vandenhocck h Kuprecht, 1892,4th cdn 1922) The verse n i ~ m k nounrde the parentheses represent Duhni's own delmuuooo of the 'Soqp', thox wrthln parentheses a iornn~onlyheld, nlore n u w n u l ~ dehnutaaon ~r There IS no general agreement as to the actual extent of the 'Songs' by thox who defend thelr separate cxrttrncc '' Cf c K. R J Chfford. k t r Sprkrn and Pnrlradlug An h r p r ~ ~ t ofSerond ~ ~ o n Isnralr (New York Padut, 1984).pp 84-93.146-55,15664

.

I S A I A H IN I'I.lt NEW 'I'tiSTAMtN'I

tvI11(h were ofierl appealed to In the N T and early C:lirritlanrty genenlly,XH aud thus the que\rrorr o f the role thecc text, played wlthln Second Temple Judar\111 15 e\\elltlal for o u r u~lderstarld~~lg both o f lsarah 111 the N e w Teit.1nlerlt, and o f Isarah rn \econct Terlrple J u d a ~ t n lrr,-d-r~rt early C:hrritl.~r~~ty Je\\lrh Interpretattons o f these Servalit \ o n g till Into two h n ~ a dcategories, that whrch I \ mt-.ic~ar~rr 111 content a n J that mhlch 1s 11ot I WIII beg111 my \ur\.ev wrth ttle latter S c i ~ i \tr\crat;t( -

It;rrrprr.t~trrot~\

T h e c ha11ce phmsc o r terlll Fourlei 111 the \rrv.ant c o n g LIII a1s0 be ~OLIIIJ 111 varrocl\ Qurllranran eon~pcrcrt~onrFor euarrlple, at (:I) 5 13 the eprtl~eti 'rgrlrter~o f fire' and 'krnJler\ of blazes', terrni o f abuse fmnl lia 50 1 1, are drrec tcd at thaw w h o reject the doctrlrlc\ o f the conlniun~ty13ut t h ~ \ugge\t\ \ n o Illore than a born)wltrg of language and rt would not be cafe to ~rlclude~t a\ evrdenc e for prolonged reflectron o n the to-called thlrci Servant song A \1n11lar adoptlon o f phraiei fn>nl o n e o f the Scrvarlt \ o n g occurc In the Barkr ,V'if,hr text($) 130th 4 Q 4 3 6 and 4Q.137, w h ~ c hare e ~ t h e rdlffi.rent c o p m of tlle \arile hyrll~lo r different l i y n ~ n \f r r ~ mthe sarne collcctlon, adapt v'irrouc p11raie1 fro111 Iia 49 2 Irltcnvo\cn \\rtlr many other icrrptur.11 alluiro~lr,the rrarr,rtor o r riltlror o f t h ~ i / t h c \ etjodayot-lrke text($) cla~rns,rn 'i citrcct dddre4s to (;od, 'You halve rnadc my t ~ l o u t hIrke .i \harpened \word' (4(2436 1 I 7, cf Is,i 4').2'i), arid '111 your quiver [you] l l ~ l drnel you nlrde m e rrlto 3' sharp arrow, In the 5hellter ofl your Il'~ndyou hrd me' (4Q437 2 I 8-0, LC 1s.1 40 Zbc) T h ~ narrator, s wllo IS never nameti ln the preserved fragnrerlti o f the I3t1rkr ,Vuf\hr text(c), rec.~ll\tlrc riarrator rrr the Hc~dayot,Ire liiay be tllc author \peakrug wrth hli ow11 volce o r an anonylllou\ Everynlarl If the forn~er,Ilc would ieern to have beerr a central fih'ure rn the Qumran c o n ~ r n u n ~ t"'yNonetheles. there I \ n o ~ndtcatlorrt h ~ the t narrator was rrrakrng rrieciranlc clalrni In hrs uie of-1\,1 49 2 nor th,it any more reflectlorl or1 the \ecorld Serv,lrlt song urldcrl.ly thts text than C:l>'s uce ofttle t h ~ r d\ong. More promlclng IS the M l h t ~ k k r t k I)e\lrrr'r appltcatlon o f Ica 42 1 t o the Qu11lra11rectar~aniH,ib 1 12-13a, partrcularly 'you have appo~rltedhlnl for , ~nterpretecia\ judgement' and 'you have rnctalled htm t o rebuke h ~ n l ' 'IW

"*

f- g . Irdlsh 42 Mark I 1l:Mdtt 3 17'Luke .? 22. Mart 17 I t b l l . 1 7 . i ( l okc 'j .3i, L i ~ k c2 3lL.12. 2 3 75;1:p 1bn1 I4 fr-7.lu1ah 4 0 Luke 2-32;Acts 13.47: lip lirnt. 14 8. l u ~ r h5O.Mrtt. 26.07.27 SO. I:/' ftrnl 5 14: 1, I-2,s. l u l r l ~53. Rol11. 10-16. I I'ct 2 22. 2.1; Matt X 17. Lukc 22.37: JOIIII I2.3X. Irevloit\Irorr. dtid c\p. Sccl?. '4Q4.17'. pp 14') 50

ISAIAH WITHIN JUDAISM O F THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

referring not to Israel's destruction at the hand of the nations, but rather to the community's role in judging the peoples: '. . . in the hand of his chosen ones God will place the judgement over all the peoples' (M tw ?K In7 ITXI 71 %; 1 QpHab. v. 4)." This pesher depends upon an allusion to Isa. 42:l: 'Behold nly servant, . . . my chosen, . . . he will pronounce (lit. bring forth) judge~nenton the nations' (KVV OW? . . . qm . . . w F). 'God's chosen ones', 'the chosen of Israel', or similar phrases, are a popular self-designation for the community in the P~sharim.'~The scroll on which the Haljakkuk Pesher is found was probably copied 'in the second half of the first century BC,'" and, as it is usually held that most the Peshnrim are autographs,"4that is probably in date of cornposition as well. However, the iderltification of the 'Servant' or 'Elect One' of Isaiah's Servant s o n g with Israel or the righteous within Israel is far older. Many scholars have foutld a n~tdrashon the fourth Servant song rn the story of the perxcutlon and ~ubsequentvlrld~cattonof the rrghteout nlan In the W~cdonlof Solonlon 1-6. N ~ c k e l t b u r ~for , " ~example, notes that the r~ghteousmarl refers to ht~rlselfas the 'servant of the Lord' (naiq ~ u p i o vWts. ; 2:13), a tttie fourld throughout the so-called Servant songs (e g., lsa. 42: 1; 49:6; 50: 10; 52: 13." Both the rtg11teou.i n u n (Wts. 2:15) and the Servant (Isa. 52:14; 552) are 'grievous to behold'. The righteous man's enelllies determine to test him, particularly 'to find out how gentle he is' (2: 19). which recalls the lamb-like nature of the Servant (Isa. 527). The suffering and death of both the righteous man and the Servant are tnisunderstood (Wis. 3:2b; 5 4 ; Isa. 53:4b). Moreover, the structure and language of the scene which describes the righteous nlan's and the Servant's divine vindication are similar: they begin with a statement of the vinciication of each (Wis. 5: la; Isa. 52: 13), which is followed by a parenthetical statement oftheir fornler state (Wis. 5: 1bc; Isa. 52: 14). which is in turn followed by the reaction of the righteous man's persecutors (Wis. 5:2) and of nations and k i n g (Isa. 52:15), and concludes with the cottfession of each Nickelsburg further buttresses group of opponents (Wis. 5:3-8; Isa. 53: 14)."' these observatiotis with numerous other parallels h m the other three Servant songs,and in particular notes that both Wisdom 5 and Isaiah -53sharc a judicial '"

.

rcirdered here 1s 'Irlr ctr
ISAIAH I N T H E N E W TESTAMENT

setting.* To be sure, Nickelsburg was not the first to riotice this dependence upon Isa. 523-53:12," and many interpreters of the Wisdom of Solon~on have endorsed it.")" The righteous xnan in this product of Alexandrian Judaism, which probably dates from the end of the fint century BC or the early decades of the followirlg century,"" serves as an 'Every-Jew' who lives in the ofien hostile context of a Hellerlistic city. Thus, the understanding we encounter here is not unlike that in the Habakkuk Pesher. In both the Servant of Deutero-Isaiah is identified with the righteous within Israel. A sinlilar idetltificatior~occurs in the book of Daniel. It is now generally accepted1'" that the author of Daniel intended to identiFy his 'the wise among the people' @)an. 11:33; cf. also 11 3 5 ; 1 2 3 ) with Deutero-Isaiah's Servant. This is especially clear t h m the way Isa. 53:ll ('the righteous one, my servant, shall make nlatly rghteous') is utilized in 1)an. 1 2 3 : Tho.te w h o are wtte shall t h ~ n eltke the brlghtr~esso f t h e sky. and rho,r 1tl11oIe41d many to nqhtrotunrss, hke the stars for c w r and ever

Even the desibmation 'the wise' (&zIw?.I) may derive from Isa. 52:13: mn 'Behold, my servant shall prosper' (so Targ., shall h a w itrci'ght or art pnrdently' (so LXX, V g , AV,etc.). In addition to these verbal allusions, Daniel's wise suffer (Dan. 1 1 :33), as drd the Servant (Isa. 53:s. 7); it is irnplied that they are condenlrled as lawbreaken (Dan. 1134-36; cf. 1 Macc. 1:50),as was the Servant (Isa. 53:8,12); they are executed (Dan. 11:33),as also the Servant (Isa. 53:8,12); but nonetheless both Ilaniel's wise and Isaiah's Servant are innocent in the eyes of God and are subsequently vindicated (Dan. 12:2-3; Isa. 53:10-1 1). Daniel, then, has taken up the language of Deutero-Isaiah in his description of the 'wise' who suffered rnartydom under Antiochus Epiphanes. r l l ~~V P which , can be rendered RSV, NRSV) or 'Behold, I T I ~servant

,Cfesstunrr Interprerarrons The book of Ilan~el,the Habakkuk Pesher, both of w h ~ c hare Palesnn~ancompocltlonc, and the W~sdomof Solornon, w h ~ c hwas wrltten In the D~aspora, all found In lsa~ah's 'Suffering Servant' a prophecy of thelr own c~rcle's

Ntckebhurg. R~furr~rrt'irt. pp. h.S-65. N~ckclrburgmcnrrons C;. I)dnun.J.Jercrnrd~and M.J. Suggs. See Rcsumaort, p. 61, rr. 47. ,,B' E.K.,I). Winston, Thr bVicdom of.%fctmon (AR: Gardm City. NY: Douhlrday. 1979). pp. 119-20; J. Schaherg,'Mqor Mtdrashtc Tr~droonsIn W i d o m 1.14.25'.JS{X (I9XZ),pp. 7.S-101; L.L. Gnhhe, l+'icbm of .%l'mon (SI~cfielJ:Shefield Academtc I'rm, 1997). pp. 44-46; artd tentaavely J.M. Reere, 71ic Bwk of U'isdcm, Song qf .h. (OTM @ 20; Wilnungon, DE:Mtchael Glazier, 19X3), pp. 40.52. I.#! h,e.g., E. Schdrrr, Itrrory. Ill I, pp. 572-73; Ntckclsburg.~lnnrh Lrmatuw, p. 184; Grrhbr. 4+tsAom, pp. 87-90; Wttwon. U'isdom, pp. 20-25. I"' H.L. Ctnsbrrg. 'The Oldest Interpretanon of the Suffer~ngSrmot', C T 3 (1953). pp. 4 W ; Ntrkchhurg, Resummon, pp. 24-26; J.J. Collins. Durttcf (Hermeneta; IMuu~eapohs.MN: F o r m s . 1YY3).pp. JX5,39.3;and, tcnunvcly,J.E. Goldingay, &ntd (WBC:;I>&, TX: Word, 19W7),pp. 303. 308.

"

ISAIAH WITHIN JUDAISM OF THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

persecution. In each case, the authors in question understood the Servant figure to stand for all the righteous within Israel, no doubt because of clues within the text of l>eutero-Isaiah itself that the Servant stood for a plurality of individuals and was closely related to the nation of Israel (e.g., Isa. 44:21; 493). A limited number of others, however, taking as their starting point passages which distinguished the Servant from the nation of Israel and which seem to imply that the Servant was a single individual (e.g., Isa. 42:O; 49:54), understood Isaiah's Servant to be the (or a) Messiah. The one text which pursues this messianic exegesis of the lsaianic Servant songs at the greatest length is, not surprisingly when one remembers its exe. noted above, 'Elect One' is one of gesis of Isaiah 1 1, the Similirudes o f E n ~ hAs the two most popular designations for the Messiah in this apocryphon (e.g., 1 En. 40:s; 45:3,4; 49:2,4, etc.). This title almost certainly derives tion1 Isa. 42:l ('Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen (m), in whoni nry soul delights . . .') for, analogous to what we found with regard to the Hdbakkuk Pesher, the author of the Similitudes has iinderstood Isa. 42: l d to affirm that the ofice of eschatological judge will be turned over to the Elect One (e.g., 1 En. 45:3; 61:+9): It is the Elect O n e who will 'pronounce judgement on the nations'. Moreover, 1 En. 48:l-10 is deeply indebted to Isa. 49:l-7, and could even be terrned a rnidrash on the so-called second Servant song. The naming of the Son of Man in the presence of the Lord of Spirits 'before the sun and moon were rnade' (1 En. 48:2-3) recalls Isa. 49:1, in which the Servant is namcd by the LORDwhen he is still in his mother's womb. Similarly, that the Son of Man will be 'a light of the Gentiles' interprea Isa. 49%. The detail that the Son of Man 'has been chosen and hidden from everlasting before [the Lord of Spirits] and for ever' ( I En. 48:h) probably has its origins in Isa. 49:7d ('the Holy O n e of Israel . . . has chosen you') and 49:2bd ('in the shadow of his a similar hand he hid me . . . in his quiver he hid me away'), respectively."'~~n manner, 1 Enoch 62-63 is indebted to Isa. 52: 13-53: 12 and functions as something of a midrash on Isaiah's so-called fourth Servant song. Just as many, including kings of the nations, will be astonished at the exaltation of the Servant (Isa. 52:14-15). will react in horror, confessing their sins (Isa. 53: 1-6) and acclainring the Servant (Isa. 53:4-6), so the kings and rnighty ones who witness the enthronen~entof the Elect O n e (1 En. 62:2-3) will react in horror because they persecuted the elect ones (1 Etr. 624-5, 10-13). and will acclainl the Lord of Spirits and confess their sins (1 En. 63:2-10). However, in no sense is the Elect One or Son of Man thought to suffer, as Isaiah's servant does, or even as 'the righteous' in Ilaniel, the Hdbbakk~tkPesher and Wisdo~n. Rather, in the Sin~ilihtdrsa vital link between the Elect One/Son of Man and the righteous, elect and holy ones - for which read the author's own sect - is presupposed. He is their chan~pionand heavenly representative. In that the

1 \

('1 Knrhb. 'lur~n~r Tradtnons',pp 220-22. and Thc~rohn.1X-r alurnrehltr Rulrm, pp 1 19-23

ISAIAH I N I HI. NFW TkSTAMI NT

Ling and the nlrghtv ones per\ecuted the elect orles (62 1 I), tlley ~crllbe judged by thc Llect Orle Cle.trly, then, the author hac rderlt~fiedhrt Son of Ma11 or Elect O n e w ~ t hIla~ah'eServant, but ha\ not concluded tllcrehy that the Messtall should cuffer "' A verb dlffererit niecclatllc applrcatlon of I\arah's 5ervant matertal nrry appear III Srb Or 111 708-713 As we note above, 11 708-091nlry be 'I second allurron to the ' K ~ n gh n l the \un' (11 652-56) or ~t could allude to .mother, Jew~rll,Menrah E~therway, verv l~ttle15 made of thrc figure and the etrrph,~sls fallc on Ciod.5 rnltlatlve In brrngrng about the \alvat~onof the Jews kotn thelr enemlec and ~nes~ibl~rhrng hr\ eechatologi~alkrrlgdonl Nonethcle\\, thls b r ~ e f rrrcr~tlorlo f t h r 'Ifoly One', wllo wrll fight for the Jewlsh natlon a l o n ~ r d e'the Irnrnortal hrrll\elf, 15 followed by 'in alluc~onto I\a 49 I LXX 'Arld then all 1\1dndsand Lltle\ will \ay, " f # o \ ~rlluch the Imnlortal loves those [lien [ I e ,the Jew\'] For evervthlng fight\ on thelr clde and helps t h e ~ n ,heaven, drvlnel) drlverr \tin and moon " ' (Srli Or 111 710-1 3) The alluc~onto lea 49 1 LXX 15,I thrrlk, probable because of (1) the rnentlorl of r\lands rn both and (2) the warlike Imagery a.i~rlbedto the Servant III Ita 49 2 and to the 'Iloly One' In Srh O r I I I 709 It 1s then all the nlor? 5trrklng that nothrrlg tlrore re made of thrc figure 111 the thlrd Srhyllrtrc. Ori~rl(*He appear\ to he rlle\cranlc, but he certainly docc not tuffer Ftn.allv, the Iit~qtrttrof I*ora/r dcnlon\tratec t h ~ at Ine\\lantc rcaci~rlgof 15.1 52 13-53 13 tontlnucd In later Judalsm Tht\ fasclnatlng text ~dentlfiecthe ' Fervarlt wrth the Mecclah, 'Behold, rlry servant, the Mewah, chall pn>\per (52 13). but attribute\ the suffertng w h ~ c hare his in the Hebrew text oflca~ah to erthcr the gentrle\ or 51nful I.irael In the Tarkwn~,the Messrdh Ir a rnllrt.iry figure ( i 2 15, 53 8),a man of p~ety( i 3 7). the reburlder of tile terrlple (53 j r ) , a teacher (53 i b ) and jucige (53 0 ) The portrart ofthe Me\c~ahwhrch emerge\ re not urll~lethat of the Aalttt, of Solotnc~ttIt rrray well be that, as t5ruce Chilton has drbyed, thrc readtrlg of leaah 52-53 reachec back I I I ~ O the Tarlrlartrc penmi 'Ip5 If $0,rt dates fn>r,i the verv erld of, or ju\t .iftrr. our per~odand confirnrs that the Srtnlltrudc\ are rlot cntlrely unlque In thcrr interpretatlor1 o f Iurah 52-53 It hardly 11eedcto be stated,however, that nowhere rn thew tlrree nlescrallrc reading of l\arah'c \ervant w n p , the Sltr~rlrrudc~, the thrrd Srbyllttrc. Ormrle and the lsa~ahTargu~n.1s vrcarlouc juffer~ngattrlbutrd to the Me\srah

Thr\ overvrew of I\a~ahwrth~n5econci Ternplc Juda~sm15 not ~ n t e r ~ d etod be cxhau\ttve A great deal 1110re C O L I I ~be t a d about the testy dlscu\ted above, as

i 4

t

.<

C:t anlong orhen, Ntc.kclrbur~.Kc"iuwcrtrtwr, pp. 7(1-74. Ktrthb. 'l~dldllllT ~ . I ~ ~ I c Lppo I223-11 ~\', Thdt the t.lert Ortc'Son of man doc%not %uffrr.(.f \joberg, llrr .if<'tf~hrft>o/tt~. pp 1 If>-3') Howrvcr, 1") f ~ 111 r ~ t ~ to deny n the ~ I I~I H U C I~~ C C<111\.1 c ~5 2 . 1~3 - i i ~I.? I I ~I ~ ~ ~ C I J I C ~ (:htlton. (;lory o/lsrarl, pp 01 - 9 f ~

Sjoher): ROC'

ISAIAH WITHIN JUDAISM O F THE SECZOND TEMPLE PERIOD

well as about a great many more Isaianic passages. Time and space fail us to consider the Conrtnuniry Rule's exegesis of Isa. 40: 1-1 1 (1QS viii. 12-16) or the use made of Isa. 351-10 and 61 : I 4 in 4Q521, the citation of Isa. 7.1 7 in the Datrrascus Dnntntent (Cll 7:lOK; 14:1 ) or the si~mifiranceof Isa. 65: 17-19; 6622-23 for the Bonk qf Enoch. The texts we have examined, however, aptly illustrate the importance of the prophecies of Isaiah for Second Temple Jewish ~nessianisni,apocalyptic visionary texts, the l i t u r g and Jewish self-identity in the context of opposition. Given the range of Second Temple Jewish texts which appealed to this Old Testament prophet and the variety of interpretations which they put to his words, it is hardly surprising that early Christians also found this prophet particularly useful in the proclan~ation of their message.

Chapter 2

Isaiah in Mark's Gospel Morna D. Hooker

That the book of lsaiah was of particular importance for Mark seer115 clear, for he begins his 'Gospel about Jesus Christ' with a quotatior1 which he attributes to Isaiah. It is, moreover, the only 'editorial' quotation in the whole gospel, since the quotations he uses elsewhere are always attributed to one of the characters in the story, nornlally Jesus himself. Like Kom. 1:2 - but more specifically - it establishes straight away that the Gospel proclain~edhere was 'announced beforehand in sacred scriptures through his prophets'. This one quotation, in Mark 1:2-3, is thus the equivalent of all the 'hlfilrt~entquotations' in Matthew put together.' It would seem, then, that this opening quotation is understood by Mark to be programmatic: the key to understanding what this 'Gospel' - or 'Good News' - might be is to be found in the book of Isaiah." It is all the more remarkable, then, that what Mark introduces as 'written in the prophet Isaiah' begins with words written elsewhere! The opening sentence - 'Behold, I send my nlessenger before you, who will prepare your way' - appears to be an amalgam of promises taken tiom Exod. 23:20 and Mal. 3: 1. This is even more surprising when we compare the Synoptic parallels to Mark 1:3,since though both Matthew and Luke use this Exodus-Malachi quotation elsewhere (Matt. 1 1 : 10; Luke 7:27),the quotation from Isa. 40:3 is found here on its own (Matt. 3:3 and Luke 3:4, in both cases attributed to Isaiah). If Matthew and Luke were independently using Mark 1 , then they l~iustboth have decided to drop the first quotation at this point because each of them was planning to use it in another context. This would suggest that they had already thought out exactly what they would be including later in their narratives. Critics who argue that Mark used Matthew, rather than the other way round, see this passage as evidence that Mark, having decided to omit the story about

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It IS, of' course, true that Mark. ilnllke Mmhew, IS u5111gxrrpturc hmadly, not to SIIOM tlou part~culrdctatk \wrc firlfillcd Cf Hugh Anderson. 'The Old rmcdmcnt tn Mark's (.rtrpcl'. In Jam- M Eflni, ed , Thr Lkc of the Old Iesratnmt rn tlte h m t atrd Otlrpr l-~snys Srudtc.; tn Ifc>norol Will~amFm~~klrn Sttneynnf (L)urham, NC I3uke Unt\rersto Pms. 1072). pp 2XO!-3t% AEcd Suhf, De Funkhun der alrrestamrntlrrhrn drarr rrnd Ansprrlutrqor r1n I.larkrum*ttqrlrum (C;utmloh Gerd Mohn, 1965). denter the rrnporu~rceof 'fulttlrnent' for Mark, hilt 1gmrc-s the lmpornncc o f thtr opcntng quotannn

ISAIAH I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T

John the Uapt~stsendrng messenger5 to Jesus from prtcon, took the E x o d u v M,~lrch~ qilotatlorr h t n that story and jolned ~t to the words h r n Isa~ah. Doth thew euplanatrons appear to envltage the evangeltsts porlng over docunrents and plectng them together \v~thsctcsors and paste. It seems more pn)bable that both quotations were already betng used In the pre-Markan tradtttorl to refer to John, and came to the evangellca ~ n d e ~ e n d e n t l All ~.' nradt* use of a tradttton quotn~gIsa 40 3, w h ~ l eMatthew and Luke knew of a c to Exodus-Malacht. Further evidence different \tory in whlch J e ~ i ~referred n 1s to be that Isa 40 3 was an Important one In the early C h r ~ s t ~ acommuntty4 found 111 the fact that ~tIS used also In the fourth gospel, where ~t1s once agatrr enlployed ofJohn the Bapt~st(John 1 :23).' It may well have been Mark, then, who was respon\tble for br~ngnrgthe two quounons t ~ g e t h e r . ~ Why d ~ Mark d attrtbute t h ~ s'nuxed' quotatton to Isa~ah!Was ~t a n~~stake! I h d he, that IS,uztunre tlrat both halves of the quotat~orrmust be h n l Isa~ah? O r was ~t a 'delrberate' tn~rtake: In other words, was Isatah co lnlportant for h ~ r nthat ~t ceenred nece\\ary to ectablish stratght away that the Good News .ibout Jesuq C h m t was the fulfilment of what had been prcmr~sedthrough l\at.~tr" T h ~ cquestlor1 can be answered only by exanrtnlng the way 111 which s Before he uses Ica~ah,rlot only In tlr~spascage but elsewhere tn h ~ gospel.X d o ~ n gtlrat, however, we nlu\t g u g e 18~~nportance here Ftrst, \ye need to remember th.tt the later chapten of lsalah (generally known a5 'Ilcutero-l\a~dh' and 'Tr~to-l\a~alr')rrlake h ~ cbook the obv~ous source for pmclan1atmn.i about Cod's ecchatologtcal \alvat~onMoreover, what Mark set\ out to wrltc IS the 'Good New\' or 'Gospel', and the noun he uses (tbuyythtov) 15 related to a verb that 1s uced several tlnlcs In the later chapters of I\a~ah,where it 15 used of proclatrn~ngthe good news of God'c rule.9 It has, to be cure, been ponrteci out that the noun ttself 1s not uced w ~ t ht h ~ ceschatolog~cal\ense rn the LXX, and attempts have therefore been made to der~ve C h r ~ \ t ~ alice n ofthe tern) from the ~nrper~al cult, where the plural form 1s used ' (:ontparr\rm c~fMdrk1: I-- 13 wrtil IL\ prrdllclr rn tile ottirr hwsprk ,up@%sthat Matrttcw and Luke

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u*crertot followrr~gMark c Ic>rclyrt ti115porrit, hut unns another, pdrauel, crddltlon. Thc 115c of the opcniny vcncr of Isdrah 40 in the New Te.itarnmt is dru-u%xd hv Klync R. \nt,tigra\~.'Screams of Traditlorr Eri~ergtngfi,rn lsarah 40.1-5 and therr Adaptattorr in the New Ii~trrrtcrtt'.~S.Vl X (19XU).pp 24-45. Ir IS pi,\\rt>lc, of coune. tlrat the atrtllor r>itltc fotrnh gorpcl w s s here drawtrlg on orte of the \ynoprrcr. rattler thrrt nrirrg rrt rndepcndcnt trrdrnon. An rlterndtrve ~ s p l r i ~ a r i\uggett> ~ ~ r t that the t i r ~quotatto~t t w.15 an carly glotr.coprcd Into the test of h,lrrk fnrrrt (2 7.77. Thrr u>lutrc~riis fdvrrtrred by rome cornntcntntors. c . ~ . Taylor, 'fit (hqwl 'ucordrnp ro Sr .$lark (Lolldon btac~t~rilart. 1952). p 153. .171cre a,11own.cr. no tcsttlal cvtdcrrce to support till\ ruggrrttoo See rrr pdrttrrrlar Kikki E W~tt.i.Ldl'rh'r %. r' I l x ~ d l uurrd .ifark (WUNT, 2nd scrrn XN: Tiihtngen: Mohr \reheck. IC)97),pp. XX-'A). Ilecent Jtu.~ir~roo\ of this arc to he Cound rn Watts. . A ~ q r ,Ikodus: and Joel Marcuc. 7hc C4ky qf'rlrr loni
of 'good news' about the emperor. N o doubt those living in the Roman Empire would have nude that link, but the frequent use of the verb, which certainly has an Isaianic background, suggests that we should look for the origin of both terms in the LXX."' The fact that Mark claimed that the beginning of the gospel was 'as it is written in the prophet Isaiah' suggests that he was well aware that the prophet had proclailned 'good news'. Secondly, it is worth noting why Mark needed to use the Exodus-Malachi quotation to introduce the lines h r n Isaiah. Matthew and Luke both begin their accounts ofJohn's missiori with a reference to him in the wilderness, and to the fact that he was preaching (Matt. 3:l; Luke 3:2-3): they then use the quotation ti-om Isaiah to back this up. Mark, however, bqqitr.~with scripture,and since he has not yet nlentioned John, the first quotation, from Exodus-Malachi, serves to introduce him, and to explain who the 'voice crying in the wilderness'ic. The quotation h t i l Exodus-Malachi underlines the specific role ofJohn: his whole purpose is to prepare the way of the one who follows him. By beginning in this way, rather that1 by introducing Jolln by name, Mark ensures that his readers will imnlediately understat~dthat John's only purpose is to point forward to thc one who follows hinl. Not surprisingly, then, in contrast to Matthew and Luke (Matt. 37-10; Luke 3:7-14),John's message in Mark consists of three pithy statements which concentrate our attention on the one who is so 11li1ch greater than he. The quotation G n l Isa. 4 0 3 is sandwiched between the wvords &on1 Exodus-Malachi and the description of John vv. 4-47 which identifies hirn as a prophet - and in particular the prophet Elijah (2 Kgs I:%),who was expected to return before the coming of the Lord (Mal. 4:s) - and so underlines the fact that the one for whom John has prepared the way is none other than 'the Lord': a voice crylog In the wllderne<<'I'mpart. the wry of the Lord: make h ~ pathc s strarght'

In Isa. 40.3, 'the Lord' wa,, of course, God h~nnelf.the LXX ( w h ~ c hMark follows exactly, apart from subsntutlng 'hlr' for 'our God' at the end) used the word ubp~oc,here lri place of the dlvtne nalne Mark, ~t would seetli, has ldentified 'the Lord' of Isa~alr40 wlth Christ, for by the end of Mark 1 8 all eyec are focused expectantly on the one who comes after John, and 111 w 911 Jecus not only appear? on the scene, but a addressed by the heavenly voice as God'$ beloved Son, and I\ revealed to Mark'$ readerc as tile one In who111 God's holy Sptrtt IS at work. Althougl~Ica. 40.3 IF lriterpreted by M x k as berng fulfilled ln John the Baptst, therefore, ltr real slbmlficance - like that ofJohn hlrnself- 15 to polrlt to the one who follows hlm, anci to Infor111uc that tn Jesuc the wlvat~onpromised

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For further d ~ u u s ~ oofl tti115 Isrue. ,cc Watt.i. \nu I~odrc\,pp 'I(r-')Y

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

rn Isa~ahhas arrived It 1s in the light of thrs text, therefore, that Mark wshes us to read hlr narrative Before we turri to the rest of Mark's gospel, however, we must cons~der what these intmductory quotation\ tell us about the message ofJohn. When he appean, in v 4, he prepares the way of the Lord by pmclarmrng a baptlsm of repentance for the forgaveness of sins It is noticeable that Mark, unlike Matthew and Luke,does not preserlt John as a prophet ofjudgement: the Baptist's message 1s entirely posrnw, and indeed is echoed by Jesus h~mself111 1.15. God ogers the forgiveness of stns to those who repent, and nothing IS aid In these introductory verses about the fate of those who refuse to d o so. Nevertheless, the promlsed forglvene$s requrres repentance The fact that Mark's account of the ministry of Jesus begrns, In 1 14, w ~ t hthe words 'After John had been handed over', indrcates straight away that riot everyone has welcomed his proclanlatlon, and that the comlng of the Lord will inevrtably mean judgenient, as well as \alvation O t h w Clear Quotations of lsaialz

The therrle of repentance and forgiveness is echoed in the next clear quotation of scripture, in 4:12. This quotation, too, is fkonl Isaiah, although this time Mark gives no hint of its source. It occurs in 4: 12, in the brief comment about the purpose of parables which links the parable of thc Sower (4:l-9) with its interpretation (4:1.3-20). Mark tells us here that before explaining the parable itself,Jesus told his disciples why he taught the people in parables. It was In order that thr). trray look and look. yet percerve nothlng; that thty may hsten and hrtcri, yet understarid nothlng Otherwr.ie they nright turn and be forgrven

The saying ruelf, together with the setting (a pr~vateexplanation to Jesus' disciples), bears the hallmark of teaching enlar~atlngfro111 the early Christ~an community The quotanon 1s from Ita 6.9-10, though it 1s by no means exact, since the order of 'seerng' and 'hearing' hac been reversed, and the first part of v 1 0 has been on~ittedMark'\ version shows no clear dependence on erther the Ma5oretic text or the LXX or the Targum The rntraductory 'ivu cuggests, however, that Mark intended his readers to undentand these words as a quotation " Although the quotatron rairec consrderable theological d~fficultres,rts meaning for Mark seerrls clear Jews taught in parables In order that his hearers should not understand and respond to hrs teach~ng.Thrs harsh statement appears to clash wwth what Mark tell5 us elsewhere about Jesus' proclanlation

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Although M ~ t t h mhas a
of God's b n g d o m . Indeed, in 4:33-34, he explains that Jesus taught the people 'the word, as they were able to hear it', and that he invariably used parables to do so. These parables were a challenge - one could m p o n d to their message or ignore it - and the so-called 'parable of the Sower' is in fact a parable about parables. Sandwiched between the parable itself and its explanation, this quotation h m Isaiah 6 offers an explanation as to why so much of the crop had failed - in other words, why so many of Jesus' fellow-Jews had failed to respond to his message. Since God was omnipotent, the fact that men and women were apparently unable to see and hear the offer of salvation must be part of his purpose.Just as the call of Isaiah was interpreted, after the event, as a call to prevent men and wonien responding to his message, so Jesus is depicted as preaching in parables in order to conceal his message. Mark 4:1112 reflects the early Christian community's attempt to deal with a probleni that left its mark elsewhere in the New Tc3tament - above all in Romans 9-1 1. The sanie verses troni Isaiah 6 are quoted in John 12:40 and Acts 28:26-27, which are concerned with the same problem. Set as it is in a pivotal position in this collection of parables - which is Mark's first rilajor section of Jesus' teachirig - this quotation reminds us that seeing and hearing the Good News which Jesus is proclairning and enacting is not enough: it need5 to be perceived and understood. The salvation which the Lord brings must be grasped: those who have not turned again and repented d o not receive the forgveness prornised by John, and so are not ready for the coming ofthe Lord announced in Isa. 40:3.Although the quotation's function is negative, however, the reference to 'turning' and to 'forgiveness' points to the h c t that the primary purpose of the Lord's conling is to bring salvation. The third clear quotation in Mark is once again fraln Isaiah, and this time it is introduced as a prophecy of lsaiali concerning the 'hypocrites' whom Jesus is here addressirtg (7:&7). These are 'the Pharisees and some of the scribes, who have come from Jerusalem' (7:1) and who are criticizing him because of his disciples' failure to observe the traditions of the elders. The form of the text is closer to the LXX of Isa. 29: 13 than to the Hebrew, which would be less appropriate here, since it is concerned solely with the contrast between worship with the heart and with the lips. Jesus' comment in vv. 9-13, which contrasts divine and human commandments, picks up the accusation in the final line of the LXX:'* This people honours m e with their lips. but their heart n far from me. In vain they worship me. teaching hunlan precepts as doctrines. '"t

u urrdouhtedly true. 2s Watts. Arm*Iixodtu, pp 216-18, has argued, that the rehgrour authoriun' concern wrth pet5 regulatmtu was rlro ~nterfcrrry,wrth thetr w n h r p ofGod, whrch LS thc mara thenie of the Hebrew text of Isarah Ncverthelcxc, the specrfic apphcauon of the passage rn the Markrn context - to the prrorrty berng grveti hy the relrgrour leaden to huriun trad~ucm-requires the LXX venion rather than thc Hebrew

ISAIAI-I IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The qilotatlon 1s not only rntroducrd wtth the words 'as ~t a wrttten', but a ascrtbed specifically to Iw~ah,as In 1 2 Thts offen some support to the suggestlon noted earher that Ismah was of partrcular Importance to Mark In contrast to that ~ntroductoryquotatlon, however, what we have here (as In 4:12) 1s a saving whlch condemns God's people for thew fa~lureto respond to bun. those who worship wtth thelr l ~ p sbut not them hearts are not ready for the connng of the Lord The words of Isa~ah pronounce judgement on the rel~gloilsleaders of Israel, who oppose the teachlng and practlce ofJesus. Isa~ah announced the connng of the I ord (Mark 1 2-3), but he also announced that ins people would fall to respond to h ~ m(4 12) or worstnp h ~ mwholeheartedly, because they were more concerned wlth t h e ~ rown teachulg than w ~ t hGod's ~ o m ~ n d n d ~ n(7e (~~~ 7t tOne ) ofthe ~nevttableresults of the Lord's c onllng 1sjudgement Mark 7 1-23 appears to be a collection ofdlfferent sayings w h ~ c hhave been brought together at some stage The first few verses (1-5) descr~bethe tncldent which provokes the I'harlsees' crltlclsrn of the dtsc~plec,and vv 6-8 provrde Jesus' first response to that t r ~ t ~ c ~ sbased r n , on Isa 29 13 The quotat ~ o nI\ then echoed, rather clums~ly,In v 9, whlch ~ntroducesan example of the way In w h ~ c hthe I'har~ceec 'abandon the conimandrnent of God and hold to human tradltlon' (v 8). uslng n+o more b~bhcalquotations (vv 9-13) The part~cularexarnple seerns to have no obv~ousrelevance to the matter of handwd'rlnng. and may well have orlg~nallvbeen part of a dlffsrent dlspute The relevance of lsa 20 13 to the arpnlent 1s brought out better by Matthew, who tells LI\ that Jesus threw back the accusation brought by h ~ sopponents; he of what 'Motes' s a ~ dand what 'you' say before the places Jesus' d~scuss~on Isalah quotation, whlch he uses to effect as the punchhne of the ~ncldent. The spec~ficexample glven of the way In whrch Jesus' crlt~csabandon the commandment of God 111 favour of human t r a d ~ t ~ oISnthe comn~andmentto honour one's father and mother, glven through Moses (Exod. 20:12 and 21 17) Jews accuses then1 of allow~ngthe commandment to be set aside by declar~nggoods to be 'corban', or dedicated to God by a11 oath The human trad~tloncan hardly be the refilsal to break a vow, slnce the ~rrevocablenature of oaths 1s also a dlv~necon~mand~nent (Nun1 30 2, Deut 23 21-23) It must therefore be the rul~ngthat the vo\v takes precedence over one's duty to father dnd lnother Jesub' attltilde IS sllrnlar to the judgement exprewd In the thlni century AI) In the Mlshnah (Ned 9 1 ) . where the honour due to father and Inother IS sad to overrule all vows The fact that thls 1s spelt out rn the M~shnahsuggests that someone had at some suge argued the opposite, and that the d~sputew ~ t hthe Jewish rehg~ousauthorlnec descr~bed111 Mark 7 113 - whether thts tnvolved Jesuc h~rncelfor h ~ later s followers - was therefore a pots~bleone Follow~ngt h ~ arg~lment s about the d~vlrlecolnnxandrnent and h u m m trad~tlon,Jesus15 sad to have surnn~onedthe crowd (Mark 7 14) In order to glve a cet ond, quite dtfferent, answer to the questlon regadtng hand-wash~ng.He

now declares that what enters the mouth does not defile, only what leaves it (v. IS), a saying that is then esplained, privately, to the disciples (vv. 17-23). The saying in v. 15 seems a far more apposite response to the criticism levelled at the ciisciples than the sayings in w. 6-8and 9-13,'hnd may well represent an earlier tradition.14 It is possible that w. 6-13 have been inserted into the story at some stage. If Mark himself was responsible for the somewhat clunlsy introduction of these verses here, it may have been because he thought the lsaiah quotation of particular importance, as showirtg, once again, that Israel's failure had been foreseen by the prophet. We have no way, however, of knowing whether or not Mark was responsible for introducing it here. A brief quotation from lsaiah occurs in the description of Gehenna in Mark 9:4X: it is the place where 'their worm never dies, and the fire never goes out'.I5 The words are taken frottl the final verse of Isaiah, and are close to, but not identical with, the LXX. This time, the words are used as a warning to the disciples themselves, not as a comment about 'those outside' (4:11-12) or about Jesus' critics (7:6-7). Even Jesus' followers tleed to be on their guard lest they stumble and fall. Like the original words in Isaiah, this warning ofpossible destruction sta~idsin sark contrast to the pron~ise of reward, which is described in Mark in terms of entering into life (9:43, 45) or entering the Kingdom of God. The next plain quota ti or^ of lsaiah occurs in 11:17, in the story of the socalled 'cleansing of the temple'. Whatever the nature of the original incident, it is clear that for Mark the event is part ofJcsus' judgement on Israel for her failure to worship God aright. The words of Isa. 2 9 1 3 might well have been used appropriately here, but instead Mark quotes a positive text h r n Isa. 56:7 - 'my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'. These words were originally part of God's promise regarding his temple, but in Jesus' mouth here they become a condemnation, because the temple is not a house of prayer for all the nations but - in the word5 ofJeremiah - has been made 'a robbers' den' Uer. 7:ll). The Greek, both of the quotation from lsaiah and of the phrase from Jeremiah, agrees exactly with the LXX, but since this provides an accurate translation of the Hebrew, we camlot be certain that Mark was using it.'" Debate about the rneani~lgof this incident continues unabated: is it a 'cleansing' or a 'sign of future destruction'? The answer may well be that Jesus himself intended it to be the former, but that Mark, writing afier the event, saw

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C f also Luke I 1 1 7 4 1 . whir h lulks cr~trcamofJesus' tarlure to wash hetow eatulg w ~ t ha u y o g

about the 'oumde' dnd the 'rnsde' Fee. e g Joel Marcus. Mdtk 1-8 (AB, New York, etc Douhleday. 1999).pp 4 4 7 4 8 '"he d m rlpaon n found three nnln lo sonle MSF (ASw 44.46 and 48). hut the shorter \erston n ahno\t certa~nl)orrgnal A E Harvey's comment that the quotatroll nnaot hrvr hect~wketr h m the Hebrew. lesro und rhr (irrsrrarnrs of H~srt~ry (London 1)uckworth. 1982). p 112. IS t~uruken,he appean ti, havc heen loolung at the wrong half of the Hehrew verse

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it as the latter Certarnly the settrng he grver ~t r~rggertsthat he rt re s ~ g ~ i ~ f ju
(

1 M 1) Hooker. 'lrddtt~otn~ h o u the t Terliple III the \ ~ \ t n pot J L - ~ I ~ '

f+lKf

7 0 ( I O X X ) pp 7-1')

lets the virlcyanl out to others. Mark's final comment, in v. 12, irldicates that he understands the parable to be directed against 'them' - i.e. the religious leaders who have been questioning Jesus at the end of chapter 1 1 . It is the religious leaders, rather than the crowd, who here fall under divine judgement. Once again, a scriptural quotation has been added to the story, either by Mark or by someone before him. This time it is taken &om Psalnl 118(LXX 117):22-23, and - rerilarkably - this injects a rrlessage of hope into the parable. The stone rejected by the builders will become a cornerstone. The quotation seems totally inappropriate here: the cornerstone of a buildng has nothing to do with a vineyard. It is so inappropriate, however, that in use r~lustbe deliberate. In fact, it is nlore relevant than we might suppose. First, as we have already ~loted,the vineyard in Jesus' parable is not destroyed but handed over to new tenants. Although judgement descends on the previous tenants, the vineyard remains i l l the owner's possession. Israel's leaders will be punished, but Israel herself will be saved. However 'mixed' the rlietaphor may be, the rejected stone that is raised as a cornerstone illustrates the co~ltinilityin God's plan for his people. Secondly, the reference to the cornerstone, like the refen.11ce to the beloved son who features in the parable, nleans that our attention is inevitably fbcused on the figure ofJesus. Christoloby is central to this parable, but it also ciotninatcv this entire sectiorr, h m the molnerlt that Jesus rides into Jerusalerrl like a king. The question regarding his authority to challenge what was happening in the temple ( I 1:27-33), his teaching about the Messiah (12:35-37). and his bvarniug about the conling of the Messiah/Son of Marl in 1321-31, all focus our attentior1 or1Jesus himself. Thirdly, Mark has placed this block of teaching in the setting of the terrlple (1 1:27; 12:41; 13:l).Refererlce to the 'cornerstone' thus links the parable to Jesus' provocative action there. Even though Mark has interpreted that event as a sign ofcoming destruction -a therile which will be elaborated in chapter 13 - the hint here of a new building suggests that then. is to be a 'IICW' temple which will fulfil the intention expressed in Isa. 56:7 of being 'a house of prayer for all the nations'. Further hints of this hope Cor the & t u x are expressed in 12:28-34, in the story of the scribe who is 'not f i r &om the Kirlgdonl of God', in the account of the poor \vido\v who throws everything she has lnto the temple treasury (12:41-43), and irl Jesus' words about the fig-tree, apparently dead, which is in fact merely dormant, and bursts into leaf when summer approaches (13:28). Although the accusation that Jesus said that he \vould destroy the temple and raise another, not made with hands (14:58; 15:29)),is said to be false, the fact that Mark uses it in his story of Jesus' trial and crucifurion, together with the account of the tearing of the terrlple veil in 15:3X, suggests that he saw it as a distortiorl of Jesus' teaching about a judgenwnt that would bring both destruction and restoration. Thn>ugh him, therefore, Isa. 56:7 will, finally, be fulfilled. This coining judgement is the theme of Mark's final quotatlor1 fronl Isa~ah,

ISAIAH IN TH1: NEW TESTAMENT

In 1.924-25 Here .we have another conlpo5lte cltanon, whlch begns w ~ t h hnes drawn f r o r ~Isa. ~ 13 10,a parcage whlch announces the comlng ofthe Day a r the LXX translat~on,though they may of the Lord. These hnes are ~ ~ n i l l to be an rndependent translanon of the Hebrew. The second part of the cltanon echoes phrases f m n ~the LXX verslon of Isa. 34:4, though there are s~mllar passages elsewhere, e.g. Joel 2: 10. Although these llr~esIn Mark 13:24-25 are not ~ntmducedas a clanon. they would clearly evoke menlorles of the prophenc threat of judgen~entaniong Mark's Jew~shreaden, together w ~ t hthose gent~le
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Fc,r .irfmu\\lor~ o i rhc Old r t ~ u r ~ i crcrn ~ i t w111chn n y Ile hchuid Mark 13 we Lan Warnrun. 1'nrpl:cry Irrrprrrnl Ihr t~rrm,rr:oriof ,%mr Jr14nrl~hA/~wolyprri'Ikxlr mtd *[rhr f ~ ~ ~ t r o t o l ~I)lu-~?trrrc ~~uol .\hirl. II I?rr ((:o~,RN'T.scrtrr1 : I untt (: WK Glecrup. 1064)

Possible ANtrsiorrc to Isniizlk

Appendix 4 to the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland edition of the N o v u m Eststarnc.rirum Grclere (1993), 'Loci citati vel allegati', lists a further eighteen places in Mark's gospel where there are possible allusions to Isaiah." This list is by no nleans con~plete,however, since we find that some possible allusions which are noted as occurring in Matthean passages are ignored in their Markan parallels. Thus Isa. 28:16 and H:14 are listed as influencing Man. 21 :42, but there is no reference to Isaiah for the identical Mark 12:10, while for the equivalent verse in Luke (20: 17), 1%. 28: 16 is mentioned, but not Isa. 8: 14! In fact, any reference to Isaiah here is superfluous, since all three gospels give an identical word-for-word quotation of Psalm I IX(LXX 117):22." Of greater significance is the fact that a more likely reference to Isa. 43:lh is ignored at Mark h:48, though noted for Matt. 14:25. It also has to be re~nen~bered that Nestle-Aland sometimes uses an exclamation mark to refer to parallel passages where in~portantinforrr~ationis given in the margin. If we work through the text of Mark, we find that the editors have failed at 1:10 to warn us to turn to Matt. 3:16, which refers us to Isa. 11:2. In the following verse, however, an exclamation mark alerts us to turn h r n Mark I: l l to Matt. 3: 17, which refers us to Isa. 42: 1 and 62:4. When we come to Mark 9:7, we are referred back to 1:11 and its parallels (and hence to Man. 3:17 and the references to Isaiah). Sirnilarly, Mark 11:36 indicates that we should turn back to 10:38 and its parallels, a verse which alerts us to Matt. 26:39 and its parallels (Mark 14:36!),and this in turn points us to Isa. 51 : 17,22. The same kind of detective work takes us h n i Mark 1 4 6 5 to 10:34, which refers us back to Isa. 50:h. Other possible references are rllissed altogether by Nestle-Aland: it fails, for exanlple, to give any reference to Isa. 04: 1 (63: 19 in Hebrew and LXX) for Mark 1:lO or its parallels in Matthew and Luke, though commentators fiequently suggest that there is an echo of that verse in this passag." A nutnber of the suggested allusions see111 fanciful." Others seen) to have more substance. Mark's description of a demoniac who lives arr~ongtombs near pigs (5:3, 11) is retrliniscent of Isa. h5:4; the co~nnlentin 7:37 that Jesus 'n~akesthe deaf hear and the dumb speak' may put us in nlind of Isa. 35:s; Jesus' denunciation ofthosc who oppress widows (12:40) echoes the charge of

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Thnc are: Mdrk 3:7: 3:21,27;4:30; 5 3 ; 7:37; 0:12; 10:34.45; 12:1.32.40; 13:H.31; 14:24, 49.61; 15:27. The unic n pmbdhly true of Mark 12:32. where Ne.itle-Aland sumem A quotatton f m n ~Is.45:21 It a ]iron: hkely, however, that it deriver only h i n Deut. (r:4 and 4:35. Oeut. 6:; is quoted In the next vmc. The verb used by Mdrk h r 'break~ngopcn' (mi!&) IS riot the one urcd 111 the 1.XX. Matthew m d Luke both use the verb used u~the LXX (kvoiyo). l>on Mark's version reflect the Hebreu,? Were Matthew and Lukc dwarf of-the hnk? Or arc the coincidences acc~denwl? '"ark 2:7 (lu. 43:25);3:21 ( l a . 28:7);tlrcre u httlc, ~fany. verbal rini~l.~r~ty 111 cither c m . Iu. 4O:IX and Mark 4:30 are linked only hy a qtitsoon ahout whether or not one can ~ r ~ t kA ccornpartson:trl the forrner case the answer 1s 'No',wh~lein the lamer, d~csIS then done.

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ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Isa. 10:2, and his prediction of coming disaster in 1 3 3 reminds us of similar pre&ctions in passages such as Isa. 19:2, 1313 and 8:21; the conrment that heaven and earth will pass away but Jesus' words endure (1331) may well have been based on lsa. 51 :h. The most convincing suggestion in the early chapters is the possible allusion to Isa. 49:24f. in Mark 3:27, for though there are no clear verbal allusions to the LXX,both passages describe taking prey from the strong.'" The suggestion that Mark had that passage in mind is strengthened by the fact that Jesus' words here echo those ofJohn the Baptist in 1:7, where he spoke of his successor as 'stronger' than himself; moreover, they appear to point back to Jesus' confrontation with Satan in the wilderness in 1:12-13. What is happening in Jesus' nlinistry, then, denlonstrates the truth of what we were told in Mark 1 : 1-13 - that what is now taking place in him was written in the prophet Isaiah. Another possible echo of Isaiah is found in the words of the heavenly voice in 1:11 - 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased' - and in the similar words used in the account of the Transfiguration (9:11). These words have frequently been traced to Isa. 42: 1, where God declares: I uphold, tiere 1s my wrvant, nly choxn, In whom niy soul del~ghts

Although there are obvious similarities with that passage, however, there is n o overlap whatever between Mark's Greek and the LXX. Not surprisingly, therefore, other passages (in particular, Geri. 22:2 and Ps. 2:7) have been suggested as possible backgrounds. Perhaps the strongest clainl of Isa. 42:l for consideration lies in the fact that the next line reads, 'I have put my spirit upon him'. The relevance to Mark I :10 is plain. The significance of this possible allusion to Isa. 42:l was nruch distorted in the era when, having isolated the so-called 'Servant songs' in Isaiah (42:l-4; 49: 1 - 6 ; 50:4-9; 52: 13-53: 12), scholars assunled that there was a particular figure (present or future) known as 'the Servant of Yahweh', with whom Jesus was here being identified. In fact, God is said to have addmsed various individuals as 'my Servant' in the Old Testament (e.g. Gen. 26:24; Exod. 1431; 2 Sam. 3:18;lsa. 20:s).MoreoverJesus is not addressed as 'Servant' in chapters 1 and 9, but as 'Son'; if any 'title' is being used, this is it. In the absence of lin~wisticlinks, there is little to indicate that Mark had Isa. 42:l in mind. What we can say is that, since Mark understood the Gospel to be the fi~lfilmentof what was written in the book of Isaiah, he may well have been familiar with Isaiah 42. Whether or not he (or anyone before him) thought this particular verse relevant is not clear, and certainly he was nat quoting fiom it. In all these cases, it IS difficult to be certain as to whether possible allusions are deliberate. Those who shaped the tradition before Mark nlay o r may not " The rctercocc to drr dmionw<'r mm& s a n p h (see helow, on 3 27)

rn 5 4 may also be s u ~ f ~ " ~ t trndrranng 've, Jesru' sirpcrror

have been aware of the biblical echoes it contained; Mark himself may or may not have been consciously using Isaiah's words; Mark's first readers may or may not have picked up allusions. What is certain is that subsequent readers, alerted by Mark's opening reference to Isaiah, would have read his gospel in the light of their knowledge of that book. This may be the case with many of the references to Isaiah given in the margins of Nestle-Aland concerning passages which relate to Jesus' death. In 9:12f.,Mark alerts us to the fact that what is about to happen 'is written about the Son of man' without indcating where it is written. The passage is notoriously difficult, because it refers also to the things written about the sufferings of the returning Elijah. Commentators have been unable to find an appropriate biblical reference for Elijah, but for the Son of man confidently refer to Isa. 53:3 (presumably through the idea of treating with contempt), even though there is no linguistic link with that verse." Similarly, when Jesus is arrested in the garden, and is reported as saying 'Let the scriptures be hlfilled' (14:49),the margin refers us to Isa. 53:7 - though why this particular verse should have been singled out is not clear. In both cases, however, the editors seem to have assumed that if the scriptures are being invoked in connection with Jesus' death, then Isaiah 53 must have been in mind. A third reference to what is written, in 14:21,appears to have escaped the notice of the editors of NestleAland. Many commentators, however, attribute this also to the influence of Isaiah 53, because of the use of the verb rrapaSi6op1,usually translated here as 'betray', in w. 18 and 21. The verb is used in the sense of 'to hand over' or 'to deliver up' in Isa. 53:h. 12. We can be certain, from these general references, that Mark intended his readers to understand the sufferings of Jesus to be seen as the fulfdment of scripture. Yet he does not refer to Isaiah by name, and he uses no clear quotations frorn that book in either the Passion narrative or the predictions of Jesus' coming death and resurrection. The only quotations he uses in connection with the Passion are from Zech. 13:7 (Mark 14:27), Ilan. 7:lJ (Mark 14:62),and Ps. 22:1(LXX 21:2) (Mark 1534). Once alerted to the idea that Jesus' suffering, death and vindication were the hlftlment of scripture, one becomes aware of words used by Mark which 'echo' words in Isaiah. The verb napa6ihpt. just mentioned, is a good example. It is, nevertheless, the obviaus verb for Mark to have used, especially as it can convey a double entendre:Jesus is 'handed over' to the authorities by Judas, but also by God himself. Mark 1 Q:34and 1465 both refer to spitting, as does Isa. 50:6, but did Mark have that passage in mind?" Mark 10:38 and 14% speak of a cup that Jesus is reluctant to drink, and Isa. 51:17 refers to a

Pq 22(LXX 21) 7, whrch a Ilu, lrsted by N n t l c - a n d , this the n n ~ xerb c .u Mark 'ice abo 15 19 14 65 Ir the clmnt ro 1w1.1h.hrwng three words In c o m n o n wlrh the LXX tpnrvav, npoownov. E m n ~ ~ a m v

A rnore approprlatc blhlrcal passage u

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USM

ISAIAH IN THE NEW 'TESTAMENT

of wrath; the Image of drlnkllig fronl a cup, however, IS used elsewhere (e.g. Ps. 75:s). Mark 30:45 and 1.134 both refer to the benefits ofJesus' death 'for many', a word used In Isa 53 1 1 , where many are made r~ghteousbecause of the suffkrrng of God's r~ghteou,one," but the word 15 a conlmon one. In Mdrk 14:hl Jesus 1s at fint s~lent,r e m ~ n d ~ nusg of the Image of a sheep silent before la shearer, In Isa. 53:7," but agaln,we cannot know whether Mark was thlnkltlg of that passage. The fact that Jews was crucified between two robberg (Mark 1527) wa.c hnked at an early date with the statement that 'he was numbered with the transgressors' in Isa. 53:12, as is demonstrated by the gloss in V.28, but this does not mean that Mark himself necessarily realized how appropriate these words were for his narrati~e.'~ The passage, above all others, where the Influence of Isaiah has been detected 1s Mark 10 45 Here, the reference to servlce, to a ransom, to the volur~taryglvlng-up of one'c I~fe,a r ~ dthe use of the word 'many', have aU been s a d to cterlve h n l Isa. 53 1 0 - 1 l The word 'many', as we have already noted, IS l~ideed used In Isa 53.1 I , but there 15 no other 1111plst1cecho ofthat passage True, the LXX \peaks of God's r~ghteousone 'serv~ngmany', but the verb ~t u\ec Ir a d~fferer~t one fioni that used by Mark If we turn back to the Hebn-w, that speaks, not of 'serv~ngmany', but of 'my Servant' - 1.e. God's Servrnt - a title of g r e ~ honour t The ~ d e aof a 'ransom' (kGrpov) may well come tiom these later chapters of Isaiah, for the c o p a t e verb (Aurpiwu) is used of God's expected redemption of lsrael (Isa. 43: 1; 44:22-23; 523; 63:9).while Israel is to be set f i e without a ransom (kirrpov) being paid (Isa. 45:13). God himself is described as 'Israel's Redeemer' (Isa. 41: 14; 4 3 1 4; 44:24), and his people as 'the redeenled' (Isa. 35:Y; 6212). These passages reflect the belief I that there would be a new Exodus. which would deliver Israel ~ I T exile,just as she had beer1 delivered in the past from Egypt. The image of redenlption is particularly appropriate for rescuing a people in bondage, since it reflects the pmctice of paying a ransorrl in exchange for sorneone or something, especially a slave."' This redemption of his people is now to be fulfilled, according to Mark 10:45, by the Son of Marl surrendering his owri life as a ran son^'. Isa. 53.10-1 1 , however, contalrls a d~fferentIdea. T h ~ spassage ,peaks of God's Servant belng made a ' g ~ ~ loffer~ng', lt whlch lnvolved rnaklng resntutlon to the Injured party and offerlrig a sacrifice as a means of e x p ~ a t ~ oTnh. ~ ns a very d~fferentImage, and ~t 1s taken over In the LXX verslon, whlch translates that term by the phrase 'for sin'. Once agaln, readers of Mark'c gospel In a modern CLIP

"" Mark

use.; rhc ramc Greek woni. nohA&v, 2s thr LXX of I+?. 5 3 : l l . Thc vrrh ~ K X ~ I W ~ ~ E V O V , 'poured out', ha5 also u)rlrctrnle\ hccr~trdccd to the Hchrcw verb used in Isa. 53:12. ?' Sec a1.i~)Mark I5:5. ?" Other\ have foi~rrdst111rnorc alltsrons rcr Iwrah 53 In rlrc Prssron imrrauve. Sce, c . ~ l)ou&s ., J. Moo, T7rc 0111 7hrrtmntr 111 rhu (;orpel l'a,11>n .Yamurr.r~(Sheffrcld:The Almond P m . IVX3). "*" Mnrk uses ii1arov2o1:the LXX. Gouhsiw. '' E y. Ext~rl.3 0 ~ 1 2 . I . e25:2J-20.51.Is.1 ~ J i 13

translation who know Isaiah 53 ntay well think the relevance of the passage is clear; there is little evidence, however, to show that Mark hintself saw the connection with that particular passage."

If we look at the overall pattern of citations in Mark's gospel, it would seem significant that more of these are drawn tiom Isaiah than from any other book." This is in keeping with Mark's opening claim that the Good News is the fulfilment of what was written in the prophet Isaiah. Apart h n l these, there may also be allusions to images and expectations found in Isaiah at various points in Mark's narrati~e,~\houghthere can be no certainty that these were indeed drawn from that book, either by Mark or by his sources,and there is little sibm that he was quoting from the LXX. I t is irnportattt to remember, however, that Mark was a man of his own age. We should not in~aginehi111doing what we inight do - thumbing through the pages oflsaiah, checking references, or even finding relevant passages with the aid of a computer! 'Looking things up' in a scroll was not simple. Certain passages of Isaiah may well have been familiar to him (perhaps because they had already been incorporated into the tradition), but he would nut have known Isaiah by heart. Sorrle phrases may already have become part ofChristian vocabulary, without Mark being aware of their source. Which of us knows that 'the apple of his eye' is used in Deut. 32:10, or that Shakespeare's statertlent that 'We are such stuff as dreams are r~lacteon' is found in The Terrtpest Act IV Scene 1 (or, indeed, can quote it accurately!)? Scholars often echo ideas they have picked up fro111others,often totally unaware that they are 'recycling' something that they have heard or read. In the sante way, some of Mark's debt to Isaiah may well be uncortscious. We should not exclude the possibility that he owes ~rtoreto the prophet than appears on the surface - but neither should we assunle that he was aware ofmany ofthe links with Isaiah which have been suggested subsequently. Readers of Mark ntay well discover that the story he tells is one that is 'as written in Isaiah the prophet' in n ~ o r eways than Mark hitnself ever imagined.

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Mark 10 45, see M 1) Hooker, ~ ~ S I and I J the Sinnnr (Loadon \PCK. 1959). pp 74-79, C. K Barrett. 'The B ~ c k g m u ~o~f dMark 10 45'. III Neu, 7e~romnrDsoys \fnd~es111 .\fmtory of ntomar IC'alfn.2.I(ttuott.zd A J B Hlggins (Marrchrster Mdnchtrter Utliventty Prm, 1950), pp 1-1s W C;r~mtn,IVof uh drrlt hebe DIP I hk~rt~d~gtrtlg Jeccr uiicl Dettreruf~~ala (ANTI 1 , Fnnkfilrt an1 Main and Bern I'eter Lan& 1976). pp 2 7 1 4 5 , ha%argued that Mark 1 0 45 o w e nlom to l o 43 3f than to Isa~atl53 Them drc. ro he sum, a sinular nunlhcr of appcd1.i to ' M o m ' 111 the Pru~onnarranve. echc~.iand q u o t d t ~ ofmnr ~ ~ ~tile P~lx~alrrr< predominate It has heen p ~ s r h l chere to nrenootl old) those that luve heen nroa tiecluer~tlysi~ggnted

011

Chapter 3

Isaiah in Q Christopher Tuckett

The '0 tradition'. i.e. the material coi~lmonto Matthew and Luke which was not derived h r n Mark,' does not often explicitly quote words from Jewish scripture, at least in the sense of indicating this by means of an explicit introSuch instances are rare, though not ductory formula (e.g. 'it is writte~i').~ completely non-existent: cf. the replies ofJesus to the Devil in the temptation narrative (Q 4:4, 8, lo),' and also the reference to the composite quotanon (Mal. 3:l and Exod. 2320) in Q 7:27. For the most part, however, 'references' tolewtsh scripture in Q are more often by way of allus~ons,uang s~gn~ficant wards, phrases or ideas that seen1 to have been generated h n i OT language or OT stories, where the reference may well be dellberate on the pan of the 'author'/editor of Q and where such allusions may well have been 'heard' and

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For the purpose of thr\ essay. 1 assume the sundard Two h u r c e theory AS the u~lunorrto the Svnoptrc Pmblem, tn parucirlar the thcory that the agreements benvrcn Manhew and Luke,whcre such agreetnent cannot be explarned by Lorrunon dependence on Mark. are due to their luvrng irsed a (riou lo.it) conimon source '(2' There a no space here to defend tha m detail rn thrs m y For a full drscussloa of some of the mu= rnvolved. see my Q and t k Hrstory oji;drly Chhruaantty (Ehnburgh T&T CLrk, l%).ch 1 I have sought to defend there the general theory that the Matthcw-Luke ayeenrrnts g r n e d y are due to dependence on common source autrrral 'Q', nther than to hrect dependence of one ewngrhst on the other Further. I have argued that 'Q' w a s probably a scnfk (probrhly written) sounc w t h Its owr dvtuicuve featum and chanctcnsucs (111 t n n u of rdc+(),rrtller than berng srrnply an unorphous n u of othenvrsr lnironnc~rcdm&nons whrch were not collected toffetl~crbefore berng used by Manhew and Luke Whetha one can or should postulate cdrtronr of Q, or \ m u mqtl~mQ. IS ntorc debatable on thu see nty Q arrd rhc Htstmy,pp 70-75 For the present purpose, I have focused on the 'final' form of Q, I e the for111of Q 3s 11wr. urcd hy Matthew and Luke Posvble eirtrer Eornu of Q rnay have cxated, birr rhe focur here wll bc or1 the Q nrrterral as ~tIS most hrcctly aiccsublc to us, I e v13 rts use by Manhcw and Luke Tbcw has been lituch &scumon of what d~ouldbe n p r d c d or deurtbed as a 'quotanon' or 'cltauon' of sLrrpture by a later aud~orFor the vtcw thrt the pmcncc or rbscnce of m exphcrt t n d u c t o r y author a cnacal tn tltrr mpect, see C D S t d r y . Paul and f/cc Languap o/ Smpturp (Carnbrrdgc Can~brrdgeUnrvrnrry P r r . 1992). esp pp 15-37 However. on any shawmg, scrrpmrd texts can clearly he u x d and cchtled 1n leu drrrct ways - by S u ~ r o nand s cchon +( rnuch as by cxphcrt Iruooas or qoouuotu Follownrg what ha? beconre a sundard convcnuon, I crte verses &am Q inmg the prefix Q fallowed by the chapter and vent. rtumberr as they are tn Luke's versron hence 'Q 4 8' mntrs the Q mdrhon reflected rn Luke 4 8 and re Mattherrt panllrl (rn t h s case Matt 4 I(>) There a no presumpnon in thts that the Lukarr wonlmg e inore origtnal 111any one rnstmce

ISAIAH I N T H E N E W T'kS1'AMEN.I

p ~ ked c up by the hearerc/readcrc of Q ' For esarnplc, (2 ,at tlnie, u5rc na~necof O T figitre\ (e g 'Abel' arlcl 'Zechartah' In Q 11 51, trr '\olonrot~'111 (2 12 27), clearly prt.\uppoc~~~g knowledge of O T ctorles about \uc h figures and rliak~rlg reterence to the\e trad~ttotlr\o too there are referetlie\ to the IA\V ( Q 10 17) or 'the law and the prophet\' ( Q 10.16). to dlvorcc Ieg~clat~on ( Q 10: 1%).to r e g ~ l a t ~ o about n\ tlth111g(Q 1 1 41). agalti presuppoc~ngknowledge o f r ~ ~ m ~ f i cant parts ofthe O T and alluci~tlgilerrly to sotlle cpet lfic deta~l\C:learly then the relattve lack of expltc~t1t1tn)ductory forrnul.te ctlould riot be taken a\ all ~ t ~ d ~ c a of tl~ lack t l ~ f ~ n t e r eIns tthe O r wtthtn Q W h c t l ~ r one r ran determ~nepn.cl\cly whtc11 verston of the OT text the Q edltor rrl~ghthave been mo\t fanul~ar*tth 1s not ccrtaln \ Scliulz bn~ourly trtcct to .argue that the cltatlon\ and rllur~oncto the llow r ILXX redcil~~g ~lt.mcrntr(l)cut 6 1.1 Bur 111 fatt ttrr\ I\ tile r r d d l t ~i ~ i t > t ~OIIC l y LXX MS (code\ A) other MS\ of thr 1 XX read 't;rr' inrtcrd ot'wrrrrh~p'.nprrcltrg \vltlt tile M T r h c A K I ~ I I I111dy ~ be tflc result of i<%~nr~l.rr~on to thr N T tests Scc lriy 'The Te~trptdt~on Nnrrrtrvz I I I (2'. III F Van Segbnxk rt ill .cd5, 7hr f.our (;oipl% 1992 (Fc\trchr~fiF Nctrvlrc k: I3ETI. I(M1. 1 euvcrr Lcuvcr~Ul~~vcrilty I'rcw I'ccter%. IL+07).pp J71)-i(17.0~rp. 48.1 " I-or r rr<.elrtattetlrpt trr rcctr~r~trut-t thc wt,niing <,I.() at rvrr) p. I' 1lot511a11t1 dnii J 5 Kloppenhorg, 'Ihr ( : r ~ r r ~I
po\\tble O T allusions In Q. For In the case of a Q trad~tlonwhere Matthew ~ ~ be and Luke d o not agree In wurd~ng,and where a poesrblc OT a l l u s ~ on:ay far stronger in the wordlng of one gospel's verslon than in the other, ~t wlll always be trnccrtaln whether the allus~onwas already present In Q or IS due to the redact~onalactlvlty of one evangel~stchanglng Q. In one key lnstance In relat~onto the questlon of posslble allus~onsto Isa~ah11: Q , thrs rs an ~rnportant Icsue. as we shall see I ctart however w ~ t ha case where the existence of allus~onsto a number of Isa~an~c texts In Q 15 fa~rlyunconmvers~al

Q 7:22 records the words of Jesus' reply to the queihorl of John the Baptrst aboirt whether Jesuc 1s 'the one who IS to co111e' (Q 7 18) Matthew (Matt 11 4) and Luke (Luke 7:22) agree almost verbat1111here; so the presence of a Q tradlt~onIS un~venallyaccepted," and, further, the reconstruction of Q's wording here poses no problems. Further, ~t1s all but unannnausly agreed thdtJesut' words here - 'the bllr~drecerve thelr slght, the la~rlewalk, the lepen are cleanzed, the deaf hear, the dead are ra~sed,the poor have good news brought a nirrnber of passages fmnl the book of to them' (NRSV)'"- echo str~k~ngly Isaldh." The followng parallels are often noted. 'The bltnd recervc thew s~ght' Isa. 29: I8 'the eyes of the blind WIII see' Isa 35:s 'the eyes of the bhnd wrll be opened' 'The ldrne walk' Ica. 35% 'the lame \hall leap lrke a dcer' 'The deaf hear' Isa. 29: 1H 'the deaf shall hear' lsa 35.5 'the ears of the deaf [wtll be] unstopped' 'The dead are ra~sed' Isa. 20:19 'your dead shall Ilve, thew cctrpsec ~ 1 1 rite"' 1 'The poor arc evangehzed' Isa 61.1 [the one arlolnted wlth the Sprrtt w~ll]'brtng good new\ to the oppmssed/poor'" "

rlirt rr I>>tlit>rewho rcccpt rotlie k,riit of thr Q hypothesis' Nnsv trdnddtiot~,csp~cirlU) 111 the I J S ~ phra\e. perhap hide5 the ripirtr~dn< c (11 the \cor
9Iic

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ISAIAH I N T H E N E W TESTAMENT

It seems clear that, in this Q passage, a number of passages h n l Isaiah, many (if not all) of which are expressing hopes for an eschatological future (especially Isaiah 26, 29. 35) are being echoed. Hence the general claim is being nlade by the Jesus of 7:22 that the hoped-for events of the Isaianic expectations are being fulfilled in Jesus' present ministry. Noteworthy too is the reference to Isa. 61:l (the note about 'evangelizing' the 'poor'), which comes at the end of the series of allusions, and as such nlay provide the climax of the whole series. Jesus is here implicitly claiming for himself the role of the figure of Isa. 61:1 who is 'anointed with the Spirit'. The Jesus of Q 7:22 is thus presented as the one who is the 'fulfilment' of the expectation of the figure described in Isa. 0 1 : l . Whether Isa. 61:l itself was originally intended as a prediction of a filture ('eschatological'?) figure is not certain. It may, for example, have been intended as a description/clairn by/for the prophet himself. Nevertheless, it is now clear h m some Qurnran texts, notably 1 IQMelch, that Isa. 6 l : l was interpreted in the first century as referring to an eschatological figure, and especially to an eschatological prophetic figure." Thus in the text in 1 IQMelch, the text of Isaiah 61 is applied to the prophetic figure of Isa. 52:7, the 'evangelizer' who brings good news to Israel. Thus the figure of Isa. 61:1 is seen as a/the eschatological propltet. Further support for this nlay come h m another Qumran text, 44521, which provides in many respects a striking parallel to this Q verse." Here too the words of Isa. 61:l (about bringing good news to the poor) are co~nbinedwith references to giving sight to the blind and raising the dead. The 44521 text is probably heavily influenced as much by the wording of I'sdm 146 as by other Isaianic texts and it is not certain how much Psalnl 146 has influenced Q here. It is notoriously difficult to be certain who in 44521 is thought of as the agent undertaking all the activities described (of giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, and bringing good news to the poor). The text is sadly fragmentary and does not allow a certain answer. O n e possibility is God himself. However, John Collins has developed a strong argument for the view that the figure in view here is a prophet, perhaps in the nlould of Elijah.'" Against this background, the words ofJesus in Q 7:22 g i n further significance, especially in relation to Christology:Jesus' words here itnply a claim not I? Stuhiindclrer, 1k.y pdhrrrwhr Eian~eburn(<;otttnp: Vandct~hoeckBi Kuprecht, 1968), pp. 142-47; G.N. Stantoo. 'On the Chrlrtolqy oTQ'. in N. L~odarsand S.S. Sttralley. eds. (:Itnit and Sprnr 111 the ?i.rtatnent (Festschr~ft<:.I'D. Moule; Cambrtdge: Cambr~dgcUnrvers~tyPress. 1973). pp. 2 7 4 2 . on pp. 30f.; Tuckett. Q artd the History, pp. 2211:;alw D.C.Alhron, I ~ Irrtntrxh~l P Jrsto: Sml~r~cn rn Q (Harr~sburp: Trrtuty Pres Intern.idond, 20CK)),p. 106. On this, see u ~ y'Scrtpturr arid Q', In Tuckrtt, ed.. 771r Scriprum in rlw Cosprk (NETL 131; Leuven: Leuverl Untvrrucy Press - Pcctcrs. I'H6). pp. 3-26 (pp. 22-25); A h o n . 7hr Intrrfexn~al./rsw,pp. 111-1.3. J J ('oll~nr. 'The Work$ of the Mewah', L)SD 1 ( I 994). pp 9%-112, more hrlefly In Calllnr, nre k r p m arrd the Slur Ikr .Cfexsrah.; tire Dead .ka .%mNs arid Other Annetrt Lttmtun (Ne* York I)ouhleddy, 1995). pp 1 17-22

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only to be inaugurating the new age predicted by Isaiah; they also imply a clainl that he himself has the role of being the agent who brings about the hoped-for events (the references to the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, etc., are echoing Isaianic texts and also referring to the activities of Jesus himself), but in addition interpret that role as that of the eschatological prophet of Isaiah 61. Thus implicit here is a powerful claim to an (implicit) prophetic Christology. Q 6:20&2 1 / / l s a . 6 I : 1-2

This overall picture may be buttressed and confirmed by two of the initial beatitudes in Q 6:20-21. The situation is rrlore coniplicated here by the fact that Matthew and Luke d o not agree in their wording, and hence the Q wording is not absolutely certain (cf. above). Further, possible Isaianic allusions are rather stronger in the Matthean wording than in the Lukan parallel. However, a strong case can be made for taking the Manhean wording as more accurately reflecting the wording of Q, as we shall see. Matt. 5:l-11 and Luke 6:20-23 contain four beatitudes in common. Hence it is certain (within the parameters of the Q hypothesis) that Q contained four beatitudes. (The o d e r varies between Matthew and Luke, but this need not concern us here.) For the present purposes, the key evidence is the first beatitude in both Matthew and Luke, pronouncing a blessing on the 'poor' (so Luke 6:20; 'poor in spirit' in Matt. 5 3 ) . and what appears as the second beatitude in Matthew and third in Luke, pronouncing a blessing on those who 'mourn' (Matt. 5:4) or 'weep' (Luke 6:21). There is widespread agreenlent that, in the first beatitude, Matthew's 'poor in spirit' is a secondary change from a more original blessing on the 'poor', as preserved by Luke." Matthew's different version (with 'in spirit') probably interprets the 'poor' as meaning 'spiritually' 'poor', i.e. a religious, rather than the Q beatitude promises blessa socio-economic, meaning of poverty.'"hus ing on the 'poor' and a pron~isethat the Kingdom will be/is theirs.'?~ such, this is widely interpreted as again a possible allusion to the promise/hope expressed in Isa. 6 1 :1 : the promise to the 'poor' there is being announced arid re-affirmed in Jesus' preaching and teaching.

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Cf W I) Davro atrd 1) < Alinon. Ihc (,USIJPI arronl~~ig ro L ~ n rZ#aranlrevl. 1 (I( C Edrnburglr I'&1 ('lark, IYHX), pp 442,451, U Lur. ,%farrh~tu 1-7 (Edrnhurglr T& r C Irrk. lCr)O),p 227 Tucken. Q and anhr H~~rory. p 223 \uch an Idea n pmhably covered by the Hebrew uortf for 'poor'
ISAIAH IN THE NEW 'I'EST'AMENT

Thls theory would be slgn~ficantlystrerlghened lf a filrther pors~blealluslctn to Iw 61 1-2 could be ecabltshed tn the second beat~tudeb a n g cons~deredhere Thrc IS falrly readrly done t i one follows the Matthean w o d n g 'Blecsed are thoce who 111our11(01 X~VBOGVTE~) for they shall be comforted (nupurhq@qaovru~) ' Isa 61 2 states that the task of the one anolnted by the 5p1r1t IS (among other things) 'to comfort all who mourn' (LXX xupu~aAcouinuvraq robs ncv%odvruq) Luke's verslon IS however not as verbally close to the \vordlng of lsa hl 2 Luke has 'Blecsed are you who weep now (~haiowcq),for you w11l laugh (y&kaa&re) ' I h e s Matthew'c verslon better represent the Q wordlng, rn whtch caw there 1s a ctrong further echo of 1\.11ah 61 111 this beatttude In Q a\ well' O r doer Luke's word~rlgbetter repretent Q, ~n w h ~ c hcase the echo of Icalah 01 IS due to Matthew's redaction In eriltlng the Q version to align ~t rilore closely to the word~ngof lsa~ah61: A strorlg care can be nlade for the vlew that Matthew's vemlon IF Inore orlglnal "' F~rstly,one rnav note that Iralah 61 docs not ceem to have been a text that WAFof partlculrr Interest to Matthew Matthew does of course have a general corlcern to relate the deta~lrof the gospel story to spec~ficOT texts, lnclud~ngtexts frorrl lsa~ah But nowhere else, In the beatnudes In particular or In hlr gocpel ntore generally. docs Matthew show any trlterest 111 the text of Ira 0 1 1-2 \e~ondlv,sorne ~peclficdetallc of Luke's verslon In the ~ ~ n n i e d ~context ate allay t ~ ~ d ~ c that a r e Luke I\ presuppoc~~~g a versloll of thlr beatltudc whlch 1s closer to Matthew'F verslon than hlc own 111 pan The ev~dencefor thrc conles fro111the hcoec In Luke 6 24-26 These arc clearly nlodelled on the beatrtudes arld derttc t h e ~ rwordlng fiom them Luke's first woe states that the r ~ c hhave v 6 24), perhaps echolrlg a already h ~ dt h e ~ r'consolat~on' ( x u p a ~ h q a ~Luke reference t o the promise In the follo\+lng beat~tudeIn Q that those who n~otrrn/\vrepwill be 'conlforted' Further, the woe that corresporu.is preclcelv to the beatlnlde about nlourners/weeper\ state5 that those who are ' I ~ u g h ~ n now g ' w1l1 nour urn and weep' (rrcv0fiosrs ~ u Kkabo&r& i Luke 6 25) The presence of two verbs here 1s sl~ghtlyclunlsy arld overloaded and may reflect settle redactional lrlterference and/or do.i\~ngS l n ~ e‘weeping' corresporrd\ to the mwrd~ngof the Lukan verslon of the correspondlng beantude, and Is also a falrly conlnlon Lukan \wd, ~t may be that t h ~ sa due to Luke's wdact~on,so that ncvO~o111 the woe may be .I vectlge h r n Luke's tradlt~on here T h ~ rthe11 gives further \upport to the theory that Matthew's verslon ot the correspondlng beatitude, cpeaklng of those who 'nlourn' belng

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htr trrrrrr drrrrlcd d~x-urr~on. $ec Tucketr. Q urrd rlrc Hrirory, pp. 22.%26: Allrvln. 711c Ir~rrrrrxf~wl Jt~ro,p. 105. Thc Matthean wortftng 15 also follo\wd here hy Kob!r~sorrcr trf.. Cnttcitl I:drtton.p. 4X.m rrcor~structtngthe Q tw~rdrrrg. ( C the M~rcherrrf~~rrrlul~ qttonrrr,n~.lrrtltrd~npM m . 1.23 = Ira. 7:14: Mart. H:17 = l u . 53:J: Matt. I ? 18-21 = 1- 42 1-4. Tllere rr tlothrng ~n rhc vr.r\rom ottlle tint bcrtttrrdc wt11<.11 w.ould otlrerwrre cxpialrr thrs rekrencr to ' t orrurlarrorr' In the t w ~ e .

ISAIAH I N Q

'comforted', was also known to, and presupposed by, Luke. Thus this beatitude in Q probably did indeed speak of 'comfort' for those who 'mourn'. As such it contains a powerful echo of Isa. 61.2 in this context. The evidence of these two beatitudes thus combines to imply that the wording of Isa. 61 :1-2 has exerted a powerful influence on the wording of the opening beatitudes in Q. In turn this confirms and strengthens the significance we have already seer1 in Q 7:22. We may also note that the beatitudes, by virtue of their probable position within Q, almost certainly have a programmatic significance for Q. Although the order of the material within Q can never be certain, Matthew and Luke agree in placing the beatitudes at the start of their versioris of the Great Sernlon (Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, Luke's Sermon on the Plain) which in turn is the start ofjesus' public ministry. It therefore seems very likely that this was also the case in Q: Q starts the ministry and teaching ofJesus with a Great Sermor~and places the beatitudes at the head of that sermon. The beatitudes thus serve in Q as the opening statement, as such almost a programmatic summary. ofall the teaching ofjesus that is to follow. And given that Q focuses almost exclusively on the teaching ofjesus for the contents it includes (rather than on narratives about his miracles or his Passion),'-'the importance of this opening statement is highlighted even further. Thus Q seems to place all the teaching of Jesus under the overarching rubric of the affirmation and re-presentation of the promises made in Isa. 61 :1-2, and this is repeated again in the summary clairn made at the end of Q 7:22. Jesus then for Q is the eschatological prophet who conles to fulfil the role of the figure described in Isaiah 61: he is the eschatological prophet bringing good news to ('evangelizing') the poor and affirn~ing/re-affirmingto then1 the assurance of the promise made to them that the kingdom will be thein and that all suffering will be ended. Further, the claim is made in Q 7:22 that, in important respects, significant para of these eschatological hopes are being realized in the ministry of Jesus, especially in his healings (the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised)." Yet probably there is no idealistic present-day utopia being proclaimed here: the Q tradition seems too realistic for that! Hence it is not being claimed that all such fi~turehopes are being realized in the present. Rather, the proclamation is made that all these hopes will be of fulfilled, atrd that they arc being partly realized in and through the 11ri~1isn-y Jesus.

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TThrs IS not to rsy that Q ~gnoresthe mlraclc rra&non,or the Passron ofJenrs. For the former orle need only refer to the other clauses of Q 7:22!Rnt rt is still the case d~dtactual narranves of mtracles arc r3rr 111 Q. and any Pasron trurrariw ds wch IS noo-exnteot. Hencr f(,r Q the srgn~ficanceofJe.ius'miantry a not cxhau.itet1by hrs teaching:see preceding note.

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Q 10: 15//lsa. 14: 1.3, 1 5

A rather different kind of allusion to the book of Isaiah occurs in Q 10:15. Here,just after the woes against the Galilean towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida, the town of Capernaum is harshly criticized by Q's Jesus: 'And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to ~ades."' The wording here seems to be a clear echo of the taunt song of Isa. 14:13.15 directed against the king of Babylon: 'You said in your heart "I will ascend to heaven . . .",Hut you are brought down to Sheol.' What is probably reflected in part here is an exegetical tradition where the langtrage of Isaiah 14 was used to refer to the opponents of the righteous sufferer in texts such as Wisd. 4: 18-19. I Ettoch 46,2 Maccabees 9 and others.26 In this light, the language used suggests that the experience of Jesus in Q in being rejected - and perhaps derivatively the experience of the followers of Jesus in a possible 'Q community'" - is implicitly placed within a broader context of the experience of the 'righteous sufferer' in Judaisn~. There is one notable feature about the wording of the allusion here, though the precise significance is uncertain. The Q wording clearly refers in mocking terms to a possibility that Capernaum will be 'exalted' (bvoOfioy in both Matthew and Luke and hence almost certainly in Q). The text of Isa. 14:13 speaks of 'going up' (MT +YK, LXX &vaflfiaopat).There is no clear precedent in any text-form of Isaiah 14 for speaking of being 'exalted' here. Further, the lanbwage is rather pmblernatic, at least on the surface, since it is by no means clear why the town of Capernaun~woiild have thought that it could or should exalt itself to h e a ~ e nIt. ~is however possible that partly hidden behind this is a covert reference to the language about the Servant figure of Isaiah 53 who, it is said, will be 'exalted' (i)vo0fio~satIsa. 52:l 3).2YIsaiah 53 itself may lie behind many of the righteous sufferer traditions anyway."' In this instance, the force of the Q saying may be indicated by the ernphatic aG at the start (again in Matthew and Luke and hence in Q). Rather than highlighting a particular sin of arrogance on the part of Capernaum, the saying nlay be contrasting any possibility that Czapernaum might be 'exalted' (or exalt itselt) with an implicit claim that this is the true destiny ofsomeone else. I3y implication then, possibly Jesus as the archetypal righteous sufferer in the line of

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Mattlre\v 2nd Luke agree aIrrro\t verbsurn (Luke has the definrte amclr ~ 7 t h'Hades', but that rs thc only &fftrcnce rn wordrng). Hence the Q \<,ordingIS secure. See G.W.E. Nrckclsburg. Resancrtitwr, Imnromlity ctttd I:tcrnd Lji.in Inrprtcsran~~ntalJ~~diricm (London: Oxford Unrversrty Priw 1972): 'fircken. 'Scrrpnrre and Q', p. 16; AUison, Thc btrerrextuulJesus, pp. 1 I4f " ijv 'Q iiorrl~~ltlnrt)'I srrrlplv rllcan ttrc group of toilo\scn o f Jews who valuc-d, preserved and hdrrded or1 the Q trddlno~r How fir they consnrutcd a spccrfic '~onrmumty',w t h ra o u n ~derrtrty ober aga~nstother C hrrsna~igroups. 1s of course the tocus o f much debate '* Cec Tut kctt. 'Ccrrpture and (2'. p 17. for \armus posrhrirtres whrch have been suggntcd rn thr p a t "" Ttriikett 'krtpturc and Q', p 18 " \o Nrc kclrhurs. Rrrumrr~on

ISAIAH IN (1

Isa. 52: 13 is the one who will truly be 'exalted': Capernaunl, which has done noth~ngto respond positively to Jesus (and/or to Jesus' followers), will be brought down to Hades. These are probably the most convincing allusions to Isaiah which can be identified in Q. Some have clain~edto find other allusions, but these are less certain. 1 consider some of these briefly here. Other I'clssible ANusions

The saying about turning the other cheek in Q 6:29-30 shams a nunlber of words in cornmon wit11 the description in the so-called 'third Servant song' of Isa. 50:4-9, especially in v. 6. Thus Q 6:29-30 states that if anyone 'strikes' you on the (right) 'cheek' (aiuyovu in (Matthew buni<~i,Luke TGKTOVTI) Matthew and Luke) then you should 'turn' (Matthew orptyov, Luke X ~ ~ P E X E ) the other as well. This is then followed by the conlmand to 'give' to those who want to borrow/take h m you and not to turn them away. O n e can conlpare the language of Isa. 5 0 5 which describes the experience of the Servant in words placed on his own lips as 'I gave (LXX SOGwru) my back to scourges, my cheeks (LXX aiayovaq) to blows (LXX buniapa~u)and I did not turn away (LXX &niaspsyu) my face from shame and spitting'."' However, the verbal parallels are by no nlearls all secure at the level of Q since sonletinles Matthew and Luke do not agree in their wording. Thus although it is quite plausible that Matthew's @xxi
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I'hosc who K C the panllcl hcrc as rrgl~f~cant rncludr D K C atchpolc. 7hr Q ~ m cbr Q (Ehnhurgh TRT Clark, lSH3),p 110, hll~son,Ihc. Intme~rrulJesiri. pp 1 0 7 4 9 So e 8 \
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ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMEN1

cuggested that Jesus 111 hts capac try as the Suffertng Servant figure was a role model also for h ~ followers s " But there are a nurl~berof gaps In thls logtcal sequence (e g whether Q regarded the suffer~ngsof Jesus as prefigured 111 those of the figure of Isa 5 0 1s not certarn),'%af~dthe allitston 15 tenuous at best.

Allrron compares the words ofJohn the Baptrct 111 Q 3:s ('Do not begln to say to yourselves "We have Abraham as our father", for I tell you God 1s able front these stones to ratse up chtldren to Abraham') w ~ t hIsa. 51.1-2 ('Look to the Look to Abraham your father and to rock from whtch you were hewn Sarah who bore you') (together w ~ t hsome Jew~shtradtt~ansthat ~dentl@ Abraham wlth the rock here) 3i However, the parallel IS at best a very loose one There 1%a c o ~ l ~ m ouse n of a stoneirock metaphor tn the context of an appeal to Abralia~ntcdeccent Uut that te about as far as the parallel goes There 1s rlothtng e x p l ~ ctn ~ tQ ~dent~$tng Abraham w ~ t hany rock as such; trldeed the 'rock'i'ctone' 1s menttorled In a rather dtfferclnt way. Further, the verbal parallel te at best only a parallel wlth no clear verbal ldenuty (cf., e.g., 'rock' versus 'stone') Any alluc~onl~erethus seeti~sunltkely

All~conal\o \eec a posclble alluston to the words of Isa 6 9-10 (about seerng and not seelng, heartng and not understandtng) ~n the wordc of Jesus In Q 1 0 3.5-24 (about tlie bles$edne\c of the dlsctplec tn sectng thtngs that otherc ~ p others have fatled to hear) It 15 true have faded to cee, and hear~ngt h ~ r that common language about seetng and hear~nghere, as well as that there refere~tceto the fact that conle fat1 to 'see' and 'hear' Also, the text h ~ lsatah n 6 was wtdely uced In early Chr~stlantty(cf ,e g ,Mark 4.1 1-1 2, etc ) However, the parallel agaln ceertls to be evtrerllely remote The text In lsatah 6 IS prlllur~ l ya charge agalnst otherc that they have farled to 'see' and/or 'hear' the 'true' c~gltficanceof what they have phys~cally'seen' and 'head' In the prelent There IF 11othlng of sucli a contrast rn Q 1 0 22-24 where the thruct of the caytng 1s much more that thow who have not 'seen' or 'heard' are those of previous generattons who were not phyctcally present at the ttrne ofJesus to experience 111s realtty and the blesctngs of the new age tnauprated by

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\o Alh.cotr. Ilrr Infcrrp~rwl/r,rrc. pp 10Xt I * u ~ m w tcnwtr\.rlu d alwvc char Iwntr 5 3 nudrt Irc bchrnd the ;llhrsrorr In Q 10 14 But althoi~gh trrarry rirodern readers hrrk the w-rallcd 'Crrvant song' o f 1)eirtem-lrarrh together, rt rr utlcernrn hum tar dncrrot readen ot Irarafr &d so herrcc we crrurot daurrie tfut .I (possrhlc) rlluston to the trprc of Isdrrh 53 uould have cdrrled wrth tt 411 tdent~fi~anotr as well wrtlr the figure ofthe prsslgc In Iwrrlr 50 Alhrorr. Ihr Irrfrrrr\tuirl Jr~rrq.pp Iot-04 Allrson. IAr lntmr\nrrllJcsr6.pp 1 l f r l H The pretlre ~ ~ n n i ~ rof(> r f f rr clot rcrrdrn as Matthem and Luke drHer ~rne\*hat.hot the IIUIII thritrt ot hoth vewons of the u)tng n rouddy the ulrrr arid h e m e the hmad setrrr nf the (pmhahlc) (2 \ e n ~ o nI< rcr
ISAIAH I N CJ

There a not clearly any cfirect poleln~cagainst those who have not 'teen'/ 'heard'. Ldr~guageabout 'seelng' and 'hearmg' 1s 111 any case common parlance In many contexts ancl there 1s no juctlficatlon for rdentltj.tng the source of the lanbwage as b a n g necescdrlly thlr test fiom Isalah

We have seen that allusions to Jewlsh scripture permeate slgllficant parts of Q, desplte the relative pauclty of expllclt cltatlons of scripture The refkrences to ccrlpture rn Q are much more by way of alluslon In partlc~lar,Influence from the book of l w a h IS vlslble at two key point, In Q the opemng ofJesur' publ~c teachlng IS couched In tertnt clearly remlnlscent of Isa. 61 1-2, and the reply n of-Jetus to John the Uaptlst's que~tionappeals to hls own actlvlry ( ~ healing and preaching) in terms that are clearly redolent of passages from lsarah (~ncludinga g r n Iu 61 1 a\ the illmas) Through these verbal alluclonr, the Jesus of (2 clearly itnplle~that, rn 111s own acttvlry of teachrng and healrng, the end-tlme event\ predicted In I.ialah are belrlg partially reallzed. and more pamcularly, Jesus hllnself 1s the one who 'fillfil\' the role of the figure dcs~rlbed111 1%. 61 . 1 , the one anointed wltll the Splrlt Other evlderlce has suggoted that thls text was berng interpreted at the tlrlle as a refercsnce to a prophetic figure. T l ~ uJesug s 111 Q iz being presented as prlmarlly J propl~etic figure, In the llne of the prophecy of lsalall 61 The alluslonr to the book of I\alah thu\ serve to tughllght an Iniportant, and d~stlnctlve,t h e n ~ eIn Q 111 relatlon to Chrirtology, as well ac buttressing and glvlng r11ore substance to the more general clalrn of the Jesm of the .iytloptlc tradltron that, rn hls esctlattrloglcal teaching, there IS an elenlent of both futurist and r e a l ~ ~ e d e~chatology

Chapter 4

Isaiah in Matthew's Gospel Richard Beaton

Manhew's gospel lc the most Jewsh of the go5pels and, not surpr~s~ngly, one of the most referentla1 texts In the NT, In that ~t IS replete w ~ t hreferences to the Jews11 rcr~pturecAs one nught expect froni a Jew~shauthor wrltlng h m w ~ t h mwhat seems to be a predom~tiantlyJewrsh cotnniun~cy,Matthew preser~tsa q m ~ b o h cworld clearly shaped by the O T In h ~ scornpos~nonof a document .ieeiung to outhne the s~gnificanceofJesus for future generations of followers. For those w~tlieyer to tee, the OT fortns a soph~strcatedweb that Ir sk~lhllyIlitenvoven throughout the narrative The Interpretation of the O'T for the new community draws rnanily upon Jerernlah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, I'salnis and Isaiah. Isalah plays a profound role In the mesage of the gospel of Matthew. The book of Isatah exerted a conipelhng ~nfluenieon Second Temple Juda~srnand early Chr~stiarntyO n e of the most fkquently c ~ t e dtexts wtthln the extant hteran~reofsecond Temple Judaisni, ~trecurs time and ap111111 the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Ilterature. Authors found ~t a r ~ c hsource of niater~alwlth w h ~ c hthey could construct thelr varlous c r ~ t ~ qof ~ ~part~cular es elements wlthln Judaain. Its eschatolog~callang~ageproved irres~st~ble to those wrlters ~ n t e n ton descrlblng the day of the Lord Matthew and the corllpllers of the tradlt~onsenlployed 111 the wrlnng of his gospel were not to be excluded from thelr number. But ~tIS not enough to simply note that Matthew crtes Isaiah to enhance 111s compos~t~on The fiindamental quectlon ~nvolvrsthe rnanrlcr In wh~clihe used Isa~ah.Did he merely proof-text, or waF there a more thoughtfill approach to the eniployment of the texts' Furthermore, one m ~ g h t~ n q u ~ r e about Matthew'$ exegesls of Imah AS a whole and whether h ~ usage s betrays a hohsnc reading of Imah. For example, could matt hew'.^ usage reflect a domlnant theme or grouplng of theological Ideas that derlve from Isaiah' In attempttng to delmeate Matthew's usage of Isa~ah,one IS ~ n ~ n ~ e d l a t e l y capnvated by the author's creatlvlty, w h ~ c hIS man~festIn the locanon of the cltatlons in thelr particular coritexu and e x h ~ b ~ t eInd the various text-fortns of the quotations and the rlchriess of the theological components he Incorporares But ~t n here that one alto mcounters a fundamental coniplex~tythat make3 a thorough ~ n v e s t ~ g a t ~ofo Matthew" t~ usage so problen~atlcDoe\ one focus upon the source\ Matthew employed, upon the possible changes he may

ISAIAH I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N 1

have made to such sources, or upon the final form, the form that exists in the text and which is accessible to the reader? In the past,monographs,articles and other such scholarly pursuits have scrutinized the ac~thorialside of the equation, atten~ptingto understand Matthew's interaction with the OT sources. This is a fascinating discussion that forces a carehl comparison of OT textfornrs with those found in Matthew. Ilespite the efforts at thorough investigation, however, it is just at this point that we are confronted with lingering ambibwiry regarding the stability and shape of the text pre-70, which renders any conclusions tentative at best. Since there have been numerous wellresearched studies on this topic, this essay will reference issues of text-form only when necessary. Instead, this article will concern itself with the use of Isaiah in the gospel of Matthew, namely, the hnctional and theological role played by the final form of the quotations within Matthew. It will also consider priniarily explicit quotations that are identifiable within the context. A close wading suggests that Matthew's etilploynlent is creative, complex and thoroughly christological.

Look. t h e v1rytn shall c o n c a v e and bear a son, arld they shall ndtne hrnl Emmanucl, w h ~ c hmeans, (;mi

IS

w ~ t hus

The q i t c r t a t l o ~ iof Isa 7 14 t h c firct c x p l t c t t quotatton of I s a t a h t n Matthew and forms the first of ten fortntlla quotatlons ' The formula quotatlons are unique to Matthew and represent a chr~stolog~cal exegew of the OT. Scholars are un~fornrIn then oplnlon that they derlve h n l the final e d ~ t o rof Matthew'c work As such, they are particularly lnlportant for comprehending Matthew's skllls as an exegete and h ~theological i understanding ofJe5us. T h ~ s particular quotation offers such a view of Matthew's use of the OT and hlr corlvlctlorlr about Jesus. Noteworthy are rwo ele~nents~n Matthew's usage: the fornlula quotanon's funct~onw ~ t h ~the n corltext dnd ~ t scontr~butlonto Matthew's broader theology The ~mn~edlate context of the quotatton 1s 1:18-25. As 1s well known, the narrative concern5 the racy clrcurnstances ~nvoivlngMary arid the v ~ r g ~ n a l

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Tbc co~nriionlyrgrccd up011 G)rnrula quotaoola ~ncludc:1:23; 2: 15; 2: 18; 2:23; 4: 15-16: X: 17; 17:1%-21; 13:35.21:5; 279-10. The Itteraturc on the forniula quotruorls a cxtcrutve. Monographs or1 Mattliew's use of the Old Tertar~rentare also nntnemus. A repmenuttve sanrpltq would tnrlutic: M.J J. Mettkrn. .bIurrlmr~'sUsMe: 71tr Olii fisrmmr 7?xf oj'che Etan,@lisr (BETL 173; Leuvco: Lcuvc~rUn~vcnityI'rmiPc'rttcn, 7004); I<.Bedton. Imrah'f Chnsf in Maffha~l's ( h s p l (SNTSMS 123; (:dmbr~dge.<:arnbrldgc Untvcntty Pres. 2CX)2): J. Mder. IPS ~fafioiud'aic>mplissmntr tias I'but,~,q~le dc .%Lrthrnr: (2trmtd I)rw sc rerrd presort rn route hrrmanic&(Anl3ih 140: Korne: Editr~re f'ont~iicio lrr~tutoBibi~co,I'W)); 1i.S.McC:o~mcll, l a u , and f'roylrcry in Marrhnr~'~ Cklwl: 7hp .4urltonry urtd t i c of'rlrr (Hd 'I'leiranmrr 111 rkc f kipel ojSf. ;\htrh~ur(Basel: Frtcdrizh Rrtnhadt. 1969); K . Stc~rdahl.71tc Srh'rol rf.Sr .4~~rrdtru~~rnd 11, I ;r q j r h ~Old 7?s1~ltilmt, 2nd c h i (Phtlrdclph~a:FortI'm\. IY(,X (1054j);K.H. Gundry, 7 L I kc ~?/'rrfrrOld 7Lra1ncnr in Sf. .\,fartht?rj's &s.cp~I: Wi~liSprial Rc/macc co rhc .+fcsscrtruH o p ( N O \ ~ T 18: S ~Lctden: ~ Nrtll. 1967).

conception. The singular interest of the paragraph revolves around what leads to Jesus' conception and birth andJoseph's response. Ut~derlyingthe narrative is the issue ofjesus' identity, a concern that will dominate the narrative. Isa. 7:14 is not interpreted in Jewish literature as a passage that foretells the arrival of the Messiah; however, the exegesis that surfaces here in Matthew treats it as such. In the context ofthe narrative, it is cited with the sole purpose ofvdidating the ri~ar~ner ofJesus' conception. The formula that introduces the quotation links it to the contest: 'All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lard through the prophet' (1:22). The events that transpired were to fi~lfilthe Lord's will. Mary conceives with the miraculous assistat~ceof the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her betrothed, is not involved. The text of the LXX supports this event: 'The virgin/young woman will conceive and bear a son'.' Therefore, on a surface level the quotation demonstrates that what happened to Mary was foretold in the scriptures. The formula that introduces the quotation pushes this further; it confirms that the Lord was behind these events. Perhaps more pmblen~atic,however, is explaining why Matthew includes the second part of the quotation, 'And they will call his nanie Emmanuel, which is translated God with us' (Isa. 7:14; 8:X, 10). Given the formula that introduced the quotation, it seerlls that this second part of the quotation has little or no relationship to the circunatances surrounding the virginal conceptior1 or birth. A careful analysis of Matthew's editorial style, however, suggests that he is a cautious editor, and the inclusion of this seemingly extraneous is supported by the pmtninmaterial is not an oversight. Such an observatio~~ erlce the Emtnanuel tilotif receives elsewhere in Matthew's gospel."he notion that Jesus brings with him the presence of God to the c o ~ ~ ~ n ~ uisn i t y found also in 18:20, 'wherever two or tliree are gathered in my tiatne, there I arn in their midst', and 28:20, 'and I will be with you until the end ofthe age'. quotation in 1 2 3 The final admo~litionof the gospel in 28:20 and the for~r~ula effectively bookend Matthew's gospel with the concept of the enduring presence of Emnianuel within the community. Furthermore, it is also noteworthy that a change in text-form plays a role here. Matthew's text-form differs slightly when compared to that in the LXX. Whereas the LXX text reads, 'aild you will call him Emtnanuel', Matthew writes, 'and rlrey will call him Etnrnanuel'. The discrepancy, albeit r ~ ~ i n oisr , sigriificattt. 111 I:2l, the child is namedJesus by Mary and Joseph, and this is what they call hirn. Here a second na~nirigoccurs, but now rnention is niade of

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W Wercn. 'Qiroutrorrs h r r r I$arab and Matthew's C h r ~ s r o l o ~(Mt y 1.23 and 4.15-16)'. rn J. van Kurten and M. Vervcnne. edi. Srudh in rhr Ruok oilsurah: Fesrsthrii U'iNem .4..\f. BFuk17i (13ETL 132; LCU~TII: 1.eirvcn Untvenrty PrcsiPcerers. 1997). pp. J47&5. See eipecdly I). Kupp, .Marthru~'sEmnranircl: Dir.irie h t r u e and God's l+ople rn the f:mr Ckspel (SNTSMS MI; (:arr>hrrdgc. <:rrnhrd(rr Un~verncy Preu, 1%); dlro J.A. Z~rrler. 'Manhew 2nd the Pretence of Jeur ( I ) ' arrd ' M a n h ~ watrd the Prcseoce oijcsu'i (2)'.I~p"trtlr Hn>iinv I 1 (1084). pp. 5 5 4 3 . 9 0 - 9 7 .

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

a name that 'they' will call him. The plural subject in view here is his people, and this appellation they use for h i n ~reflects his role in bringing the divine presence to the people of God. This is perhaps the most evocative of theological ideas in the gospel, a christological portrait that derives from Isaiah.

The vorce of one crytng out In the wllderne$c 'Prepare the way of-the I.ord, n u k e hrs path5 strarght'

The location of John the Baptist in salvation history is an important element in Matthean thought. In this opening section of the gospel, the spotlight switches in 3:l to John as the forerunner of the Messiah. The quotations of Isa. 40:3 serve to validate John's role and Jesus' own place and identity. Like Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:4, Man. 3:3 cites Isa. 40:3. Matthew's text would seen1 to derive fin111 either a Markan bdagc. or Q. While Mark includes a longer citation that connates Isa. 40:3, Mal. 3: 1 and Exod. 23:20, Manhew and Luke (from their Q source) keep the Iwianic material separate h m the insertion of Mal. 3:1/Exod. 23:20, which appears to derive from Q material of the John the Baptist narrative in 11:lO (Luke 7:27). The text-form of Matthew's Iraianic citation In 3:3 is identical to Mark's and contains only minor differences from the LXX. Here is an example of Matthew's wholesale adoption of a quotation from Mark. He is conservative in his handling of the source. Matthew also retains the Markan context, thus rendering Matthew's interpretation of the quotation in continuity with the early Christian exegesis of the passage. But this new context differs distinctly f m n ~the original. In in historical setting, the lsraelites find themselves in exile, and the praphecy envisages a highway upon which the Lord will return along with his people, predicting a return of the Israelites finm exile to Palestine. In Matthew and the early Christian tradition he is dependent upon, the interpretation of the passage is rather different. John the Baptist beconles the forerunner, the one whose message prepares the way for the Messiah. The shift in language from that found in the LXX is noteworthy at this point. The Synoptics read, 'make straight his paths', whereas the LXX follows the M T with 'make straight the paths/highway cfour Cod'. The referent of the Lord becomes Jesus rather that] Yahweh. The quotation no longer presages the return from exile; rather, the arricxl of the messianic age becomes the idea in view.4 Furthermore, one rnay perhaps argue, as some have, that the substitution of John as the voice and forerunner suggests that John's critique of the Jewish leadership and the ' nrparcI(>\

X 12-16.tn ~ h t I(~ 1shthe Loniiliuntty that. in 1r.5 move to the wiiiernm, prrprm the way thrnugh ICS study of the law

notion of privilege as result of Abrahamic descent are also in view.' If this is the case, then there rnay exist in this passage the notion that the salvation that was expected to arrive with the eschatological age would soon include the gentiles. Matt. 4:15-

16//Isa. 8:23&9: 1

Land o f Zrbulun, land o f Naphtali, on the road by the sea. acmss the Jardan,Galilee ofthe Gent~lesthe people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.

The paragraph that conlprises Matt. 4: 12-17 functions as a transition, propelling the story ofJesus onward from the opening birth narrative and the segment on his preparation for ministry to an extensive account of his ministry proper. Just as the geographical movements in the birth narrative, all of which Matthew considers to be foreordained, reflect more than mere physical peregrinations, so the change of location in this section of the gospel foreshadows new developments in other areas of Matthew's storyline. Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernaun~serves to underscore an adjustment in the author's depiction of his identity and highlights the nlomentous shik in salvation history from the ministry of John to Jesus. Matthew marks these changing circumstances with a fornlula qi~otationh n l lsa. 8:23b-9:l (LXX).' The relationship of this quotation to the narrative context seems solely to validate Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernautn; the change in locale demonstrates that Jesus is in fact the one spoken of by Isaiah. This, however, assumes that the lsaianic passage refen to someone ofthe first century (:E. The formula that precedes the quotation denlands such an interpretation. It is the move to 'Capernautn by the sea, it1 the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali' that is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 9 was a well-known passage in Judaisnl that was thought to foretell the corning Messiah. The LXX contains an example of a messianic reading that emphasizes the justice and peace that would acconlparly the Ilavidrc messianic rule. But Matthew does not explicitly identify Jesus as the coming Davidic Messiah, nor does he focus upon the results of the rule; rather, he is much more subtle. The text-form shares sitllilarities with both the M T and LXX,' but there are also several readings in it that are unique to Matthew. These dissimilarities are enough to give rise to the question whether Matthew used another translation altogether or produced one of his own. Although this is a complex W 1) I>rvin and 1) C Allson. A Cntud and E x ~ c u Commenrmy l or] rlw Gosprl ~~ordrnf ro Stnt

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Marrhrrv.I (ICC, Edmburgh T&T Clark, 19XH),p 297 For dtwussron of the Instorrcal and lrtlgu~sarfeatures of tha pmphccy x e J A Emerton, "kme L~ngursncand Hrswrrcal Pmblem5 rn Iwah VllI 23'.JJS 14 (1969).pp 151-75 The LXX vemons differ corrrrdenbly for thrr pw;tge

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TES'I'AMEN'I

dlscu~slon,~ a few polnts are worth I I O ~ I I Ifor ~ our purposes here. Matthew begnlc the crtatlon halfivay through v 23, thereby accounting for the lnlnal cilff'rrences The LXX phrase 'Galllee of the Gentiles', whlch Matthew dupllcater I ~ hl\ I text, 1s a keystone In the nlearnng of the passage w l t h ~ nMatthew's context It IS >rqlficant that although Matthew adheres to the LXX wlth the ~nclu\lonof the aforen~ennonedphrase, he onllu the untversallzlng phrase 'the regroll of Judea' that appear\ In the LXX texts. The ~mpllcatronIS that the regional locatedness of Cialllee 13 Important for Matthew. Or, to put ~tanother way, Matthew's Interects are prlniarlly geographlcal. He resau unlversahzlng and Instead llrl~ltsthe text to the geograph~calboundaries of Galllee, whlch delineate the locatlor1 of the beglnnlng of Jesus' nllnl\try. Some haw suggcrted that this IS the reason for the ~nclu\ronof the quotanon. If, as seetrls Ilkely, 4 13 IS a Matthean conlposrtron, then we already have the llnklng of Capernaun~wlth Zebulun arid Naphtah Thus, whlle the phrase 'Galllee of the Gentllec' undencores the therne of gennle ~ncluslon,~ t prlmary s reference nlay I ~ Ih c t he geographlcal ' This t i true partrculariy rn lrght of current research on Galllee, whrch suggests t h ~ ltt resembled much of the rest of Israel at thlc t ~ m ~ Another problernat~c element of the cltatlon I\ the fact that Matthew rr~cludesa great cfeal more of lsalah than IS seennngly necessary If he were proof-text~ng,he could have cited nlerely the rnltlal sectloll of the passage. 1 hc rrrclu\ron of the second clcrrlerlt of the c~tatlon, narncly, the deccr~ptronof the state of the people, IS more dlflicult to explaln These people, referring to thocc In Galllee, dwell rn darkness They srt In the 'reg~onand shadow of death' Such may be t h e ~ rstate, but who exactly are these people? Looklng back to 1 21, the boy 15 to be r~allledJecus because he would 'cave hl\ people fro111their ilnc' Chven the context, the people In vlew here should, upon first readrng, bc underctood to be the Jews (cf 1 0 i4) Although, later rn the gospel, the referent will certatnly expand to Incorporate the ~ n c l u s ~ oofn the gcntllec, the lrlltral referent 1s more Ilrnrted at the beglnnrng ofJesuc' nnnlstry, the advent oFthe long-awa~tednlesslanlc vlsttanon to Israel Thlr iuggestq then that the referent of 'people' In 4 1 0 should llkewlse he the Jews It becomes Irolnc that only later ln the gocpel the J e w i ~ hpeople largely reject hlm, and a rlew people, h ~ people, r are defined more broadly to ~ncludegentlles Light Joez not recnr w ~ t hgreat tieqttency In Matthew Matt 2 2 recordc the Mag'\ observat~onof hl\ 'ctar at ~ t rlslng' s The a11us1on to Nu111 24 17, 'a star will cotlle out ofJacob', st1 lrnportarlt nle5stanlc text In Second Tenlple JudaI ~ I \eonlei , ot>v~our' I J It I\ poc\lblc that Matthew'\ passage too 1nclude5a \ubtle "

Mcrikrn. .\farrhru,'>IfrWc..pp l i 3 1 . See \. Frytie. ( ;rr/~lrc../r.-ur, mrd the (;osprb: I~rcnrry/lllltro'uhrs irrtd llr~torrralInr~sr(yiraoru(I'h~lddclp t ~ m Fortrzrr. . I'fXW), pp 25V-334; I< Honlcy. .41rhh-alqy, Ifirrory, d11d ,%-rrcy rtr (;r~lrlcr.Tkr Sor-la1 (;vrrrr.sr o/./ritt< und rlu Rdhh? (Valley Forpc: Trtrrrty I'w\s lrtteraatrorral, I')VO). '' Iopaq). Nuni. 24:17 1% used I X S rend\ i r v u r t i c i iicnyov Q lar
linkage between the beginning of the nlessianic age and the dawn. In fact, the text has been adjusted at this point with a subtle shitl in the verb from the LXX's 'to shine' ( ~ ~ ~ x EtoL Matthew's v) 'to rise' ( d v a ~ t k k ~ ~Matthew v). seems deternlined to stress that the light is in fact dawning; the messianic age has b e p n . Matthew's interests in citing this quotation in this nunner are twofold. First, he seeks to ground Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernaum with the Isaianic prophecy in Isa. 9 : 1 4 .In a simplistic fashion, Matthew is arguing that a shitl in house from Nazareth to Capernaunl den~onstratesthat Jesus is the one spoken of in this text. But the significance is not merely that his geographic movements mark the identity of this individual; rather, his rnove to that rcgion fits with God's plan, namely, that it is ti-am this beginning that the nlessianic visitation will begin. Such an eschatological vision of the place ofJesus within God's plans for hu~nanityis hrther hinted at through the language 'Galilee of the Gentiles'. The historical particularity of Galilee will give way to the universal mission of Jesus through his rnovenlent later in the gospel to enlbrace the gentile mission. If Matthew had lsa. 9:tj-7 irl view, then this seems all the more likely. Other passages tuch as Isa. 42:7 that contain the notion of light extending to the nations rnay also have been in mind.

He took our tnfirrnrrirc and bore our diseases.

A christological exegesis of Isaiah 53 was central to the self-understanding of the early Christian ~nove~nent," an idea that has only gained greater credence with the theological developn~entof the Suffering Ser~untmotif. While this rnay certainly be the case, it is not so clear that Matthew's explicit quotation of Isa. 53:4 was employed with such a theological emphasis in view. How much theological weight is integrated into the passage? Is it sin~plya proof-text to validate Jesus' healing ministry, or is the notion of a Suflixing Servant and an atonement theology present in the passage? Matthew's text-for~nis unique in many ways,suggesting that Matthew niay have done the translation work himself. He cites only the first half of Isa. .i3:4 in 8:17, but this fact accounts for only some of the discontinuity. Unravelling this particular usage is a complicated affair. Matthew's text differs siLmificantly fronl the LXX and the Targrms while more closely rese~nblingthe M T and w's the early Greek translations of Aquila and ~ ~ m ~ l l a c h u s . ' ~ a t t h eversion, replete with weakness and diseases,starlds in notable contrast with the spiritualized LXX and Targums. Although the Matthean enlpllasis upon the bearing

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'lie quc\tioa of u hrtllcr rt g < mhnl k to Jcsit5 and h ~ or u n srlt-unilentdrrrl~n~ or r, the rerult ot earl\ or ldtc ('I~rtsrtane w p t s rr ~rcatl\dchated 5cc W H Nelltnger atid W K Fdrr~ierrds.Jrun and thr \l~flpnnq\n!a111t bnrirh 5 l nrrd C;/msrra~rOrtprn<(Harruhurg Trrrr~nI'rea. lfF)X) For a rornprthcn.cre a n ~ l y r tot thtc tr\t, sec Mcnhcn, Mnrr/rnr~'iUddc, pp 3F-J')

ISAIAH IN THE N E W 'I'ESTAMENT

of 'physical' weakness/disease runs counter to two known Jewish traditions evidenced in the LXX and Targunls, it finds agreement with the later Greek translations of Aquila and Symmachus (cf. Isa. 53: 1 1). The context into which Matthew inserts this quotation concerns physical healings, and the quotation initially appears to be a mere proof-text vahdating Jesus as healer. It follows a summary statenlent of Jesus' healing ministry one evening (8:lO). lmnrediately preceding this sununary are three accounts of individuals who were healed by Jesus (8:14,5-13,1615). Structurally,chapters 8-9 present the reader with a collection of healing narratives that l o o h towards 11:2-f) and the works of the Messiah (1 1:2) that mark the inauguration of the messianic age. It is perhaps not surprising then that there is an inherent physicality in Matthew's usage. Apart h n the ~ obvious reason for the citation, however, might there not be a greater complexity to Matthew's usage? O n another level, could it be posited that the formula quotation stresses the character and denleanour of the healer, who as a servant cornpassionately ~dentifietwith a broken hunranity and offers wholeness? A possible way into understanding Matthew's usage may be found in the language of the citation ittelf, i.e., 'he took our weaknesses, he carried/ rernovcd our diseases'. The verbs 'take' and 'carry' hint at the posture ofJesus in relation to the broken humanity surrounding him. Scholars have long noted that the accent here Ires not upon issues of sovereignty but upon notions of servanthood and humility, buggestlng that Jesus' deeds of power are nlanifttrtatlons of his mercy, obedience and lowlines."This may in part explain the link between Jesus' healing as Servant and son of David in Matthew (8:17; 13:18-21; 12:23).Neither Servant text depicts a victorious messianic figure; instead, they exhibit a portrait of one who cares for and empathizes with hunlanity. In these two texcc there exists an irlterrelationship between sufferidentifies with a broken hunranity, offering healing and ing and justice as JCSLIS k e d o n l . Matthew's overall portrait of Jells is shaped by this quotaaon, and although the desigrlation 'servant' is omitted, one cannot escape the notion of servanthood, a motif which radically alters cotnnlon perceptions of the Ilavidide. The intizquent usage of Isa. 52:13-53: 12 in Judaism and early Christianity notwithstanding, Matthew's usage hints at an awareness of theological reflection that n1wtt.i it beyond a mere proof-text for Jesus' healing activities.

Here IS 111yser\.clnt, whorl1 I have chosen, nly beloved, w ~ t hwhom rrly toul IS well pleased

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B Gcrhanfssou Ihe Lfifhty 4113 ol lcs~rracnrd~nqlo '+td~fhnr, (Lund C W K Glcrmp. 1Y79).p 91 Fee the rnur h fuller mamlent of thls a w e In ha 'Gottes Sohn d q 1>1rncrGoner Mewas, Appc und H~nurrcbhcrwhaftnrch dcrrl Matthausevangchum' 57 (1973), pp 73-106, G Banh, 'Matchew's Undeirntanrltng o f the I aw m L Borukanuri Uarth and H J Held, Trrrd~rrunm d Inmnp"furrm, i n ,Murthru~(ET London \<'M 196'3) pp 58-1 64

<.

ISAIAH IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL

I wrll put nry Sptr~tupon h ~ m , and hr wrll proclarnl justtce t o the Gcnttles He WU not wrande or cry dloud, nor d l anyone hear hrs vorcc tn the streets H e will not break a bruued reed or quench a sn~ouldertngwck unnl h e b r m g justtce to vtctory And In hts name the Genn1e.i wtll hope

Matthew's quotation of Isa. 42:1-4, another of the fulfilment quotations, is one of the most dificdt in the gospel. Not only is it one of the longest of the quotations in Matthew, it is also not imtnediately evident how it fits into the context, nor what event or situation it fulfils. Further, the text-form is distinct frorn both the M T and LXX;I4at one point a line of the text is omitted in Matthew's version, while another line not extant in any other version has been interposed. The quotation is introduced with the familiar formula, 'This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah'. The immediate question that arises concerns what event in the narrative was thought to fulfil Isa. 4214. And perhaps tnore than with any other formula quotation, the itnn~ediate context is ambiguous, seemingly having scant connectiot~with the quotation. Most likely the appeal is to Jesus' various deeds and his conduct that is evidenced in his actions. It is possible that the depiction in n~etaphoricallanguage found in 12:lV-20 of a person with a quiet, compassionate denleanour, who is unwilling to engage in confrontational behaviour, rnay be related to Jesus' behaviour during the events described in 12:14-16. While initially this may seen1 somewhat of a stretch, there are adbtional links that can be discerned between the citation and the surrounding context which buttress this idea. Four specific points are worth special mention. First, the initial two lines of the quotation (Matt. 12:18//Isa. 42:l) parallel the voice tiom heaven in the baptism (3:17) and Transfiptration (17:s) narratives. These stress the unique sonship ofJesus in relation to the father, an idea explored in greater detail in 11:25-30. This notion of unique sonship seems related also to the Emn~anuel theme from 1:23ff. The designation 'my beloved' appears to draw upon a '~ the emphasis upon the bestowal of the Spirit brings messianic m ~ t i f .Second, an eschatological edge to the passage. O f particular interest in this regard is the linkage between the bestowal of the Spirit and the proclamation ofjustice to the gentiles/nations in 12: 18. This theme of justice is picked up again in the last clause of 12:20, 'until he brings justice to victory'.lh While there is some "'e

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ecpecirlly Menkcit, AUarf/ulu'.; Ikhk. pp 67-88 Whrlc the evidence 1s not ovcnvheitnmg. 11 docs secm tlut 'the heloved one' war underrtrrrKt u a nmsianlc utlc in the fir.rt century \re I3caton. Ltad/i'c C:hnrr In ,Warrhnr,'s (hpr1.p 128, n 24 Tltr phrae 'until be hringsjusuce to victory' IS a puzzhng one and ui~rqueto Matthew Hab 1 4 has hecn .iuggcsthl as a pourhie h ~kgmtmd, i or IQH' 12 2 i Slcc J de Waard, A Compamrritr Study ofrlrr Old Esrmmr l e t ~nthe &ad .%a %lls and tn rhe New 'lestummr (\TL)J 4, Leldrn Bra, 1965)

ISAIAH IN 'I'HI NIiW 'I'ES'I'AMEN'I

ariihrgurty regarci~r~g whether the language \houlcl be utider\tood a\ ji~ctrccor judgc~nent,there I$ good evrdericz that Matthew niay have h,ld 111 n i ~ n dthe rrijuctlce propagated by the Jcw~chleadereh~pto>\var& rtc people (cf 12 7 , 2 3 4, 2.3) wheri he ~ntertcdt h ~ cltnc Thlrd, the test fot wet upon the der~~e,lnour of t h ~ r1r1d1vrdu.11,e ~ ~ ~ p h . l \ rthat z ~ ~he i g wrll not aggrecs~velyfight or ctruggle with Ill\ detractor\ (v 10, cf 12 14) and that lie WIII extend colnpa\\lori and tare for tlrocc already darnaged (v 20) llut, given the Lotitext, thr\ does not ncccr\ar~ly 11id1c.1tethat he 15 a r~ieekand Irumble Mecs~ah,who would never engage 111 .~ggrc\crvet onfiontat~on,for the very next tec t ~ o nof test o f i n J L I \ ~ ctlch .I portrart (12 2 1 3 5 ) Fourth, the final h r ~ e'and 111 h ~ name \ the (;cnttle\ w ~ l l hope' derrvt.5 drrectly tiom the 1-XX Thrs I\ an rlrrportant polnt, becauw wl11le the LXX rnay read 'name' here, the M T ha\ 'law' '- Matthew. has alreaci) played wlth t h ~ notlon s of rramrrig 111 1 18-25. III \vhrcIi Jecu\ I\ nanied t\vlce. fir\t he wac called Je\ir\, who w ~ l lcave Irrr people from tkerr w ~ carid , \ccorid, he u9a\ giver1 the appcllat~o~l E~irnianuel 150th ri,~nrc\arc s~gnrticant for urrder\tar~drngMatthew'\ pre\etktdtlon of Jecue Here I r i 12.21, M,itthrw note\ that rt I t 111 h ~ cname that the natlorrc w ~ l lhope, an rdea whrch dr'iwc up011 notlotit of unrvenaht) and nle\slanlcni Thrr fitc \\rcll w ~ t hthe Important thernc of the (;o\pel be~rtgtahert to the natrons, \\'h~cli clo\ec the go\pel (28 19)

7 he redroal I sped. t o then^ 1x1parable\ ar t h x '\eeltrg the\ do not pertcave. arid heartrig the) do riot 11cte11,1113r do the\ iiaider\u~id' Wath them a~rdrcciar iLIfillcd the prophei) of Iraaah that \.a,\ 'You \\all itrdred hiten, hilt rie\cr undentanci. said you will ~ t ~ d r tlook, - d hiat rrc\cr pencaw 1 o r rhrc people'c heart h ~ grtw c rr diail, nrlcf tlic~rc d n are hard of hearl~ig, d i l d tile\ hd\e i11~1ttllerr evec, i o that the\ tal~gtittrot look \+ lth tlie~rn t - 5 . .1a1(1hetear \bith thew r.arx, 2nd ilniier%tdrld with thrlr hedrt and tilrai - naiii I would hr.11 tiicttr '

Matt 13 13-15 15 artother drffitirlt block of text Mdtt 13 13 prewntc the rcader w ~ t hthe ewlice of I'id 0 9-l0,although ~t I\ not a d~rect~rtatronTti~z Ir then followed by an exphc ~ tLXX , text-type formula q ~ ~ o t ~ of ~ tlca. ~ o0n010 In 13 14-1 5 I he 'luthent~c~w of vcrics 14-1 5 IS cir\puteci The d~ragrtbc11le1itceritre\ 011whether or not the brrirula qnotatlon \\a5 part ofttie o r ~ g ~ n a l '

111 lirr rdrrrut~ot I\atrlt 111 thc (;ortarrgcri I XX. Ztcglcr \ir~e'.tr rhrt hvciiinri 1% ,111 irincr-Grerl, 'orrtlptI(tr> ti)r vi>pq> ' \ilf-\c<14-.l 5 are a ~iarrirqt~ot.~taori ~ " O IrIhI ~1 XX ( i f ' J I 12 ~ Jci, h ~ 2X n 2 ( ~ - 2 7ROIII. , I I 8)

ISAIAH IN MA'T..~.HEW'S GOSPEL

manuscript, and the case against its irlclusiorl is very strong.'" Nevertheless, for our purposes it is enough to note the usage of Isa. 6:V-10 here in this context, which is common to all the Syrloptics (Mark 4:12;Luke 8:lO).Isa. 6:')-10 was a frequently cited passage in early C:hristianity to explain Jewish unbelief. Here in Matthew, Jesus speaks to them in parables in response to their liostility towards hi111 and to their unbelief. The use of the verb 'understand' is highly significa~ltin this contest, as the notions of belief, urlbelief and understanding are pivotal to this section. The emphasis, however, is not upon a predestinarian view; rather, as the Isaiah quote lnakes clear, the use of parables to obfuscate is a response to the unbelief exhibited by Jesus' listeners. The audience's failure to comprehend his rrlessage is attributed to their own shortcomings. The admonition in 1 l:h, 'blessed is the one who does not stt~nibleon account of me', stands.Jesus conies as one who does not fit traditional categories (cf. 11%). Isa. 6:0_10 then offers a prophetic critique of the leaders and crowds who do not understand him or seemingly have no desire to do so. In this context, theti, one niay not miss the eschatological focus of the passage.

Thls people honours m e wrth thew Irpc, but therr hearts an: far from nle, 111 v a n do they worsh~pnre, tcach~nghun~arrprecepn as doctrrnes

The quotation of Isa. 29:13 in Man. 15:s-9 occurs within the Markan tradition that Matthew used in the con~positionof his gospel. Tliere is a slight change of word order ti-0111 Mark's version in the first three words. The quotation is close to/follows primarily the text of LXX A, whereas LXX B more closely resembles the MT. Matthew's text represents the test of Mark and, as is evidenced elsewhere on the occasions when he has incorporated the Markar~tradition, he does not adjust very much the Markan quotations of the OT, which tend to be LXX. Here the quotati011 docs rlot present itself as an editorial aside; rather, it is placed on the lips of Jesus. The Matthean and Markan context for the quotation involves a corlflict rlarrative between the Pharisees, scribes and Jesus. The I'harisees press Jesus on the issue of handwashing because his disciples apparently are not washing their hands before meals. At issue in the debate is adherence to tradition, as represented in the i~lsistenceupon the requisite washing of hands and in the use of a qorhan vow by the law. as an excuse for not disnibi~tingproperty in the manner ~na~ldated Thus, in Matthew's narrative, eler~ientsof Pharisaic tradition are depicted as superseding the scriptures and the worship of God. This calls for a critiqiie against Jewish aaditiorl and an expos6 of its affiliation with hypocrisy. The use

"

For I rurnmrry ot the arpurncrirr .ice W I ) 1)avres and 1) <' Alhron. A C'ntnaf iznd ~ z q e t m Cnmmmf tary on rhe ( r ~ ~ai~ofdl~tq pl IO \Jltit Ma~theu,, II (I< C'. Ed~~~burg!~ T&T ( lark, I'Hl), pp 39W4

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

of Isa. 20:13 tits well withi11this context. Isa. 29: 13offers just such a critique of national Israel."' By citing such a passage, like other O T citations that involve the Jewish people, Matthew is aligning himself with the prophetic critique of the nation represented in Isaiah. Clearly, Matthew is neither anti-Jewish nor anti-law; rather, the critique in Matthew's context appears to be against a Jewish religious leadership that has placed observance of tradition that is not necessarily sanctioned by the law over the good of the people. Matt. 21: 131'11s~. 56:7 My houtr shall he rallrd a hottx ofprayer, but you arr maklrlg tt a den of'mbben.

A tr~pletrad~nanquotation, the first \ecnon In Matthew derlves &om Isa. 56 7.

Matthew's text 1s essentially the same as Mark's, w ~ t hseveral adjustments. Matthew's verslon (so also Luke 19 46) or11lts the phrase 'for the nanons' that occun In Mark I I 17 It 1s not clear why Matthew has om~ttedt h ~ sphrase. n g the temple's destrucnon In 70 CE," o r he simply Perhaps he was w r ~ t ~ atier wanted to contract the 'house of prayers' w ~ t h'den of robbers' It may be that, a\ Wagner argues, the s ~ g ~ f i c d n cofe the tenlple 1s all but lost for the gent~les, whofe ~nclusionInto the people of Gad 1s part of the ecchatolog~calarrlval of the Kingdom of God brought by Jesus " In any case, the final form of Matthew's text and its rhetortcal impact are strengthened by the parallelism that is created by the omnslon of the phrase 'for the nat~onc'In the final form, 'house of prayer' and 'den of thteves' (LXX Jer 7 11) are powerful linec that capture the true Intent of the temple and lts rxi~tusethat occurred durlng Jesus' nnle The te~nplewas perhaps the central cyn~bolof the Jew~rhpeople, and the locat~onof this passage w t h ~ nthe context of the telr~plecleansing and heallngs suggests that the author 1s making an eschat~loglcalstatenlent concerning the presence of Jesu.2 h~mself arnongct the people In h ~ cpresence the people encounter God and the K~ngdo111 of God

ln~nredxatelyafier the suffcrtog o f t h o w day$

the run wtll be Arkrnrd, and the moon w11 not gtve rn light,

"

"

The 1 XY tnmlatton m 2'+ 1% 'm % a ndo thc) worshxp me. teachme, the k t r ~ n c uand Lornnundn~entsof mcn'. tr a tnorr tcU~ngcrtuque than the MT ('thru fear at tnc IS a hunurt cornrxnrahncnt tlidt 11.1shcer~ri~etnor~zed') 1lxr.i irtoqoe of a scgmetrt ofJuddam here a also found thmughottt the early Chr~mrnhterattrre P r w g r ~\ u ~ hrr 1 Cor 1 19. Ron1 9 30, 1 1 8, 1 Clctn 15 2 2 Clclt~7 5 rn~ploycda strn~lrrtrtaquc wxth Ira 29 17 Whether the tenlplc dcxmyed or not nny not be as nnportant as sortienrnes thottdit. npccxally $11hght of14 2. nhxch predxcu the temple's dcrr~tx I) A Wagrrcr. .Mort!r~lr. 14-28 (WBC 33h, Dallas W o d Books. 1995).p 601

the stan wrll fall from heaven,

arid the powers of heaven will be shaken. The eschatolopcal culmination of the ages that acconlpanies the coming of the Son of man is captured in the citation of Isa. 13:lO and 34. Matthew follows Mark, niaintaining the context of the citation, although slight differences in the text-form are evident. The passage is quoted in an apocalyptic setting in both books, which is not surprising since this passage and collection of rnatifi found therein occur hequentiy in the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period and the early Christian materials referring to the end." The collapse of the sun, moon and stars certainly refers to the great reversal at the end of times. If interpreted literally, as seems to be the case in a text like 2 Pet. 3:10, 12, then it would mean that God has finished with this age, he has abandoned ordering the heavens. If understood synibolically, it may reference the notion of theophany, the coming of God.24Either way, Matthew employs the passage with eschatological intent,assuming that Isaiah is writing concerning the end of days. The use of the darkness motif confirnls this understanding. The heavens are rolled up, and the consumniation of the ages occurs; what began with the creation of light in Genesis and the lights in the heavens, now ends with the dissolution of the same phenomena. And many have suggested that it may foreshadow the eschatological events and darkness at the death of Jesus (27:45).As a result, Matthew retains the eschatological emphasis of the text within the tradition. If that is the case, in the Matthean context the passage would hold greater theological significance than in Mark. Here it places the gospel in the context of cosmology, much like the signs that accompany Jesus' birth (2:2) and death (27:45-54).

The citations exanlined in this brief chapter all play a significant role within the Matthean narrative, serving to validate, shape and infuse content into the presentation of the life and significance of Jesus for the early community of followers. While it may seem that they serve primarily to reinforce the viewpoint of the author, for Matthew they offer God's perspective on the events portrayed in the gospel drama. While few would disagree with the notion that the formula quotations are thoroughly christological, validating Matthew's presentation ofJesus as the long-awaited Messiah of the Jews, they also locate Jesus and his generation firnlly in the centre of the continuun~of salvation history, a significant moment in the eschatological calendar. It would be simple to say that they serve as niere proof-texts, passages that are removed tiom their original context and imbued with an altered meaning in their &shly

"

''

See for exaniple,Jer. 423;Joel 2:10; Hag. 2 6 ; 1 Enurh 8k4; Sih Or 2:194,200-202; T Lcvi 4:1 . W.D Ddvles and D.C. Mison. A C~ritL.alond Erqfud Commrnfury on rhr < k p d g l d i n f ro Sarnr h#afrhew.111 (ICC;Edinburgh:T&T Clark. 1997). p. 58.

ISAIA1-1 IN THE N F W TESTAMkN I

contrrved contest. To the contrary, they are uted 111 a h~ghlysophlsncated manner that Imparts to the gospel tntrlcate layers of nieantng. They repment the exegecls of the early C h r ~ r t ~ tnovenient an and la attempt to come to terms wtth the I~fe,work and percon ofjecuc, the Messlah, son of Abraharn, son of Ilav~d

.

The pas-gcs contldered ln t h ~ cchapter cuggert that Matthew and the exegettcal tradlt~onshe wac dependent upon offkr a thoroitghgolng Interpretanon of lsalah to both explain and substantlate the I~fe,nllnlctry and death ofJesus In llglit of God's purposes In htstory The gospel IF very close to tile Dead Sea Strc>llsat thle potnt In the exegests of the scrtpturet 111 the DSS we find a revelatory b r n l of esegei~cthat tc thoroughl) eschatolog~calIn orlentatton, In that the tnearnng of the text wa\ undentood to have thetr current events IYI vtew The same holds true for Matthew It1 fact, eschatology IS the dye that colours cverythtng In the gocpel Matthew offers a narrative that contrden the uwghty IFsuec of the s~gnficanceofJecus' 11fe and mlntstry, the arrival of the trines of the Meet~ahand tts effect\, the recponse tiom the Jews, whtch 15 generally rendered a\ one of unbe11ef.arlcithe transference of the Gocpel to the gennlec Thew are deep-seated concerns 111 the developnlent of the theology of the earlv Chrt~ttanmovement 7 he forn~ulaethat precede the quotatlonc provtde an accerc into thlc world-vte\\ The fbrmuln quotations, all Matthean addttlons, are prefaced wtth 'thrr was to fulfil what was spoken through the propliet' It IS the notlot1 that that such evenn were foretold long ago by God ipeaktng through the prophets that brtngs the Issue ~ n t ostark clarity The elcnlenn ofJe\uc' I~fe.h ~ cactlons, tnovcrnencf, the responws of people to httn, dl1 help to denlon\tnte who he wa\ For Matthcw,Jesus 15 the very hlfilrnent of C;od'\ pirrpo\e\, the denouement towards whtch Israel's h15to1-y war progree\lng A\ the genealoby and the tntroduct~oticugge\t, the go~pelof Matthew 15 'The book ofJecuc, the Mesetah, ton of I)avld, son of Abraham' (1 .I). Many of Matthew1\ reference\ to I\atah arc taken up wtth muej surroundIng Jrsus' I ~ f rand nnrnstry, h t n the clrcumrtancec of h ~ blrth s (7 14). to hrt move to C'apernaurn (8 23k-0 1). hlc heallnp (lea 53 44, 42 1 4 ) , and other such elemertts Matthew teem\ at palnr to demonstrate that, on every level, Jcsi~c1s the one foretold tn ccrtpnln. O r perhaps better,Jeeuc' Ilfe, even on the tnost nl~nidanelevel, detnonctratec who he te The Icalan~cqitotatlons conalhute milch to Matthew'c already rtch C'hrtrtology Jecur t t untquely related to the Fatheras Son ofC;oci (1 23.3 17.11 25-30.12.18-21.17 8) and,assuch,~s dtsttt~ctfrotii all hitrnantt). He tr tile one who, ac Etnn~,~nitel, brltlg the presence of (;od The vert~calrelatlonslnp between God and Jetus is extrrtrnely pn)rioutlted 111 Matthew, cv~cietlced111 the Ijapt~smand Transfiguration narratire\ and the al~gnnierrtof the latipage 5poken by the volce In these contests ultlr tlir fortiii~laquotatton t t l 12 18 (lsa 42 1) Thew preqent the reader with a lngh C'hr~stologv(I 1 25-30)

ISAIAH IN MA'I"WI>W'S GOSPEL

But the hor~zonulaspect 1s also ceutral to Matthew's portrayal ofJetuc. As Ernnianuel, Jews' interactlous with people beconle rnornentc when tlley encounter God. Hn partlc~patlonrn table fellowsh~p,acts of heallng, and denlotistrntlon of care for the harased and helpless, etc , all reflect Matthew's Chrlstology aud e\chatology. The rnle of the Splr~tIS essent~alto t h ~ snotion The Father has placed h ~ Sprr~t s upor1 Je\ut The S p ~ r IS~ s~gnlficant t In Matthew; the arrival of the Splr~tnot only reprecents the power of God but hjrlctions as an eschatolog~calmarker of the tlrnes of the Mewah (12.28) It serves to demonstrate that the long-awa~tedttme has arrlved and that Jceus re the Mewah. T h ~ sopens the door to an ernphasls upoti the Ilorizolltal, or eth~cal,Chrlstology. The eplcodes ofJesuc' lleallng provtde good examples. In the explic~tquotations and allusions found In Matthew, tlie heall~ippolnt to both his identity and his care for hurrranity. It is this latter aspect that often goes unnoticed. Matthew seenis to play with this idea, using lsa~arlicmaterial to do so. This is evident in the incorporation of Isa. 53:41, 4 2 : 1 4 arid the apparent allusions to Isa. 21): 18-19, 3.5:54), 42:7, 18; and 01 : 1 in 11:2-0. In each of these Matthean contexts, the Ilnkage ofhealll~g,eschatology and Jesus' ~ d e n t ~becollies ty vital to the narrative \equence Furtllermore, whatever Matthew's ideas were concrrlling Jesus and his relationship to the Servant in Isaiah, there secnis to exist no notion of a Suffering Servant; rather, Jesus is the one wllo brings the long-anticipated salvation of God to the people for tlieir healirig and restoratiotl. O n e nlay not easily separate eschatolobg frnm Matthew's other theological concerns, for everything is viewed through an eschatological lens. The Isaia~~ic quotations in particular are interpreted and used to validate the cornirig of the tinies of the Messiah (cf. 4:15-16; I 1:2*; 1 2 18-21). The 'dawning of the liglit' in ?:I0 asid tile bestowal of the Spirit in 12:18 (cf. 3:17; 12:28) are important elements in this conception. Matthew's understandiilg of the Spirit, ~tis already referred to above, IS a z~bmlficarita\pect 111 111s thought 111 t h ~ s not as prolillnerlt In the \cholarly literature as ~t nught be It I\ apparerit In 12:22ff. that an Interconrlectlon exlsts between the deeds ofJews, particularly h ~ exorcism\, s tlle be\towral of the Sprr~t(13.18). and the arrival of the Kingdom of God (12:28). The Splr~tserves to mark the sh~ftIn the ages, the beginlung of the renewal of all thing. Lrilked to the eschaton IT the Intcgratlon oftile ger~t~lcs 111tothe people of God. Cerltile ~ncluslonIS one of the great themec of the gocpel, but ~tremalnr just uiider the suriace, largely unexpressed. Many of the Isa~an~c quotntlons Incorporate t h ~ thenlc s as Matthew expands the tategorles of s~lvat1011 dud the people of God fiom the narrow confines ofJew~shpart~cularlcnito a call of all htrman~ty(28 l(r30) Thlz openness to the gent~lccIS ev~dentecpec~ally111 the quotatlotis of Isa 8 23b-9.1 and 42 1-4,and perhapc in 40 3 AS tvell Hut wrely ~tIs al'o present for tlie readers of the gospel In pascagec llke 1 23 In the mend sectlor), 'and tliey $hall nanle hlili Eri~~llari~~el' The eccle~~al conriect~onsof t h ~ passage r are n~an~fest ln the change ofwbject It 1s h ~ people, s wl~orrlhe will

ISAIAII IN THE NEW 'TESTAMENT

save fi*,111their sins, who will call him Ernmanuel. It is likely that gentiles are also in view here, particularly given the inclusion of this theme of divine presence at the close of the gospel, where the nations are direcdy nanied. The social context of early Christianity during this period would seem to confirm this. All of this pmulnes the rejectiori ofJesus, the Messiah, by the majority of the Jewish people and the redefinition of the people of God. If one takes the view that the extended qtlotations become part of the rhetorical force of the gospel as a whole, then they provide further clues into Matthew's use of Isaiah. For example, the apparent marking of those in Galilee in 4:15-16 as people who sit in darkness, suggests that, for Matthew at least, Jesus' mission to the Jews involved their salvation. Similarly, the quotation of Isa. 42:1-4 in 12:18-21 offers a similar infusion of theological grist. Jesus beconies the one through whom jucticeijudgement will be announced to the nations; he will also bring justiceijudgement to victory. It is this emphasis upon justice that may present a critique of the Jewish religious leadership. O n e could further point to the critique of the Jewish religious establishment in the citation of Isa. 6:9-10.29: 13 and 56:7, each seemingly pointing to the failure of some within Judaism. In the Isaiah quotations we find a richness of themes that encapsulate elements that are central to the gospel. Christology, eschatology, the problem of the Jewish rejection, gentile inclusion, critique of the Jewish religious establishment and final eschatologlcd renewd are all found in the lsaianic quotatio~is. Matthew's usage, sinlilar in many respects to that of the Dead Sea Scrolls, represents a revelatory form of exegesis that presented the scriptures as the answer to the problem of understanding the days in which the evangelist and his group lived. Certainly, for the early Christian community, coming to terms with the theological significance ofJesus, his life, death and resurrection, Isaiah was a favourite text that offered many answers.

Chapter 5

Isaiah in Luke-Acts Bart]. Koet

In a mosaic of the church of Santa Sabina in Rome, made under Pope Celestine (422-432), there are two fernale figures at the sides of a great historical inscription. Below one figure we can read: eclesia [sic!] ex circurncisione; below the other one: eclesia exgentibus. Over the former is Peter, while over the latter is Paul. Fro111 this conlposition and from many others in Rome we can learn that there was in the fifth century still a certain notion that the church was originally divided in two: a church f h m Jewish stock and one f h m the gentiles. An example of this pattern in the thirteenth century may be the mosaic of the apse of San Clemente in Rome where we see right of the centre Peter, Clement, Jeremiah and Jerusalem, while left of the centre we find Paul, Lawrence, Isaiah and Bethlehem. In this picture Paul is the apostle of the gentiles, Lawrence is the deacon of the gentiles and Isaiah is the prophet of the gentiles. That in this mosaic Isaiah is presented as prophet of the gentiles should come as no surprise, because Paul 'finds in Isaiah - particularly the prophecies of I3eutero-Isaiah - a prefiguration of his own distinctive apostolic ministry to the Gentiles'.' How did Luke read Isaiah? Does he acknowledge the context of a quotation? Are some passages more iniportant than others? In this chapter, it will be argued that Luke not only knows the quotations, he also takes into account their contexts (at least to some extent), that some passages of Isaiah are more crucial than others, and that some of the ideas in Isaiah are adopted a5 a blueprint for his work.' There are four explicit Isaiah quotations in the gospel ofluke. Two of them also occur in Mark and Matthew (Isa. 40:.3-5; Isa. 56:7), though Luke adds

'

'

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Hays. * "Who has Helteved our Message'" Paul's Reading o f lunh'. tn J M C ourt, ed New 7esramenr Wntrn and f/te Old Zstamenr An Inrrodwnon (London SPCK, 2002). p 47 Fur Isatah's

RR

vtew on the getmles, see <; I Dav~es,'The I>rsany of the <;enales tn the Book of Isad)', In J Vermeylen. ed , ?he Rcwk oflrald l.e 1~1wd'l~ateLC\ oracles el kur wlmum tin~terl campl~xtldde I'ouvrayr (RETL 81, Lruwtl Lruven Untvemty Press Peetm. IOH9), pp 93-120 Cf J C h B&uaens, brerpnranec tanJ~a]d5 1 Ea, ~ntmcxnuelortdnzork vwar de Iydende K m h r tnJcs 5 3 ('A47 / L X B nt tn Ib 22 14- 78, Hand J 12-26, Ilartd 4 23- 11 en Hand 8 2 6 4 0 (TFT 5tttd1rc 22. Tdburg Tdburg Unrvrn~tyP m , 1993)

-

ISAIAH I N Tf+E N E W TES'I'AMENT

substantially to the quotatlon of Ira. 40:3-5 In Lk. 3 : M . When deallng wlth these pasrages we wrll concentrate on the Lukan elements. Two quotanon? are found only in Luke's gospel: Isa. 6l:l-21 (with an insertion fro11158:6) in Lk. 4: 18-1 0 and Isa. 53: 12 in Lk. 2237. There are five explicit quotations in Acts: Isa. 66:l-2a (7:49-50); Isa. 53:7-Xc (X:32-33); Isa. -553 (1334); Isa. 4 9 5 (13:47) and Isa. 69-1 la (28:262-27). Although Luke uses fewer quotations h r n Isaiah than Matthew, this does not indicate that Isaiah is less important for him. It is not simply the quantity of yuotat~oncthat n Important, but t h e ~ rquallty. Luke weaves Icalah nghtly Into the rtructure of h ~ sdouble work, quoting at m t a l places w t h l n the narrative It 1s remarkable that Luke uses qliotanons tiom or allusions to I\~lah111 those passages where leacilng characters appear. When John the Baptlst, Jesuc and Stephen appear, Luke ~ntroducesa quotatlon of Isaiah.' Luke attr~butesto I'aul In the final scene of Acts a quotatlon h m Isaiah. Thlr lrldlcates that 1sal.lh IF a key to the under$tandlng of Luke-Acts as a whole. Otieri Lukc dlvlcie, references to Isalah benveen the gospel and lts sequel, Acts. When Luke alludes to a test which he also quote$, we have grounds to rccog~llrethe a l l ~ ~ s l o'1s~ i~rltended.' This lrldlcates that Luke uses moo& frorn Isaiah. Luke can work with allusions only if he presupposes some knowledge of Isaianic texts by his audie~ice.~ Especially as he sometimes ~ 49% in Lk. 2:28-32 and alludes to a text which he later quotes ( e . Isa. Acts 13:47; Isa. 6:9 in Lk. 8:10 and Acts 28:265-27; Isa. 53:12 in Lk. 22:37 and Acts 8:32-33). In this chapter I will discuss sequentially aU explicit quotations h n 1 Isaiah, and allusions to Isaiah texts which are quoted elsewhere in Luke-Acts. I will explore whether Luke', repeated references to Isatah ll~dlcatethat ~twas one of hlr blueprints for descr~blngJesus as a prophet and typlfLlng hls nnsslon. Illdeed, whether the quotatlorlr and alluclonc are slmply the vlrlble part of the rceberg, whose fill1 extent 1s urlknown but 15 certarnly present, even that Ir not always poscrble to rdennfy wrth preclslon By focuslng on the expllclt

C; J 5tcyn. k.pcrriqrnc @rocanon
Kaniprn Kok, l'N5) rrfcn to tile fact that 1 uke's tnterprrwnorrr of urrprurr are placed I ~ the I rllouth\ of airtlior~t~n, though there arc rro quocat~or~s of Isa~aha~trrhutedto I'rtrr ' For the question ot drfr~~lt~oric of allus~oo%.ree I) Ihium. Dm AIfc Ieseamenc her I ~ r k u(RZNW 112. Nerhri and Ne\%York I)e (.ru\ter 200l).p 41 For a hst ofdunorrs In the gorpel.rec <' A I(rmhall, /wrr' 1 apotrrlorr v/ rhr Old Ir\bmrorr lrr L r k 5 (kc[rl U5NT5up 94,'rheKtcld 'ihcfield Acddenuc Prt-\r, 1I)VJ).pp 206-12 For a lrst oidlli~sronsto I%lah ui Acts, .ice J Dupont, 'L'unhuuon apologctrque de I'An~rcr~ 'lmtr~~ient rbns I11 Jncour\ d c Actrs'. ~ 112 kcr,de$ rur kr Anzc dr.i Apdcws (Lcctro 1)rvrm 4i,Par1\ C ert, 1907) pp 24i-X?.(;> 281) W <;rrrnrn. Mhluh drlh It& I h r L'nlrutrdrpmnfJesrp~~r rrrtd l h r c m ~ ~ ~(ANTI r ~ q a I .rrli Mrrr~and R F ~ IFrdllkfurt. I 107h) argues tllat w t i i c t ~ ~JWUI ~ i e ~hlnrself
ISAIAH I N LUKE-ACT'S

quotat~orisIn relatrori w ~ t hthe more probable allusions, I w ~ l lattempt to sketch the Illart1 Isa~an~c themes used by Luke and the hernieneut~~al mle of lsalah In Luke-Acts.

In Luke 1-2, Luke presents Jesus as a contlnuatlou of God'\ salvation for I~rael O n e of h ~ stools IS the parallel presentatron of John the Uapt~stand Jesus Llke the patrrarchs and prophets of the Old Testament, John the Uapt~stand Jesus are d ~ s t ~ n g u ~ s by h e da cpec~alb ~ r t h' The readers of the gospel are 'warned' Three times the eva11g11stdescr~besfir\t somethrng about John and secondly someth~ngabout Jesus John's brrth 1s announced In 1 8-20, whrle Jesus' 1s foretold 111 1 26-38 Tlie brrth ofJohn and the way he gets hls name I\ descrrbed 111 1.57416, w h ~ l eIn 2 1-2OJesus' btrth is told (for g ~ v ~ r i g h ~ name, s Fee 2 21) Aker th15 ~ntroductlon,Luke continues wlth thls parallel and its message I j u r ~ n gJohn's debut as preacher anci pn)phet, h ~ swork 1s typified 111 an e d ~ t o r ~ comnient al by an Isa~ahquotatloti In Lk 3.4-6, whlle durrng. Jew\' debut (Lk. 4:16-30), we hear another quotatloti ti-om Icarah. . Luke stresses in this parallel that one of John's functions is to prepare for Jesus arid that Jesus is therefore greater than John (see e.g. L k 1:80 and Lk. 2:40). Luke quotes Isa. 40:3-5 in Lk. 3 : G . Isa. 40:3 is quoted in Mk. 1 :3 and in Matt. 3:3 (cf.John 1:23). Although Mark nientions Isaiah as the source of the quotation, the text is cornbiried in Mark with a quotation from Mal. 3:1. Like Matthew, Luke uses the reference to Ma1 3:1 elsewhere, as part ofJesus' reply to John's d~sc~ples (Lk 7:27/Matt. 11.10). Tlie quotat~otlh r i i Isa~ah40 In Luke 3 IS (partrally) &on1 a t n d ~ t ~ o n courceX al Unl~keMatthew and Mark Luke'? quotatloll 15 longer.lie 1nc1ude.iIsa 40.4-5 rn the quotat~on.The result 1s that Luke focuses more o t ~the Isa~alitext ~tself"Wrth thrc quotatlor1 the author antlcipatec arid clarlfia ttie actlvltle\ of John."' A\ an edrtorral co111ment ~t I\ a dt.iclocun. for the- readers of the mlrslori and the ~mportanceof John. The author says:

See BJ. Koet,'Sr~ricorrWonc (Lk 2.2')-32.34~-35) unJ I\rreli (;e.ichrck',rn I- \-an Scghmerk rr ' d . c h , 771r I;OIII<;twpeL (Frstsl~rrft I' Nc~rynck;I.)ETL10U.I.ci1ve11:I.CIJVCII Ur~~versrty I ' r r x -- l'e'rcrcn. I'rf2). pp. 154')-00; and tdr~n.'Holy I1IdCednd Harltr.th'\ Prayer: a (:o~nparrso~~ of LAN 51 and Lk 2.22-39 a pmpos I h n r 1-2'. rn A. Houtrrirtr rt al.. c ~ kSdt~nry . of 7imc arid .Sp,wc 111 'liuii~rlo~r a~td Atodmtrry Ocw1s11and < I h r ~ s t r aPenpectrvcs ~~ Scrre5 I; l.elden: iirril, IWU), pp. 45-72, ' h > r(1as poi,ible source, see, e.g. J. Lalrrhrecht, :lohr~the Naptir! arrd Jcsir, m Mrrk I. 1-1 5 . Markdtl Ketlactrorr of Q', M S 38 (Ic>02),pp. 3 5 7 4 4 . ' Iw. 40:3 IS also used In thr C o n ~ ~ r t u n Ihrle ~ t y of(>urnran I (2s 8:l4: i f '>tcrr I . we K. SrloJRrn\i. 'Strcana of Tradrt~onEr~rergtrrg~ I I luxah I 4O.l-5 and the11 Artpt~otr111 tire New Tert~rirent', JSM'U (1')UO). pp, 2 M i ; and IIW. Pao. Airs ~ t r drlrr Lniann S e w I i ~ o d (t W ~ U N T 73: Tub~ngcrr. Mohr Srebeck. 2(KXl),pp. 42-45. "' R u u m . f h s ,.f/rr 76sramr1rr. p. 151. n u k e a &bttnCtlon benvcerr drrtrcrpatrng qtrootroru (Pwlcps) and rhore rcierrrng to what ~Ireddyhdppet~edrtrd #~~terpretr~i# 11 ~ I I K I I J ~tlie I ~ ~ r r o u t rI~I I ~retnlri spestlvc (Andlep\).

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

34

35

3.6

Ac rt is wrrneri in t h e b o o k o f t h e words o f Isaiah t h e prophet," T h e voice o f o n e c r y n g in t h e wilderness: Prepare t h e way o f t h e Lord. rndke hi5 path5 straight Every valley
The quotation fits the story of John, since in both the desert is mentioned. John's preaching is like a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Baptism of repentance for the renlission of sins is a concrete form of preparing the way of the Lord. Luke's text differs h n i the test of the LXX in our printed editions in three ways: (1) Luke speaks of 'his paths', the LXX has 'the paths of our God'; (2) Luke speaks of 'rough ways', the LXX is singular; (3) Luke omits the phrase about the revelation of the glory of God." The Isaiah text announces the salvation of the gentiles and Luke is the only gospel writer to quote this clause. The phrase 'and all flesh shall see the salvation of God' is remarkable. Although Luke uses the Grcek wvord for salvation only three times, he does use it at very crucial places. 1)uring the presentation in the temple, the effect of Jesus' a p p e a r a n c e is s k e t c h e d . For S i n l e o n it is c l e a r t h a t Jesus will be God's salvation: 'For mine eyes have seen thy salvation (2:30) . . .a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to thy people Israel' (2:32). At the end of his work, Luke also mentions it. Paul announces that the salvation of God is sent to the gentiles (Acts 28:28). It has often been argued that the rejection of Israel is the theme of Acts 28. However, as in Lk. 2 3 0 and 3:6, Luke presents in Acts 28:28 the Isaianic theme that God's salvation also pertains to the gentiles. Although it may be that Luke found Isaiah 40 in his source, in his presentation of it, he fits it into his own prograrnnie. It is appropriate that the Isaiah quotation in Lk. 3 : M is used in John's debut because its message can be interpreted as a description of both John's and Jesus' mission. By underlining that this text is froni the book of Isaiah, Luke develops a new element to the parallel between Jesus and John. Like John, Jesus will also be presented as an I

Translrtlons oththllcal p a s a p hare heen taken hull1 the ~ s v ' Wc tan h a d y speak ot orlc LXX text \mrral scholrs hrvc dealt w r d ~the questron ofwhlch text

'

Luke used for hts quotroons See the hlrrory of research rn Frtyl~,.kptuqtnf Qrofunons,pp 6-8 It IS clear that when Inrrrtrgatrrty textual .ilrmLr~t~cr hetween Lukc'r quotattons m d erther the Greek or rhc Hehrcw O T text, we oherve that LuLr norlnally quotm a text In m Gmek for111 more o r leu ~ccorrtnyto what w hare III our prlntcd edrt~onrof the LXX. see Itnjn. Srprwytnr Quofanons, p 212 For reasola ot space. I cmnnot deal e\telu~vel) wltlt the mlattomtup h e w e n the LXX text and other (~rccktexts hat *IU refer orlty to the r11cxt tnrportant &flcrex~cer For the d~ffrrnlceshewren Greek textis) known to ur and that of Luke. see Rusarn, DilJ Alfe Irrtotnenr, pp 155-58. and I) L Bock. R ~ l a n ~ a ~from t n n I'ntphriy and k r r m Lrcan Old 7rs~lmnt1 ' I hncrolopy O\NT\up 12 \hctfield Fhetfield Acadrrrnc P r s . 1987). pp 94-95

ISAIAH I N LUKE-ACTS

actualization of an Isaiah text. The insertion of the concept 'salvation to all flesh' makes the Isaianic presentation ofJohn more fitting in the Lukan context, because the addition of the gentiles to God's people Israel is an important theme in Luke-Acts. Iso. 61:l-2 Lk. 4:16-30 describes Jesus' public proclanlatlon In the synagogue at Nazareth." We are told that Jesus opens the book of Isaiah arid finds the place where it is written: 4: 18 T h e Spirit o f the Lord is u p o n me, because h e has anointed m e t o preach g o o d news t o the poor. H e has sent m e t o p m c l a ~ mrelease t o t h e captlves and recovering o f sight t o t h e blind, ro ser at liberry those w h o are oppressed, 4:lY t o proclaim t h e acceptable year o f t h e Lord.

Although Luke's text follows riiuch of the LXX, there are iniportant differelices." For example, the phrase, 'to heal the brokenhearted' is omitted, and Luke uses the verb rqpbaaa ('to proclaim') the acceptable year, whereas the LXX uses ~ u k i o('to call, announce'). But the most remarkable difference is the insertion of a phrase h n i Isa. 58:6: 'to set at liberty those who are oppressed'." This passage from Isaiah is crucial not only for this pericope, but also for Luke's presentation ofJesus in general.'7 The main part of the combined Isaiah quotation consists in a verse and a

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O n Chis P L C U ~ C scc , BJ Koet, '"Toddy t h ~ sScr~pturehs. heen Fulfilled In your Em" Jesus' Explananon of Srr~pnrreIn Luke 4.1630'. In Koct, I-IIT Srrrdrrq oa rlu lnrnprrranon ~(SmpnrrrIn Luke-Acrf (5tud1oritm N o v ~Testarnent~A u u h 14. Leuven Leuven Unwen~ryPress - Peetcrs, 1989) For a rev~cwofl~teratt~re on Lk 4 16-30. see C J 5chrcck. 'The Nazareth Pcr~copeLuke 4.16-30 m Recent Study'. rn I- Ne~rynck, ed L'.&W~IIP dr L u n u CAfpcl o(Lubr (RETL 32.2nd and enlarged edn. Leuven Peeters, lVHc>)), pp 399-47 1. Rusatn. Dm A11e 'Gsran~rnr,pp 171-207 For thc drfierences between the Greek text known to us and the text o f 1 ukc, see Rusrrn. Dm Alrc r?stotnenr. pp 155-58. and I3ock. Ihulamal~ot~ b n t Propkery, pp 1 0 5 4 7 In 'Today thn Scripture hds been FulfiUed',pp 29-30,I argued that the two Isarm~ctexts ( l a h l 12a dnd a lme fmm Isa 5H 6) are combmed by a nudr+qhrc tcchn~qoew h ~ t hrescmhlcs the later r a b h ~ n ~bermencut~cal i rule. t h e ~ ~ z r r as h a d T h 6 1s the second of H~llel'sseven rules 111 the cvly p m o d ot mldrdshlc antcrpretatlon Whcn kt became one o f d ~ e s cwvcn hertncncuucal rules, tt w? itxd as d method for esubluhlng a n a l o ~ ~henvccn n nvo Torah precepts whme phmstnp~have onc or more wonk In mmmon f i r s word or words are regarded as the hnk between the two precepo. w h ~ c heluc~ddteea~11other Naturally the two Torah passages niust have a context w h ~ c hcan bc cot~lparcd It u p o s ~ b l ethat In an carl~erperrod thn rule M a s not used only for Torah-precepts There are several ~ n d ~ c a n othat n \ t h ~ chern~encuucalnde by analogy had ensted for a long nme and hac wcn bcen used Cor trdnslmonq from Hebrew into Creek In Luke 4 18-19 nvo tcxtr h r n thc LXX venlon of ksaldh (poverty IS rn mlporrarit thcnle In both, thus nukmg rt poss~bleto r o r n p m them) are cornbmed w ~ t hthe brrdge-word 'delrvennce/l~hcrty' (&+fmC) Wc can fmd thtb bndgcword In Isa 58 h and 61 2 LXX Thtr suggests that the comb~nedIsatah quownoo IS the mu11 o f a deltherate 'excgeus' Although ~t is poss~hlethdt Luke has der~vedthe ~ I structcire L fmrn Mk 6 14.it n w~dcly recognized that Lk 4 16-30 bears many Lukan chdracter~sucs

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ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

half tiom Isatah (11 I h The glorlficat~or~ of Z ~ o n(Isa~ah60) IS followed by the prophetic call and nnrrlon (61 1-Sa, cf lsa~ah6, Jerem~ahI; Ezek~el1-3 and An1 7.10-17) The speaker connect, the fact that he has the splrlt of Y H W H w ~ t htwo elements Fmt, YHWH has a n o ~ r ~ t eand d sent h1n1 (61.1) . . For prophets, anointing means 'being appointed to'." His appointment is explained in some detail in the following verses. Second, a niessag ofjoy and consolation for the oppressed is proclaimed. As W.A.M. Ueukerl arpes, the wording with which the 'prophet' a n ~ ~ o u r ~ himself ces in Isaiah hl evokes the figure of the Servant, to whom Y H W H has also given his spirit (see 42: 1; 4%). There is some ambiguity as to whom the text is referring. Is it the prophet himself or can we hear the voice of the Servant? A sinlilar question arises apropos Luke's use of this text. D.L. Bock argues that the key quect~onconcerns w h ~ c hfigure 1s In vrew here, and whetller ~t 1s a task performed, or an office held, that 15 en~phas~zed: 'Is the p o ~ r of ~ t fulfillment the message to the poor and the release of the oppressed? O r Ir tlie p o n ~ the t figure, who b r ~ n pthese t h ~ n p O ? r 15 ~tboth?'"' of the prophet In lsa. 61.1-2a serve as an outline of several The qual~t~es aspects of Jesus' works of calvanon In the gospel. In apply~ngt h ~ spasage to h~ln\elfJesus presents h~nlrelfas a prophet who cornes to proclainl to the of ralvat~onThe other elements of the quotat~onare people the glad t~d~ng., and are a klnd of prev~ewofJesus' actlvlry e.g., alto fulfilled 111Jesus' rnln~~tr-y his evangelizing re-occurs in 4:43; 7 2 2 ; X:1; 20:1 and his keen interest in the poor in 6:70; 14:13, 21; 16:20; 18:22; 199; 21 :3. The fact that Jesus has received the spirit is a theme also enlphasized elsewhere in Luke (1:35; 3:22; 4: 1, 14; 10:2 1 ;cf. Acts 1:2; 10:38).2i The quotation fio111 Isa. 01:1-2a is corilbincd with a line from Isa. 58:6. Isa~ah58 is a propiletic warning. God does not desire pious observance (e.g. t ~ c t ~ n g\when ) people forget t h e ~ rpoor and hungry t~eighbour.These people, whose fast~ngends In quarrell~ngand s a ~ f eforget , to break t h e ~ rtbread w ~ t h the hungry (Isa. iX:7). It is possible that by adding an element from Isaiah 58 to Isaiah 61, Luke alludes to an in~portantelement of Jesus' preaching in Luke-Acts: tlre salvation of the poor is related to the repentance of the rich (cf. Lk. lh:19-31). This inlplies a warning to the rich (cf. Lk. 6:20,24). It is a part of Luke's drea~nthat the rich will be persuaded to give away their possessions (cf. 3:10-1 4; 5: 11, 28; 1433; 18:22; 19:8; Acts 244-45; 432-37 and 5:1-1 I). Jesus explains the qi~otationin 1 2 1 and 4:23-27 by using the examples of

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For l ~ t d t i61. III addrr~onI<) colrirllclrtarlz\, ice W A M Heukcn. 'Servant drld Herald of Good T~dtngslwtal~h l ai ari l~~terprstat~orr of Iwah 40-Si'. III V c r r n q l c ~ ~Illr , lkwk ofLniulr,pp 41 1-42 Bsukeo. 'kndlrt and Herdid', [i 4 14 Hoi l. Ihlan~artc~tt fmni I+t~p/rrcy.p 1 OX I-or hlr h e i l ~ n gt t ~ chllnd, \es 1) Halnrn. '\~&t to the Hllnli Vlsron as Meuphor In I uke'. Nlh h7 (Ic)Xh) pp 457-77

ISAIAH I N I.UKF.-ACTS

Elijah and Eiisha to illustrate his own prophetic mission." The inhabitants of Nazareth are 'not amused' and thrust him out of the city and even try to cast hirn down h m the hill (4:30)." Althougll Jesus is not favourably received, his preaching and healing d o appear to have some success, as is clear f i m the allusion to Isaiah 61 in Lk. 7:ltt-29, which appears to take up the lsaianic text of Lk. 4:10-19.t4 When two of the disciples of John the Baptist enquire whether Jesus is the Coming One, he answers: 7 22 Go and tell J o h n what y o u have seen dnd heard t h e blrnd rccelve their clght (cf 1 18) t h e lame walk, lepers arc (leansed, mci t h e cieaf hear, t h e dead arc ralted up, t h e poor have good new5 prea~hetft o thenx ( c f 4 18)

Although it is possible that there are references here to Isa. 35:6 (blind, deaf, lame) and 2 9 1 8 (blind, deaf, poor), the fact that Isa. 61:i-2a is quoted in Lk. 4:lX-19 rnakes it quite certain that at least Isa. 01:l-2 is alluded to here (Acts 10:38).25 Jesus' debut and his answer to John's disciples depict him as the Coming One, with a healing ministry. Luke gives a11 outlir~eof the entire ministry of Jesus by means of the Isaiah quotation, but the references in Luke 4 connect not only with Luke 7 but also with preceding characterizations ofJesus in Lk. 2:32 and 3:22. As we saw above, Sin~eondescribes Jesus in terms that are taken h m the Servant songs in (Ikutem-)Isaiah (Lk. 2:32; see Isa. 4 2 0 ; 19:6,9; cf. 46:13). At his baptism (Lk. 321-22) Jesus is addressed f i n r heaven: 'You are my beloved Son; in you I have tzzken delight' (322). Although there is discussion about the composition of this allusion to the OT, it is clear that 1's. 2:7 is to be included. However, the giving of the Spirit in combination with the theme of God's 'delight' also seems to allude to Isa. 42:l ('Here is my servant, whoni I uphold, my chosen, in who111 my soul delights; I will put r11y Spirit upon him and he will bring justice to the ~lations'). For tlic esarnplcs of Elrjah and Ehslia, rcc rrly 'Today tl~rsSrrrpture has hccn I'ulfillcJ', pp. 41-49 Wtth there reference\ Jcsus sho\\rs that dlc expectatton of the auti~cnceIS not rcalrsttc. Although A pn,phcr can he faw,:trrhly rccerveii rl.irwi~erc.for h n hc>tnetc,\\.r~. tt I\ hrs prcachlnp that IS rrnpnrtartt, not hrs hea1111g.s.See 'Today t h ~ sScrrptnn. hds k e n Fulfilled'. pp. 3'1-53; m d J.A. Sandcn, 'Fmm Iurah hl to Luke 4'. rn J. Neusrrer. cd.. <3ltriirta11try, Jedarstn urrd Orlrrr (;r~~~-Kowrir~r C~rlu:Sttrd~ci/br ,\;lorfiviSrn~ri~ ar Srsry 1: .1'7'(SJLA 12: Lclden: l3rrll. 1975). pp. 75-106. I trnrcrprct the mactron lo 4:22 as currosrty wrth n certarn amount
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ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMEN'I

Luke 4 and Luke 7 together deplt t Jecur as cor~rebodywho f~~lfilc a mlsslon l ~ k ethat of the Servant as deccr~bedIn 1s11ah 01. The fact that Luke 4 recalls the references to a Servant figure as In lca~ah42 shows that this background IS also Important rn Luke 4 Althougt~the Isaiah quotatlon 111 the first place IS a descr~ptlonofJe\uc' task, ~t also cornpletec the Lukari preseliutlon ofJe\us '1s an arlo~ntedServant figure

In Lk 19 28 Jesus $tarts 111s firial path towarits Jerusa1t.111 Lk 19 38-48 1s the cl~niasofthe travel account as well as the ~ ~ ~ t r o d u ctot ~Jesus' o ~ l teaching 111 the tclllple C O I I I I Ifrom I ~ Gnl~lee,Je.iusenter\ the c ~ t yof 111cdestiny, where he w ~ l l make h ~ 'esodu5' s (9 51.53, c f 13 22,33,17 1 1.18 31) Jesus proceeds d~rectly lrlto the tcmple (19 45a) Although Luke 15 obv~ou\lyirisp~redby the Markan pamllcl (see Mh 11 11, 15-10, cf Matt 21 12-13), we do 11otfind the curslug of the tree, there I\ 110 nientlorl of the entry Into the c ~ t y(cf Mk 1 1 15) dud Luke's descr~pt~orl ofJecuc' a c t ~ v ~ t In ~ ethe c te~nple1s more \ucc~nct"' We do not get any rrlforrnat~orlabout the sellers and thew actlvltiec or about Jesuc' 'v~olent'behak~our(see Mk 11 15-10) In Luke Jesus 'purges' the temple to s (I9 47) He quotes the scripture to J L I S ~hI ~ )s ~ make ~t ready for h ~ teach~ng actlon 19 44,

Ir I( u'rrtren M y h o u w shall be a houte of pr'iyer, hut you IIAVC 111ade11 a dcn of robhcrc

Jew\ here tor~flatesa test fnlrli Imah wlth one from Jerern~ah'* We find the tarlie c o m b ~ n a t ~ o111 r ~Mk 11 I7/Matt 21 13 W h ~ l eIn Mark tlie quotatlor) tin111 Ita 56 7 I \ nearly the carrle a\ the test of the LXX, In Luke only 'My houte' and 'houre of pmyer' are 111 verbal agreen~er~t w ~ t hthe LXX test lrlstead of 'shall be called' (~2.qefiocrui)Luke 113s 'shall be' (EUTUI),and he o m ~ t sthe phrase, 'for all the t~atrons/gent~les'In Mark the qilotatlon h ) n ~ J e n m ~ a hIS more allusion than quotatlon There are two rlllrlor drfferences betweell Mark and Luke (the place of ' ~ t IS' changed and 111 Mark the verb I\ a perfect, w h ~ l eIII Luke ~t 15 all aor~st)Only 'dcri of robbers' IS a literal alluston to Jcr 7 11 The corrlblnanorl of these texts IS an ~ n d ~ c a t ~ofJeeus' on att~tude towards those who are cell~rlgIII the tcr~lple,but ~t1s also an ~ntroduct~on to 1115 teacli~ug(19 47) In l ~ n ew ~ t hl ~ po\srble s source, Luke present\ a Jewr who refers to Isa~ahless l~terallybut st111 as a warrant for 111s att~tudetowards the temple

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IS %) rutc~r~tt that wttle r~rdf~irkr~pu tr) to cldhOrarc. I S S I I I ~el~rrlrrlt\~ R > I IMdrl I dnd Mdtthcu It sccnts to rne rhat theqc trxr.i arc tornhrrtcd hv thc u m e nudra\hrc tet hnryoc as nrenuoncd rn tootnotc 1 6 the rharrd elrlrrerrt 111 a klchrcu teht arid a f-rcck 'mc Ir thc word tt~r'house' I I 1% clear

It

thdr the confew 15 aI\o the wrrlc. hc~au.ich)th tc\n drrl nrrh the trlrlple In lertlulcrrr

ISAIAH IN LUKE-ACTS

Isaiah 53

Lk. 22:37 is part of a literary unit, 22:14-38. There is a unity of time and place: in an upper room in a house in Jerusalem, during the Passover meal Jesus is the host for his apostles. As elsewhere in Luke, the author uses a nleal & a literary fianlework far statements made by Jesus (cf. 5:29-39; 7:36-50; 11:37-54; 14:1-24). But although there is clearly a unity of time and place, the connections between the different phases are not easy to find." There are two imponant themes: the Eucharistic and eschatological rneal and the theme of Jesus' sufferings (22:15,19-20,22,33,37). But the position of the disciples is also at stake. After the Lukan narrative of the institution,Jesus speaks with his disciples about their 'relation' with hirn ('to hand over' in 22:21-22 or 'to be like a servant' in 2223-27). In 2231-34 there is a short dialogue between Jesus and Peter, followed by material unique to Luke (22:35-38). Although it is often said that this passage is h n l a pre-Lukan composition, the reference to scripture fits the use of Isaiah 53 elsewhere in Luke-Ace. It is a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples. In 2 2 3 5 Jesus seerlis to refer to the instruction he gave when the Twelve were sent out (Lk. 9:1-6), but the purse and the knapsack are tntroduced from the rnstrucclonc for the seventy(-two) others (Lk. 10:1-12). Jesus sketches a contrast between the attitude of the cirsciples in the past and the new situation, anticipating the conling crisis. The reference to the sword indicates that now the situation will be serious. The change is illustrated by a very short reference to scripture, which is introduced by a quite emphatic introductory formula: 22 37

For I teU you, that this scripture must be fulfilled In me, Arid he was reckoned with transgressors. for what 1s wrlnen about me has ~ufulfilnent

The quotation appears to conie tion1 Isa. 53:12 (rui t v roiq bvopolq EkoyiaOq), though it is hard to be certain when only two words agree exactly (rai p c ~ bvopmv a i h o y i d q ) . Although there are some indications that it has Semitic roots, it is also possible that Luke (or his source) followed the tendency to correct a LXX-like text in the direction of a Hebrew ~/i,rktge." The freedom of interpretation nlanifested in the LXX (and also found in later rabbinic literature) could also lead to such a quotation. The disciples interpret Jesus' warning literally and show him the fanlous two swords. This reaction evokes Jesus' disappointment: 'enough of that' (22:38).

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G.R. C:dlrd, Sirrtrf L ~ k r2, ( R l ~ c a nNT (:omntcrrtar~rr;HarrnonJswortt~:Pcngt~l~l; 4th elin. 1971). p. 237:' . .tile Lucarl ~ C C O L I Iof I ~ tire Last Supper u u-t~olar's paramsc atid a bcglnrlcr's nl@trrurc'. C:f. Kuunr. rXu AIM li.rfamnrf,pp. 237-39; for the d~ffcrcncesbetweerr Isa~ah53 MI'md LXX, scc E.R. Ekhld. Iraiah'i Snot~rI'oems Anording 10 rIrr Spptar~~itrr: .it11 fk
.I

(CBET 23: 1.ei1ven: Peeten, 19')')). pp. 7.3-266. For the d~tTcrcrrccrbetween the quotanon and thc M'r and LXX. ~ e l%ock, e R~lamorbrt.(mm ftophzry. pp. 226-27; and Ik~tracrt.i,In~~rrrrrr~r. rrnrr./rsr~n.

p. i s .

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Jesus uses the quotation In 2 2 3 7 to depict his fate and to typify it as in line wit11 the scriptures. The short reference to Isaiah is fiamed in two sentences referr~ngto the approach~ngdest~nat~on, and therefore the quotanon IS presented as disclosirig the future, describing in its own way what will happen to Jesus in Jerusalem. Isa. 53:12 is part of the famous Servant song, Isa. 52:13-53:12. The influence of this song in the NT is hotly debated. In this context it is not possible to explore the extent to which the Servant of Isaiah 53 is used as a niodel tbr Jesus. Though the reference to Ira. 53:12 is short, we can probably assume that not only does it apply to Jesus but that Isaiah 53 is presupposed as a model for Jesus' fate in Jerusalem. In Isaiah 52-53 the Servant is depicted as son~ebody who is dishonoured, pierced (or wounded), humiliated and cut off h r n the land of l~vrngand vindicated; those t h ~ n gwfl happen to Jesus too. That Luke had kno\vledge of more deta~lsof Ita~ah53 IS probable, because he quotes Isa. 53:7-8 at Acts 832-33."' Acts 8.4-40 I\ dtv~dedinto three perlcopes: 8.4-13 (the protagonist Phll~p'q preach~ngIn Saniar~aresults In the bapt~tmof nletl and women, especially of Sunon); 8:14-24 (Peter and John, tent by Jerudem, convey the Spirtt) and 8:25-10 (I'hh~pand the eunuch). Accord~ngto several author\ Acts 8 : 2 5 3 0 has a concennlc pattern: A 8 26-27a

P h l l ~ po n lltc way

B 8:27b-29 the rneetlng benveen 13hlhpand the eunuch C: X:30-31

1) X:33-31 C1X:34--35 13' 8:36-39 A' 8:40

a d ~ a l o p between e Ph~l~ and p the eunuch quotation tiom Ica~ali53 a d~alogi~e between Ph111pand the eunuch the nieenng between Phrl~pand the eunuch Ph111pon h ~ way s

l After Phrl~p's'ucce.~tfulnilrcton among the Samar~tansan angel cends h ~ n to the desert TIlerr he Fees a eunuch In a coacll Jo1111ngthe coach, P h ~ l ~hears p h1n1 read~ng1<.11,thI'h~hpa\ks the famous hern~eneut~cal cjuestlon. 'Do you understand what you are read~ng" (8 30) X 32 Now the pdstage ofthe scrrpture whr~hhe \\as rcadltlg was thir

A$ a bheep led to the tlaughter or a l1111hbefore ~ t ehcarer c 15 dunlh. co he openc rlor 1115 mouth 8 33 In 1115 humtl~anonjustlc e \WS dented ~ I I I I Who can descrlhc 111sgeneratlon' For ht\ ltfe n taken from the earth

After hearing the passage in question Philip starts to interpret the passage and to answer the eunuch's question. We are not told what interpretations l'hilip *

For

ti115

pds$rge, we F Scott Spencer, 7hr I'ornatr

4 Pltrltp ttt

Ac-6:A Stfrriy

USNTSup h7; Shefield: ShefiiclJ Acrdcnu< I'rrsr. ll)')-?), pp. 173-70.

of

K o k ntrd Kclarionr

ISAIAH IN LUKE-AC'TS

used but only that ti-om this scripture Philip expounds to him the Good News ofJesus (8:35; cf. Lk. 24:27,44). In the first part of the quotatio~ltllere is some stress on the protagonist'$ suffering and humiliation; we learn also of his attitude of 'non-resistance'. In the second part of the quotation the question is: will anyone hear ofhis deeds? In the coritext of Acts 8 this text receives a new interpretation. Although the figure of Isaiah 53 did not open his mouth, PIlilip will open his nlouth (8:35a) and he will interpret the same scripture. The most important new interpretation is that it is Jesus, whose silence was like a sheep being led to the slaughter, who is now the one preached. It is Philip 'who shall describe his generation'. In Isaiah the Servant's mission is favourable to Israel and to the outcacts. In Acts Jesus as a Servant figure is favourable for orie of the outcasts mentioned in Isaiah: the eunucl~.And Philip will baptize him as a sign that he too belongs to God's people.-" In Acts 8 Luke tnakes quite explicit what is hinted at in Luke 22: Jesus is rnodelled afier the Suffering Senrant. Isn. 66: 1-2

Stephen is the first person in Acts to quote a text f i m Isaiah. Stephen, one of seven men of good repute (Acts h:3), is attacked by rliernbers of specified synagogues (Acts 6 9 ) .The accusers attack the disciple for the attitude of his master. They interpret Stephen's teaching about Jesus as an appeal to forsake the law and the temple. They stir up rrieti to accuse Stephen, with the result that Stephen is brought before the council. A key to the following process is the fact that the accusers are characterized as false witriesses ((~13).Thus for Luke, it is not Stephen or Jesus but Stephen's accusers (and Jesus' accusers, Acts 2 2 3 ) w l ~ oare breaking the law." In his speech to his fellow Jews ('Men, brothers and fathers') Stephen outlines Israel's history, giving a sy~jopsisof biblical stories. God's faithfulness towards Israel is stressed in the stories about Abrahani and Joseph, just as in those about Moses (7:8, 17,35). Coritrasted with this positive side is a negative side, where Stephen sketches the oppositiori which Moses encountered from the begin~iing(7:25-28). Israel did not recognize Moses' leadership and nude a bull-calf(7:3542). That Stephen is so positive about Moses in~pliesa positive attitude towards Moses' law (7:38). At the erld of his speech Stephen deals with his attitude towards the temple, quotilig Isa. 6h:l-22: 7 48 Yet the Most HI.& dom not dwell tn hotrtes made \oth hands, as the prophet uy 7 40 Heaven Ir my throne, and earth niy footstool What house wll yo11 hulld for me. wy.i the Lord, or what IS the place o f niy rest' 1)1d not nr). hand ruakr all these th~ngs'

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Therc are abo other p
ISAIAH IN TI4E NEW TESTAMENT

The quotatron agrees for the rriost part w ~ t hthe LXX and the two drffkrencec tan be expla~nedby the context and Luke's purpotes whlle Luke hac 'says the Lorci' In the nlrddle, In the LXX rt 1s the rntroductron of 00 1 and 15 repeated In 06 2 Because Luke ~ntroducecthe quotation wrth the tbrrrlula 'the prophet cay\', rt Is more approprrate to trancpo\e rt to the nirddle The Iact phrate In the quotatron In Acts re a rhetor~calqurttron, whrle 111 Ica~ah~t IS a \tatenrent In thrs way, Luke make\ a connectlor] wlth 7 42 The effect IS that the rhetarrcal form rnakes the quo~itronfit better as an argument the que.itron rr bawd on 'authorrty' and the expected answer hac to be affirniat~ve Ytepherr doec not turn ~!yntnctthe tenlple, but he tones down rtc ~nlport,rnce by u\c of tli~rprophetrc text Although Cod'c dwell~ngrn the temple IS an rnlportant theme in the tcrrptures, Luke's rnterpretatron of Isa 60 1 15 a hrnt that one can ale0 find God oualde the temple Hcwby, one escape\ fmm the danger of grvlng the terilple an all too excluctve potrtlon Iniplrcrtlv, Luke's rnterpretatron g~ve\rlte to a Lertaln opennes\ ac an ultlmate consequence of the relat~veImportance of the te~rlpleT h ~ copennect 1s not alren to ltarah 66, because In 66 33, a counterpart of Ica 66 1-2, we hear a prophet~cvlsron that all flech shall corne to worsll~pbefore God (66 33, see alw 06 20.24. cf 40 -5) In Lk 3 6 there I\ already an ~ l l u c ~ oton thls concept, but Stephen doe5 not, In sprte of htc remark about the temple, ~ 9 k ethrs step One tan at the nroct conclude that Stephen ehnilnates an excluc~vernterpretatlorr of the temple and thus sets the stage for the later gentile ~nr\sron The rhetorrc~lque\tlon prepares the way for the counter-accusation rn the ~ o n c l u t r o rof~ the speech (7 5 1-53) Turning from the pact to the pment, \tephen rephe\ to the chargee corlcernrng hrs att~tudetotvardc the law He defends Jecu\' and hrr ow11 attrtude towardt the law and the teniple by comparrng t h e ~ rfathers' pertecutrons of the prophets wrth h ~ audience's r attrtude toward$ the Just O n e Stephen's speech rmpl~esthat Jetti\ wa\ truly loyal to the law and prophet\, while those who rqected hlrn are the onec who have been break~ngthe Law and have been unfi~thfulto the prophets Hlr speech, ecpecrally the last phracec, and hlc pronouncement In 7 50 will cause hi\ cxecutlon

The next Iwah quotrtron rr In Paul's cpeech In Antloch Acts 13 14-52 destrrbes how I'aul and Narnaba\ vrsrt l'rcrdran Antroch, they go to the synag o g on ~ the Shabbat " At the request of the syrragopie rulers Paul del~versa qurte typ~calrnrsslonar) cpeech (13 16b-41) The speech I\ well received (13 42-43) T h ~ s1s one of the reason5 for r cecond errcounter (13 44-52), durrng whrch a conflltt arrses, \rgxrall~ngthe end of the ~ntenctronbet~ceen " i c e 1%J Koct,

f'dul dnd Hdrrraba.i in I'ir~dlan A~rtro
ISAIAH IN LUKE-ACIS

Paul and Barnabas and their fellow Jews. During this conflict Paul and Barnabas quote from Isaiah (1 547). Earlier in his speech Paul refers to Isa. 5 5 3 . Paul directs himself to Jews and 'God-fearers'. This will be important for the interpretation of the speech. As an inventory of the addressees tnakes clear, there are three sections in Paul's speech (13:16b-25,26-37,3841). However, as suggested by Steyn, it is possible to divide the second section into two para: 13:2Cr31 and 1332-37." 111 the first part (13:16-25) Paul sunmmarizes the salvation history of Israel. In contrast to Stephen's speech (esp. 7:30-41,51-53) the allusions to this history are mainly positive. Paul stresses that the highlights mentioned are an implicit part of their shared history ('our fathers', 13:17). In 13:22-23 he turns his attention to David. As elsewhere, he uses David as a key figure for Jesus. He continues with this theme in the second section (1326-37), which again has a mainly narrative character. In its first part Paul explains the meaning ofJesus' death and resurrection (1327-31)." In the second part he adds references to the OT which give a scriptural background for the resurrection (1332-37). It is in this context that Paul refers to Isa. 55:3: 13 34

he spoke rn thrt w r y I w l l give to you t t ~ choly and rurr hlm~ingsof Davrd

This text is not found elsewhere in the NT. There is some discussion whether it is an explicit quotation, because a !nore official introductory formula is missing. However, there is a less fornlal introductory forrrlula and the quotation is presented in the first person, and it is quite possible that Luke is adding variety because he has already used the forrnal introductory formula in his introduction of the first quotation (1 3:33). Acts 13:34 differs fro111 the LXX of Isa. 5 5 3 by omitting the reference to ('I the eternal covenant and using GcSoo ('I will give') rather than GbuB~joopu~ will make'):*' By omitting the reference to the covenant, Luke focuses the quotation on David. The prorrlise which was made to David is fulfilled in Jesus. Luke quotes only half of the message, but his focus on David makes this sentence harder to understand. In Isa. 55: 1-5 God promises several forms of salvation with his everlasting covenant as the centre (Isa. 55:3). In this context it is not necessary to discuss the exact meaning of sa Bola AuviG rci xtosri. It is sufficient to note that in Isaiah, God's promises of an everlasting covenant are related to 1)avid." It is this Llavidic elenlent which is referred to in 13:34. The

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Steyn, SPprruf~nltnrQuowfionc, p 160, n X A sulnnlary of thu a common to all the speedres In Aco 2 22b-24. 3 1%-15, 4 IOh. 5 30-71. 10 37b--4.7 See H van ck \andt, 'The Qt~nuuonsrn Acts 13.32-52 as a Rcflectlon of Luke's LXX Inrrrprctanon', Bb 75 (l'H4).pp 2 f r j X (pp 33-34) Vau de \an&, 'Thc Quomuom', p 33, n 17, rrgun that lu 55 3 ts tllr only pasuhv in 1)cutcro1r;llnh uhtch a l h ~ d eto~ a hope connec ted wrth the Ow~d~ttc dynasty

ISAIAH I N T H E N E W TESTAMENT

promises to 1)avid are an inlportant theme for I'aul's (and thus Luke's) audience, as is clear tiom the whole speech and tiom elsewhere in Luke's work (cf. Lk. 1:6Ft-69 and 15: l6).% Rut the fulfilment of this promise applies to the messianic events around Jesus."' Luke corroborates his thesis by conlbini~~g Isa. 55:3 with (and adapting it to) 1's. 15:lO (LXX).U' Accordng to Luke the protnises to Ilavid are not for him personally, but for his 'successor' Jesus. In 13:3tr37 Luke uses Ps. 15: 10 as interpretation of Isa. 553: because David died and his body 'saw corruption', the promises are intended for Jesus, because he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. This Isaiah quotation is less prominent than those in Luke 3-4. It is used as a step in the argument and not as the main point. Another difference seems to be that trlost of the other Isaiah argulnents deal with a message of salvation for is mentioned in Isa. 554-5 and although the non-Jews. However, this eler~~erlt Luke does not use it, it is possible that it plays a role in the background,because In Acts 13:3X-39 Paul directs his attention cotnpletely to the practical implications for his nrived audience. He proclaisns that 'through this man uesus) forgiveness of sin is proclaimed to you (ci. Lk. 24:46) and by him every one that believes is justified from everything h m which you could not be justified by the law of Moses'. I'aul concludes his speech with a warning (13:41), quoting h n r Hab. 1:5 LXX. 'The issues at stake hen: are the theme of forgiveness and the filnction of the law, particularly as a consequence of Jesus' history. Conslder~ngthe pos~tivecharacter o i t h e rest of the speech, this is one of the more topical elements: I'aul's pronouncement in 13:38-41, where the function of the law is appraised, can give rise to some harsh discussion among the Jews. The content of this quotation is, at least at first sight, rather unh-iendly. But the audience react to this harsh stater~ientquite positively: tlrey asktor more. And the positive reaction is also reflected in the fact that rrlany of the Jews follow Paul and Barnabas (1343). There is some stress on the fact that the proselytes join them. O n the secorld Shabbat the positive response is even greater: almost the whole city conics together and, according to the text, it is only when the Jews see the multitudes that they react negatively. After the initial enthusiastic reception described in 1 3:42-44, this negative attitude is remarkable: what do

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For ttrc u.ie of rhc I)~\rdrc psal~rarn prescrrtrng J c ~ i n '$tory as hrography con~pamblcto that o f Davrd. rrr P 1)oblc 'The Pralrrrr rrr LtrLe-Atts' In \ Moync arrd M J J Menken. s&, lha Pr'dnu ~n tlrc Snr 7ertumnrr (London m d N e u YorL T A T C lark, 2Ot)4),pp 83-1 17 Van de \dndt, 'The Qooutronr' p 35. n 20, a r p e $ that thrr IS a pattern In Acts m wrung pornt d q u ~ t a u o n~ I I (cripture I Qt~cstrorrdoex thr$ text apply to thc speaker or to someone clur' Proof rr cannot he applrrd to the 5pcaker. 11 1s fultrllrd rn Jssur Ci 2 25-52.2 33-35 m d 8 30-35 A\ elseuhere ($cc note Ih), two Irdram' rexn arc ~ o n ~ b r n eby d a re~hnrqucresemhhng the later rrhbrnrr herrne~reutrralrule, the srert~lrslrordi T l i e brrdgs-writ tm 1- 55 3 and Ps 15 1 0 reens to hr h ~ a / h i o vIt 15 clerlr that lwiah 55 drld I'W~II 15 (a pulnr i ~ Ihrrd') t also share the wmr rontcut, < f Woc k. I4'wlamutrotr )n>nr I'rophn y. p 25 1 tor the pronn honuly rs a possrblc ha
ISAIAH IN LUKE-ACTS

these Jews react to and who are they? What is the reason for the negative attitude in 13:45,50? Why does Paul's speech have this effect? What is the function of the quotation of fsa. 4 9 5 in Acts 13:47? Isa. 49:6

The inlrnediate cause of the reaction of the Jews is their 'seeing the multitudes' (cf. 'the whole city' in 13:44). Why d o Jews become agitated, when seeing multitudes? 110 they feel their Jewish way of life endangered? We may find a clue when we ask: what do these ~nultitudesconsist of? There is nothing explicitly nlentiorled about the identity of the audience, but there are sorne indications in the context. In his speech Paul addresses not only the Jews, but also the God-fearers (13:lh. 26)." Afier the speech (God-)fearing proselytes follow Paul and Uarnabas, while in 13:50 the Jews try to involve (God-)fearing wealthy women." Considering the emphasis on these groups, I assunie that aniong the multitudes in 13:45 there are also such God-fearers. But the phrase 'almost the whole city gathers' suaests that even the gentiles are meant. Paul appears to place 'believing' above the law, though elsewhere he repeatedly underscores the value of the law. The problern which arises afier the speech is whether all these gentiles, who want to worship God, can share in the promises - and if so, hotu? This is explicitly referred to in 14:27: the result of the journey in Acts 13-14 is 'how God had opened the door of faith unto the gentiles'. The question of the gentiles is also the main problem in Acts 15: 129 (see 21:21). It is possible that Luke stresses the influx of gentiles because Paul's statenlent about the law in 13:3841 is especially important in r e g r d to their position. The Jewish reaction in 13:45 rnay be a consequence of their seeing how Paul's statement about the law can have a special efect on these groups. These Jews are not jealous but they are concerned about the law, fearing that their Jewish way of life is threatened by the influx of so many gentiles.'" Therefore, they contradict Paul's interprewtio~lof the Torah, as presented in 13:38-41. 'The Jews' react ~leptivelyto the influx of gentiles as a consequence of Paul's preaching (cf. 6:11,13; 11:2-3; 18:1.3--15: 21:21). The reaction of the Jews in 13:45 is depicted as zeal against Paul's interpretation of the law, pronlpting Paul and Barnabas to quote a prophetic text as an

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1 hem ts a iitilccurnorr ahout the rutit* o f there God-tedrcl-, are they a spccial group' Cf E \churer. 71ie Hufary ol fhrJru.~sIrPeople rrr 111r,4gc ofJerta C3nrr. 111 1, rev aod cd G Vcrrurr, E MtUrr and M Goodman (Edmburgil T h T ('lrrk, IOX6). pp 150-76 (p 169) 'At an) rate the evtdcocc ts, tbough scattered. suffrc tent to detnonsmtc thrt there uere C;etinlm \\ ho juct.nzcd w~tlioutlxiorntng convera.and that rtl at 1er.ct some places tlirsc "Cod-fearers" forrnrd a defined p u p ' Thts combmanon a b u o d only llrre m the NT Luke stdnlps tile Jewnh rcacuon as at1 atnrudt. of zeal fix an mtcrpmtanon of the law, irn-100

ISAIAH IN TI-IE NEW TESTAMENI'

authoritative argument for the gentile mission. That the gentile mission is based on this reference to the O T is clear, but the actual way it happens leaves much to be discussed. Paul and Rarnabas quote Isa. 4 9 6 13 47

For ro the Lord has commanded tlr, sbylng 1 have \et you t o be a 11ght for the Gentiles that you may b r m g salvanon t o the uttermast parts o f the earth

The textual form of the quoution is that of the LXX.44The quotation is part of a unique section of Isaiah (49:l-f)) where the gerltiles thenlselves are directly addressed and are invited to listen to the Servant. In a direct word tiom the Lord (49%) a new explanation of the Servant's task is given: dongside his task for Israel, he has likewise a rnission for the gentiles. The gentiles are presented with a message of salvaric>n:the Servant will be a 'light' for them. This new element of the Servant's task is part of the dynamics of (Deutem-) Isaiah (see 48:20). It is important, however, to note that in Isaiah the Servant's being a light for the gentiles is not at the expense of his rnission towards Israel, but an extension ofthat task (see also Isa. 49:7-13)." There is a certain stress on the Lict that the whole setting, the quarrel included, is an inner-Jewish discussion: this was already clear from the fact that in the speech Paul is quite clearly directing himself to his fellow Jews. It is explicitly mentioned that the first encounter is in the synagogue, while both encounters are on Shabbat. Implicitly, the second encounter seems also to take place in the synagogue. Within those Jewish circles harsh words were not necessarily understood as a rejection. We have a clear-cut exanlple in this text. As kve saw above, the quotation fionl Habakkuk soundc quite negative (13:41), but the reaction is a positive one (13:4243).4" This is confirnled by the use of Isa. 49% in Lk. 2:29-32. During the presentation in the temple Simeon describes Jesus in terrns that are taken from the Servant songs in Deutero-Isaiah (Lk. 2 3 2 ; see Isa. 42:6; 49:6, 9). Simeon's pronouncements in Lk. 2:2Y-32 and 2:34c-35 are important for Luke's vision of Israel and of its relation to the gentiles. These pronouncetnents are made in the context of law-abidinpess (Lk. 2:22, 23, 24, 39). In this way the author suggests that the gentile nlission is law-abiding. The reader who has read Luke 1-2 as an introduction to the gospel ought to know that Jesus has a double

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k c Cteyn. Gpfriqrtrt Quorarrons,p 197, Ktturn, I h Slre Iesramcnf, p 4 14, only 'behold' u 'ornmed' rherc are .irvenl &ffcret~crrbetuectl the Hehrew tevt of Iqa 49 1 - 6 uld that of the LXX see tny 'Paul and Narrubu 111 Pntdian Anttoch', pp 107-10, < t rlso Ekblad, LsarcJl's k v a n l I ' m , pp 80124 i'aul'.; and Ilaroabas' reacttons m 13 4 t A 7 are often secn u a pmgramnuoc satcment, tnuodu~tng the rqetoon of the Jews Acconfrng to Luke thn rcacaon ur mdced a drclsrw factor In extendmng the prochrruoo~~ to the gcnoles, but wrthm Jculsh ctnles harsh words arc not necmarxly a rcjecuon Paul stavs tn contact wtdr the Jews after Acts 11 For my optnton dlat the concept 're~ecoonof the J w r ' a not correct.we t tvc Srudirs,pp 15(&56,u1d Koet, 'As Close to the 5ytugogue As Can Be. I'aul tn Lortrtth (Aca 18,l-IS)', tn R Blertnger, ed , 7 k Cont~rhranCarreqwndntce (BETL 125, I euvrn Leuven Umventty Prcss - I'srters. 1996), pp 397-415

ISAIAH IN LUKE-ACTS

mission: being a light for the gentiles and a glory to/of Israel. But Sirneon discloses also to the mother (and thus to the readers) that this tnission will also brmg forward strife and controversy in Israel. But as I have argued elsewhere, the final result of these contmversles (e.g. those in Acts) will be positive for Israel." At first sight the quotation in 13:47 seems to suggest that h t n now on Paul is interested only in the gentile mission. The Isaianic context of the quotation and its use in the beginning of Luke-Acts make us understand that this quotation is used as a defence of the gentile mission and not as an argument for the rejection of Israel. In the OT, Isa. 49:6 is a key text for the concept that, like ~ in Acts Israel, the gentiles can also have a share in God's p r o n ~ i s e s .When 13:46.17 Paul and Barnabas quote Isa. 4 9 5 , it is quite possible that the idea of salvation for the gentiles as well as for Israel is presupposed.

As argued by G. Wasserberg, the final scene of Acts (28:16-31) is a clue to accepting Paul's invitation, the understanding the whole of Luke-Acts.'?After leaders of the Jews come to visit hinl (28:17a). Paul declares that he is lawabiding (28:17-19), and this insistence on adherence to the law is a common theme in the final part of Acts (223; 23: 1; 24: 14; 26:4-5; cf. 16:3; 18:18; 21:23-27; 26:22; 28:20). The Jewish leaders in Rome declare that they have not heard anything negative about him. They want to hear Paul's opinion about the much 'spoken-against' sect. I>uring a second encounter with a larger audtence Paul testifies about the Kingdom of God and tries to persuade then1 about Jesus h111 the law of Moses and from the prophets (28:23). This proclamation causes dtvision among the listeners (2824). Reacting to the division, Paul quotes Isa. 6:V-10 as an introduction to his declaration about the gentiles: 28 25c The Holy Sptrtt w a s rtght tn saylng to your fathers through lsatah the prophet 28 26 Go to th~rpeople, and say, You shall tndeed hear, but never understand, and you shall tndeed see, but never percetve 28 27 For thts people's heart ha$ grown duU, and thetr ears are heavy o f heartng, and ttletr eyes have closed, lest they should percetve w ~ t hthetr eyes, and hear wtth the~rears

"

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"\~n~com Wone'. pp 155'M6 Another alluslon to lu 49 6 tilay be wen m Acu 1 8 111 Ps-Phdo's U N 51 3 6 Samuel a also desir~hcd as a hght to the peoples sce Koct, 'Holy Place and Hannah-.iPrayer', pp MA7 (; Wassetberg. Aw IsmeL< Mtrtc - Ife~lJurdie U+lt (BZNW 92. Nehn and New York Dc Crttytrr. 1 WH),cf VA Lrhnen, Ult 13~11katrmIsrwfr Ule pamdoxc I-u&ton wn Jes 6,9-10 b e M a r k tend 1~1ka.s.Etn ferfprqmahsrk V i s i h Im Kontmr m u m g p n Rezcyr~onsatrkrrkund Ltmhmne (NTDH

2;. Neuk~rchen-VluynNeitktrchet~rr.1'999)

ISAIAH IN ?'HE NEW TESTAMENT and undrrrund w ~ t hthrrr heart, and turn for rne to heal thern.

The quotation fiom Isa. 6:Cf.lOlargely agrees with the LXX."' It is part of the chapter dealing with Isaiah's call as a pmphet. Isaiah receives his coninlission in 6:9-10, together with a declaration that his triessage will be fruitless. He has a startling message for the people (6:9) and has 'to make fat the heartythe hculties of reason) arid to prepare then1 for the judgement of Y H W H (6:lO). Their hardship will endure until the land is desolate and wasted (6:11b-12), but in 6:13 the people are conipared with a stock of terebinth or oak, a synibol of itidestructible vitality. The opportunity to repent has passed, and this fact is part of the judgement itself. Elsewhere, however, repentance is suggested (Isa. 10:21-22; 1922; 35:1 0 ; cf. 12:I). There are a significant nun~berof differences between the Hebrew and Greek texts of Isa. 69-10. Thus in 6:9, future indicatives ('you shall hear', 'you shall see') are used rather than the expected imperatives ('hear', 'see'). At the beginning of I s . 6:10, the LXX inserts a causal conjunctive to underscore the change frotri the prophet's active agency to a diagnosis. Furthermore, the 'heart, ears and eyes' change from object to subject and the LXX translates the hiphil i~i~pemtives('stop', 'shut') by indicatives. It also changes the ernphasis of the final part of the verse by using the aorist conjunctive, which esprenes the negative Intention of the people ('that they do not see, hear o r understatid'). It a they the~nselveswho make it ~tnposslblefor the Lord to heal them Lastly, the LXX translates the final part of 6:10 as 'and I shall heal them' rather than 'and be healed'. As I have a r p e d elsewhere, the LXX stresses on the one hand that the iriab~htyto hear and to see IS the people's fault, but on the other hand it tones down the severe plcture of God in the Hebrew text; the judgernent of the people changec into a descr~puonof thetr negattve amtude." Thts IS the r and for thew inabtltty to repent. It 1s becaitse reason for t h e ~ ~nconiprehension the people t/ier~~selvcs have lla~derlcdt h e ~ rhearts that the unfortunate result is blindnes\. In contrast to the Hebrew text, the possibtlity of repenung Ir sttU open in the LXX The Holy Splr~t,through Isa~ahthe prophet, is ~ n m d u c e das the source of the quotation Tht'i utlu~ualtnmductory formula underltnes the Importance of this quotatlon fmm an aurrc>ntac,the scrtpture5 The Sptrtt said thlr to the fathers of the 1lstener.r In 28 30-31 the perrcope comes to an end. 111these clostng sentences there 1s a mention of new encounters and of a cotittnuat~ot~ of the procla~natlonIn Kome, w h ~ c hstarted during the preceding encounter.

*

\cc Koet. 'l'aul III Ronic'. pp 118-2'). \tcvn, .bprtdapnt Q~nrurmtu, pp 221-24, Kwam. Iktr Alte Icsramnrl, pp 435-38 '"~crct, 'l'aul In Rome'. pp 129-30

ISAIAH I N LUKE-ACTS

This particular text h r n lsaiah 6 figures prorninerltly in the synoptic tradition of the parable of the Sower (Mk. 4:l-20 and par.). While we find an ex~licitquotatiori in Man. 13:14-15, in Mark there is an extended allusion. Although Luke includes the allusiorl in his version, he cuts it down arid postpones an elaborate use of the text to the last chapter of Acts. In Lk. 8:4-15 the allusiori to Isaiah is part ofJesus' explanation of the parable of the Sower. In Mark the allusiori makes a sharp contnst between the disciples, who receive 'the secret of the Kingdom of God' (3:l I), atid those 'outside' (for the111 everything is in parables: 'lest they should turn again and be forgiven', 4: 12). Luke alludes to Isa. 6 9 , but he softens it in his interpretation of the differences between disciples arid 'the others' (8:lO); he reserves the sharpness of the quotation for Paul's declaratiori in Acts 28.

In investigating the use of lsaiah in Luke-Acts we need to realize that Luke read Isaiah in the context of other (Jewish) interpretations of the first celltury." Tlie possible ~neaningsof Isaiah were mediated by other Jewish writings of the last four centuries BC:E, which shaped, elaborated and made explicit certain ideas which were often only implicit in the lsaiah text itself. We do not always have these interpretations, and the textual situation of an in~portant interpretation as the LXX is not always clear. However, it is quite probable that Luke would have had access to other traditions apropos Isaiah. The lsaiah which is used by Luke is an interpreted l s a i a l ~ . ~ ~ An important interprctatiori of the prophet lsaiah and his message is to be is part of the found in Bell Sira 48:15-25, especially in 48:20, 22-25.'"t celebrated Latrs Patrurrr. In a description of Isaiah, Ben S i n describes hi111as 'a great n ~ a ntrustworthy in his vision'. Because the Assyrians are corning, the people are praying for help (48:20). lsaiah is God's answer to the distress of praying Zion: God saved then1 by the hand of Isaiah (48:20d). This description of lsaiah recalls the biblical accounts in 2 K i n g 19-20 and lsaiah 37-39. As argied by I?(:. Been tjes, it is possible to cay that Ben Sira 48324 refers to Isa. 61:2-3." By referring to this text Be11Sira depicts Isaiah as the one who saves, while in lsaiah it is God who is the saviour. Beentjes argues that in Ben Sira 48:24-25 the author with the help of l.;aianic vocabulary creates a theological new rtioment: he underlines the special place of Isaiah as the prophet of God

" "

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Scr an rxrn~plcIn Kocr. 'Holy I'lacc and liarmah'r I'rayer'. For the usc o f an lsararrrc oraclr 111 2 (:hn>nrclcr, sce M Frshbane. H~bltcdl~r~rrl,rrrar~n,r m .4rutntt ltracl (OxCxd: Clarendon, 1987). pp. 387-88. I?(:. Beelltjt". 'Hezrkrdh and Imrdh: A Srlidy on Rcn Slra X ~ Y I I I15-2'. 181 A.S. \-an dcr Woudt., cd.. Sax Avrtt~rcstn tltr Sttrdy '?ftrhc O U Esrirmct~t(Fcutschr~hM . Mulder; O T S XXV: L T I ~ C IlirrU, I: IC)89).p p . 77-88, PC:. Hrer~rjts.'Ueidnonrhctwecr~Ben Slra and the hook o f Iwah: Sotnc Mrthrrd~cal()h.icrvatronr', In Vertlicylen, ed.. 71rr Nook oj'liirhlh. pp. 155-59, here pp. 156-57.

ISAIAH I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T

par excclletire. This prepares for the fact that, like Moses, Isaiah can be a model for Jesus. There is another aspect, which is important for the relation between Jesus and Isaiah: in Luke-Acts lsaiah 53 is used as a rnodel for Jesus. H e is the Servant who died for his people, the prophet who &ed in Jerusalem. There are some Jewish traditions which record that Isaiah died a terrible death. The prophet-martyr rnodel did not have a strong foundation in Hebrew scriptures (only the prophet Uriah is killed; cf. Jer. 26:20-23). but in Jewish circles of Luke's time this therne was elaborated. Scattered thraugh apocryphal and pseudepigraphic literature are legends of several martyrs who were prophets.50 The killing of lsaiah appears in various forms, such as Lives of the Prophets, Martyn'utn and Asrertsiot: of Isaiah and later rabbinic midrash in^.^' Lives of rlze Prophets and Martyritrrn and Asremion of Isaiah are old witnesses to the story that Manasseh, the sacrilegious king, is responsible for the killing of Isaiah. In several versions, Isaiah, fleeing h n the ~ king, was swallowed by a tree, w h ~ c hhad to be sawn in p~ecesbefore lsaiah could be k~lled." We can find the therr~eof k~lhngthe prophets at several places In Luke-Acts: Lk. 622-23; 11:47-51; 13:33-34 and Acts 752." In Acts X:34 the eunuch asks: ' l h e s the prophet say thls about h~rnselfor about someone else?' This could lnd~catethat Luke knew about the Interpretation that the prophet Isaiah himself was the Servant and that Isaiah could be a model for Jesus. Fron~Acts 8 3 4 we can guess that the haggadah about Isaiah's violent death was already known and the fate of lsaiah is comparable with that of Jesus. In the descriptions of Isaiah's martyr don^ it is also said that he made no answer to the accusations. Like Isaiah,Jesus and Stephen are buried ~' it be that lsaiah and his death were one of the with much h ~ n o u r .Could ~llodelsfor Luke's depiction ofJesus' life? Hrrtttetteutical ROC or Ft4nrrton of Isaiah Matma1 it: Luke-Am In Luke-Acts Jesus is likened to several great figures of the Old Testament. In Luke's description of the Transfiguration Luke stresses the resemblance

K3ctsy Halpern Anrrru. 'The Krllrng of the Pn,phea Uoravchng a Mrdrash'. H ( l C A 54 (1983), pp 15%XO 3cc t-ldlpern Arnaru, 'The K~Urngofthc I'mphea', pp 170-74.d A M Schwerner, Chrdrnr zu den truhjldrihrn 13vl,hetenlrpmittn C'irar prophcmrum Bard I B r i'ilen ddng@?cnProplrertn Juqu. Jnmtrii, 1 zrihirl, und lhrtrrl f inlt.trutrf, 1 'bprcerzurrq rrnd Kommnrr~r(T\A) 49, Tubmngcn Mohr, 1995). pp W--liX, and M A Knrhh. 'Marrydurn and A x e m o n of Isarah'. OTP 11. pp 14-3-55 It e pmhablc that die wrrtcr of Hebrew knew these tradrtrorl~about Isaiah src I 1 17 " Thrr motrve ma) also he the backgmund of the \tory of the Wrckcd Teruna (Lk 20 9-19 and parr ) we Krnrball.Jrsus' I~positrono(t/tc Old li.stumertt, pp 147-67 " ( f Schwerner, I 'irappmpkmrurn 1.p 14 1 Ltke Icsur, lsalrlr asked for a drrnk whcn he was dymg (I'rt Pro11 I 2 ) Shortl) hctore hrs death lsrlall, llke)esus, propbesled the tate ofJerusalem (Asc Jcs 3 8) ( o ~ l l dit he that thr mferrl~ceto 'tree' In A ~ t r17 29 tr rrr alluston to lsalah's fare' For Awmision of Llttnlt rs a possrble barkground to Acts 8, see F o r t \pencer. Porrrtllr ofPh111p. pp 119-20

ISAIAH IN LUKE-ACTS

between Jesus and Moses."' F! L>oble argues that Luke uses the Psalrrls to connect Jesus with David's fate." The Psalrns quotations are used as pillars to sustain some aspects of the christological substructure of Luke-Acts. At crucial places in his double work Luke uses Isaiah too, n~ostlyin his own redaction. By means of Isaiarlic texts, Luke gives his audience answers to questions such as 'Who is Jesus?' and 'What is his mission?' Luke's way of dividing allusions and quotations among several ptlases of his story suggests a prospective unity for Luke's two volumes and a prospective use of Isxiah texts. The fact that there is a relation between the gospel of Luke and its sequel, Acts, gives these books a unique position in the NT. It is remarkable that Luke often distributes his references to Isaiah between thern: an allusion to a text in Luke is counterbalanced by a quotation of the same text in Acts." This strategy suggests that for his own work. He expects that Luke uses texts tiom Isaiah as a tiar~~ework sonle of his audience will recognize his allusions. This ir~dicatesthat he thinks they know Isaiah's texts or themes. Isaianic themes are introduced in the allusions and quotations as pointers to Luke's christological, tl~eologicaland ecclesiological substructure, now fillfilled (that is, interpreted, practised and actualized) by Jesus and his disciples. O u r survcy of the Isaiah inaterial rnakes clear that Luke uses the figure of the Servant to depict Jesus, his mission and that of his disciples. Texts from Isaiah are used as a blueprint to depict John as Jesus' forerunr~erand to present Jesus and his n~ission.Not only are Jesus' teachings and healing in line with Isaianic thentes, but ultirllately so also are his death and resurrection. This lea& to otie of the 111ost i~inovariveLukan uses of Isaiah. In Luke-Acts Isa. 4 9 6 is used as a legitin~izationof the gentile mission as a consequence of Jesus' missiotl: the gentiles will see the light (but see also Gal. 1: 15-10), The t~letaphorof 'seeing' in the Isaianic material is irnportant for Luke's vision of the relatior] between Jews and gentiles. In much of the Isaiah n~aterial in Luke-Acts the rnotif of 'seeing' is involved, often in conrlectiori with the relation between Jews and gentiles (see Lk. 3:6; 4: 18;7:22; Acts 13:47; 28:27). Jesus' (and therefore also I'aul's and the other disciples') rriission is a 'prophetic ministry of eye-opening'." Jesus' own healirlgs (especially of the blind), his life and resurrection in combination with his interpretation of scripture 'open their eyes' (Lk. 24:31). In relation with this and as a consequence of Jesus'

"

See B J Koct. '1)tvmc < orrununlcatton trt Luke-Aca', m J Verhrydcn. ed , 7k I nrry oj' Luke-Ara (RETL 142. Leuven Lcuven Untversrt) Pres - I'eeten, 1999). pp 745-58 " Dohlr, 'The Psrllns m Luke-Aca' '*" FnuLrlv, he rlu, hbrdes other nlatertal b e m e n the gospel arad Ace compare e g Lk 22 34 wtth Acts 8 fd and Lk 23 46 w t h Aca 8 59 For the thests that the Jesus ofthe Svriopucs a the 'ortginal' oft11c Peter and Paul of Aca, and related prohlcna, see F Neuynck, 'The Mlncle Stories in the Acu oithr Apostles An Intmduct~on'.tn J Krmler, ed ,Lrr Acres drs ApJrn~ fisd~nons,idactton, rMolqqte (BETL 48, Genxhlouh Duculot, and Leuven Leuwn U ~ v c n l t yPms. 1979). pp 169-213 Hmmm. ‘Fight to the Bhnd', p 475

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

mission, it will be Paul who is sent to the gentiles 'to open their eyes, to turn (them) &om darkness to light' (Acts 26:18). Although it is often said that Luke seems to write the Jews off, we would suggest that Luke finds in Isaiah an authority for his defence of the gentile mission. Together with Israel's glory, Jesus' mission will include salvation for the gentiles.

Chapter 6

Isaiah in John's Gospel Catrin El. Williams

Isaiah occupies a prominent, if not the highest, position among the scriptural texts that have contributed to the shaping ofJohn's gospel. The four explicit quotations from Isaiah may well be outnumbered by those from the Psalms, but, in terms of providing frequent striking parallels to John's language and imagery, Isaiah and the Psalms are undoubtedly equal Several expressions, themes and motifs point to the profound influence of Isaiah, especially Deutero-Isaiah, on John's narratives and discourses, although, as in the case of the Psalms, t h y are often dificult to pin down to single scriptural references. A number of the Johannine motifs widely viewed as drawl tiom lsaianic materi;d also bear traces ofadditional scriptural sources.' Other 111otifs in John recall not one but a configuration of Isaianic passage^.^ Such alli~sive tnodes of verbal and thematic scriptural reference attest the deeply embedded and thoroughly absorbed character of John's use of Isaiah, and reflect the exterisive process of christological reflection on scripture from which this gospel emerged. Not all aspects of John's indebtedness to Isaiah lie so nluch below the surface that they could be missed by a scripturally uninformed reader. Three of the four explicit quotations are accompanied by overt references to the prophet through variations on the phrase 'Isaiah said'((En~vHaala~).This phrase occurs for the first time in the citation fortnula following the quota ti or^ tiom Isa. 40:3 (193: 'as the prophet Isaiah said'). It then reappears in the fulfilment fortrlula before the quotation from Isa. 53:1 (12:38:'this was to fulfil the word said by the prophet Isaiah'), and is repeated, twice again within the

'

The mrg1ta O I ' N A ~ncluderrfcre~~res to 32 m d RI allustons to l u n h drld the Psa1ultn.i msprcttvely Some woilld u ~ e wtllu as a cotlservruve esusrlate of luiatltc (and P d t n ) ~lluslomlo John; cf. C;. 1lc11n.Srtrdtm arm a/rrp.$tmnrtfLhntHirrtivpnd de$Jo/~atmc~swr!pe/t~~m~ (SNTSMS 22; Camhrldgc: (irnhrrdgc Ulllventty Pms. 1974). pp. 1 6 2 4 3 ; A.'T. t lanson. Tltc IJropitrtii (;ospl: A Study olJoB ottd the Old 'kremo~r(Edrnbtlrgh: T&T Clark, IWI), pp. 3 8 1 4 3 . Alllong 'iuch mou6 arc thc vlnc ( I s . 5 1 - 4 : Ps. 71):X-I I ; Ha.l0:I). hv111g wilter (1s.55:l: Pmv. 1.3:14; IX:4) and the shrphcrd ( I s . 4O:l I ; l'r.23:l; Mk I; Erek. 34:23). 9 . g . . dte m~agcof hght (1s.9:l: 42:(>; 496;51:1; h0:I). glory (352; 4 0 5 : 4X:I 1: 58:s; 5919; 60:I). dnd. antong v c r t ~ lrllusrons. the &solute o x of 'I am' (41:4; 43:10. 13: .U>:J:48:32; 51: 12; .52:i,).

I S A I A H IN 1'Hli NEW TESTAMEN'T

same passage, before the quotation from Isa. h:10 (12:39:'because Isaiah also said') and to introduce the commentary on the prophet's words (12:41:'lsaiah said these things'). It is on these occasions alorie that John names an individual figure as the source of an explicit quotation, and, in this respect, the general introduction to the remaining quotation From Isaiah (6:45:'as it is written in the prophets') is more in line with the other citation formulae used in the gospel.' The initial fortnula 'as the prophet Isaiah said' (1 23) may stem, in part, b i n earlier tradition (cf. Mark 1:2-3 par.),5 although respect for source rrlaterial is not necesurily the only motivation for the inclusion of this formula, particularly as the emphasis on the spoken worck of lsaiah is taken up and accentuated in the sinlilarly phrased statenlents ill 1238-41. Quotations fmm Isaiah consequently frame the beginning and end ofJohn's narrative about Jesus' public n~inistry(1:19-1250). and the unusually explicit nanling of lsaiah on both occasions alerts attention to the prophet and his words. An investigation of the form, fiinction and location of all four explicit Isaianic quotations in their new Johannine context is therefore crucial for determining the role and sibmificance of lsaiah in John's gospel.

The fint expltc~tquotatlo11 occurs in the opelung tesumony of the one dot r ~ b e dIn the prologle as 'a man sent fro111 God' (1.6), who came as a w~tnectto the hght so that all ~ n ~ g hbelieve t through h ~ m(1:7). Havlng ~ n f o r ~ n ea ddelegat~onof prtects and Lev~tesh n l Jerusalem that he 1s ne~ther the Mewah, Ehjah nor the prophet, John the Bapt~stsets out h ~ de.i~gnated s role w:th the a ~ of d Iu 40 3 '1 anr the voice of one crying out In the w~ldernev, "Make straight the way of the Lord", a.i the prophet Isaiah u ~ d (1:23)." ' The ldcntlficat~onof the Baptlst w ~ t ht h ~ srlanleless voice was already a firrrlly eatabllahed tradition. w h ~ h111 the Synopt~cgospels takm the form of an explanatory comment by the evangeltsts (Mark 1:2-3; Man. 3 5 ; Luke 3:4).1x1 John's riarratlve the addloon of 'I am' ( E y h ) to the quotation rncans that the Uapt~sthen. exphc~tly~denofieshinlself w ~ t hthe one who, In the prologue of Deutero-lsa~ah,pmcla~nlsGod's rnescage of Imnilnent salvanon and the L I I ~ I versa1 d ~ s ~ l o s uof r e h ~ glory s (Isa 40 3-5) And although the Greek text prevents us from dmwing firm conclusions, the formiila 'a the prophet Isa~ah sad' may also be Intended as part of h ~ speech r rather than as the eva~igelist'r

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The other iiutrort G)rrirulac in Jahn refer to 'xnpalrc' (7:3H:13:lX;17:12: 19:24,2X,.36,37),'12~" (8.17;10.34:15:25) or ~ m p l yro what 'a \wltren' (2:17;6:31;12:lQ;cf.12:16). Cf, M.J.J.Menken, Old Esimrnt Quofar~muln rhr hrrrth Gasprl: Srudiw in 7ixtunl h m (Kampen: Kok Pharor, 1996).p. 7 1 Tramlat~onsofhlbliral passage arc akcn from the NRSV U I ~ C Uotherwise tnd~rated.

I I

parenthettcal remark, lndtcatlng that the Bapttst d~rcloseshlc role In awareness that he is real~rlngthe words ofthe prophet lsrlall The probable source of the quotation 111John 1 :23 1s the LXX rerlderitlg of I s 40 3 'The valce of one crylng out 111 the w~lderr~ess, "li'repare the way of the L o d , make stralght the paths of our God'" The most rlotable dlfferencec frvnl IW. 40 3 LXX tn John's quotatton are the conlpresslon of tu two parallel hnes Into one and the replacement of the rntnal cornnland to 'prepare' (hroipaoar~)w t h a call,
C f Job 78 25 LXX, lu 40 3 LXX. MnI 3 I Theckitrtlon. Mark I I pri Luke 1 76 I\ev I6 12 "enkrn. Old I$srmnrnf (luntirrrort~,pp 26-28 ' N G klluchanf, Fmpruw u~fhtrt.)mprurr 1hr Inunelir~~onslrtp ofform and I utlrrron I I I rlrc 1-rplrnr (Xd 7 a t a m t r Quouaota tn the Ck
ISAIAH IN T H 1 NEW TES'TAMEN'I

Bapttct'\ tccttttiony arid actt\ftty (cf 1 (t-8. 15,2(r27,2'&-34,35-3h) tr that Isa 40 3 ~c here subjected to chrtstolog~callriterpretat1otl the way of the Lord proclatnied by John the B.iptict t\ rtone other tliari the totiittig ofJews Thr\ approprtatton, 111 the sen\e that the cotntng of the Lord and hrc ralvattoti 15 tilade vi\tble tn Je\us. pottlt\ to Jecut betng tticluded a\ the referent of tlie tttle 'Lord' ((ruptog) In the rcrtptural clirotatton.'" ar well as clarih/ttlg wlrat, accordttig to Johri, Actually cotistitutec the way of the Lord Menketi ha\ forcefullv argued th'rt thtc '\v.ty' it not wliat re tliade readv forJew\ before tie (ornc\ Hut tletther mu\t rt repretent, In a metaphorti11 tense, tlie Rapttst'\ o \ ~ nte\ttrnotiy ttr J e w (the wav to the Lord) Rather, utiderctood as a ~ubjectl~t! geti~ttve,tt denotec Jew<' own way 111 1)euten)-l\atah, the 'w'ty' ctbmtficc the conirtig of God to \ave htt people 'and deliore\ 111s prz\e~icethrough the wtltiernes\ to Jeru\aler~i(40 3-5.9-1 1, 42 16.40 1 0 - 1 1, 52 7-12), 111 John. t t tc tlie cotittrig ofJe\rt\ that tc nude \tratght through the 13apttct't testtmony rhrc corrcentrattoti oti tllc rtngle way of the Lord (ratiier tliati or1 Iitc plursl 'paths') help? explatn tirrtlier why Johri ha\ trurit ated the nvo parallel clau\e\ of t\a 40 3 LXX Into one Further tupport fix Interprettrig 'tlic way of the Lorci' \ctth rcferctice to Jew\ I\ provrded by the Uspt~st'sdcclnrattonc. bawd on tradrttori.1~I.rrigtiage (cf Mark I 7-8, Matt 3 1 I), abo~ttJesu\ ac the oric who cotlies (6 Cp~cipcvog) after hlni (1 15,17, cf 1 30) Wrth the excepttoti of the firct e\at~iple( 1 15). wlitch I\ po\tttotred out\tdc the trarrattvc trarncwork ot the go\pet, tliese reterente\ to Jews as 'the onc who cornee' occur only atier the 15aptist hrs atitio~tncedtlic W ~ Vof the Lord to antictpate Jcru,' fir.;t appearatice I>urttig the early stage\ of thts way, M hen ttie Baptt\t tee\ Jeruc c ortitng toward\ httri (1 29) arid wvalktng by (1 35). tie bean wttne\c on hts behalf (1 20-34, 36), pmriipttng two of hts own dt\ctple< to becotne follower\ ofJc\ut ( I 35-37) John the Uaptl\t'~dettgrl~tedrole 1s to riiake stratght the wab by potnttrig to Jecttc, who lias httherto rctliatned urrknowti ( 1 26.31.33). a\ the orie 111 whorli the cotiiitig ofthe 1ord for calwtton I\ tic>\+ realtzed I t the word\ of tlic prophet 1\,11ahaccount for the mle ofJohti the Baptt\t a\ the fir\t earthly wrtrietc toJe\us (1 23). the Lolltent ofthe Llapt~\t'\te\tinlotly as outlrried tn the subseyuerit pertcope (1 29-34) alto, but tnore alluctvely, betray\ ltrtat~tctnfluence When he ceec Jesur comtng toward\ httn and cicclarec, 'Uehold the Lanib of (;od (6 upvtg rod Ocod) wlio tellre\ away tlic \tn of the world' (1 20). the nrort probable tnterpretation I\ th.it I'a\\ovcr lamb ttliagery. M htcli playr a prorntncnt role later 111 tlie go\pel (t f 1'1 14,30,30),ha\ been cotiibttied w ~ t hcclioe\ of the descrtptton of the Servant of (;od I I I I\'it'th 53 LXX " The \ervatit, 'ltke .I Iamb (dy hpvo;) hefore the \he,arer' (53 7). tc

Scr lurthrr M. I-irrrgcl.'l)~c%hr~ti~urlc~turr): dc5 4 Ewllyclrunn ~r1ldcti1 i{lr~tcrpru~rd dcr u n i i r ~ \ tlli tlcn Excycx'.~/~rlt&t~lr /kt hrhir\ihc Ilrmlqic. 4 (lC)8'i).(7 2hO I

<:1'4 T Llrii oltr. 7n~rt1 orr 7nal 7hc 1,1uhu1r .\h~rr(irtrlrr f.orrrr/t ( itgrl (l'rrlu,Jy Hc~idrtr.k\<~~r, ZlMXt).

p hZ

one who 'bears our sins' (534) and 'bore the sins of many' (53:12). The fkedorn with which John has applied Isaiah's vocabulary is evident horn the replacement of tlle wrb 'to bear' ([bvuj~bpo)with the verb 'to take away' ( a l p ) , and from the expansion of the taking away to include 'the sin of the world'. Combining and adapting images in this way is not foreibm to John's gospel, nor is the conflation of rnore than one scriptural passage in some of its explicit quotations." The influence of Isaianic statetrients about the Servant can also be detected at the end of the pericope in 1:29-34. In 1:34, where the Baptist declares, 'And I nlyself have seen and testltied that t h ~ s15 the Chocen O n e of God', the majority of manuscr~ptsread 6 uliy TOO 0 ~ 0 6 ('the Son of God') rather than 6 P d ~ r r o qTOO OEOO ('the Chosen O n e of God'). However, the latter rcadtng 15 early,and scribes are nlorc likely to have altered the orlgnial designanon to the favour~teJohannrne tltle, 'the Son of C;od', than vlce v e r ~ . "If one accepts 'the Chosen O n e of God' as the deslgnatlori used by the Baptlst for Jesus in 1:34, the11 he, like the heavenly volce rn the Synopnc accounts of Jesus' bapn m , 1s alludnig to the openlng hnes of the firct Servant song: 'Behold, niy cervant whom I uphold, my Chosen One (MT Tm; LXX 6 ~ K A E K T & ~ O Urn) whom my soul delights' (Isa.42: 1). The lsarar~icallus~on1s more overtly dentlfiable 111John 1 3 4 , stnce 6 ~ K ~ E K T %1% closer to the Hebrew and Greek verslonc of Isa. 32: 1 than the declgrlanon 'the Beloved One' (6 byaxqroq) of the Synopt~caccounts (Mark I :11;Man. 3: 17; Luke 322). Moreover, Isa. 42: 1 continues with a reference to God puttilig h n Splrlt on the Servant who will brtng forth justice to the nations; In the Johannlne riarntlve the Baptlst acknowledges Jews' ~dentltyas the Lamb of God and Chosen O n e ofGod as a direct result of seei~igthe Spirit descend and remain on him (1 52-33). John the Baptist, in these first narrative sections ofJohn's gospel, is depicted as one who embodies the lsaianic voice in the wilderness and who allusively takes up Isaianic prophecies about the Servant as the content of his testimony. Having nlaintained that his role is to act as the authoritative, divinely ordained, witness proclaiming 'the way of tlie Lord' (1:23), his testimony about Jesus (1:29-33) \terns h n i what he hlmself has ceen (1:34). Illrect revelation h n i God (1:33) eriables hlm to bear wrtness to Jesuc as 'the Chosen O n e of God' and as 'the Lanib of God who takes away tlie sln of the world'. His te\nniony thus already anticipates 'the hour' (12:23, 27) and looks ahead to Jesus' death as the supreme event of salvahon. For thm reason the Bapti\t, during the initial stages ofJesus' ministry, can only be depicted as clailriing to

'I

"

For exdnrple, thc exphc~tquotatlorr ln Jotin 19.34 ('none of hrs honer dial1 br bmkcn') appeari to cornbme tllc wurdr~rgrf a Prntdteuchal passage (Exod. 12:10.46 or Num. 0:12) with J p v l n ~text (33:21 LXX). A m o u ~those who favour the rradrn)t6 trloxr* 7013 UEOO (aaesrcd by PS'"k* h e H" sy" Arr~hr)are C . K . Barrm, 7L Coqrl aciordrn,g ro Sr./ohn, 2nd cdo (London: SP(:K, 1978). p. 178; J. Ashton, ( ~ndmfrr,rdtr!ythe 1;ourrlr (hsyel (Oxfi>nl: C:hrcndon P n u . 1991), pp. 255.257-58.28').

ISAIAH IN I'HE NEW TESTAMEN'S

make ctra~ght,not prepare behreharrd, the way o f the Lord, hecau\e tlie earthly mlccron ofJeeus ac the reallzrt~ono f t h a t way h a only just b e p i n . l~~zrtllr51 1 1 III Jolrrt 6 45 7 he d19coune o n the bread of Irfe ((I 22--59) provrdes the tetting for John'\ second esplrcrt quotatron fmm Isalrh Jee~rc,for the first tlme, quotes wordr fro111 rcrlpture r r i hrs recporite to 'the Jews', therr niurriiurrrig wcvecorlclus~velythatJohn 0 45 1s tndehted to the 1 X X rather than the Hebrew tevt o f IQ 54 13 ( M T ;~FT TVI~), ~t re strengthened by the fact that both rerider the dlvrne rianie ac Ocoq rnrtcad o f ~ u p l o q , the nrore con~niorilyattested rcnderrng for the tetragramni'1ton In thc L X X I-urtherniorc, the plural reference In the ~ntroductoryformula, 'rt 15 wrrtten In tlie pn~phctc',need not ~ n d ~ c a tthat e the quowtlon 1s drawn firon1 more than o n e prophetic source (for example, Iu 54 13 cornbrrred wlth Jer 31 3.34). but rather that John, In Irne wrth tcveral Jewr,h arid early C:hrrstlan parallele,'" selcctr t h ~ e forrnul'l to denote an indrv1du.11 pac'iagc In 'the prophet\', the \ccond div~crorio f the J e u l t h scripture\ (cf 1 45) T h e characterietlc Johannlne practlce o f uclng a non-specific crtatlon forinula Ir adoptcd herc Instead o f nlennonlng lsalah by name, because the cmpha\rc 1s upon the pmphetrc tectimony o f ccnpture In \upport ofJc\us' clairn5 rather than upon tlie spoken wlniegs o f Icarah In hie role ac an ~ndrvidualpn)phet (cf 1 23, 12 38-41)

'"cr

74 7.Joel 2 27. 20; tidh 1.14, hur part~rlllarl~ Jrr 31 34 (.lX..34 LXX) 'No I<)ngrr ( l i ~ l ltlicy rea~tionr rnorilcr, or u). t o elch trdicr. "Knou thc Luhi". fix they \hall dl1 k r ~ t ~ritc u (xavrc; ciiijnouniv pc)

''

"

'

Mcnkrtr. ( M d .Irlirr.irnnrr (&orurro~ii.pp 7 1-77: A. Ohcrtii~nri.1)rc ,l~niroioy~rtJrc Ilrf~rllunydn .%lm/i tin \r~h~r~~r
Two of John's interpretative modifications to the quotation call for brief comn~ent.First, the introductory words 'they shall be' (Eoowa~)highlight the future orientation of Isa. 54:13 LXX: 'And (I shall make) all your sons taught by God'. This pnm~ise,which looks forward to the divine i~mtructionof all the inhabitant5 of a restored Jerusalem, came to be interpreted in later rabbinic traditions as denoting God hinuelf teaching the Torah in the eschatological h t u r e (cf. Pixs. R. 32:.3--4; Prs. K. 12:21). Secondly,John compresses 'all your s o n s ' t o 'all' (nawcq). This can be plausibly explained in the light of the immediate context in the LXX: 'Behold, proselytes will corne to you through me, and will flee to you for protection' (54:15a).I7 The extension of the pro~niseof salvation to proselytes becomes, in John 6:45, a prophecy applicable to all, gentiles as well as Jews, who are open to hearing and learning from God. Exanlining the inmediate context of Isa. -54:13 LXX exposes textual features that may well have influenced its form in John 6:45, but this should not he isolated fronr the task of detertnining the rrleaning of the quotation in its new setting. The quotation builds upon Jesus' claim that no one can come to him unless drawn (to faith) by the Father (6:44). t.lc then provides a co~nrnentary in 6 4 % by picking up the word 'all' (nawcq) from the quotation and declaring that everyone (nOq) who has heard and learned h r n the Father comes to him. To be truly 'taught by Goci' they must come to Jesus, for only he has seen the Father and descended from above (6:46). Thus, the divine teaching foretold by Ikutero-Isaiah and eagerly awaited, according to Jewish expectation, in God's teaching of the Torah is, according to John, presently encountered through hearing and believing Jesus, God's authoritative agent from heaven. The line of argumentation developed in 0 : 4 4 3 6 in fact tbrther clarifies the omission ofthe phrase 'your sons' from Isa. 54: 13. In a section of discourse dotninated by issues of parentage and origins, Jesus' claim to d~rect knowledge of God signifies that the ciosignation 'taught by God' applies above all to hin~self,the unique Son who has received teaching directly fiom his heavenly Father (cf. 7:lfr-17; 8:28). This is the claim that Jesus' Jewish audience, without the proper initiative for faith,cannot accept. By alluding to their 'fathers' in the wilderrless (6:31) and by focusing on their knowledge ofJesus' human parentag ((~41--42),they cannot see beyond the category of earthly sonship, a category which the inclusion of the Isaianic 'your sons (ofJerusalem)' coi~ldalso perpetuate. John's definition of the lineage and descent of believers in terms of their divine rather than pl~ysicalbirth (cf. 1 :12-13; 3:3)

"

By intcrpmnng the ltfrcult Hebrew clauw. -N* -ru tn 1sa. 54:15a as dcnvcd from m I ('to dwell as rmnpr') rather than %I II ('to Yur up sntfe'), the LXX ~nmducesnpnriliurot (horn the noun 3 ) . Sec A.T. Hamon, 'lhe ~VewTcsrnmnlr lnrqmrrtnon ofSmprun (London: S P C K , 1980).pp. 160-01: Mcnkcn, Old Tkrammr Qrotnrieru, p. 76: O l ~ r t ~ u n fni.r rhnirolylrkhr Er'$rllurtg dm .'+itr~/i, pp. 153, 160-61.

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESSAMENI

nre.ltrr that otrlv those of heavenly ortgtn can. by comtng toJeiui and accepting hti word, also be truly taught by God." A c ~ o r d t t ~togJohn t t 1x1 the light o<Jeaui' tcfettttry a\ the dcfir~tttvcrevelatton of God that the \cnptur.il prophecy of Isa. 54: 13 must be lnterpreted. The quotatrot1 (6 4.5) I\ not only to be itncier\tood with reference to Jew\' own worcii (h.4446), but the protntie of a new ktnd of teachltrg, who\e contetlt t i true knowledge of God, I\ c . i d to find 1t5 tillfilrnetrt 111 Jeeuc For thtc reasor), the irlterpretatlve key to thtc second cluotatrorr fronr Iiatah, hke the tint (40 3). tz at1 undtsr\tarldlng of \crrpture as testlfyrng or1 Je\ue' behalf

John toneludes the account ofjesus' publrt nllntctry \trth surntllary reflcc tlorli dotnrnated bv two evpltcit qttotdtlorle fiotlr the prophecies of lcarah (12 3743), lea 53 1 tn vercc 38 and Iia 0 10 In ver\e 40 Both p.tccdge\ wen. \c tdely known atrd uced a\ early C'hra\tran pn~of-text\concrrn~ng Jewrth unbelref (l\a 53 1 In I\otll 10 10, Ica 0 0-10 In Mdtt 13 14-1 5 , Act\ 28 2(-27, cf Mark 4 13, Luke X 10, Ronr 1 1 8). but John's unp'~ralleledIrnkltlg of the two quotattorls,a\ well .*\ tlrerr t~vttt'tlfort11'~trci~ i c c o t ~ ~ p , i t rnterpretattve ~~ltlg c onrnlent\, dellland that they be evcinlined here together Johrr ac\ci\es the urrbclref .and rejecttoll et~ct~utrtercd h\ Jc\u\ d u r ~ t ~hrr g nltnt\trc (12 77) ac fulfill~ngthe \ b i d of the prophet Isaiah '1 orci, \tho ha\ belre\led our tlle\\age. 2nd to \khoni hac the arm of the Lord been reve~led" (13 38) l'hit cluotattorr, whrch .agree\ in every re\pcc t urth tt\ rerlderrng In Is3 53 1 LXX, highlight\ two trnport.irlt arrd clo\cly rel'itecl thetnc\ Flr\t, the re'ilrb of utlbeltef outlrned r t ~ 12 17, 'the\i dtd riot believe rn him' ( o i ) ~ t ~ i a s c u o vtli u
does not necessarily rnean that the prophet is the speaker ofthe q u o t a t i ~ n ,in '~ this particular case it cannot be ruled out that lsaiah is the one understood to be addressing 'the Lord' and articulating the presently fulfilled unbelief in the message or report about Jesus. IfJesus is the speaker, God is the 'Lord' (rcptc) addressed at the beginning of the quotation. If Isaiah is the speaker, it may prove unnecessary to choose b e w e n God arid Jesus as the one addressed by the prophet, particularly in view of the Johannine elliphasis on Jesus' oneness with the Father (cf. 10:30; 17:lI) and the christological interpretation of Isa. 4 0 3 established in John 1:23. The second quotation tiron~Isaiah serves to explain the lack of belief in Jesus: 'And so they could not believe, because lsaiah also said . . .' (12:39). The source of the quotation is unquestionably Isa. 6:10, but marked differences from all other known versions of this passage have prompted scholars to subject every word of its Johannine rendering to tfiorough scrutiny."' As a result, only the most sipificant interpretative features and their i~nplicationsneed to be outlined hew. The distinctive nature of the quotation becon~esapparent when John 1 2 4 0 is cornpared with the Hebrew and LXX versions of Isa. 6:10." Johtt 11.40 H e has blinded t h e ~ eye5 r

Isa 6 1 0 M

r

Make the hedrt oftlltr people fat and make tlietr ear\ heavy

and haniened t h e ~ heart, r

arid shut thetr q e s ,

Iett they should t e e wrth the

Iect they tee w ~ t htherr eyes

eye and tlnderstdnd wtth tht. heart and turn, and I heal them

and hear with their ear\ and undcr5tatld w ~ t ht h e ~ r heart and turn and b e healed

Ita 6 1 0 L XX For the heart o f tht\ people h.ls become fat arld therr ears are dull o f heartr~g and they have cloied thew eyet, lert they thould see \ + ~ t hthe eye5 and hear wtth the c a n and undcrsta~tdw ~ t hthe heart and turn, and I heal t h c m

Among the distinpnsh~ngfeature\ of t t ~rendertng 111 John 12 40 are the absence of the reference to 'this people', the omission of the rwo lines relating to ean and hear~ng,and the change in Itne sequence placnrg 'eyes' before 'heart'. These differences result, tn all probabil~ty,fron~Joh.innine redactional .I'he cttattoo k)rri~ula'as the prophet isdldh satd' III John 1:23 point5 to I5dtat1a\ fhc 'u>urce' offhe \vo& now spoken by John the Rapt~st. "' C.A. Evatts, See uttd Xot Pemi~.r: Lraiidr 6 . Y- I 0 irt I~drly~/nnrli and Cbn,ttatt hirrrpnr,~r~ot~ (JSOT Sup 64; Sheffie1d:JSC)T. IVXV). pp. 129-35: U.Schna~krrrhtrrg.Job 1 2 , S W I : Zur christologrwhcrl Schr~fuuslcgungdcs vvlrten Evdngclntm'. 111 1 hJoltunncm.airqrhr~inII ', 2nd edn (Frr~burg:Henler. 19%)). pp. 145-50; Meakm. Old Esr~tmcnrQimtanotls, pp. 9'1-122; Ohrrrnrnn. I)rr il~r~r~olqisihr L~fillrrrt~g drr .%hr~/i,pp. 235-55. 11 I'o f ~ c ~ l ~docornpartson tc of the three vcnliloni of Is3 h:10, thc n-rn\lntron$ offi.red ticre are nmrc ltteral than those Sou11d tn the N a s v . I"

ISAlAIi IN THE N E W 'l'I.iS'I'AMtN'1'

.acttvtty," part~ci~larly In vlew of thc clo\e correrporldence between there d~vergence\and the ~nlnled~ate context In whrcl~Isa 6.10 15 quoted With reference to .a certaln unbehevntg group w l t h ~ nJuda~cn~, the narr'ttlve con1nlerlt preced~ngthe quotatton (12 37) \~ilglesout Jecus' clgns (seen with the eyec) ac the one aspect of htr nltnrctry that \hould, ti-on~a Johann~ne perspect~ve(cf 2 1 1.23.4 4X,20 31). have resulted tn fatth (111 the heart) '' The first two hnes of the cluotat~on In John 12.10, 'He ha\ bltnded (scrir@horcv)t h e ~ eyes r and hardened (txcbpoocv) thew heart', alro r a \ e questtonc about the tdent~tyof the 'he' re\pons~blefor the bllndnesc that leads to unbehef These opentng rt.atement\ part compdny w ~ t hthe ~ n ~ tltnes ~ a l of I\a. 0 10 LXX, where the enlphar~so n the people's heart belng fat and on tlle~r eyes berng closed IS descrtbed as an already eslrtlng condtt~onfor whlch they ti~erncelvesare re\ponslble (0 0 ) According to the Hebrew text, the prophet Isa~ahIS the one instructed by God durrng h ~ call-v~s~on r 111 the tenlple to 'Make the heart of t h ~ cpeople fat' and to '\hut thetr eyec' Goci brings about thtr obduracy through the ~ g e n c yof h ~ ps ~ ) p h e tAnd ~t I\ t h ~ cInlttatlve on God\ plrt that tr nude expltc~tIn the fir\t two 11nc\o f t h e qttotatlon In John 12 10, potnttng to the Hebmc text of I\a h 10 a\ thetr \ource Hence, desptte attcnlpts at ~ d e r l t ~ $ ~different ng rnltlatorc of t h ~ obduracy \ (the dev~l,'the arm of the Lord', Jcwc or 'our nles\age')," for John, as most scholars .~gree," ~t IF ~ n ~ t ~ aby t e God d Neverthele\s, the unexpected shlfi to the first person s ~ n ~ w l ~ r 111 the final hne of the quotatroil, wrth wordlng correspond~nge s ~ c t l yto the I XX ('and I heal them') rather than to the Hebrew text ('anti be healed'), potnts to Jcsuc rather than God as ~ t tubject. s The obduracy brought about by God will Illcan that tho\e who lack behefcarlnot turn III order for Jew\, God'\ reprcsentattve, to heal the111 To support tile vlew that Jews I\ understood rs the subject ('1') of the lact hne 111 Isa 6 10, even as the speaker of the whole vcrte,John'\ ~n~rnedtately sub\equent a\\erslnent of lntah'r words rrli~ctalso be taken Into account In a h~ghly~ o n d e n \ e dtonln~entaryJohn explalnr how he IS able to Interpret the prophet'r teitlnlony w ~ t hwference to Jesus 'Isa~ah\ a d thc\e thing betr~tsche saw hr\ glory arld spoke about h ~ m '(12 41) The figure who\e glory Iralrh tr ca~dto have wen IS ceru~nlyJew\, because he Ir constctently the narrative comment5 (13 37 referent of the pronoun a h 6 ; In the si~rro~tndnlg

"

"

h r u ~ h m t ~ u r JoIr g . 12 19-4 I pp 14 3-50, Mcr~krrr Old Ir\ronrntf Qrorizftarr~pp 9% 1-12 Mcnhcn, Old lrsfctmrnr (>uotafrott~.pp IOh-48
.

'they did not believe in him'; 12:42: 'many, even of the authorities, believed in him'). It is an interpretation also demanded by the emphasis found elsewhere in the gospel on the in~possibilityof seeing God other than through Jesus (cf. 1:18; 6:46). Identifying the 'event' from which the prophet's words originate is not the only purpose ofJohn 12:41; there are indications, as will be shown, that its aim is to provide a succinct estimation of the significance of Isaiah's vision.& The wording of 12:41 does, however, suggest a specific setting for the reference to Isaiah having seen 'his glory' (60E,a).This must be the prophet's temple vision (Isa. 6:l-13) which forms the broader context of the preceding quotation (6:lO). The Hebrew text notes that Isaiah sees the Lord ens)and hears the seraphim confirm that 'the whole earth is hll of his glory' (63). The LXX version of Isa. 6: 1 goes hrther by specifying that it is God's glory rather than the hen1 of his robe that fills the temple: 'I saw the Lord ( ~ p t o simng ~ ) upon a throne, exalted and lified up; and the house was full of his glory (Mka)'.And although John's acquaintance with targumic interpretations must remain a matter of conjecture, it is noteworthy that 'glory' features even more prominently in the Targum of Isaiah, where the prophet is said to see 'the glory of the Lord resang upon a throne' (6:l), 'the glory of the Shekhinah of the eternal king, the Lord of hosts' (6:s). If Isa. 6:l-13, especially the LXX version, has influenced John's assertion that 'Isaiah saw his aesus') glory', it follows that Jesus is being identified as the embodinlent of God's glory, the visible manifestation of his presence. He also becomes the bearer of the nanle ~ b p i o ~as, ' ~ already testified by the Baptist at the beginning of the gospel narrative and implied by the christological application of Isa. 53: 1 in the inlmediate context ofJohn 12:41.Jesus appears to the prophet and converses with him, declaring that God ('he' of Isa. 6:10) has caused the spiritual blindness and hardness of heart of those who cannot be healed by Jesus ('I' of Isa. 6:10). Jewish precedents for making God's glory the object of Isaiah's vision would undoubtedly have paved the way for the interpretation ofJesus as the embodiment of that glory. The conciseness ofJohn's comment ('because he saw his glory', 671 &i8&v rilv 6it5av airrot?) has, however, prnmpted much speculation as to which aspect of Jesus' glory John believed the prophet to have seen. The widely accepted view that Isaiah is understood to have encountered h i s pre-existent glory certainly accords with the pre-existerice Christology expressed elsewhere in the gospel (cf. 1:1; 17:5,24).John's appeal

a The textual varrant iirs ('when') focusn on the occasion of Isaiah'$ vaton. wherear Sri ('beraucp') ""

can also polnt to tlle comequences of thc prophet's temple vrstorl Isatah 6 LXX uses ~ 6 p i a ;to mrulate 'the Lord' (m,w I . 8 . 11) and 'the Lord o f hosts' ( m W , w 3.5) The only exception IS III v 1 2 . w h e r e m a rendered as b BE^ According to Mmken (Old Estamenr Quorarrons. pp 119-20). h h t r varuaon nlay have pnm~ptedJohn to &sangu~llr between 'the Lord' Oerus) who corlvenes wlth the prophet, and 'God' ofwho111'the Lord' s p n h In the thld penon stn~rlar(v 12) Ths would a l w accord with the dmncoon already ntal>l~shedIn John 12 40 between C;oJ ('he') and Jesur ('1')

ISAIAH IN 'SHE NEW 'TESTAMENT

to the temple vision would the11 imply that, since a direct vision of God is impossible, the pre-existent Jesus is the glorious figure w h o n ~Isaiah saw seated upon the thn>ne. 'There are nevertheless sound arglnlents for e>cplaining the remark 'he saw his glory' in terrns of Isaiah's vision of the glory of the earthly Jesus. Isaiah was already understood in the first-century Jewish context as a visionary prophet and foreveer of the future. Writing in the second century BCE, Ben Sira (48:24-25, Hebrew Ms B) describes the prophet lsaiah as follows: 'By a spirit of strength he saw the future and conlforted the nlourners of Zion. He declared what shall be until eternity and hidden t h i n g before they come to pass.' The influence of several Isaianic passages can be detected in these lines." T l ~ escatenlent about lsaiah seeing the future relates, as indicated by the next clause, to his prophecies about the exiles'return to Zion (40: 1;41 22-23; 5 2 9 ; 0 1 :3-3); he is also said to declare 'what shall be urltil eternity', whereas 'hidden things' (nnnw) suggests the revelation of divine secrets. An important parallel is found also in Jesus' claim about Abraharrt in John 8 5 6 ('Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad', r a i EISEV ~ a E~apq), i to be understood in the context of a variety ofJewish traditions based on <;enesis 15 in which the patriarch is said to have been granted visions of the fi~tureand the end tirnes." 'The overall status and function of John 1 2 4 1 also suggest that belief in Jesus' pre-existent glory is presupposed at this juncture, but that the remark 'he saw his glory' refers primarily to the manifestation of the divine glory in the earthly Jesus, as seen ahead of t i n ~ eby the prophet lsaiah in his te~nplevision. The tnterpretative function of this verse is to act as an explanatory comment in a narrative i~nitwhich focuses retrospectively on the negative response to Jesus' earthly ministry (13:37-43). The first part of the unit is held together by its three references to Isaiah which, on the third occasion (12:41a), enlarges upon the preceding two references to the words of Isaiah (12:3X, 39) for the purpose of intntducing John's assessment of these word? with reference to the earthly Jesus."' The clause 'Isaiah said these things (raOra)' (12:41a) need not, In this respect, relate solely to the quotation drawn fi-on1 Isa. 6:10, but can ernbrace both q u o ~ ~ t i o n sJehu's ." christological application in 12:41 can then be explained as follows: the prophetic testimony presented by lsaiah (53:l;

"

See M.A. Krrrbh.'lwianrc 'liad~tron\in the Apocrypha and Pxirdeprgraph~'.rtr (:.C:. 13nrylc\ R. C.A. Evan\. ecC\. i'firrrrrg ~ n Ktadir,~ d rhr Stroll c?f I.(arah: Srirdrn ofan Inrpnnvc '7raiiitrm.2 ( L e ~ d mBrtll. : IW7), p. 6 4 9 4 1i:rd 3: 14: "Ii, 11rii1 [Abraharir) only you rcve~lrdtile end o l d i e times. secrctly by night'; cf ,4px.. Ah '):i>,q;2 1hr 4.4;LdU IX:.i;23:6, %zq,ha. 43:12. '' T h ~ rxrurrr claw connnorty hct\vccrt thc use o f ubr@ to derrotc the earthly Jrsirs tn the sirrmundrrig iiarratrve < ollllnelln ( 1 2 3 7 'they chd not hel~cvcIn hull ( c i ailr6v)'; ~ 12:42:'111arty.w e n o f the mithorrnm, hehcvrd rn Itrrt~(~i; ui~rbv)')drrd In nst. rn 1241 ('he u w b ~ glory s (abroO) and $poke ahout hi111(ucpi uC~oi))'). ,, .ruOra can cvrdcntly he u\ed hyJolin with rcfcrcncc to an carlter srrrglc sutcment (c.g..'):22.40).hut it I\ litore cottartonly used to Jcrlotc r srrtc\ ofprrcrdirtg hutentenn (e.g..f,:50;8:30:13:21; 1J:25).

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6:lO) reflects his vision of Jesus' earthly glory (12:4lb: 'because he saw his glory'), which enabled him to speak as he did about Jesus' earthly nlission and to predict the unbelief that Jesus would encounter during his earthly life (12:41c: 'and he spoke about him'). Interpreting 12:41 in relation to the narrative unit of 12:37-43 also suggests that Johri sea up a contrast between Isaiah, who saw the glory of the earthly Jesus, and those who, despite seeing the signs, failed to see his glory (12:37-38; cf. 2: 11; 11:4,40) because of the blinding of their eyes and the hardening of their heart (12:3c9-40)."' While Jesus' divine glory remained hidden fram those who could not see (cf. 9:39-41), Isaiah possessed the kind of sight, not only physical but spiritual, that enabled him to recognize Jesus' true identity (cf. 1:14; 8:56). Therefore, in contra5t to the failure of believing Jewish authorities to disclose their belief in Jesus because of their fear of the Pharisees and their preference for hurnan glory rather than 'the glory that comes fiom God' (12:42-43; c t 5:44), Isaiah, as a result of his ternple vision, recognized Jesus as the en~bodintentof God's glory. If the explanatory coniment in 12:41 reflects knowledge of the broader setting of Isa. 6:10, is there any evidence that the context of Isa. 53:l is also taken into account! In Ileutero-Isaiah this verse for~nsa bridge between the proclamation of the humiliation and esaltation of the Servant (52: 13-1 5) and the main part of the song (53:2-12). In John 12:38 the inirnediate function of Isa. 53: 1 is to offer scriptural proof for the lack of belief in Jesus, while Isa 6: 10 provides an explanation of that unbelief. Nevertheless, the unparalleled juxtaposition of these quotations, togther with their accompanying christological commentary (12:41), have prompted s o n ~ eto propose that Isa. 6:lO and 53:l were intentionally linked togther, either by John or at a stage prior to the gospel's composition, because of verbal and thematic links in their wider context.." The conibination of the two would then result from the application of the Jewish exegetical rule ofgezerah shatuah: different passlges in which the sanle words occur, usually in a distinctive pattern, are used to explain each other. In this particular case close verbal siniilarities, otherwise rarely attested in scripture, can be identified between the opening verses of Isaiah's temple vision (6: 1-1 3) and the fourth Servant song (52: 1-3-53: 12): Isa. 6:1 M'T:I saw the Lord sttting o n a throne, csaltrd and 11Jic.dtcy (amm):and the h e m nf'hts robe filled the temple. Ira. 52: 13 MT: Behold, my 5ervant
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Thrs has Inat recently heen forwarded by R . Rauckhalti,
ISAIAH IN T I E NEW TESTAMENT

Uy readrng these two staterllenh as ~nterdcpendentpassages, to that the deprctlon of the Lord srnlrrg on a thmne rr understood wlth reference to the \ervant," John, rt IS clatnied, \vould have been able to Interpret Icarah'c vlsron a\ a revelat~onof Jesus, exalted Lord and Servant In other words, I\a~ahsaw s and, Jesus, the Servant, as the enlbodrrllent of (;od'c glory ('he caw h ~ glory') a\ a result, spoke about hrm If an 111terdependentreadrng of t h ~ ks ~ n ddoes underprn the juxtapos~t~on of Ica -53 1 and 6 10 In John 12 3 8 3 1 , t t s underlyrng exegct~calpattern has been prov~def i r n ~support that so thoroughly absorbed that rt cannot, In ~solat~on, the summary reflect~onsIn John 12 37-43 betray awareness of the \v~der tettrng of Isa 53 1 Thew reflectronc do, however, occur tokvards the end o f a mot~fireserrlble those found In the chapter 111 w h ~ c hseveral of la d~strrrct~ve 1)eutero-lca~an~c passage about the hurnrl~at~on and exaltat~orrof the Servant, precedes I\a 53 1 " the parsage whrch ~n~n~edrntely In Isa~ah-52 the cfescr~pt~on of the Lord's return as k ~ n gto a restored Jerusrlcrn 1s swtt\ly followed by the announcement of the tuffer~rlgand future esaltat~onof the Servant and of the reactron of many natrons (52.13-15). w h ~ l eJohn's account ofJesu\' entry ~ n t Jerutalerl~ o leads to a rlarrarlve about the approail1 of certarn Greckc and to Jcsut' retporrd~rlgdr\course (12 2036) ' The d~rtlnct~ve Johannrne nlot~fof 'teelug' 1s grven concrete expressroll 111 the request of the Greek\ to I'h~l~p, '\rr, we wtsh to ree ( 1 6 ~ i vJecus' ) (12 21) arrd prepares for Jesus' state~rlentthat all (rrirwas) wlll be drawn to hlnr when he rs ltfted up ffoni the earth (12 32) Thtt poc\esses an Interesting par~lleltn lsa 52 I 5 LXX,'- w h ~ c h nlore , expl~c~tly than the Hebrew text, 11nks the nrctsage about the Servant to the response ofnlarly natrons therr reactton to hrm w ~ l lbe one of wonder, because they, who have not been told about the Servant, \hall see (61+1ovrat),and they, who have prev~ourlynot heard, thall understand. r l ~ request e of the Grtbekr to see Jesuc prompts ~ I I I Ito annonnt e, 'The hour has conle for the Son of rnan to be glor~fied(So&ao@fi)'(12 23, cf 12 28). later followed by h ~ dcclaratron, s 'And I, when I an1 lified up (GyrwBQ) ti-0111the l all people to my\elt7 (12 32, cf 12 34) IfJohn 12 21 and lsa earth, w ~ l draw 52 15 LXX \hare a \1n111ar nlottf rather than an exact I r n ~ w r t tparallel, ~~ the 1a11plageof exaltat~on(I~fttngup) and gI:lor~ficatton 111Jesuc' \peech rec.~lltI t 2 " "

LXX 1~1lahAx, ~r,,qir 5 . 5 rwr i 'r~/m,lr7lrrrt?t, 3rd cdn (13crltn.f..v~rrgchrctirVcrld&~rirtdlt. 1952). pp. 8.3-85; J Beurlcr, '(;reeks (:ornc to Scr Je\its uoltti 12,201)'. &h 71 (1'fi)O).pp. 3 3 M 7 .

(: A E v ~ n \'Obduracy . md the Lord'%Srrv-ant'. pp. 232-36, pn>po~c5 thnt John 12 cJn. ln part. hc

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defineti a5 J rtrrdrrrh on lu.52 7-53 12 Idcrltrfvlng the (;rcck~o f Jnhrr I2 ZIL-21 a\ gcnttlr\ I\ brcefitlly argued hs J Frv. 'Hrrdrri (;rlcchrlr - (;ottesktodrr. Zu (;crt.tlt ilrid Furrktron der Kcdc ~c-rndclr tlcldrri 1111 4. Eva~igel~u~n'. 111 K Fcldrnrlrr rid U. Ucckrl. ed\. 1)tr Hc~drrr.-/rr,ierr, (.'hnrrzrr urrd dur l'rohlmr dr\ f:rrtnd~tr(WUNT 1 7 0 , Tuhrr~gc~i. J C: U. Motrr [l'nul Slchcck]. I'Fil), pp. 249 64 I%ctatler, '(;rrcks C'wi~eto See J C - ~ Ipp \ ' , .341-4($

52: 13 LXX, where both verbs are already combined to express is(;od's promise, 'Behold my servant shall understand, and shall be exalted and greatly' ( ~ a Gytdhja~rat i ~ a 60t,ucrffja~~al i owcilipa). The future (passive) forms of both verbs,as well as the reference to the future 'seeing' of the nations (5215 LXX), mean that these sutements could be interpreted by John as predictions findir~gtheir eschatological hlfiln~entin Jesus. The discourse, moreover, confirms that this vocabulary is applied to Jesus' approaching death; leads to the saying about a seed which his first declaration about glorificado~~ rnust die to bear fruit (12:23-24), and the a~nbigwitysurrounding earlier references to Jesus being 'litied up' or exalted (3: 14; X:2X) is removed on this third occasion by the narrative comment, 'He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die' (1 232-33). John thus combines Jesus' physical lifting-up on the cross with its interpretation as the moment of his exaltation. W l e r e Isaiah speaks of the hture exaltatiorl and glorification of the Servant (52: 13) before giving an account of his hu~lliliationand death (52:14-53:12),John interprets the exaltation and glorification ofJesus as evident in, rather than following, his hunliliation and death. Jesus' death, for John, is the suprerlle disclosure of his divine dory. I)eclarations phrased in lanbwage strikingly renliniscent of the exaltation and glorificatio~lof the Servant therefore figure prominently in Jesus' final speech before he hides fium the crowds arld concludes his public ministry (12:36). This leads, through explicit citation of the words of Isaiah, to John's reflections on unbelief as the dolninant response to Jesus' ministry. In corltnst to those, as foretold by Isaiah, whose eyes were blinded arld could riot see, the prophet could speak about Jesus in the way that he did because, In his vision, he saw the d o r y that Jesus would reveal on earth. John's concisely worded remark that Isaiah 'saw his glory' is not, in this respect, directed at one particuas the s i g p that should have resulted in lar aspect ofJesus' earthly rnissio~~,such faith (12:37), but neither is it isolated fwm the events that follow his public ministry. The climactic rnanifestation of divine glory in Jesus' death has already been announced with the aid of language drawn from the prophecies of Isaiah (12:23-33). while the summary reflections offered by John (12:3743) are themselves an anticipation of the events of 'the hour'. The rejection and crucifixion ofJesus are an expression, indeed the inevitable outcome, ot' the utlbelief and obduracy of which Isaiah has spoken.

In a gospel that clearly favours alluc~vereference to 5crlpture over an exteltslve collect~onof quotations, the four Isa~an~c passages selected for cttatlon by John d o prov~desonle valuable clues about the reception of Isal'lh 111 John's gospel The fact that three of the four quotations had already acqulred prominence In early Chrlst~antradltlon may have ~nltlallyd~ctatedt h e ~ rln~luslotlIn the gospel, but each ollt has bee11subjected to thorough Johann~neInterpretatlorl,

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

I

part~cularly\o In the hght of the gospel's christolog~calconcerns. By d r a ~ pi-inlardy, but not exclus~vely,on the LX)( versron of Isaiah, the four qrtclanons have beer? woven into their riew contexts in a varlety of ways. ti~ntk* interpretative moddcations to the wording of their source text and .l*, rrh & ald of cltatlon formulae and explanatory comments on their content T b quotations koln lsa~ahat the two ends ofjesus' pubhc rrunl\try a l ~ obrrrlKto the surface what alllourits, In their broader context, to chrrstologrcal reflectttBa on other passages from the prophecies of Isaiah, paracularly through a i i u ~ ~ reference to the Isaianlc Servant. The wide\pread recogi~~tion among Jewith and early Chr~stlanwrltcn d the significance of the fi~ture-or~entated perspechve atte~tedIn the p r o p l ~ t ~ ~ of Isalah 1s one also shared by Johri The language of iidfilment 1s applrcd fm the first nrne In the gospel to Interpret I~arah'cplophenc word about uirlrc.tref 2, fulfilled In tht. negatrve response to Jesus' rrunlstry (12 3X), dlthougtr the language is already implic~tIn the Interpretation of 'the way of the Loref* a reahzed In Jesus (1:23) and In the understanding of Isa~ah'spromise of teaching a\ pregently erlcountered through bel~ef111Jews, the only one to ham \2e11 the Fathe1 (6 45) The di\tln~ tively Jotla~rnineiontributio11 to the rhemlu: of eschatological fulfilment, one whtch shapes John's reading of Isaiah, t t the c h r ~ s t o l o g ~eniphasis c~l on Jesus' idenaty as the vlslble manitestation of Cia& Isdldh w a ~able to speak as Ire did about Jesus because lr~rvrsron of glory r r l &g temple was 2 vlslon ofJesus as the ernbodlinent of God's d o r y John's account of Jesus' publlc mln~strvbegins and ends with quourruns korn Isalah, and it is h ~ sgpoken prophe~y.rather than what IS wrlttrn mr '\cr1pt\lre1. that IS evoked at thew key points in the narrative A> the p ~ ~ p h e t who speakr and, In 12 11,as the vlslonaql who sees, Isarah is presented rs very particular example of how the ccriptures bear wltness to Jesus (cf. 145: 5 39) Isalah'5 words glve autlrorlty a r ~ dconteiit to the tejt~rironyofJolzr~the Bapnst who, like the prophet, can carry out hi5 role as a wltrless to Jam because he 15 the reclplent of dlvlne communication (I 32-34, 12 4 I). 1r;lldn's rpoken testnnony therefore recelver p ~ r t ~ c u l afocus r when the e~nph.i\i\I E ~ o ~ rwhat he, ar an ~ndlvldualprophet, ha5 seen That 1s.11ah \aw 'hm drrr)." belong5 to the chr~stolog~cal core of John's gospel (cf 1: 14) and places dre prophet firnlly w~thlnthe chain of wltncsscs to Jesus' true identity and the s~~nlficance of 111s earthly nllsion.

Chapter 7

Isaiah in Romans and Galatians J. Ross Wagner

Isaiah in Romans

Among the Pauline letters, Romans contains by far the most quotations of and allusions to Isaiah. In addition to fifteen marked citarions,' there are perhaps a dozen additional allusions to Isaiah.* Not only are Isaiah's w o d s cited more ofien than those of any other scriptural but Isaiah himself appears as a narr~edspeaker five times.' Isaiah is by no means the only scriptural voice heard in Romans, h ~ w e v e r . ~ lsaianic material frequently appears in Rotrlans conflated with other texts or situated among clusters ofscriptural citations. As Isaiah's distinctive voice joins with a whole chorus ofscriptural witnesses, it is the cumulative weight of their testimony that undergirds Paul's argument. Paul's rhetorical strategy'' points to an underlying hermeneutical strategy as well. By reading Isaiah in conjunction

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That IS.'marked' by a crtatlon formula or othenvrx clearly set off h n i the surn)unding context: Roni. 2:24 = l u . 52:5: Roni. 515-17 = lu. 59:7-8; Roni. 927-28 = l u . 10:22-23/28:22; Roni. 9:20 = lsa. 1:Y: Rom. 9:33 = Isa. 28:26/8:14; Rom. 10:I1 = lsa. 28:IO; Korlr. 10:15 = Isa. 527: tloni. IO:l h = l u . 53:l:Ilom. 10:20 = 1sa.05:1;Rom. 10:21 = Isa.65:2;ilonr. 11:s = lu.29:I0/l)eut. 29:3; Rom. 11:26-27 = Iu. 59:20k21/27:Y; Roni. 1 4 1 1 = Iw. 4523: Rotti. 1512 = Isa. 11:IO; Rorii. 15:21 = lw. 52:15. Marked citat~onsof lurah m rlie other undisnuted letters nurrther as follows: 1 Corrnth~aruthree, 2 Corrntlirans two. Galaunls one The crrteru for determmmng illitsrorrr are rrion trliprecrse see Rr~hardB Havs, ~ I I O of PT Smptun rn tlrv k t m 4 k i d (New ~ i v e n Yale. : 1989). pp. 59-32, FIorran W~lk'scakful rnvc&gaaon. l>rr kdrutunq drs./tmjaburhrs JhPlrulus (FRLANT 179; Comngcn: Vandcnhoeck & Kupncht. 1998). pp. 4 4 5 4 6 r d e n t i f i ~the followng alluaons, woir of whrch are Inore plairuble than others: Rom. 4:25 = Isa. 53: 12; Rorn. 8 3 2 = Iu. 53:6; Ram. X:33-34 = Isa. 50:K-9; Rom, 9 6 = l u . Mk7-H; Rorri. '):20 = Isa. 2'):10/45:9; Rorrr. '):30 = l u . 59:'); Rorrr. 9:.70-31 = I s . 51:l; Rom. 1O:l') lu, 1 3 , Rotrr. ll:26a=lsa.45:17;Roni. 11:34= Is.4O:13;Rom. 13:lI = lu.56:I;Ilorn. 14:21 = lsa.22:13. n i e only other book that co~ircsclose to thb toul is Pulrns, wrth twelve cimtrons. Cf. UienchAlex Koch. BCSchrifi ft 7dm L:~lwtife/iurns(BHT 69; Tiib~ripri:Mohr Srehcck. 19%), pp. 2124: Clir~topherD. Stanley. Ibrrl and rlir h t r g t t q oJ.%ipture (SNTSMS 74: C:ambrrdge: Carribridge Utuversity Preu. 1')1)2), pp. 83-184. O n Paul's use of P d n n In Ror~uns,see Sylvia C. Keesfimaat. 'The Psalnrs rn Roniam m d Galatians'. m Steve Moytse and Mranen J.J. Mcnkeri, e&. The Psalms bt the Nnu Estmeat (Ltmdoo: T&T Clark leternauonal, 20Kt.1). pp. 13941. * Rom.9:27-28;9:2Y: 10:16; 1020-21; 15:12. Apart t b m lumh, Stanley couno 30 n u r k d c~muotlsof Israel's scrrpturcs m Rorna~u:Latrguqe, pp. 83-181. The nwqrns of N A 7 s u m t numrmus powble allusrorir. " See Chrrstopher V. Stanley. A Q I I I Iwith ~ Sniprum: The Rheruri~of !/V~~otatrons tn tlrr lzrtm 4 1bu1 (New York: T&'T Chrk Iriterrianorral.2004). . I

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ISAIAH I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T

w t h other btbllcal texts, R u l obtatns some of the ~nterprenveleverage he needs to recontextualize and reinterpret the prophet's oracles as a wtness to h ~ cgospel and nusslon ' Paul's readtng of Isa~ahreflects the tnfluence of exegencal techntques, tnterprctrve tradttlonc and reltgrous conv~ct~ons charactertcttc of early Juda1smXand the wlder Hellentct~c-Romanworld tn whtch he I~ved' But ~t IS Paul's understandtng of the Gospel - the apocalypse of God's r~ghteousnesstn Jesus Chrtst for Jew and genttle altke - and his decades of labour as apostle to the genttles that mo\t decisively tnfluence hts readlng of the prophet. In nrrn, Isatah's oracles help to shape l'aul'c concepnon of h a message and mlsslon."' Through wrestling w ~ t hIsrael's scrtpture, Paul finds that Iulah's prophecies of the mstoratlon of capnve Israel prefigure the communtt~esof Jews and gentiles that God ts now calltng Into betng through Paul's n n n ~ s u yAt the same tlnie, Paul dtscoven tn Icatah's polen~rcsagalnst unfaithful and obdurate Israel a key that unlocks the nlystery of the present resistance of so many of hts fellow Jews to the Gospel The followtng &scusston brtefly exxntnes all of the marked cttanons of Isatah In I\omans and also notes some of the more slgn~ficantallustons. Isaialr 52:5 in Rstnatrs 2:24

In R o n ~221-23, . I'aul responds to his inlaginary Jewish interlocutor's confident boast in the Law (217-20) by charging that Jewish failure to actually observe the law b r i n g God's name into disrepute among the gentiles. H e supports this harsh accusation with an appeal to Isa. 5 2 5 (Rorn 2:24), marked as a quotation by the concluding formula, 'as it is written'. Although the wording of the citation is drawn h r n the LXX (MT lacks 'because of you' and 'among the Gentiles')," P a d changes direct speech into indirect speech Parucularly nuteu~)rthyrn rhrr respect are lo-occurmncer ot Isarah and I>eutemoomy Rorrt 10 19-21 ( 1 s 65 I-2/I)eut 12 21). I\om 11 X ( l u 29 1l)iDeut 29 3).Rom 15 Y-12 (Iu 11 10/ Dcut 12 41) 5ee J Rm3 Wapter, MWCI ;uld l ~ l i hrn Concert Paul's K ~ d l n gof lulah and 1)eutemnonty tn Konuns'. tn Clatre Manhews Mc<,tnnss and Pdutcta K Tull, edr, Ar 7kmr M o are Euphr f i e R r i ~ r r o nojlratah from rhr L Y Y to rhr 5BL (SBLSyrnS,Advlu SBL, 2005) Note espectaUy the rnrporurrr c of what E P Fmden has ternled ' J m h Uc.itonoon Eschatology', the wdesprcad cvpecuoorr anmug Secorld Icmplc J e w that God would dlspkay h ~ iuthfulnm s to 11siovcnartt utth Isrrel Iy dclrvrrmg them frr,m foretgn oppresson and esrablsshrng t h n n m thetr land m peace \re S;utders.jmus utrd luddrtm (PhrSadcSph~aFurtres5, 1985). pp 77-1 19 " Ko'h (klmlt). Conlrv (Ldnguap) and Wtlk (Bederrutg) have convmctngly argued that Paul's u rrptun1 cruaon?igetterally evtncc drpcndcttcr on the LXX (or on Greek teha In the LXX mdlaon). rdther thrrr on trxa In Hrbrew o r Ardrrutr My own work on the lsatah cronons m Komam r u p p m this
ISAIAH IN ROMANS A N D GALATIANS

by s u b ~ n t u t ~ n'the g name of God' for 'rny narne'. In addinon, he moderates the harshness of Isa~ah'soracle ~omewhatby ellnl~natlngthe verbal niod~fier, 'conhnually'..'" In the argument of Rornans, thece words pn~vldescriptural back~ngfor the apostle's charge that Jews, as well as gentiles, are under the power of sin (cf. Rom. 3 9 ) . That there is also a deeper layer of significance to the citation is suggested by Paul's subsequent quotations of Isa. 5 2 7 (Rom. 10:15) and Isa. 5 2 1 5 @om. 15:21). In Isa. 5 2 5 , the people of Israel, suffering God's judgement for their sins, have become slaves in a foreign land. Because of their helpless condition, the name of their God is held in derision by the surrounding nations. But as Isaiah goes on to proclaim, it is precisely the Lord's zeal for the glory of his name that now stirs him to rise up and deliver Israel tiom captivity (52:6-12). In Isa. 52:7, heralds go forth with the news that God has redeemed his people. I'aul places himself among these messengers, and he identifies their good news as nothing less than his Gospel that, in Christ, God has now accomplished the salvation of Jew and gentile alike. Though the words of Isa 52:5 In Ron1 22.1 dellver a sharp rebuke, t h ~ s1s by no meanc Rul'c - or God's - last word to the Jewtsh people In K o m a ~ a . lsaiah 59:7-8

it1

Romans 3: 15- 17

Isaiah next appears as part of what nlay well be a pre-Pauline catena of citations drawn tiorn psalm and wisdom texts. We will soon observe that Paul ofien expands the scope of salvation oracles originally addressed to Israel to encorilpass gentiles as well. A similar logic is at work here, though to a quite different end, as Paul transforms Isaiah's description of wicked Israelites into a blanket condemnation ofall humanity (Roni. 3:9).Significantly, at the climax of his argunient in Romans 9-1 1 , Paul will draw on a later portion of this oracle (Isa. 59:20-21), where condemnation gives way to a proclamation of God's determination to save lsrael by taking away their sins forever (Kom. 1 126-27). Isaiah 10:22-23/28:22 in Ronrans Y:27-28

R u l offers in Romans 9-1 1 a tightly-knit argument, densely interwoven with scriptural citations and allusions, whose principal burden is to insist that, despite the current resistance of many Jews to the Gospel, God's gracious election of gentiles does not signif) God's rejection of his own people Israel. O n the contrary, the temporary hardening of Israel against the Gospel is part of the divine plan to extend salvation to the gentiles. Even now, God has preserved a faithful remnant of Israel; in the end, God will dernonsnate his faithfulness to

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1)rtallcd ~nalywso f the form of Paul's clraonn5 o f lulah rxuy he foul~dIn Knch. khnk, \tanlq, Lnrt.f~tq@+,Wtlk. Rpdrurvng, Wagner, Heraldi

110

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

his promises to the patriarchs by efftctit~gthe salvation of 'all Israel' (Korn. 11:25-32). Paul's opening salvo enlphatically denies that God's word of election and promise ( K o n ~9:4-5) . has fallen to the ground (96; cf. Isa. 40:7-8). Through a brief and selective retelling of Israel's history, he argues that nlelnbership in 'Israel' has always depended on God's gracious choice, and not simply on physical descent froln Abraharrl (9:tr-13). Appealing to the Exodus narrative'" and to the prophetic analogy of potter and clay,'" Paul not only affirms God's h e d o m to show rnercy or to harden as he chooses but also recalls the Exodus to glorify his name by frrely as the paradigmatic display of God's cor~~nlitment and rnercihlly electing Israel to be his very own people (9:14-23). In Kom. 9 2 4 , Paul identifies the 'vessels of mercy that [God] prepared beforehand for glory' (923) as 'us, whom he called not only h m among the I the Gentiles'. Paul support. this bold assertion by Jews, but also ~ I I among appealing to two named prophetic witnesses, Hosea (Korn. 9:25-26) and . His first citation is a combination of Hos. 2:25 and Isaiah ( R o n ~ 9:27-28). 2: 1 b. I%ul hyper-extends Hosea's descriptions of lsrael as 'not-my-people' and 'not-loved' to find in these appellations a reference to gentiles, the consummate outsiders to God's covenant people. Those once excluded from the people of God now find thenlselves addressed with the covenant formula 'my people' and called by the name 'sons of the living God'.I5 The second prophet~cwltness speaks in w. 27-28. Through t'aul's rhetorical invocation - 'Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel' - the prophet himself stands before the I\oman congregations (Kom 927). The weight of Isaiah's 'presence' enhances both the authority and the inmlediacy of his oracles. In the first clause of this citation, Paul conflates Isa. 10:22 with the sinzilarlyworded HOB.211, substituting Hosea's 'the number of the sons of Israel' for Isaiah's 'people Israel'." As a result, Isaiah's dark words concerning the 'sons of Israel' stand in stark contrast to Hosea's glowing allnourlcetnent that God has embraced gentiles as 'sons of the living God' (Rom. 9:26). Of Israel, lsaiah lan~e~lts: '[only] a renlrlant will be saved'. And yet, to hear in Isaiah's words only the strains of lament is to wn~ain tone-deaf to the subtle but persistent counter-melody in these prophecies that sings of God's stubborn fidelity to Israel. 111 Isaiah, as in much of biblical and postbiblical Jewish literature, the language of 'remnant' and 'seed' (cf. Rom. 9:29/Isa. 1 :9) holds out the promise of a fi~turefor lsrael on the other side of

lionr. 9 : l i crtes Esod. 33: 1'4. u~hrlcRom. 9: 17 quotes Esod. '):l(r. ' 9 ~ r i r l 'lrngurgc $ ecliocs l a . 2'): l h d~rdI-. 45:'). Sce further Waptier. HpraY, pp. 56-71 Pal11 rnrpltr)'~tht\ rntcrpret~vcstrategy clwwhcrc In Rnrn~nr,findring gentiles m the neptrvely phrased ciescrrptrons of Israel In Iw. 51: l ( U o ~ n0:30); . K)eut. 32:21 (Kom. I0:lV): Isa. 65:l (Kom. I0:20):Is.52.15 (Rorn. 15:21). '" A\ rlrcrdy noted. R o ~ n0. : 2 h cltcs t l a ~2:lh. . Thc iontlatlon m KOIII.Y:27 sm)ngly su~escrtsthat I'atll ha, read tlrerc pacuss fro111 Howr and l u ~ a hI I I the Irght o f one another. "

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ISAIAH IN ROMANS A N D GALATIANS

judgement. Indeed, in its context within the book of lsaiah (10:.%12:6), 10:22-23 promises that God will surely deliver Israel from the Assyrian invasion he has employed to punish their transgressions. 'In that day' when God the chastisement of his people (10: 12). he d l turn his completes (UUVTELE~) anger on the oppressor, Assyria. Their destruction will be so coniplete that a child will be able to tally up the remnant that remains (10:19). In the case of Israel, however, 'in that day' the remnant will truly put their trust in God (10:20-21). The words that follow, cited by Paul, affirm that Israel's deliverance is certain. Though far less numerous than the descendants once proniised to Abraham, the remnant uiN be saved (10:22). God will swiftly accomplish (ouw~)LCo)redemptiori for the renlnant of Israel scattered throughout the world (10:23).17 By calling lsaiah forth to speak in Roni. 9:27-28, Paul iniagiriatively places his conternporaries in a situation analogous to that originally addressed by the prophet, a situation in which Israel already stands under God's judgenient, desperately in need of deliverance (cf. Rorn. 9: 1-5; 10: 1; 11:13-1 5). As in Isa. 10:22-23, so also in Komans Y the echo of the promise to Abraham of descendants 'like the sand of the sea"R dramatically heightens the numerical disparity between the 'sons of Israel' and the ren~nantthat is saved. But at the same tirne, as a result of Paul's nope, Isaiah's words in Kotnarls function as they do in their larger context in lsaiah, as a message of hope in the midst of disaster. Paul invokes Isaiah to claim that by calling 'us . . .h r r i aniong the Jews', God is faithfully preserving a rrrnnant of Israel as a pronlise that Israel still has a future. The hopeful conclusion with which Paul's argument ends, 'all Israel will be saved' (ILonl. 11:2h), is thus already foreshadowed in his appropriation of Isaiah's pronlise of a remnant in Rorn. 927-28. lsaiah l : Y itr Rotnarrs Y:2Y

Isaiah's testinlorly continues in the following verse. Paul's citation of Isa. 1:C) fallows the wording of LXX Isaiah. His ir~troductoryforrnula, 'just as lsaiah has foretold', highlights the predictive dimension of Isaiah's words, emphasizing that what lias happened in Paul's day is a fulfilment of the divine plan revealed to Israel long ago. Two verbal links connect this citation to h i a h ' s words in the preceding verses. The verb 'leave [a remnant]' (Eywasak~ino)in Roln. 9:29 (Isa. 1:')) recalls the 'remnant' (ilz6)L~lppa)in Rom. 9:27 (Isa. 10:22), while 'the Lord Sabaoth' in Rorn. 9:29 (Isa. 1 3 ) echoes 'the Lord' in Kom. Y:28 (Isa. 10:23128:22). As was the case with Isaiah's oracle in Rom. 9:27-28, the prophet's words here have a twofold function in Paul's argunlent.

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Paul's cttanon In Kom 9 28 appears to coohte Ica 10 22c-23 wtth thc str~kltigly$tntrhr oracle ui 1- 28 22b l l i e LXX facdtuter Paul's readtug of these p a s u p as pmnitsn of redempnon, 111 ncrther passage does the tratislaror reproduce the cvpltctt Iragtnge of drsrnccflo~~ found 111 MT (*.

'"fC;zn

*)

1916 1 5 5 . 1 ( ~ 1 0 , 2 2 1 7

ISAIAH I N T H E N E W TESTAMENT

Isaiah bewails the devastation of Sodom-like proportioils brought on by Israel's rebellion against God. But at the same time, the seer's words offer a glimmer of hope. Israel will not become like Sodom and Gomorrah, wiped out without remainder, for God has graciously 'left us seed', the earnest of Israel's future restoration by a God who remains faithful to his people. The two Isaianic prophecies of 'renmant' and 'seed' thus function together in Roni. 9:27-29, not only as pronouncements of judgement, but also as harbingers of salvation yet to come." Isaiah 28: 16/8: 14 it8 Ronrnns 9:33

The rhetorical question in Rom. 9:30--31 niarks a new stage in Paul's argument, as he begins to diagnose the cause of Israel's failure to embrace the Ciospel. Paradoxically, 'Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness," have obtained righteousr~ess - the righteousness tiom faith, but Israel, though pursiiing a Law that leads to righteousness, has not caught up with the Law'. Paul's explanation for this ironic turn of events is that Israel, by pursuing ~ ) ,'stumthe law 'as if tiom works' rather than 'tiom faith' ( i l~t i a ~ ~ has bled over the stumbling stone (cf. Isa. 8:14), just as it is written' (Rom. 932). What follows in v. 33 is a composite citation in A-B-A form, with a portion of Isa. H:l4 (the description of the stone) spliced into the middle of Isa. 28:16." The effect of this combination of texts is to present the 'stone' as both the cause of stumbling for those not characterized by 'faith' (niay)and Significantly, Isaiah the ground of salvation for those who 'trust' (n~arsko).'~ 8 and Isaiah 28 both speak of a sharp division within Israel between a faithful minority who trust in the Lord and the majority who refuse to rely on God. The prophet warns the rebels that they will fall in the inlpending crisis (8:15; 28:13), but he assures the faithful that God will enable them to stand firm (8:14; 28:16). The identity of the 'stone' in Rornans is open to a number of readings -

'

\et. Wagc~er.Ifnnld, pp I(%--I6For a strlulrr readrrq of the p w g e , src John Paul Hed, 'Fro111 Kcnulaat to \red of Hope tor lsrrcl R o ~ l u l Yr 27-29', CBQ 64 (2002). pp 70.3-20 IS perhaps an Invcrslon of the ~ h a r a c t c r ~ ~ ~of n oGod'$ n people as those 'who pirrsue rlghteoust~ess'rn I s 51 1 Paul's woxhng appears to derrve fro111a kptuagrntal text that har been reworked at por~nsto bra% rt closer to a Hebrcw text lrke that of thc MT There art. s r p f ~ t a napneemetm t between thc text qiiotcd rn Kom 0 33 and the (~mconfiated)cltauom of these pncages m 1 Pet 2 6, X It a posstblc that both Paul and the author of 1 Peter drew on an carhcr 'trsamony-hook' for t h n e cltaaons see rnc>st recmtly Martin C Alhl, Atrd ?mprum Catrtror be Brohn' nrr Fvnn attd Frmrtion Djthr tady ( hnstrmt Tesnmonrd C:ullprrront (NobTSup 96. Lerden Brdl, 19%). pp 265-85, dthougll the evrdcncc s n n g i y polnn to Paul as the source of thetr mnfarmn In R o n u m Wagner, Heralds, pp 171-

* Paul's phrdx here

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36)

Thc o b t o u s ~ a a h w o r dconi~errrontxtucerr the two pruagcs rs 'stone', but them are numerous other Imk. betweei~huah 8 and lutah 1X-2') m the LXX 5ce Wagner, Heralds, pp 145-5 I

ISAIAH I N R O M A N S A N D GALATIANS

(;ntl," Christ,'" the law'" - and the polyvalence of t h ~ smetaphor may be rrrtenbonal Indeed, all three referent5 are brought together by Paul m Kom

10.3-4, where the 'r~ghteousneaof God' is ldentlfied wid1 the righteou$ne\\ that comes through Christ to everyone who trusts, the rlghteousnec~that is the. ultl~nategoal (telos) of the law Itself. i r ~ i a h28.16 in Romans 10:1 1

I?~ulsupports hls contention that 'Chnst is the goal to whlch the law leads for rrgiirteousne~c'(Kom. 10 4) by appeahng to the law itself, set on the lips of Mtr\es2' and a persortlfied 'R~ghteous~~ess-iro~~~-Faith' '-Together, they affirm thrr the law promlses life to those who 'do' it, and, moreover, that 'doing' the hu consists tn respondmg to the 'message of faith that we preach' Thls nmsage pronl~secralvat~onto all -Jew and Gentlle alike - who -dlconfess Jerirs as Lord and trust (ntorsuw) that God has ra~\edhurl horn the dead (10.8-13) The apostle grounds his appeal to 'trust' in God's act of ralslng Jesus from rhc dead In a re-c~tat~on of Isa 38 16. 'Everyone who truvts (morsio) In hlrn wdX not be ashamed' The word 'everyone' represents a Paul~neaddition to the text to connect ~t more closely wlth the followng quotanon horn Joel 3 32: 'Ev~r),otrrwho calls on the name of the Lord wlll be taved' (I
Uwiore people can call on the Lord'c name, they must hear the message that evokes falth (Rorn 10 14-15) Paul fin& a prefiguration of h ~ own r IIIISFIOII of ~ " TLamanon X In Isa 52 7. which describes a messenger bringng the new5 to Lion that God has come In perzon to retcue hls captlve people. The cltatlon apprars to be bawd on a Septudg~ntaltext that hau been revsed to bring ~t cltr.irr to a Hebrew text l ~ k ethat of the MT" Patil elimn~tecthe phrase 'on rlrc mountams', w~denlngthe scope of the oracle beyond Jerusalem and ~ t s

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God appcas to be the '\toiir' 111 I,&. 8:l-l aiid (less cerutnly) ui Ira. 28.16. O n christolog~calinterpretanon, oivarinur 'stone' texts In early (:hrictlaruty. 5ee Darnnba~L~~idrrr, Z~/orrtrritApolo'qetii (Ph~ladciphia:Wesmuirstcr, 1961), pp. 169-86. Cf.Kom.9:Jl. Koni. 10.5. quuurlg Lev. 18:s Rorn, l0:h-8, conflannp l k u t 9.4 wtrh I)eut. 30:12-14 (interrprrred wch Pat~l'finterpretive comments). Compare Rom. lil: 12 with Rom. 3:29-30. Sre the perceptive tredmlent of thn u ~ l ~ oquauon le by C.Kavin Rowe. 'Romans 1U:lJ: What ~i the Name of the Lord?' H B 7 22 (20(Hl),pp. 135-73. See Stdnley, liatguagr. pp. 13-111.

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

environs. Moreover, he transforms Isa~ah'ss~ngularmessenger illto I I ~ U I C I ~ ~ ~ heralds ofthe good news (riov eiiavyyeh~jop&vov)Through ttie p r o c l a r ~ i a ~ ~ ~ of Christ~anrnlsslonarles, the Gospel (TO ehayyeh~ov,Rorrl 10 16) has gotbe out to the ends of the earth (Rom. 10.18/Ps. 19.5). That Paul later cltes iu, 52 15 in refererice to h ~ cparticular role In God's ledempt~veplan (lktrrn. 15 21) \trongly sugge5t5 that careh~lreflect1011 or1 t h ~ \whole pdhsage ildl helped to shape his understaricilng of h ~ own s apostohc call~ng.

Lksp~tethe heralds' proclarnat~onof ~alvatlonfor 'dl', Jew .znd gentlle ,nlr&, who w d trust ('ICLCTTE~)
Paul's rhetorical cluestlolls In Rom. 1 0 18-19 emphas~zeIsrael's culpablhtc for reflsi~lgto c u b n ~ to ~ t God's r~ghteousneccrevealed In the Gospel (cf l i o m 10 3,1 16-17) Indeed, they have 'heard' (Ron] 10 18/Ps 19 5), Indeed, r h q have 'known' the message about C:hrlst (10 19) 3' The temmony of rzvo narned wltnesces, Moses and Isalah, supports t h ~ slatter clam1 Moses sp~alkt;111 the words of Deut 32 21, announcing God'\ detern~~natiori to win tuck h ~ runfaithful people bv ernbraclng a 'no-nation', thus provolung Isr'tcl t c ~ J ~ ~ o L I X V (10.19) '' Ira~ah'cwords once agaln lec ewe a dra~natrc~ntrctd~~r tron 'I~aiahdare%to \ay' (10 20) What makes Paul'c quotanons here so s t r ~ k ~ neven g , scandaltrul;,~~ the fact that, bv ~ntroduc~ng a second citatlon formula in 10 2 1 ('But concerrrillg Israel he says'), I'm1 has dr~vella wedge between Isa 65 1 and 65 2. wIrlt.h

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Hays ohservo. '[Pdul] hints and wluapcrj ail ~ r o u r l dIsaldh 53 hut never nimticros tht. prrttrhcsr* typology that would suprrlnely integrdte h ~ slntrrprewtlon of Chnsr 2nd Israel. The result r* r conlp'bll# cxarnplr of lnctdrps~s:Paul's trdr~\ilrr~pt~vc srlrnci crlcs out for the reader tu LOI?I#*~&*~ thr trope': Erlrocs, p. h3. T h e langudge llers recalls the rhctorr~alquotions In Ira. 40.21.28. For Paul. the 'no-ndnon' n a11 ohvlouc reikrence to gerltrles. O n the jralousy mohf see hclrrril 86 Bell. Provoked to.Jet~/olio~cy: 'The Ortyitr arid Purpose oft/~.Jcolousy.Llor!f rri K O I M ~9-1 L ~1 (WUNT ? ta3. T u h ~ n g e nMohr : S~ehei.k.1994).

ISAIAH IN ROMANS A N D GALATIANS

in Isaiah are part of one statemerlt concerriing Israel. Aided by the term 'nation' (E0voq) in Isa. 65:lb (which he does not cite), Paul identifies 'those not seeking me' (Kom. 10:20/Isa. 65:la) not as recalcitrant Israel, but as the gentiles. Isaiah's w o d s thus support and clarifi Moses' testimony: God will provoke his people to jealousy precisely by revealing himself as saviour to gentiles. In contrast, Isa. 6 5 2 en~phasizesGod's relentless pursuit of a stubborn, refractory people. Once more, Paul portrays his fellow Jews who have riot responded to the Gospel as the rebellious Israelites addressed by Isaiah. And again, I'aul's apprnpriatiotl of Isa. 6 5 2 to explain contemporary eventc coheres with Isaiah's story of God and lsrael at a deeper level as well. Isaiah 65 draws a sharp distirlction between the apostates and the remnant of faithfill Israelites, whom God calls his 'servants', his 'chosen' (65%-10, 13-15, 23; 66:5, 14). Likewise, after quoting the harsh words of Isa. 6 5 2 (Rom. 10:21), Paul imnmediately reintroduces the concept of a Kniliarlt choseri by grace (Rorn. 11:s; cf. 9:27-29) in order to insist that 'God has not rejected his pcople' (1 1:l-2). Rul's carehrl disti~~ctiol~ b e t w e n 'the ren~nant'and 'the rest' of lsrael (1 1:s-7) coheres substantially with Isaiah's portrayal of an lsrael divided internally over their response to God's saving acts. Isuinlr 29: 10 itr Rornatrs 11:8

Paul argues that ~t IS God's gracrous cho~ce,nther thari human strtvlng ofany k ~ n dthat , ha\ preserved a remnant for lsrael In the present t ~ m e( R o n ~ 1. 1: 16). He concludec, therefore, that (;od h~mselfmust have hardened 'the rect' of lsrael (1 1:7), finding justification for this view in a scriptural citation that a brings together language f i m Isa. 29:10, Ileut. 2 9 3 and Ps. 69:24.'"or second tinie, Paul employs the hernieneutical strateby of reading Moses and Isaiah together (cC Kont. 10: 19-11). Although not cited explicitly, Isa. 6:')-10, w h ~ c hshares sigmficant vocabulary w ~ t hboth Isa. 29.10 and I>eut 29.3, may have served Paul ac an exeget~cal'br~dge'benvcer~lea 29 10 arid Lleut 29 3 '" By means of Isa~ah's wortis, 'a splrlt of ~tupor',I'aitl transmutes Mote\' ~ o m p l a i r that ~ t God has not yet granted lsrael an understatding lieart irito the much stronger c l a ~ nthat ~ God ha\ d~rectlycauccd Israel's sptrttual insenz~b~ltty But jwt as In Isaiah 29 the prophet rapidly fast-forwardc to God's esthatolog~calreversal of I~rael'rblindnecc (29 Is), so R u l irlsicts that the current ~nse~ls~billty of 'the rest' 15 orily terriporary (Korn 1 1 25) Soon he w ~ l ~nvoke l Isalrh once again, this tlnie In wltne\s to God'\ gractouc restoration of 'all Ismel'.

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Tlic hllow~rtgvcrrc cltcr I'i OC):2.3-24 On the prontmmt R ~ Cplayed hy Iw 0:')-10 111 early Jr.\vrslt and (:hrt\tldn C S C ~ C ~ Iwc ~ . C:ra~g'4 li~.ast\,Ti> Scr 0rld fro1 i+r
125

ISAIAH IN THE:. NEW TES'TAMfiN'I

lsamh 59 20-2 1 /27 9 ttt Koti~an.<1 1 2 6 2 7 Paul Inelst5 that Israel'\ stumbhng d ~ not d re\ult rn thelr ‘falling' (Rorn 11 1 I), for, ac he has rna~nta~ned from the out\et, God's word of proml\e ha\ not 'fallen' (0 6) Evoking Ileut 32 21 (Rorn 10 19) once more, Paul evplanls that Icrael'\ nllsstep I~atopened the door for the salvat~onof gentile\, (;od'c ultnnate Intcntlon, ho\\.ever, 15 to pnwoke hlc people to jealousv 2nd co to \ecure t h e ~ rredernpt~orlre well (1 1 11-12) I'aul's own rnlrclon to the gcntlle\ thu\ plavs .I cruc~alpart 111 the rederrlpt~o~l of Israel ~tself(1 1 13-10) In the mystery of God's plarr to n.ct~@the co\nlo.~,when 'the fullne\s of the (;ent~le\ hac ionre ~ n ' then , 'all Israel' - the 'mnlnant' (1 1 5) and 'the re\t' (1 1 7) - w ~ l be l \aved ac well (1 1 25-27) " Not surpr~\~ngly, l'aul anchore h ~ cconfidence III God's Lnthfirlneis to Israel 111 another e x p l ~ c appeal ~t to lw~allH1.i cltatlon follows Ita 59 20-21 closely through the first clauce of 59 21, 'anci thls [will be] nly covenant wlth them ' An excerpt from Ica 27 9 complete\ the thought ' when I take away thew s~nc' In contrast to the LXX, I'aul'c cttatlon \peak\ of the del~vcrer colnlng ' h r n Zion', perhaps reflecting a I haspora percpectlve ' 1' he lcient~ty of 'the redeenler' has been the subject of much debate But E I' \anden 15 \urely r ~ g h when t he observe\, It rnatrers Itttlr whether [I'~ul)undcr.;und< 'the I)ell\en-r' to hr <;od or ('hrrct, for ~t I\ ~ncredrblcthat he thought of 'C70d dpdrt fro111< h r ~ %Jt L, I * ~a5 that he thoi~giitot '<'hrr~t apart t m n ~G o d ' Paul knew only o n e God, the o n e w h o tent ( hrrtt and who 'rar5ed tiurn the dead Jmtlr our Lord' (Ron1 4 24) "

Although they thare few words 111 c o ~ n m o n Isa , 27 9 and Isa 59 20-21 corre\pond clotel) both In \\intactlcal strltcture and In thetr ba\tc rllotlk Moreover, t h e ~ larger r l~terarv\ettlrlg (Ica~ah2.C27.59-00) tell cnnllar storle\ abol~tIcrael's h t u r e iiel~vera~lce by God In both paccages, God corrlec In percon to re1g11 111 21on (24 23, 25 t ~ - 1 0 ,59 16-21, 00 1-3), clear~s~ng h~s peoplc k o n ~therr wr~ckcdne.ic(26 16-10.27 9-1 1,59l-15.h0 ? l ) , dcllver~ng them Fronl t h e ~ roppreqrors, and brlngltlg the eu~le\home to Z ~ o n(27 12-13, 00 4-22) In Isa~ah'cwstons, the ult~rnaterectoratlon of Israel I \ the grac lour work of t h e ~ r(;od, who comes rn penon to renlove thew slni and reconcile thern to h~nlselfLtke the prophet. Paul tru\t\ \wth absolute confidence In the mercy and farthfirlnes\ of God that 'the m\t' of Israel (Rorn 1 1 7) will one dak be reecued ti0111 then unbel~ef(i\o111 11 20, 23) In that day, 'all Icrael' will embrace thelr God,who hac acted In Ctlrrst for therr del~vennceas \cell a\ for the salvat~onof the gentllec

" Tlie ninnmg ot Korrl 1 1 25-27

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Ir hod\ iontestcd Tor r detarled dctcnrr of nn rcadlnp. jet Hmltir. pp 27h-OX Othrr texts that deplrt God'.; cschatolop~xlrule cxtendltig 'from Zion' ~ncludc151 2 t3 = Mlr 4 2-3.Jot.l 3 lh.1'8 14 7, 110 2 E I' \n~ders.Ibul, the Lmr, atid rhr l r v ~ s hProplr (Mlrrncapohr Fonrcs. 10X3), p 194

ISAIAH IN ROMANS A N D GALATIANS

Romans 11 ends with a mounding hyrrln lauding God's inscrutable wisdoni. Rul's long arg~nientwith scripture appropriately dissolves into praise of the God to whom Israel's sacred texts bear wimess. Momentarily, Isaiah's distinctive voice rises above the chorus: 'Who has known the mind of the Lord? W h o has becorrie his counsellor?' (Rom. ll:34/Isa. 40:13)." For Paul, as for the prophet, the only proper response to this sovereign, wise and gracious God is, finally, humble trust and heartfelt adoration.

In Romans 14, I'aul urges the believers in Ronie not only to refiain from judging one another but also to recognize their obligation to seek the welfare of their brothers and sisters 'for whom Christ died' (14:15). The apostle reminds them that their present lives rrrust be shaped both by the reality of Christ's resurrection and present reign (14:7-9,17) and by the knowledge that each one will soon stand before God's judgerrient seat. He drives home these points by invoking Isa. 45:23. Paul adds an introductory oath formula: '"As I live", says the Lord'.- This modification serves his arqnrent well, for the citation now mentions both 'the Lord' and 'God', just as Paul has been speaking alternately of 'the Lord' (Christ) and of 'God' in Rom. 14:1-10."' In t h ~ s way, Paul boldly places the risen Jesus within the bounds of the identity of the God of Israel, who throughout Isaiah 35 repeatedly affirms, 'I am God, and there is no other besides me'.'" Like so many of the lsaianic tests Paul cites in Romans in connectio~lwith his nlission to establish churches anlong the gentiles, Isa. 45:23 falls within a larger prophecy of Israel's restoration (45: 1-25). Portraying the Romans' present life in Christ as the proleptic realization of the eschatological deliverarice promised in Isaiah, Paul invites them to imaginatively reshape even the quotidian activities of their communal life in accordance with this new reality. lsuiah 1 1 : 10 it1 Rornans 15: 12

In Kom. 157-13 Paul draws together the major strands of the letter, pre5entnlg C h r ~ s as t the cervant of both Jew and gent~lewho unltec them In a s~ngle cornmusllty devoted to the glory of God (1 5x7-'9). A catena of testlnlonlec, drawn from Torah (Ileut. 3243). I'salms (18:50; 117:l) and prophets (Isa. 11:10) lends to Paul's argument the fill1 welght of Israel's sacred 5crlptures.

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Beiausc I t lackc a11 ~ n n o d u ~ t o rfi)rriiula. y I claxnty thts .A> r rtnmg alluvor~ratlirr that1 .A marked Lltauorl Although d t c x words arc foutid m l u 4') 18. thcrr appears to he no parncular contirctlon w~tli l v ~ d h49 here As the phrllr occurs nerrlv two dozen urn= m the LXX,Paul niay ~implvbe drawing on a ~ornrnnnscr~pturalaucvcrauoo Paul rrrakcr r %malartntcrprctlvc t i i o ~ e111 h ~ Lshrtstologt~alr e - r t a h g o f Isa 45 23 In Phtl 2 1 0 - 1 1 C (f ahovc o n lu 28 I6 In Ron1 I0 I I \re further K~chard13auikharn. f,od Cnnrhed Monorhnim iit~dChriatolgpy ~n the I%, ficro~nmr(Grand Rap& Eenlmanc, l'N9)

ISAIAH IN 'THE NEW TESTAMENT

Capplrlg otf the serle5 ofw~tr~etses 15 I\alah, who appears for the fifth and hme as a ~ianledspeaker Isa~ah11 follows God's pronllse of salvation to Israel (Isa 10 20-27) ,rrld dep~ctsGod's dehverance o f h ~ people s from oppre\\lon and exile through the agency of a me,\lanic figire 4L Paul's cltatlon of I\a 11 10 hlghhghts tllc blgn~ficanceofJesus Chr~stfor Jew and gentde alike and creates an rt~clus~o V, ,\& the introductory paragraphs of Romans As 'the root ofJesse' (Kom. 15, I\a 11 10) 'born of Ilav~d'sseed' (Rom 1 3), C h r ~ \ tI \ the fulfilrx~entdlrd corlfirnlatlon of 'the prom~se\to the Patriarch,' (Rom 15 8) and of the sat & scriptures (Rom 1 2) Yet he 1s also the one who 'rnes to rule the Gentdcs, [whom] the Gentllcs w d put their hope' and through whom the gentdes glorlfjr God (Korn 15 9/1ca. 11 10) Ily ralslng J e w from the dead (Ron*, 1 God has effected 'salvation for everyone who trusts, for the Jew fir\t3 and Aso Zor the Greek' @om 1 16-17.10 9) -!),j3

Paul appeals to Isaiah one final tune as he expla~ricto the Roman churches hrs understand~ngof h ~ smsslon as apostle to the gentiles. Hav~ngd~scovewd;r prefigura~onof hls own -and others' - cdihng to be heralds of the G~rrprlof Chr~stto the ends of the earth 111 Isa 52 7." he firids several verses later, in Iu 52.15, a Eurther reference to hi\ own specific task Paul 1s charged v.rrlt procla~m~ng the Gospel where Chrlst is not yet named, just a.5 ~t1%wr~rtcn" those to whom it was not at~nour~ced concerning hiin will see. and those who hwe not heard will understand. (Rom. 1 5 2 1 )

Apart fro111 the omlsflon of the 1111tlalconjunLtlon TI), the c~tatlonfolltrwr the LXX exactly. Crucial to Paul's Interpretatlo11 of the verse 1s the preyos~tionalphrase 'concermng h ~ m In ' Isalah, the pronoun refers to the Servant figure ~ n m d u c e d111 Ica 52 13,whoce story Is told I I I Isa~ah51, I r l the context of Romanc 15, ~ t antecedent s 15 Chrlst " The first half of Isa. 52 15 (not crtrd by Paul) prophesies that 'many natlons wdl n l ~ n ~at e lh ~ m 'Not . surpr~sin$y, then, Paul ~dent~fies 'those who have not heard about h ~ m 'In 52:15h as gent~lerThat 111 Rortrar~sPaul quotes 1 s 52 5,52 7,52 15 dnd 53 1 pnr\ rtkel; btrong evldence that Paul's understanding of hls own mlsslon as apostle to the gentiles has been fundametltally shaped by careful and sustauled reflechon or1 this portlon of Isa~aha\ a whole

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l s ~ j a hI1 5tokeJ the firm of rilrwaruc hope arriorip a riumbcr of rarly Jew~shpoupc. See. tilt example, 13s 501. 17-18; 4Qpisa' (4QlhI) kg. $10 3.15-29 (on Isa. 11:l--5); 'Kzr,.Lca. 11:l. Paul id11 h~rdlyildvr ~ i i ~ s s ttir. c J parolrorridsrlc p<,tenaalof 'rlses' in isd. 11:iO. Roni. 1 0 : l S I X . 011 the q~lzstiolloi whcttirr Paul rcnd Izaildh 53 ~hri~t010g1cdUy. het. abuvr 011 h a . .i3.1 it] R~VITI 10: 16.

ISAIAH IN ROMANS A N D GAJATIANS

Cotzcbcsion: Isaiah in Romans

Citations of and allusions to Isaiah play an important role in the developing argument of I'aul's letter to the Romans." Although his appeals to Isaiah serve Paul's own rhetorical ends, Isaiah's words also significantly shape Paul's understanding of his Gospel and mission. Paul turns to Isaianic texts that speak of Israel's deliverance from judgement and exile and finds there prophetic prefigurations bath of the redemption God has now acconlplished for Jews and gentiles in Christ and of the mission of those called to proclainl God's salvation to the end$ of the earth.47 Isaiah himself appears as a fellow herald of the good news, who, with I'aul, bewails Israel's widespread rejection of 'our message' (Kom. 10:16/Isa.53:l). In order to understand his fellow Jews' resistance to the Gospel, I'aul turns to lsaianic oracles that depict Israel as divided between a faithful remnant preserved by God and a rebellious nlajority who face imnlirlent judgement or who languish under the burden of exile.JHBut Paul does not simply ernploy Isaiah as a convenient source for proof-texts to support conclusions reached on other grounds. On the contrary, his argument is shaped at a deep level by the structure of Isaiah's prophecies, where God's faithfulness, rather than Israel's infidelity, has the final word. With Isaiah, Paul insists that God will at last rise up to redeem his people Israel and, in so doing. bring to completion his rectification of the entire cosnlos. Isaiah in Galatians Isaiah 54: 1 iti Calatiutrc 4:27

In contrast to its ti-equent appearance in Romans, Isaiah plays a relatively minor role in Galatians. Whereas Isaiah is cited ten tilrles in Kon~ans9-1 1, Isaianic oracles do not figure at all in the lengthy scriptural argument in Galatians 3. The sole citation of Isaiah in the letter appears as part of Rul's elaborate 'allegory' of Abraham's two sons (Gal. 4:21-31). Clainling that those in Christ correspond to 'the son of the free woman [born] through the promise' (4:23), Paul identifies their 'mother' as 'Jerusalem above' (4:2h)." The citation of Isa. 54:l that follows provides Paul with a "

Space docs not peraot ~ o t ~ ~ d c m t rofo tcvery t posslhle allusron to lurrll rtr Roor.ins. One fitnher passage that d n c r v n tnentr~rn,however, IS liom. 8t3.3-34, w h o x Idnguag evdces the confidence of the I ~ m l ' rScrvdnt facing b ~ accusers: s 'The one who vlrr&catcs (6 Strut-) rrrc draws ocdr. Who rs thr one who accuses (6 ~ p s p o p i v q tne?' ) (1%. 50:s). " E.g..lsd.28:16 (Ron1.0:33; 10.1 1);lsa. 5 2 7 (Rorrl. 10:15);lsa.Xi:13 (Ron>.11:35);1.ia.11:lO (l\oor. l5:12); 1%. 52:l.i (Kom. l.i:21). Oracles appmprrated by I'aul that thrrdten the rebelhour w r h ~ r ~ i m ~ njudgcrnerlt etlt or deprct Israel m capnvtty tnclude I s . 24t:lh/45:9 (Kom. 9:20); Isa. 10:22-23 ( K o n ~9:27-28); . l u . I:V (Iionl. 9:2')); I s . 28:16/X:lJ (tlotn. Y:33); l u . h5:2 (Rom. 10:21); Isa. 29:1016:'1-10 (Uon~.11:s); Isa. 5V:20-21/27:0 (liom. l1:20-27). "'Karen H.Jobes. *Jcr:tsalern, our Mother: Mctaleps~sand lntertextitalicy irr Galananc 421-31'. I+-TJ 55 (1993). pp. 2'B-320. p. 310, notes that 1%. 1:26 I.XX calls restored Jer:rulen~ 'the hrthhrl mother-city (p~rp6noA1;)'.

ISAIAH IN TIIE NEW TESTAMENT

her~neneuticalbridge between the scriptural ' h e woman' and the eschatological 'Jerusalem above'. Looking ahead to the redemption of Zion, Isaiah 54 personifies the city as a barren woman whose shame has been removed through the miraculous birth of children. That Sarah is the paradigmatic example of the barren woman blessed with a child beyond all hope would perhaps be enough to explain the link Paul forges between Isaiah 54 and the Genesis narrative. But precedent far such an interpretive n~oveis found in Isaiah itself." In lsaiah 51, the Lord exhorts Jerusalem's exiles to remember 'Abraham your father and Sarah who was in labour with you', whom God 'called and blessed and loved and multiplied' (51:2). God now vows to bring about another nliraculous birth fro111barrenness by transfor~ningZion's desolate places into a fruitill1 garden 'like the paradise of the Lord' (51 :3).Moreover, the Lord's restoration of Zion brings joy and gladness not only to God's people, but also to the nations: 'My righteousness draws near swiMy; my salvation will go forth. And in rrly arnl the Gentiles will hope' (51:5).5' Paul's appeal to Isa. 54:l is grounded in his deepest convictions regarding the Gospel and his apostolic mission. His gentile hearers are 'children' of once-barren Zion precisely because they, like the son of the tiee woman, Isaac, are 'children of promise' (Gal. 4:28). Moreover, as Paul argued in his earlier retelling of Abraham's story (Galatians 3), they are children of promise, not through 'works of the law', but only through union with Christ (3:29). As in Ko~nans,so l~erealso Paul finds in the message of Christ that he proclaims to gentiles the realization of Isaiah's visions of redemption. At the same time, Paul's use of Isa. 54:1 reveals an awareness of the hnction of this passage in its wider setting in Isaiah. Again, it is the broad contours of Isaiah's prophecies, and not just particdar phrases or sentences, that have shaped Paul's understanding and presentation of the Gospel in important ways. ANusiom

117 lsniah 49 in Galarians Although Paul does not explicitly cite Isaiah in Cklatians with reference to his mision, a nutnber of allusions to Isaiah 49" lend further support to the idea that lsaianic texts and tnotifi have profoundly shaped Paul's conception of his calling as an apostle. As Paul recounts for the Galatians the origin of his Gospel in 'a revelation ofJesus Christ' (Gal. 1:12), he narrates his call in terms reminiscent of Ira. 49: 1-6. In this passage, an unnamed 'servant' (600ko~,49:3,5)" of the Lord recounts his conl~nissioningby God both to re-gather Israel's exiles (49:5-6) and to bring salvation to the ends of the earth (496). Just as the

Iulah'r nsc of (,enera, dnd for later pmt-hrhhral tntcrprctatton af these n ~ o n h see , Mary ('allrwa), Sinx, 0 &rmn ( h e (\BLT)\ Y 1 Admta frholarr Press, 19%) Thc bst srntrncc also appears 111 Iw 1 1 10, cited rn Rotn 1 i12 " \sc Kov E C tampr, ntr h s m u c .md lumnon of krrpttrrc iri
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ISAIAH I N R O M A N S A N D GALATIANS

Servant has been called ( r a k ~ o49:l; , cf. 49:6) fmm his mother's womb (EK ~ o t k i a qp q ~ p &pou, 49: 1;cf. 495). so Paul has beer1 set apart fmm his n~other's womb (EK ~ o l h i a qp q ~ p & pou) and called (rakto) by God's grace (Gal. 1:15).$' Moreover, like the Servant, Paul's conlnlission involves proclairr~ing the good news of salvation to the ger~tiles(Gal. 1:lO; 2:6-10). 111 Isa. 49:6, the Lord appoints the Servant to be 'a light for the Gentiles' (cf. Isa. 42:h). A similar oracle appears two verses later, in Isa. 49:8b: '1 have giver] you to be a covenar~tof the Gentiles'. Significantly, Paul cites the first halfof I s . 49:s in 2 Cor. 6:2, claiming that the 'day of salvation' annoul~cedby Isaiah is 'now', as God's grace c o n h n n the Corinthians in the 'message of reconciliation' that Paul proclaims (2 Cor. 5:11-21).55 Finally,just as the Lord vows to his Servant, 'I will be glorified in you' (Ev aoi So~uo0+~opa1, Isa. 49:3), so R u l reports the response of the churches of Judea to his tmnsforn~ationtiorn persecutor to missio~lary:'They glorified God in me' (E6o
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Ntikclsburg adv;rrrcc~the trltrrwtng I w p o t h ~ thrt ~ ~ sPaul'%cl~trrrto LK. OIIC (allcd fmnt the \rornh pronrptcd hr\ adbeartes' rejotndcr that he war. In thrt arc r ' t n r n a r r ~ n ~(t~rpuipu) e' rce 1 ( or 15 8 George W E Ntckelsburg,'AnFKTFnMA, though Appotnted h r n the Worrrh Paul's Apostohc 'Self-Dcscrtptrorr III 1 CorlotI~larr\15 and C ~ a I ~ t l ~1 'r n11% (; WE N~cLelrburg and C W MacRac. edr. Chns~~atrc ornotr$-\eulnrd dnd (rmrrlrc (Ph~ladclptuaFortress, 1986).pp 198-205 All ril~lt specuhtton about Paul's self-undenun&ng tirust h r tempered, however, by the reahratron that III (;aIanam 1-2 Paul n trot offerrng ao 'rutobtography' hut rather drveloprng r iarefull) irahcd ar@imetrt arrrrcd cl~recdvat thc pnublcrtu rrr (raldoa x, Ucvcrl) R o k r u Cta\cnu. <.aLtlrnr 1 and 2 Autobrqraph) as Para&gm9,.VoeT 28 (1986). pp 309-26 The allustvenru ot I'aul's language rn (;a1 1 15-16 makes tt unursc to rmnt that I ~ r r h41) alone her behrnd h a $el!-dcxrtpaon Indeed. the narranve of Jerenuah'9 caU sharer srgruficant poults of contact urdr both l u ~ a hand k u l In vocabulaw and thought The Lord tells Jerermdh 'Rebre I fornled you In the womb (Bv woth~y).I knew you,and beforc you carrlc forth h m thc uvrnb (CK pqrpq). I sarrcufied you I appotntcd you as a prophet to the Cenules' Uer 1 5 LXX) Sh For the rdea of 'runnmg m van', see Pltrl 2 16 " C:f G d 3 4 'Have vou suffered x, much tn mm (rta)'' Anxrety h t Paul's labours rrught turn out to have been In v a n - or confiden~ethat they UTU not -1s a parstent monf rn hrs letten (1 T h w 2 1 , 3 5.1 C a r 15 10.14, Phtl 2 16, cf 1 Cor 15 2,17) See funhrr W Radl, 'AUe Muhe u m n s t ' Paulus und der Gottnknecht', m A Vanhaye. ed , L'Ap#tn I'aul (UFTL 73. Lcuvco Leuven Unlversrtv Pms, 1986). pp 14419

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ISAIAH IN THE N E W TESTAMENT

argues that 'cons~~ously or U I I C O ~ S C I OPal11 U S ~drew ~ , on the text in 1 ~ ~ [35:7-1 I ] when he forn~ulatedthe metaphor of Gal 4:19' '' Second, Isa.6 j : ~ pronnses, 'My chosen ones will not labour In valn (06 h-on~aaovolvciq r c v o ~ ) ~ nor w ~ l lthey hear ~hlldrenfor a curse' " The note of hopefill exl?rttanan expressed here and In Isa. 49 4, where the Servant entrusts h n labours to and looks to God alone for vmd~canon,finds ~ t secho In Paul'? utltrrrng labourc on behalf of h ~ s‘children' The last word 111 Gal'rt~anrn not one bitterness or exasperatton, but of bless~ngand hope: 'The grace of our I.lbd Jesus Chrlst be with your splrlt, brothers and asters. Amen'' (6.18) Although the '\olume' of these echoes 17 not h ~ g hthe , 6equent recurrvncc of the 'In valn' m o t ~ 111 f Paul's wrlt~ngs,combined w ~ t hh ~ evident s Inter~w other portions of Isalah 49,"" strengthens the case for hearlng th15 language ar. 3 dellberate evocation of Isa~ah's oracles. The questlon as to whether I ~ J U ~ understood the 'Servant' figure to be Chrlrt or hlrn5elflr so~newhathesidr the polnt Paul'$ allus~veapproprlanons of Isaiah 49 derive not from a stlirrlg of Isalah for forgotten prophecies panently awaltlng fulfilment, but fi-om a sit* tamed, careful readsng of the prophet~cora~lesIn the convi~tlonthat he been crucified w ~ t hChr~st,that Christ now l~vesIn h ~ mand , that Clrrlrr"~ nll\\lon has become Paul's own (Gal 2 20) "'

Paul's appeals to Isaiah in Galatians rely on the same tlerrneneut~cempltrved In Rorna~xK e ~ d i n gthe prophenc tests In the I~ghtof Cod's apocahpac Invaiion of the world In Chr~st,Paul finds that Isalah's prophec~esof t h t redempt~onof Israel proclal~nthe good news that In Chrlst God ha$ actrcl ktr the rect~f~canon of the ennre cotmos 111 turn, Isa~ah'~ VIFIOII of the Servant co~rrnt~s~ioned not only to re-gather scattered Icrael, but also to brlng salvatrt~n to the grnt~les,serves Paul ar a lens wlth whlch he can brlng into sharper focuc both the Gospel of C ' h r ~ and ~ t h15 own particular callxng ac apostle to rhr

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gentiles

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J. Lo111sMartyn. (;al,rtreto (AU.33A, Ncw York:l7~-ruhlrday.I C ) C ) ~ Jp., 4 9 . Cf. the ~llustonto Ira. t i 'j In Rom. 9.20. Paul warns those who would br clrcull~~lsed thdr. cut off from Chri$t,thry will he ohl~gatedto .LC* the whole [Law ((;dl. 5.2-4). Such people are hdble ro the Law's ' c ~ r ' e ' .w h x h IS removed o d y rnr C:hrnt (3:10-14). "' Tell~ngly.Paul prrfacr~h ~ sr v p l ~ c ~cltdrlon r oi lsa. 4q:X In 2 Cor 6:: hy an ddmomtlon not t i * 'recs1r.e the grace of God In Val11 ( c i KEVOV)' ~ (6:lj. "' Cian~pa,Prrwnic. pp. 5 1-60, argues that Patll's lanprdge In Gal. 1:4 and 2:10 echoec fsa. 53. "' For a powerful reading of Galattans that takes fitll account of Paul'\ apowlypuc Gmpcl and ti* wo~.ld-shdttrru~~g c ~ ) m r q t ~ r n iihr e r the shdpe of human liv~ng,see the nlagstrrlal c o n u n m n t q h Martyn. (;,rlnrtntrz

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Chapter 8

Isaiah in 1 and 2 Corinthians Florian W i l k

T h e purpose ofthis chapter is t o dctcrniirie the influence o f t h e book of Isaiah o n Paul as attested in his first and second letters 'to the church of C o d which is a t Corinth' (1 Cor. 1:2;2 Cor. 1:l). T h e fact that Paul quotes the oracles of Isaiah more than any other source shows how iniportant this hook was to his arguments. Indeed, the influence o f Isaiah goes much deeper than his explicit quotations o f the book. As I have deriionstrated elsewhere, certairi sections o f Isaiah have sigiificantly shaped Paul's self-understanding and his theology.' Moreover, the language of Isaiah occurs fiquently in I'aul's writing, both in sigriificant theological vocabulary and in particular phrases,' and Isaianic tnotift probably constitute the background o f several I'auline concepts.' In this chapter, I have to confine niyself to those references that show hot11 verbal and thenlatic correspondence while comprising at least a short sentence.' Also, the two quotations in I Cor. 29; 0:lO will not he considered

I

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E Wrlk. I h r Nrdorrrr~r,qdrs Jt*salltuhn hrr lbrtlrlr (FKLANT 170; (;otnr~pri. Vandenlwc~kR Ruprec-ht. IWX); 'I'aultr.; alr lt~tcrprctdcr pmphcnwhcn Schr~iicn'.hit/) 45 (IWO), pp. 2X4-3O(r. 'Paulus als Nutzer. lrlterprct trod Lrwr d m Jcrqnbt:~-hn'.r r l S. Alk~erand K.D. H a y , edt. I)lc Ark1 rm 1)r'rlq dm Sthrikr: Kartaq,tr intt-rtrxrt~rll~r Urbrllrktun ( N E T 10: l'uhrngeri. Franckc. (IOS, pp. 0.3-1 l h Scc alw J.R. M g l c r , H n u l d ~~ftltr* ( A d Sor+r liaiah and /hi11 'rtr (:ilrrrwt' 111 tlrr l r t t n ro fhr Hllmms (Nc)vTSup 101. Lcrden: 13rlll. 2(M)2); S.-I..Shum. firtrl's l h r ~j lsardr rrr Konrrnu- A (.'onrpmtiw Study of I'ttul'r lrrrn w rhr Komum errd rlrr S6hylltttr and Qrn~ritrt.S'rt.r'rnar, 7 h r ~(WUN'T If/ I S h , ' l ' i i b ~ r r ~ ~Mohr r i ~ Srcheck. 2002). H a m Iiiihner rrghtly n o o c n r ronmlorl 5cnlantrc field firr (Ikutcn,-)lwlah and I'rul. rukciv. ~ixlyytAijeaUat,broiicrv. dpupriu, r a IOvq, ntrrrcitc~v.S ~ r u ~ m ' i vIliralo;, q, b t r u t d i p w r , nmrqpia, o d f i a l . W u , etc. S r c H . Huhncr. Rrhl~wlrr~ ~ r c u ldc-3 t ~Srucrr ~ r 2.3). p. 317. E.g.. h r the concept o f rm o ~ ~ ~ r h a see t ~ ~0. ~ Hofitr*. ri. 'Erwagt11lgc11zirr C;ntdlt und Herktrr~hdm pauhnr\chrn Venbhnun$h~dankenr'. %7K 77 (I'IHO), pp. lH<+)9. Thrs cxcludcj casn whcm then. 15 d conicptud connectroll wrthout vrrhal I~rrks('rnotrh'). where the agreenrent IJ l11111tcdto a \rndc exprm.;Iou (c ~..no&5; 6 p ~ 1 r t ~ r t'n>rrr o ~ v I W 3:3 III 1 (:or 3 10). 2nd \c4icre I'atrl ha.; used an lurar~rcphrrre 111 a w i s e drHcrcr~tFn>mIL.; orrp~nalcontext (cf Iw l(i.20 ln 2 (:or I :(I)

ISAIAH I N 1 I 1 E N E W TESTAMEN?

owlng to tl~erruncerta~no r ~ g r nand , ~ 1 \hall leave asrde the quotatron In 2 Cor 0 17 slnce, w ~ t hgood reason, the Paul~neauthor\hlp of the pascage 0 14-7 1 15 rn doubt " These re\trlctlorr\ leabe uc w ~ t hthe tack of an.~lv\lngh u r quotanons (1 Cor 1 lo), 14 21, 15 54, 2 (:or 0 2),' four quotrtlon-hke allu\~ons (1 ('or 2 10,14 25, 1.5 3 2 , 2 ('or 4 h),* and teven allu\lonc t h . ~can be deemed cc~dentor probable (1 C'or 1 17.20a-t. 20d, 2 <:or 4 1 I , 5 17.7 0 . 0 10) 9 \hall rnvectlgte the references mcntroned III order of appearance, d~scus\rng t h e ~ rword~ng,funct~on,nleanrng and \~gn~ficance ac \wll ac 1?1ul'c regard for t h e ~ rIca~an~c contexts and h15 understand~ngof the texts called n ~ t oplay '" Evaluating the results, 1 shall fillally as\ec\ the rnflucnce of the book of Iwnh on I'aul's wrltlng to the C o r ~ n t h ~ a n e

W r t h n ~the sectlor1 devoted to the drvrsron o i t h e (:or~nthlan thurth (1 Cor 1 1 0 3 21) the patcage I 10-17 serve\ a\ an ~ntroductlon IJaul appeal5 for Lrnanrmlty ~n the nanle of C h r ~ s and t 5tralghtens out the Corrnthlan\' etteem of h~nlself,Apollos and Cephac HI\ expocttlon ~ u l n ~ n r r t e111c \Cree 17 \\here he refers to h ~ sdpostolate and ctrte\ that a 'prcdchrng of the gospel w ~ t h eloquent wtedo~nand rhetor~cal\krll would ernpty the cn>cc of C'hr~stof ~ t s power'," thereby leading up to h ~ d~stoursc s ~ I wlrdor~l I (1 18-3 4) 111 thr\ ver\e he probably alludes to Isa hl 1 LXX ' Alttrttugh hot11 quoutronr hcrr a rather %troni:re%etnhLntcto Iu 01 7(1I, 6 5 l ( r 1 7 rnd 28 21. 28 rrrprcttvelv tlrm cannot be cfcr~r-rdfwnl t111r hctok to r suffrc~entdegree of proh.1h111r) e i I) -A Koth [>re lhrrtr 5 /me d o 1 raatqclrum< I t t r ~ ~ u ~ hz~rr ~m Irntr~~durrq p~ r~ndzunl Imrtsrdrrrral%er.I h accrv ihrt arl d ~ eKr~rrnthn haprrrl t 1-7 16 ( O T K N T X/l (rutenloh (.utrrrlohrr Veriayt~au~ Wurzhurg F< htrr. 2(U12) pp 2ii-6ri \ J H u l ~ r e t r 2 C or h 1 J-7 1 and Re\ 21 3-8 Fv~dencefor ttte Ephcnan Rcdacoon 012 C orlnth~anr, \-I \ 4') (ZIXIi),pp i ' b i h A qtlotrtloti 1s lnrerrded for wader.; and llrrenen 11 d ~ r e t at h c ~ rattent~onto 1 8 %rune We do not kno- h o u s l r r to uhat cxtcrtr Paul r r d c h s e s l ucrc rhlc to dluern hlr rcicrcrtcer to wrlpturc I hu\ the tcrrrr quorat~or~should denote only a rcfcrcncc that IS niarked w~tlrr q u o u t ~ o torrnnla. r~ torrrru Ktnh 1)rr \r/tnfr pp 11-23, dnd \tanlr\. l'aul pp 33-17 u h o apph other ~rltcrlad\ ucll "hew aUuuons arc 'quordt~on-lrkc rrm)iar a\ each of them ronwtr III a wpardtc clause 7or r set of cr~rerrrby \\Inclr onc ni;l\ judge allusron\ to be prohahls rec I< Fla\.i I ~ h e uof~'mprcrrr rrr rhc llrtrn o/ k u l (Lorriion rnd NFU Have11 Yde U I I I \ C ~ >PKS, I ~ 1989). pp 2'&32 W d i . Ihc kktrrunq, pp 2 ( i i A X Thu%the rndy~asshould not he nsrr~ctcdto Paul'\ u v o t urrprurrl texn \cc R B Hugher.'Tcxtual and Hermcneubcal Aspecu of Paul'~U\e ofthe Old rcsutncnt In 1 and 2 C ' O ~ I I I ~ ~ (f'hl) IJIHC~IU Untrerslrv ofE&nhurgh. 1078) J Larohrccht, 'The Pouer oiCrod A Note on tlic < onncctron heween 1 ( or 1 17 and 18'. ui Collnred Ctud~eon kulrru Ltmrurr and on rhe Rwk of Rnvlar~orr(AnBlb 117,Rotnr E d ~ u ~ c e Po'ont~fictolsntuto H~hhco.ZtWJl). pp 3 5 3 2 p 78 For the rnrerprcut%onof venc 17k-c. qec Paul*% aruloff)us formulnnn UI 2 4-5 In hottr cares. hc contraa Clod's mbmg pouzr cffecuvr III h a p n i h ~ n gChrrst crut16ed w ~ t hthe poucr attr~hutedto rhctor~cIn the Graeio-Rorrian world

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ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

Isa.61:l L X X The spirit ofthe LORD a upon me . . .; k he has x n t tne ( & t r C o t d ~ps) to bring good news (~buyy~lioua8a1) to the poor (RTOXO~<) ...

1 Cor. 1:17 For Christ did not send me (&nCm~thCv ps) to bapnxe but to proclain~the gospel (&bu~&ki<&&l), and not with eloquent wisdom . . .

Except for the tenses of both verbs and the order of words, Paul has reproduced the second line of the prophet's proclamation,'2 its orientation towards 'the poor' being reflected by his alignment with those who are weak, low and despised in the world (1 Cor. 1:27-28). Although this referer~ce is not pointed out to the addressees of Paul's letter it is important as background to his argument. It justifies his statement that he can meet his mission only by denying the standards of human wisdom, for he is endowed with 'the spirit of the Lord' and sent to 'the poor'. Therefore, R u l has applied Isa. 61:1 to his own calling, identitjmg himself with the speaker of that verse. This conclusion is confirmed inasmuch a.his reasoning in 1 Car. 1:18-25 is sprinkled with echoes of Isa. 61:l-3, as can be seen fium the following tabulation: Isa.61:l-3 1 the spirit of the Lord 1 to proclaim liberty 2 to proclaim the year ofthe LORD'Sfavour ( K V ~ ~SO EK UT ~ V ) 3 They will be called oaks ofrighteousness, the planting of the LORD.

1 Cor. l:18-2:s; 3:6 2:4 detnonstration of the Spirit 1:23 we proclarn~Christ (cf. 1:21) 1:21 God decided (~~Mortqoav) ... 1:30 in Christ you a n . . . righteousness" 3:6 1 planted . . . (cf. 1:23)

It would seem that Paul understood the proclamdaon of Isa. 61:l-3 as an in&cauon of hi$ own apostolate. Whether he read that passage typologically (cf. 1 Cor. 10:ll) or as a prophecy (cf. Ro111. 1:2) must remaln open for the moment (see 2 Cor. 6:2). I Cor. I : 19/fsa. 29: 14 (Quotation)

Paul's dlscoune on wlsdom (1 Cor. 1:1&3:4) beglns w t h an ercplanat~onof why and how the Gospel corlflicts wlth 'the wsdom of the world' (1:1% 25).14H e opens thls passage by asserung that 'the word of the cross' is regarded as 'foolahness' by 'those who are perishing' but pmves to be effectlve as 'the

''

Nore that tha clause has no parallel m the Septuagint (neamt are I Sam. 319; 1 Chroo. 10:9) whereas m I Cor~nthrans.the verb d ~ o a t B M oIS not used anywhere eke (cf. Rom. 10:lS; 2 Cor.

12:17). Cf.W. Bender. 'Bernerkungen zur ijhersetzunRvon I Kor~nther1.,',Z.WCV71 (1980). pp. 263f)H. " T h e conjuncoon yap a1 I : 18 tm& not only thts verse but the follow~ngpassap as suhnoauon of Paul's statement In VCR 17 b-c.

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ISAIAH I N T H E N E W T E S T A M E N 1

power of God' with 'us who are being saved' (1:18).'"n order to justifjr his assertion, I'aul then appeals to scripture and quotes f m n ~Isa. 29: 14 LXX: h a . 2Y:14 LXX I u.111 contlnuc t o transform this people . . . , a n d I will destroy t h e u ~ s d o nof~t h e WlSC,

1 C o r 1 19 For 11I< wrltteii, 'I u.111 destroy t h e w ~ r d o t nof t h e WISC.

and t h e d ~ s c e r n ~ n c of n t the dlscernlng I w ~ l hrde. l r u i dno& T+ o o 4 i u v r b v oo&bv r u i T ~ O~JVECTIV V riuv ( ~ I \ ~ E TKPGWO ~ ~ v

and t h e h s c e r n m e n t o f the drscernlng I wtll thwart ' & n o U rrjv oo+iuv riuv oo&bv r a i r j v o i r v ~ n ~riuv v ac)vcrtv & O s r ~ a o ,

The following two verses (1 (:or. 1:20-21), which also deal with what Cod has done, function as an exposition of this quotation: since humankind did not perceive God by means of its wisdom (1:21a),'" God has made this wisdom foolish, i.e., has taker1 away its capability of knowing God (1:20d);and God has done this by veiling his word of deliverance in the apostolic preaching which appears foolish to the world and discloses inelf osdy to those who believe (I :2 1b). Accordingly, the quotation in 1:19 indicates the reason why God's saving act has taken form in the word of the cross. It is due to this use of Isa. 29:14b that I'a'aul has replaced ~ p L y oby GO~rjao,"a word pmbably derived fronl Ps. 33(32):10." In his usage, the former verb would reGr to something that God is about to rcveal," and only the latter is appropriate for expressing the meaning Paul attributes to the quotation: God has decided to do away with hurnan wisdonl, that is, to exclude it hm the divine/human relationship.'" It follows that Paul regarded Isa. 2 9 1 4 as a pmphecy which was being fulfilled in his preaching Christ crucified. This exegesis is backed up by l'aul's pmvocative questions in 1 Cor.

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Wrth verse 2 l b rr thc
ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

1:2Oa-c. Indicating the astonishing fact that there an: no advocates of wisdorn who know the path to salvation, these questions show that Isaiah's oracle uttered in the name of God has now come true. Therefore, the quotation is significant for Paul in that it lends a scriptural basis to his argument: the foolish nature of the C;ospel as preached by Paul (1 :18). and hence his dispensing with eloquent wisdom and rhetorical skill (1 :17), are in accordance with the scriptures. Paul's interpretation of Isa. 29:14b concurs with the Isaiarlic context in the Septuagint. Even though then: are no clear verbal links, his exposition in 1 Cor. 1 :20-31 contairls some parallels as regards content: 29 10-21 LXX 10 The Lord has poured out upon you a sprrrt of rnsmstnvity (nvsupuzr wurnvi~tq) 11-12 nobody can read t h ~ sealed s book 13 Thrc people (6 Anb~obq) worshtpc me In varrr by teachjng cotnntandnients of men 18-21 the wrcked and arrogant pertsh, the poor will rrjotce thanks to the Lord (6th KGp1ov) 15 Woe to those who execute a plan rn secret and not through the Lord (&in rupiou) Isd

1 Cor. 1:20-31 1:20d God lias nude foolrsh the wsdom of the world. 1 20h Where a the rcrrbe' 1 20a-c, 21 the wire men of thrs age (roc ulDvq rourou) drd riot know. God 127-28.31 God chose what is weak so as to sharne the strong; he who boasts shall boatt in the Imrd (bv nbpiq)) 122-23 J e w deniand signs . . .we preach Chr~stcrucified, a aurnbirng block to Jews . . .

The correspondence between 1 Corinthians 1 and Isaiah 29 LXX is remarkable, and so there are grounds for the assunzptioi~that Paul was well aware of the Old Testament context when quoting Isa. 29:14b.2' However, whereas the verse in its origir~alcontext concerns Israel, Paul has applied it to humankind in general.

The universaliry of IJaul's interpretation of Isa. 29:14 is made evident in 1 Cor. 1:20, where he writes about 'the wisdom of the world' and the 'researcher of this age'." Thus his questions about the 'wise' and the 'scribe' in 1:2Oa-b are, on the analogy of 1:22,aimed at the Hellenistic and Jewish modes of wisdom respectively.2s It is in this connection that Paul alludes to several Isaianic oracles:

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Conrra A Lmdeniann, l h r n r ~Korrtirltnbncj(HNT Oi 1. Tuhrngen Mohr \rebeck, 2 0 0 ) . p 44 Just as in I ('or 2 O,H,roC air3voi rourou must be taken as a S U ~ J ~ L U gcntnvc W srpu@ng affitfrbtrori Cf (; Fee, 77rr hot Ll~urlcro I ~ Gnnrhrrl)u P (NICNT, Grrrtd Raprds Eerdnuns, 1987). pp 7U-7 1 Man) couunentaton regard ao+oq as die general tern1 and d , q ~ q q $as a drs~panonof Greek phrlclsophen but thrs rurrr courrter to Pdul's arldrng the un~vcdrz~ng phrasr roc alOvw roufou to cnjtlrtlrqc

ISAIAH IN THE

NEW TESTAMENT

Isa 33 1%

Where IS the or~ewho counted (m/ypappuri~oi)'J WIiere 15 the one wlio werghed the tribute auppouk&irovrc~)? Where is the one wlio counted the towen)

m/

I Cor 1 20 Where rs the one who a wse (ao@k)?, Where is the scribe (YP~PP~~E%)~ Whew a the debater of this age'

Has not God made 17ir prlnces of Tanrs wiU be foollrh (popor), the wise counwl- foolrsh (Ephpavsv)the Ion of the king, therr counwl will be made foolish wisdom of the world' (popav&loczui)How can you say to the king. 'We am sons of the drscernlng ') Where now are your sages' (no6 tlat vi,v oi ac*i oou.) Ita 10 11-12 LXX

Is& 44 25b who turns hack the wrsr

( ~ / + p o v i p o u g and ) , makes thew

knowledge ( m / f b u k ~ vfoolish ) ()wpcmv/popaivov),

The sequence of questions 111 I Cor. 1:20a-c, each composed of xoi, ('where') followed by a scholarly title, resembles Isa. 33:lXb." Smce I'aul's sentence \tructure agrees wlth the Masoretic text and the term y p a ~ a r c i yis found In Aquila and Symmachus, he probably drew on a Septrlagtntal text that had been revlsed towards the Hebrew.'' In 1 Cor. 1:20a and 1:20c, however, he has altered the wording of thrc test co as to adapt it to hrs argument aga~nst hii~nanwlsdom. Therefore, he read Isa. 33: 18b as indcaang the Incompetence ofJewish sages to know the wisdo~nof Cod as revealed in-Christ. This reading of Isaiah's questions is in keeping with their lsaianic context which offen an outlook onto a glorious future: the addressees will recall the time of terror (isa. 33:18a) when there was 110 'cognition' (&vr;oy, 33:19b); they will 'see the king in his glory' (33:17), i.e., the 'Lord' who is about to 'save' them (rup~og. . . fip&q o(;w~~,33:22) because their 'sin is forgiven' (3324). Accordlng to the verbal and conceptual correspondences wth 1 Cor. 1: 18-1 9, 2 1, 30-3 1, Paul already saw thls new age dawnlng In the Chrlstlan cotnnlunlty. It can be Inferred that he regarded the passage Isa. 33:17-24 as a prophecy polnttng to the events lnltlated by the word of the cross. In 1 (:or 1.204, however, Paul has applied that passage to Greek sophists, too In dolng $0 he refen to Isa. 19.12 LXX,2" the only Instance of the Interropnve xoC uqed with oo@& In the Septuagint. In ru context, thls question

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U'udimr 01 lhc Cti'rc Ihr I'rr5nue mtd 1 urtrrlon of k n p r u n wrhtn 1
c f H H HI) Wllhams, 111, I k

ISAIAH IN 1 AN11 2 CORINTHIANS

demorlstrates that despite their 'wisdom' the counsellors of the Egyptian king turn out to be 'fools', for they are not capable of tell~ngwhat God has resolved to d o (Isa. 19:1 1-1 2). Again, this passage contains a number of terrlls and ideas that reappear in 1 Cor. 1:18-21 ,2' rrlaking it clear that I'aul took it as a prophecy of the destruction of pagan wisdom by the Gospel. The above explanations concerning 1 Cur. 1 : 19 and 202-b have shown I'aul to be dependent on Isaiah's oracles in 1:20d as well. The n~ostprobable source of his phraseology in that verse, however, is Isa. 4425, being the only Septuagintal reference where the verb popaivo appears in an active f o r ~ n . ~ ' Furthermore, its inl~nediatecontext corresponik to 1 Cor. 1:21-30: 1s.1 44 24-26 24a T h u s says the L o n n vour r e d e c n ~ e r 24b T h e LORD created heaven and earth 25 Gud thwarts t h e s r p s o f d ~ v ~ n e r s 26 G o d confirrrls the words o f h ~ cervant s

1 ('or 1 21-30 1 30 r~ghteoucne\sand redert~pt~on 1 21 111the wlsdorn o f C o d , the world 1 22 Jews demand signs ('hrtst the power o f 1 2-52.) w e pmclatm God

Thece parallels suggest that R u l has alluded to thts I \ a ~ a n ~pacrage c as a prophecy of the Gospel whlch prov~desredernptlon but frustrates human w~sdom None of the lsa~arl~c referrrlcec In 1 Cor 1 20 15 made expl~clton the part of Paul Nevertheless, they are 'iign~ficantfor hn11 ~n'iofara'i they support h ~ \ etchatolog~calInterpretanon and hls un~verzalappl~cat~on of Isa 29 14 In 1 Cor 1.18-31

Within Paul's discourse 1 Cor. 1:lX-3:4 the passage 2:6-16 unfolds his understanding of the Gospel as God's wisdom: being revealed through the spirit of God it is hidden from 'the rulers of this age'. It follows fro111this that a 'natural man' cannot perceive and judge Paul's preaching 'in words taught by the spirit' (2:13-14)." 'The spiritual (man), however', he states, 'judges all t h i n s , but is hinlself to be judged by no one', thereby applying the spirit's capacity for cognition and its fathornlessness to those who received that spirit (2: 35). By way of explanation, he asks (216): 'For who has known the n ~ i n dof the

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Cf pmpol, popuv0qosru1 m d auv€r&v In lu IY 11 Note also the s~m~lrrrty oi the phrase xup~tx, yap DxBpuaev a b r o i ~nvswa niuvqnuu; m 19 14 to that In 29 10 uhlch provtdm an appropriate hc~kgro~rnd to ki11.s rhetorrcal q u a o o n In 1 C'or 1 Z W ( x c above) Paul's cornhinanolr of lu 29 14 rnd 19 11-12 hat 3 striktng parallel m S h m R i , l 4 . see Wdk. l h &denrunf, pp 1614 2 pmpatwv IS .ittested by many Septuapntal rrunurcrrpts Paul's aliusron would br m d e n t 11 He suppox he nsoned to a Sepnragintal verslon of Isa 44 25 that had been rcvrsed towards the Hebrew, npLcing Qlp)v~pougw t h ao+ox and f3ouAqv wrrh au\pmlv For the mnsbnon of 1 Cor 2 13h ('rxpourrdtng rpulmal d u n p to rprrtrual people') we A T Hmson. 7hr New Tntamenr In~qmturrono f S m p f u n (London 5PCK. 1980). pp 7 t 7 4

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESCAMENI

Lord so as to instruct hinl?'"' and concludes: 'But we have the mind of Christ!' The first part ofthis reasoning is borrowed tiom Isa. 40:13: Isa. 40:13 1.XX Who has know11 t h e rnlrld o f the Loan, anci who has become hrs c o u ~ ~ s e l l o r so as t o ~ n s t r u c thlm? riq tywu voiiv rupiou, uai r i aii)r&rAcy ~ a0roO Cylvcro, 65 c r o ) r ~ t ~ l o u p f 3 t ~ uatrov; c1

1 Cor. 2: I6 'For w h o has k n o w n t h e m i n d o f t h e Lord so as t o instruct hlm?' But we have t h e mind o f Christ. r i y~a p &w wOv w p i o u , a u p p t @ a s t abrov;

a;

q p d q 6i:voitv Xplmoit

EXO)LEV

I'utting h ~ squestion, R u l IS In verbal agreement w ~ t hI~arah,~' though he has onlrttcd the second clai~seof the verse c ~ t e dO w ~ n gto t h ~ somnsron, his questlor1 in 1 Cor 2 16 refers to both vene 1% and 1Sa, so that his reasoning game a double nleanlng." The same 1s ~ n d ~ c a t eby d the word~ngof Paul's clarnl In 2 16c, w111ch can rie~therbe read as an affirmaoon of nor as an arlt~thes~s to the prececi~ngquestlor1 Acsernng has 'undcntandrng of Chr~st'," nther, I'aul defines hls way of know~ng'the mlnd of the Lord' chratologcally, thereby pocrtron~ngh ~ ~ n s eon l f the s ~ d eof God's sp~rlt." Thus, on the one hand, R u l corlfirnlc that he IS erldowed wrth ~plrltualknt)wlcdge (2 15a). ~rnply~ng an d f i r ~ ~ ~ areply t ~ v eto verce l6a d e e d he 'knows God's wdl' as ~tis revealed 111 Christ '' C)n the other hand, he safeguards against belng judged by the Cortnthlans (2 1%). ac\umrng that verce 2 161-b Is anqwerect In the negatlve ' of cource no one 'can ~nstructthe Lord\or those who have rece~vedthe \plrlt fmrn God It follo\vs that Paul has taker) Isa 10 13 to be a prophetrc ~llustrat~on of the nly\terlouc character of <;od'\ w~sdomas revealed In Chrlst In hct, he reads Isaiah's questron ar one that points to the role of the s p ~ rw1t111n ~t God's cavlrlg work rt 1s the rprrlt w h ~ c h~ I I O W S<;od9s wlll and w h ~ c h1s God'$ only tounsellor '- Thus. I'aul's reference to Isal~h- though hardly nurkcd as * I-or t11c cortxcurtve ti~car~ir~p of 6;,wr A,(:. Thrsclton, 77re l+rrtrIiprstle c drt C:on~trhtu~u(NIGTC:;

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(;rrrld Icaprltr and C:arrrhr~'b. Eenhndns; <:arlr\Ir. I'dternostrr. 2(KK)),p. 271. ou(rl)rf%~os~ In 1 (:or 7: l hh A C C O ~ tvlth ~S the word~ngof ttuny Septuagmul mailurcrrph. Wltcrcns olcl)~@nctaiirav (I C'or. 2:lhh) rormspon8 to abrb; . . . &varpiverut (2:15b). fyw voDv rvpiori (2 Iha) fi~rnntltr countcrpdrt to dvuupivhr Ira] navru (2:15a). Wrtli f ~ at w t11c gowrritrlp verl~,voG; ranrrot liave the %enrett has III I (:or. 2: 10.1 hut car1 only Jcnotc 1 huliun prfi (cf Kev. 13:lX). (:onscquently. Xptn-roC must he rcpnled as an ohjectrve yllltlvc Sre 1 ( o r 2.17 whcrc I'aul J e d u c o hrq ahrlrty to 'undcr5urtd tllc glfu hcstowed o n us hy God' fmm tttc fact tlrat 'we haw reroved . . rhc sprr~twh1c11 u fnxn God' Slncr I'nrl In 2%.11. 14 connrtcntly applrtr the verh y~txixm(oto what C;od has done. the phnrc voiq rripiou 111 2.l(>rn he51 u n d e r n ~ ~ oasd dclrotrng (;od'r wvrog will. (:i.J.S. Vos. 'l)~ruA r ~ r ~ r t e r t t d t d t ~on Rirlus III 1 Kor 1.10-.3.4'. 111 K.llrrringcr, rd.. 'The hp(:ormrl~ran ( i ~ r n r ~ ~ ~ z(BETL r k ~ ~ 125: r r ~ Leuvcn. ~ Lcuven Uttrvmtty PresriPertcn. 1Y')h). pp H7-11Y: p. 113. In tllrs rnpcrt Yaul'r ~at1111pof 1 s U)13 ror~rrsclcnr to WIS.'):I?. Cf also the Taw111: 'Who c\tahlr\ltrJ the holy sprrrr m the mouth otdll the prophets, n rt riot the Lord! And to the rt&&teou$ lie ttrakes ~ I I O W I Itltc \ v < ) ~ kof 111%ple~.iurc';I3.l). <:htitor~. 7hr Isaiah 6qrdrn: hrrodruriorr, 'lh~nrlnrrotr..4ppzr'xt11< and .Vort.r (The Arinrrrr IIrblc I t , Ed~r~bur& TPrT C l ~ r k 1087). , p. 78.

ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 COHIN1'HIANS

suchM - not only substantiates his statenlent in 1 Cor. 2:15 but also puts his entire argument in 2:1@-15 on a scriptural basis. It is not surprising, therefore, that the passage 25-33 contains several echoes of Isaiah 40: 1 Cor. 2:h-3:3 2: 10 God has revedled to us . . . 5a The glory of the L o ~ n shall be revealed, 2:s the Lard of glory and all people shall see . . . 5b-6a the salvation of God is to be preached 2:7 We proclaim the wisdom of God. 6 What shall I cry? All flesh is grass.and all the 3:l address you . . .as people of the flesh 2:7 for our glory glory of man is like a flower . . . 2:15b Those who are spiritual. . .are to be 14b Who showed him judgement judged (&vuwpivera~)by no one. ( ~ p i u t v .) . .? 2: 1 l b only the spirit comprehends the 18.25 To whoni will you like11God? things of God 2:14 the unspiritual . . . are unable to 213 Have you :lot known ( y v l w s d ~ ) Have ? understand (yviuvat) you not heard? 2:9 no eye has seen, nor ear heard . . . 2 6 . 8 r~rlersof this age . . . 23a who makes rulers to rule nothing

Isa. 4O:S-26 LXX

According to these echoes, Paul interpreted Isa. 40:13 with respect to its context and understood this Isaianic passage as a prophecy of the Gospel as preached by Paul, a message of deliverance that is beyond man's comprehension.

1 Cor. 14:2 1 /Isa. 28: 1 1- 12 (Quotatiotr) In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul clarifies the relationship between prophecy and tongues with regard to their significance for the assemblies of the church at Corinth (14:l-5,39--40). Having demonstrated the edif3iing power of prophecy, which exceeds that of tongues (14:fi-19), he goes on to discuss the respective effects of both gifis on 'outsiders or unbelievers' who enter an assembly (14:20-25):"' This passage begins with an exhortation to 'be mature in thinking', i.e., in assessing those gifts (14:20).Paul then presents the subject that is to be assessed, and he does this by appealing to scriptureJ" (Isa. 2X:ll12), drawing a co~~clusior~ tiom his quotation (1 Cor. 14:22)," and exempli6ing his conclusion h m two contrasting imaginary cases (1 4:23-25).

'* Gwen the slicer volir~iieofthi .illus~onkt seems at Icast possible that Paul expected the <:orrnthtanr to dihcerrl lii qurruon In I Cor. 2: l ha-h as a reference to scripture; cf. W~ll~arnr, Thc U'isdom, p. 21 1 (d~fferentrattng a 'reader who was well versed in Scrtpture' arid a 'recent convert'). '" O ( n c md otv in 1 Cor. 14:22-23 ~n&catethat In vencs 20-25 Paul IS rrasonint with the Corrrithldns. *' vopoirri 1 Cor. 14:21 does nor denote the Pentateuch but scrrpture as a whole; cf. Korn. 3:19 and Ps-Philo. BJoila 176 (referruig to Iw. 48:13). *' Cf.&ra m Gal. 39. Stnce I Cor. 14:23-25 and 1422 are connected by the conjunction o h . 14:22 carinot he read as a rhrtorlcal quesuon.

ISAIAH IN THE NEW 1'ESTAMENT

Iu 2 8 11-12 Truly, w ~ t hstamnlertng Itp and with allen tongue he wtll speak to thrc people, to w h o m he has tatd, 'Thrs 15 re.it,glve rest to the weary, and th1.i IS repwe', yet they would not hear

1 Car. 14:21 In the law it is w r i m n , ' b y people of strange tongues and by the o f foreigners I will speak t o this people;

lips

yet even then they wtll not ltsten t o me',

says the Lord. Cv E r c p o y A k r a o i ~r a i t v z c i A ~ o i vC~Cpcov

klfioo r@ k@rohzcp r a i oM o i j r ctmroGaovrai ~ pou, i t y ~K l 6pl~.

1 Cor. 14:21 dffers w~delyfrom the SeptuagintJ2 and at first glance seems to be a h e rendering of the Hebrew. According to Origen, however, Paul's quote is equivalent in meaning to Aquila's translation." Furthemiore, Paul's version of Isa. 28:12b can best be explair~edby assunling a slightly changed Hebrew parent Thus, it is probable that Paul took his quotation frorn a Septuagintal manuscript that had been aligned with the Hebrew. The deletion of 28: 12a must be attributed to l'aul, though. Since this clause included the subject of the sentence he had to specie the speaker; to that end, Paul forn~edit into a verdict given by God. These modifications point to the fiinction of his quote: it shows God's speaking in unintelligible tongues to 'this people' to be ineffe~tive.'~Conveying this message, however, Isa. 28:ll-12 could not immediately be applied to the Corinthians. l'a~~l defines glossolalia as a kind ofpnyer,i.e.,ofspeaking to God (1 Cor. 14:2,28), which is not meant for communication with other people (14:4).Accordingly, its unintelligibility (1 4:'). 16) is different h n i the fruitlessness of God's action deplored by Isaiah. Paul thewfore nlfers a general statenlent tion1 the paracular phenomenon of Isa. 28:ll-12 (1 Cor. 14:22a) and then appllrc t h ~ sgtatement to the problem (14:23):" Tongues of all klnds (cf. I Cor. 12:28) are a s ~ g n under d~rcuss~on which does not lead unbelievers to believe but allows them to maintain their unbelief." Nonetheless, I'aul considered all kinds of tongues to be inspired by '' l u 2%11-12 reads btu +uuklcr)rov~ c t h ~ r ubru v y k m q ; b r s ~b,n k&qaouol r& ?dX$ ToVKql k ~ y o v r qabi& ToCro ro civunu~.ltuKG, nctviovrt rut to6ro ro auvrptppa. xut oiru f@@.~louv

"

*'

"

" '*

(1~0~61~ ( t Mtrlruaha 9.2 ~ n 3p~~h , tnttead of vmpt nx n h ( f K 0 \an&rcs. 'Prophet\ - r \I@: tor I~chwcrs'.&h 77 (1996).pp 1-1 5 p 9 The quowoon fmnr Iutah IS thus urcd tn the umc way as a cotriundment h r n 'the law, ofMoses' rrr 1 C or 9 X-i l Thts tnay well be the reawn for Pat11'.i d e r n n p u, 'the law' m 14 21 7 hc tnterrcboon hetwceo 14 22 and 14 2 C 2 5 rmka rt ncccrsary to utlderstand r o i ~ xtmswwtv as dcurthtt~gthost: who conic to helteve It nru~thr rdnlrtted that elsewhere rn Rul's k e o , r u ~ h at1 tngres\tvc meanmg of nrarctnu a expressed 11: thc aortst H a use of the present pamczple 111 the dattve lio\rvvcr. a paralleled by that of roi; m&opcvoti 1n 1 i X The term Garmot, on the other hand, dcnotrc rhose \rho are on r)rc ourr~drot rhc Chruum conlmurty (cf 6 6 ef a/ ) Hence, the vrrb ~~utvoput d o e tror trnply a p o ~ t r tjudptncnr ~r on the part of Rul At best tt refers to pagan mpr t for ecstasy

ISAIAH IN 1 A N D 2 CORINTHIANS

God (12:1(t11);besides, he compares the glossolalia at Corinth with f o r e i p languages (14:lO-12). It seems plausible, therefore, that he read Isa. 28:ll-12 as a prophecy of the manifestation of the spirit that took place on the day of Pentecost (cf. Aca 2:4, 9-1 1); for this manifestation, though witnessing to the mighty works of God, was not suitable for getting Israelites out of their opposition to the Gospel (cf. Acts 2: 11-1 3). It is hardly possible to define the exact wording of the Septuagintal text that Paul had in mind when quoting tiorn it in 1 Cor. 14:21. But if we assurne an extensive revision towards the Hebrew, as presupposed by his quotation, a number of analogies between Isaiah 28 and 1 Corinthians 14 are evident: Isa 28 7-13 I 'or 14 16-25 7b prtest and prophet are confused (UP/ 14 23 wtll they not 5ay that you are mad' (tonwast \nth) 14 24 but tfall prophecy ~ C m q o a v with ) wne 9 Whonr w l l he teach knowledge and to I4 19 In church I would rather \peak five whom wrll he cxplatn the mesage, you words w ~ t hmy nurtd so as to tnsrmct who are weaned h r n the rn~lk.who are <>then taken from the breaqt' 14 20 do not be ~hrldren111 vour renses 14 16 he doe5 not know what you are sayrng 10 (You say ) 'Precept upon precept, pre' cept upon precept (IY? w w5 w) 13 Therefore the word ofthe Lonr, w ~ lbe l (contrast wtth) 14.2% that person wtll bo\v to the111 tn order that they may go, and down (nincr)v) before God and wnnhtp h r n ~ fall (nccrcmv) backward, and be broken, and rnared, and taken

Apparently, Paul took Isa. 28:7-10 as an lsaianic invective against Israel's authorities who, going into ecstasies and talking like infants, failed in their duty to teach, reading 28:ll-13 as a prophecy of God's futile attempt to induce 'this people' to obedience. Thus, by warning the Corinthians not to beconle what Isaiah's addressees were, Paul made Isa. 28:ll-12 d ~ basis e of his reflections on $ossolalia in 1 Cor. 14:20k25. 1 Car. 14:25/1su. 45: 14 (Allusion)

While stressing the negative effects of glossolalia on outsiders, Paul recommend$ prophecy as a spiritual gift which will overturn unbelief (1 Cor. 14:32b, 24-25). His argument is closed with a scenario that is depicted in corrrspondence to Dan. 2:46-47 LXX: 'Then King Nebuchadnezzarjkll Irpon his-face, did obeirunce to Daniel . . . and said: Truly, your God is God of goods . . ., the only revealer of hiddm rnysteries . . .'.a However, the profession made by the outsider in 1 Car. 14:25 alludes to Isa. 45:14:

"

The pvorul;m tn which 1 Cor 14 25 rgrec\ with 1)rn 2 46-47 ire prtnted rrt rraltn

ISAIAH IN 'THE NEW TESTAMENT

Isa 45 14-15 LXX the 5.1beanc thall conie over to you dnd do oherwnce (nfmuvqoowr;) to you and will pray aniong you, because God r.i aniong you (671 tv aot 6 @COGtori), and will us 'There IS no god besrdes you. for ('ivm d\'t(:<) you are God. and we drd not know rt, God, savrour of Israel'

1 Cor 14 24-25 But rf all prophesv, an unbeliever who called to account by all After the enters a secrer\ of the unbehever's heart are &tclosed, that person WIU bow down before God and . 'God worshrp (npoawuvqaei) h ~ mdeclartng, e really among you (6-co~6 O e q Cv tpiv 6miv)'

This allusion again presupposes a version of the Septuagint that had been r e v ~ s ~according d to the Hebrew." Its significance is indicated by the eschatological language in 1 Cor. 14246-2Sa which points to the presence of God's spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14c-lSa; 4:4c, Sb). Paul describes the conversion of unbelievers as 'fulfilrnent of Isaiah's eschatological vision: the Gentiles will recognize the presence of God in the niidst of C;od's people'.5" His interpretation accords well with the lsaiar~iccontext. It is no wonder, therefore, that this context has caused several echoes in 1 Corinthians 14: Ici 45 14-22 l XX 14a ';ahearis will Lorile over to VOLI 14b and wrll pray (npoacu
1 Cor 14 1.3-25 14 24 rf an unbelrnrr or ounrder eriten 14 15 1 will pray (npoaci&opai) with the sp1rlt 14 2%. 24b outnder or unbclrever 14 I %peak ( h k f i m t ) so ds to rnscruct 14 23a If, therefore. the whole chunh astenrbles (~nl~tA@Ij) 14 24 if an unbclrever or o u n ~ d eenten, r be IS reproved by 311 I4 25b that persori wtll bow down before God and worshrp Ium, declarrng (hnayyChAo~)v)'God IS really arnong you'

From this it follows that Paul took Isa. 4514-22 to be a prophecy of the eschatological overturn of unbelief as anticipated by the conversion of unbelievers in the midst of an assembly of prophesying Christians. 1 Cor l.5 32/lso 22 1 3 (Alluctott)

With111Paul's trratlse on the wsurrectlon of thc dead (1 Corlnthlans 15) the pasagc 15 29-34 ~lluctratecthe effect of the belrevers' eschatolog~calorlentaa o n on the way they hve t h e ~ rIlves. Follow~ngh ~ reference s to the obscure

' Whrrrrs the I+rhrr%phmw '(tcrd a among ~ o uopens ' the .itatenlent of the \abeatn, the Grcck cqulvalcnt con.itlttltn n causal clru,r, ttir &reit rpccch onh king rntnwfuced by the rurplus ('and \\111sa)') ' Bpoikrtv K Iir)s. 'The < on\rrston ol the I ~ n ~ g ~ r t ~ Crlpture t ~ o n rlrd bchatololiy In 1 C'ormth~mrr',h7.S

45 (IWO).pp 301-412 p 303

ISAIAH IN I AND 2 CORINTHIANS

pnc ace of bapt~srnfor the dead (15:39). Paul po~ntsto h ~ apostohc s exstence, awn1ng that h ~ wlll~ngneau r to ruffer for the take of Chr~stI\ understandable only m view of h ~ hope s of b e ~ n gresurrected (15 30-32) '' Cor~cludillgt h ~ s argumentatlor1 and preparing for h ~ sacl~nonit~on In 15:33-34, Paul cltes a u y u y Fom Isa. 22 13 LXX: Iw. 22 13 L X X But they arranged amuremerlt taymg, 'Let u* LC-11and drink, for tomorrow w e die'

1 C o r 15 37 If the dead are not rased, 'Let u, eat and drink, tor t o m o r r c ~ vwe dle'

&papcv K

+ayopsv uat X I O ~ E aOptov V, yap &XO~V~GKO~EV

~ XL I ( I ) ~ Eafiytov V, yap br*1\ $ o ~ o p c v

Beirlg phrased in the first person plural just as I Cor 15.30 ~ n picbrlg d up the verb 'to die' frorrl 15 31, th~csaying cannot be attr~butedto Paul's opponent^ at Cor~ntliIn cltlng ~ the , rather state5 'that ~fone doer not bel~eve m the resurrectlon one mlght .IS well glve w;ty to hedonirrn' '"uch an attltude ro Itte, however, would presuppose tgnormce of God and would lead to sln (1 5:33-34) Although the say~rlg~ o r r c r p ~ ) to ~ i A&Hellem\t~cslog~ri5'~t 15 probable t h ~ t I?rtil del~beratelvreferred to scrlpnlre At any rdte, the passage 1 Cor 15 29-34 hat some pardlels with the context of Isa. 22: 13 lu 21.1 1-14 L X X 1 Ih You d ~ not d look to h m [God] w h o &d i t fro111 the first

I C o r 15 20-34 15 34 \ o m e have n o knowledge of G o d

I.3a But they arranged ($nolqoav~o) m w c m e n t and rejoicing li4h Thls sln (upaprta) \MU not be forgtven WIIX d l yoti d ~ e

15 2% W h a t wdl they achleve (nouqcrovnlv) w h o are being haptlzecl for the dead' 15 34 C o m e t o your r ~ g h ~t m n darid d o not sln ( p i apayravsre)

i t hllows t h ~ Paul t read ISI 12 11-14 as '1 charge agamt people who are rgrtrrant of God, adhere to hedon~sm,and fa11 Into sin Thus, his citatlon In 9 i( (lr 15 32 lays bare that believ~ngIn God u hlle denying the resurre~tlon15 a aorrtrad~~tlon In terms

I r.0~. 35 54/1scz 25 8 (Q~rotnt~otz)

PEA\ ing answered the question of bout the dead are raised In 1 Cor 15.35-49. ktrl condudes h ~ treatlce s on the resurrectton of the dead In 15.50-58 Th17

' '' '

G. Bartt~,'Zur Frage I I ~ Cdcr ~ III I. Kor~rither15 hekhmpften Auferstehun~lcupu11g'.ZNlf ' N 3 (1942). pp. 187-201: pp. 19.+95. Rarth shows that Pnt~lpickrd up a fixsd topos frr>iti airclrrit di*i rissioru .&out the beheflt~eterlral life. 4 7.Hanson, The Paradm qf rhe C m v in rlrc Thor+q/rr ~f Pc1i11 IJSNTSiip 17: Shcffidd: Shcfficl~i .4,-ademc Precs. 1'987). p. 120 As 15 ~nd~cated by its rcrsloII ot h a . 72: 14h ('Surely t h ~ rln s wlll nor he Iirrcivrn vou inliil you dlr the \crond Jcath,s.iys the Lord G c J ofhortr'. Chilton. 7 h r Oniali Ta
I 5 A I A H IN CNE N t W TESTAMEN I

passage begins with a ctatement of principle whlch connects h ~ rcflectrone c on the 'Kingd:dom of God' (15 2.3-28) w ~ t hthace on 'flesh' and '~nlperrrhabrl~ty' (15 39-44) the earthly body 1s not a suruble entlty to have a share In the con~pletlon of God's don~~nlorr, for what is per~shable cannot achieve ~nrmortality(I 5 50) 111 this way, I'aul prepawe for extending the scope of h ~ s dl~courseand rnclud~ngthe llvlrlg In hr\ arglnlenutlon Announcing a mystery, he opens an excur.ius that elircrdate\ the final clauce of 15 50 God ha5 decreed that 'at the last trumpet', the dead and the livrng wrll be changed Into ~nrper~shabllity or tmlnortahty (1 5 51-53) I'aul the11 goec on to juct~fthlc claln~that rnheritlng the Klngdonl of God IS st111 In the h t u r e (15 54-57) A conlb~nedquotation h n the ~ pmphett constrtutec the basre of hrr reasoning, and the first part of thic quotatron (I5 i4c) derive\ h r n lea 25 8a Iw 25 ti Wr ui11 twallaw u p drat11 torr\cr

m* nm;r yfl 'Th IQI r a r ~ n & q6 &Ivara; ci; v i r q

i
III

\ictor).'

~ a r c x o 6e ~&rvarq c i i v i r o ~

The wonling concur., with Theodotron'\ version and correspond\ to the n read as a pual form '311lrlce the following quote h t n Hoc. Hebrew ~f~ 5 15 13 11 seems to precuppoce a <;n.rk verc~on,~' ~tIS l~kelythat Paul took Isa 25 8 h n r r Greek test as well, I e , a Septuag~ntalrnanuscrlpt whlch had been alrped w ~ t hthe Hebrew. W ~ t h1 (:or 15 56-57 I'aul comn~errt.;on the cornb~nedquowtlon rn chiartrc order,% the synthetrc parallelirrn 111 15.55,agarn. mdtcher the tequence of clau\er 111 15 54a It can be concluded that h ~ srcasonlng cervec a double purpoce first, he makc\ ~t clear to the Corrnthrans that they ought to be certarrr of the recurrectlorr because God" victory over death re pmphecied by Scripture and guaranteed In Christ, who hac alreadv releaced them tiom the pouler of sin Second, he showc that heritage to be a future good, for death holds every deceated prisoner and st111 exerts rtc rr~puenteon believere through $111 '-Accordrngly, God's Krngdorn can be lrrhertted only by taklng part In the rransfornlatron of those who belong to Chrirt The functlon of the quotat~oncan thus be defined ac follow\ In connection wrth ~ t sconnnentary in 15 56-57 rt denotes the nlearling of 'inherrtlng the

'I

"

The lrttrr has also hrppcncd rri the fshitta rhrrc 1% no rearon. thrrrtorc tu den\ the origttirl~tyot rhc rcadrng ui the ntlrgur of the ccwfcx Mrrrhal~anur [Qj and to prefer the rcadrrlg xurcnrcv ;I% rttntcd 111 the cortex \vmhrx~pLri.;which ioncurr uith the \epturguit (rurrsu~~v 6 UUvuru; i~lwu;) C I Ko(II I)lr khnfi pp lt18-70 I TO rcvrpov in I5 56, i 5 b 1.0viko; III 1 5 57. i C 5% 15 if, 1, thu\ to bc rclif .a% rrl lrlrcgrai prrt of ['aul'r nrprncirt, ioltrrd iW tiorti. IKor~ntl~er 15.j6 crrr curgct~rrherKJ
"' <

ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

K I I I L L ~ O Iof I I God' and de\iribe~the result of the transforrnatior~C:hrl\tlang await 5H In t h ~ swav, ~t also jolns the excursu\ 15 51-53 so as to substantiate btrf's introductory statement in 15 50 In thls context, Isa 25.8 warrants h ~ s c~lr~fidence bv proving that death w ~ l br l overcome, whereas Hos 13 14 demoar\rrates that tlu, vlc tory is st111 in the filmre It follows &om thi5 that Paul uittterstood Isa 25 Xa as a prophecy of the esshatologlcal extermination of death, to be brought about by C'hrlst 1x1 the Lourqe ot hls parousia 5Y Paul's rea\oiling In 1 Cor 15 50-57 shows sorlie palallel\ w ~ t hI\a 24 2.325 10 1st 14 23-25 10 LXX 1 Cor 1 5 50-57 14 23h the LORD WIU relgn ( @ o t k c ~ ~ o c r15 ) 50 ~nherltthe Ktngdom of God , 15 57 Thanbc be to God who glver uc the 15 1 LORD,nly God, i ~5111exalt thee Tor you have done wonderful thing v i ~ t o r vthrough our Lord b (rod w p e d away each tear from e J e q 15 55b 0 death, uhere is thy sting' bcs 9 It d be sad on that day 'Behold. our 15.550 0 death where 1s thy victory' &I m whom we put our hust, and we rurjt~rcrdIn our ~alvation'

A\ car1 be \ern fro111 tlnc abulatron, Paul'\ i n t e r p r e ~ ~ t i of o ~Isa l 25 8 accords HIEII I ~ Scontext Apparently, he read thls contevt a, pointing to God'\ domlnlurr whlch w d be established at the end of the current era The quotation In 1 C or. 15 54-55 IS ~igniticalltto Paul, then, insohr as ~t provides a scriptural babd.ircfbr 1115 plearhnlg that Cl~rlstlanslooh iomdrd to then re5urrcctlon frorn t ! dead. ~ 3 Cor~nthlans

2 ( o r 4 h/lsu 9 1/21 (,411ustoti) Wrrllin Paul's dpologv of 111sapo~tol,xte(2 Cor 2 14-7 3) the rectlotl 3 4-3 h &.;c.rlbes the splendour of his nlin~str-y,""concluded by a passage which charditcrizes IS nlinlstry a5 disclosing the truth and recornmenh~lghimself to ever\ humall conscience (4 1-6) 7 hls char~cterlzat~on 1, glveri In 4 1-2 and ~usrrfied1114-3-6 ver\e\ -3-4 substann'~tethe &rclosulig ~lattireofPaul's Gospel aspling that ~t 1s the god of this age who bell, ~t to unbelievers, ver,ei 5 4 dctirre Paul's poqltxon that allows 111m to rccoinme~ldh~nlself"' The latter p~r,rgrapl~ IS baced on a word of God whlc h Pat11 has tormrd by alludlng to Gcrr 1 3 as well as Isa 9 1[2]

"

I S:54h niusr thcretbre he translated as 'then shall come tu pass the s a p i g that 1s wrmen': cf: 4 : k . t. 1526 and 2 C o r i:4. ** N63tc that wordr tiom rhe semanac field & ~ a ~ o v h i & i a w o v i a / b t h ~appear o v o ~In 3 3 . &9; J:l "Ins c Eaurou ~ i l p k n o p z ui v 4:s refers hack to ouvtoruvovry Quu.ro(h;In 4 2 , versa 5 4 dpply tu l%uirather than all (~:hr~st~ans: c t the correl~honwlth 3 : 5 4 a (

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Gen 12-3 drkness covered the face of the deep rhen God sa~d,Let there be hghc', and there wa, hght

Isa 9 2 LXX You people who walk In hrkness (31, ono~et),see a great hght, those who Lve ~na land and the chade of dedth, l ~ g h wrll t shine (4615 L~~wE upon L ) you

2Cor 4 6 It n God who < a d ,'Lcr shine out of ctlrkness :e* mo.roric @% ~ U I . L W E O \\ha ha\ iat~ceda light to bhinc our heart\

Whereds the \tructure o f 2 Cor 4 6 correcponds to (;en 1 3, the wordrrrg of 7 Cor. 4 6b concurb w ~ t hIsa. 0 1[21. Accordingly, Paul does not cite a t ~ o of d the Creator but a prophecy of 'the long awa~tedlight of the es~haton,herd& Ing a new creation and cornmenclng the dly of salvation'." That propkzck-.; 1s now being fulfiied. God has caused a hght to 5hme in the hearts of Pat11;rad h ~ co-worker$ s in order to etll~ghteripeople with knowledge of God's \plcndour In the face of Christ (2 ('or 3 hc) "'It follows from t h ~ sthat he read lu 9 1 [2] as 'I prc~pl~rcy of God'\ reveal~ngJews ('hr~\tac Lord. th15 revetrrton belng granted first to Paul and then through him to others This conclitsrtrrr u confirmed by ~ o ~ echoes ne w h ~ c hthe lsa~aniccontext has created m 2 <:or 313-38 isa. 8: 1b-.-_?2L X X Ib 'Then wiU be marutest those who seal the law so that thcy need not learn. 19 When they say to you: 'Conrult those who speak vain words (~cvoA.oyoijv.cac,) . . .',should not a people (consult) thelr GO^ ( ~ E Ou V ~To~)? 22 there is only affl~ction(BMyn5) and d ~ s tress (o~evo-~opiu) . . ., perplex~ty(hxopia) . . .,and he who IS in distress up to the t ~ m e (oicalvat~on)wlll not be at a loss (axopqQj a c s u ~ ) " ~ 22 darkness so that one cannot see

2 C o r 3 1&48 veil remains at thl: 3 14 to this d q that read~ngof the old covenantM (contrart w ~ t h )4 1 We have renounced thc hldden th1nv of shame, not adulter~rrg the word ot God (TOVLoyov roc @€o6). 4 8 We are affl~cted( ~ ~ I B o ~ Ebut v ~trot I), crushed ( o ~ ~ v o x o ) p o u p ~ perplexed vo~), (6nopoupcvo~), hut not d r ~ v eto ~ ldespm (8
4.4 b h d e d the nun& ofthe unbel~eversuu that they do not see

In comb~nahon w ~ t hthe alluslon in 4:6, these echoes show that ?'ad understood Isa. 8:16-9:1[2] as fosetell~ngthe C;ospcl. wh~chreleases those

"' TB. Savage, Porucr tirrorcqit I I k ~ k t i c c l :It~ir1'sIltlit~rsto~~dinf?f trhc Chmtran .\finutry

111 1 (:mrrrrlrm4 iSNTCMS Hh;(:nmhridgz: Carnhrlrtge Unlverslry Preo. I'>i)c,j.17. 17h. '" A$~nhcatedhv iiri and npoq. verscc 5- 0 are structured on the analogy of 4:3-4, verse h h e w r d k d In 5trhttarltldtlrtn of4:S. Thus, R A ( I ~ V E V aid &t)'ctopGpq ~ uox]; i Ouvh'cou ( l s d . 9: 1[2]) wlth i,S ~ u ~ o vroc i a Buvh~ot,In 2 Cor. \ 7 "' In view of1 <:or. 4:5a, Paul has proh~blyapphed r a ~ p oInj lsa 8.23 to the paroucla and hencr r k fii~al<.Lduseof this venz to the rxtstericc of hrhrvcrs ln the rludst of distrecs. In h~sn m d . alrt: previous clausrr should therefore be read ss referrmg to the darhes wh~chpreva~hbepml the

Gospel.

ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

who accept lt from the yoke of a misinterpreted law and alienation from God.

The section of Paul's 'apology' which is devoted to the lowness of his apostolate (1:7-5: 10) begins with an interpretative description of his afflictions (4:715): as agents of the Gospel, R u l and his associates are bout~dto participate in Christ's suffering (3:lOa). However, existing in the likeness of Christ also implies that their hardships point to the power of God (4:7), happen for the sake of the Corinthians and make their thanksgiving overflow to the glory of God (4:15). While stating dlat he shares in the fate of Christ (4:1 I'aul alludes to Isa. 53: 12: Isa 53 12 LXX t i e will b e hew t o r m n y ,because h ~ s l ~ f eWAF p e n u p t o death (napc8ciBq clq M v a r o v ) , and he was nunlbered wtth t h e transgresson

2 Cor 4 I I For while w e Ilvr, w e are always being given u p to death (CIS M v u r o v napu8tMci)leOa) for Jesus' sake, so that t h e l ~ f eofJesus may tx m a d e vtc~bleIII o u r niortal flesh

Moreover, rlnce the Isatan~ccontext 1%m~rroredat several pottlts 111 Paul's argtlmentat~on,"7t can be concluded that Paul took Isa. 53:12 111 ~ t context s to be a prophecy of Chrlrt's suffcr~ngwhlch - b e ~ n gmanlfcqted In I'aul's Ilfe, too - IS dlrcerned ln ~ t vlcarlous s eflkct only by those who belleve.

Paul brings his 'apology' to a clinlm by expounding his view on the fortn and content of his ministry (5:l 14:10). Subsequent to his introductory relmrks (5:1 1-1 3), he depicts his message (5: 1M : 2 ) and his conduct as an apostle (6:3-10)." The exposition 5:14+:2 is subdivided into three parapphs: in the middle Paul describes how God is reconciling the world to himelf, in Christ and through the activity of Pal11 and his co-workers (5: 18-19); the framework is made up of tile passages 5: 14-1 7 and 5:20-6:2."" According to 5:14c, 15a, Christian life is based on Christ having 'died for all'. The result5 are given in 5:14d, 15b and explained by the consecutive clauses 5 : l h and 5:17 respectively. I t is in these clauses that I'aul a l l u d e s to several lsaianic oracles:

-r h c ronjuncnon yap lndrcatrr ttut 4: 11 is rrtrrnt to hz an rxplrnsuon o l v c n c 10. '" E.g..2 (:or. 4:s (Iw. 531). 4:4 ( l u . 5214). 4:s (lu.5 2 1 1. I5),4:h (Isa. 52:13). 4:" (54:h). Oh

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Notc that In h:3-4a. Paul prcks up hrs statement rnadc m 5:12. Both pasages show nmrhr structures: compare 5:14 to 5 2 0 (Xptos6;. f))lci<). 5:15 to 5 2 1 (En~p. Iva). 5:1+17 to h:2 (niv. ISoG); r.uttrra H. Noers, '2 Cor~nthta~ts 5:14-6:2: A Fragment of Pauline (:l~rirrol~~y'. CRQ 64 (2(H)2),pp, 527-47: p. 5.39. who regar& 5:IX-20 as the rrtrtre of the cxpmrnon.

ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

Isa. 43:20-44:2 L X X 21 God preserved his people so that they declare his praise.

Isa. 42:6

LXX

) 6 1 have gtven ( C h ~ ayou as a covenant to the people 25 1 am He who blots out your transgrecsions. 24 in your sins and in your iniqu~tiesI stood up for you 26b natlle your transgressions 6 1have called you in righteousness (Cv GtratoaGql) first so as to be justified 44:2 help shall still be given to you (Err BorlB~Bjuu)

6 I have called you . . .and wtll strengthen you

2 Cor. 5: 15-62 5: 15 He dred for all so that those who live m g h t live . . . for him 5:18 God gave (60vrq) us the ministry of reconciliation 5:19 God w a s in Christ,. . .not charging their trespasses to them 5:21a For our sake he nude him to be sin (ripapriav) who knew no sin, 5 2 t h so that ~nhim we might become the righteousness of God (Si~a~ooirvq 0~06). 6:2b At the acceptable tlme 1 have ltstened to you and . . . have helped (Cfbi&luu)you.

Moreover, God's lan~ent for the stubbornness of his people and the announcelllent that God will show his wrath and bring about glorious things in 48:4-5,9 harmonize with 2 Cor. 5 2 1 . Accordingly, Paul read Isa. 43:1844:2 in connection with 42:6-9 and 48:3-9 as pointing to the eschatological work of God who has reconciled the world to himself in Christ and given the n~inistryof reconciliation to R u l and his associates. 2 Cur. 6:2/Isa.49:8 (Quotatiort)

Whereas the passage 2 Cor. 5:14-17 deals with Christian existence in general terms, the passage 5:20-6:2 describes the basis and the form of Paul's working together with God. He starts by characterizing the nature and the content of his preaching (5:20) and goes on to depict its foundation: Christ has taken sin upon himself 'for us' so that those who are in Christ might be justified (521). In this way, 5 2 1 explains the phrase 'for Christ' at the beginning of verse 20. In 6:1," I'aul entreats the Corinthians to stay permanently with God's grace.73 Since they have been exhorted to receive the message of reconciliation in 5:20-21. this second a d m o n i t i o n can o n l y c o n c e r n t h e acceptance of Paul's

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Wid) ovvcpyoiivry Si rui xaparubijpcv (6:l).Rul takes up hk statenlent 5:20r, K, as to expound a further aspect of the pmcew of reconcilrauon outlined in 5: 18-19; cf. hs use of SB rui In 5: 1 1 rr a/. Hence, there IS no reason for tak~ng6 1 as trrmdticuon to the followirrg verses 3-10. The verb S&t,uo&l~ dcncttcs the intnal reception of the Gospel (cf. I I:4 n 41.). Thus, Paul's appeal Gundry Volf, Paul and PoJmanre: .$raying in 6:l aiiiu at a consequence of that rrcrpuon; cf. J.M. in aud FaFiftf nuq (WUNT 11/37: Tiibtngen: Mohr Stebeck, 1Y)O). pp. 277-7'). In vtew of hu use of ~(l/obrE ~ GCEVOV m 1 T l i s . 3:s; Phrl. 2:16, thu conscqucncr can hcrt be cicfincd as fa~thfulnrcr.

ISAIAH I N TkIE N E W TESTAMENT

nlinistry: he calls for keeping hith with himself as the co-worker of Cod." In order to back up his appeal Paul quotes from Isa. 49:Ha: Isa 40 8 LXX Thuc saw the 1 0 ~ 1 )'At an acceptable nnle I have hstened to you, and on .iday of ' ulvat~onI have helped you KutpG, SECT@t r q r o v o a aov K U ~CV f ) p ~ m ~ < I ) T Q P I U
2Cor62 For he says, 'At an acceptable tlme I have llrtened to you, and on a day of ralvation I haw helped you' rat& G~rrta,Enqrowu oov rat Cv jpCpq o m q p t a i tpoqBqaa ool

While the procla~nation2 Cor. 0 : 2 c J stresses that this oracle applies to the present of cod's reconciliatory work, the series of words 6i
(rcvr~) fbr nottnng rnd carirty ( ~ iparatov j rut &I5 oGGcv)' 6 I ha\e appo~nted(TC@EIKU) vou a hght to the nauons, so that you serve a$ 'ialvan011 (oo~qptav)to the end5 of the earth Hallow him who 7 Thuc says the Lord they will do ~crnstdmtns life worthless obetsance to htnl becausc of the Lord and I have chosen you and given (E&I)Ku) 8 1 have lortned you you as a covenant to the Gentiles vain

2 Cor. 5: 17-6:2 6:l . . . w e entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain (615 KEVOV).

5 19 cstabltsh~ng(BCpsvq) anlong u5 the me.itage o f r e c o n c ~ l ~ a t ~ o n 6 2 now IS the day of salvauon 5 20 God appeals through us 5 21 the one who knew no srn 5 20 for Chrlst, be recon~tledto God 5 20 we are a m b u d o n for Chrict 5 17 In Christ, there 15 a new creation 5 18 g~ven(Mvrq)us the mlnlttry

Thus. Paul saw his owti nlirlistry as anlbassador for Christ foretold in Isa. 49:;t-8. It is likely, therefore, that the sarlle holds true for Isa. 61:l-3 as used it1 1 Cor. 1:17.

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Thrs Intcrprcotron IS suh\tdlltrdted h) t h i fact that h F-10 a ryntacucally dcpcndent on h I Thus, Pairl's d r ~ ~ r n e n ~ presitppose~ t~oti that hi, conducr as an apo\tle could tliduce the C~tmthldllsto let gu o f f (.od3sgrace I t fi~1low.if ~ m thr\ r thrr 111 I'~trl'\ ~urnd,turnlng away fioni hmt would trttply dhdn'iotllng thc grdr c of(;od, c f 1 1 3-4

ISAIAH IN 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

2 Cor. 7:6/1sa.49: I3 (Allusion) With the passage 2 Cor. 75-7 Paul resumes his 'travel narrative' of 212-13, explaining his remarks on his being comforted and pleased in 7:4c-d: it was the coming of Titus which fdled Paul with comfort and made hi111 rejoice because Titus reported that the Corinthians' confidence in Paul had been reestablished. While describing this turning point in their mutual relationship, Paul alludes to Isa. 49:13: Isa. 49:13 LXX Sing for joy, O heavens . . .! For the Lono (6 Octi~)has shown mercy to his people and has consoled the downcast of his people (roiy ~anctvoiyrol; h o t ? abrol; xaps~Mcacv).

2 Cor. 7:6 But God, who corisolrs the dou-ncast,consoled us (6 naparukbv roiy ~uxetvoirg nupcrMcocv 411% b Ock) by the arrival of Tltus,

In view of the disputes and fears which afflicted him in Macedonia (7:s). Paul identifies himself with the downcast who are destined to receive God's comfort. The Isaianic allusion thus underlines the significance of his reconciliation with the church at Corinth: for I'aul, it is inlportant to fitlfil his task as God's messenger; for the Corinthiata, the issue at stake is their share in God's dvation. Accordingly, I%ul presents his experience of comfort as a partial realization of the consolation which in Christ is being granted to the down~ast.'~ It follows from this that he interpreted Isa. 491.3 as a prophecy of God's saving work which fills the downcast with comfort, the apostle Paul and his associates included. It is no wonder, therefore, that in his exposition he took account of the lsaianic context: Isa 49 6-23 I XX 2 C o r 6 11-7 15 6 so that you \rrve as salvatton (CTWTI)~IUV) 7 1 0 repentance that leads to salvauon 15 Can a n~otherforget her chrld' 6 13 I speak as to c h~ldren 23 you wlU know that I am the Lono and 7 14 if l have been boastful I shaU not be put to shame (ulcquv6flq) d~sgraccd( ~ u r g ~ u v t l q v )

not

As can be seen fronl this tabi~lation,'~ Paul read the context of Isa. 49:13 as a prophetic indication of his role as an apostle in the process of reconciliatiori in Christ.

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Cotlrnt G K Berlc. 'The Old Trsornent Background of Re~clnc~l~.~t~or~ In 2 Cormthrans 5-7 and In Beartrig on thc L~tcraryProbler~~ of 2 Corrnrhtan~6 1.C7 1'. NTS 35 (198'>), pp 5%8l p 576 Aicordmg to Dealc. IJaul 1s con~foncdtnasnluch ar 'they [the Cormth~ans]togcther wth h~rnreally arc god‘^ ldncr iiay lsrrcl who am firlfillrng the restoranon pn~rrum' '"C onrpac ako lu 49 10 \rrth 2 < or 6 I2 (orrvo~mpm) and Isa 49 20 wrtlr 2 Cor 6 1 3 ~

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Withtn h ~ sdtscusston of the collecnon for Jerusalem, Paul substanrrattlp urging to complete that collectlorl m 9 6 1 4 by exphcating the LC-, ~4 ~Choyia('g1f2 of hlesslng') in 9 5 Subsequent to the lntrodu~tory[Iarrgr* 9 6-7, Paul ~ketche,out the course of events wh~ch1s Inaugurated Iry grace (9:8, 14) and leads back to God In the forrn of thank\gr\rrlg 314 gorificat~on(9.11-13). In this context, the passage 9:8-10 deplcts C;& a prov~dingthe rneans to be generou5 Paul pomts to God's grace as the Ir;rts all hurrian glvittg (9 8).~onrnlerrhor1 h!\ ohjec tlve 'that you rrrdt a h u & in every good work' by quottng fionl Ps 112[111] 9," and ctr& encoung~ngthe Corinthians' trust ~n God that they wdl be supphctl they need (9:lO) This encouragement 1s founded on an allustorr to iQ;rsb, 55.10 55 10 LXX For as the ratn and the .inow cotue d o w n trot11 heaven,arld d o not return untll rhet have watered the earth. so that st hrlngs forth and cprouts and grves seed t o the sower and L crrceppu r 6 crrcstpo\~r bread for food ( K ~ @ hut hpzov e i i $ p k t v ) .

2 C o r 0 10 H e w h o suppiles seed t o the s%.ikt-r and bread for food (b Sb E n t ~ o p q y 6 vmrrirr\s sci, arcstpovrt mat B p ~ o vE ~ CB-v) u l tupply a r ~ dm u l t ~ p l yyour seed

Whereas thc clause 'hc who suppllcs wed to the sower' 1s evplalnrtl ~n the latter part of 2 ('or 9 10, the plrrax 'bread for food' refers to the IIIUX$ rnennoned In 9.8 Accordingly, Paul took Isa 55 10b to be ind~i~rtwe d God's preserving care for h ~ screatures which 1s analogous to God's wcrrk: rzl the conlmunlty of the churches In Jerusalem and Corlnth. m both c.wc.i, God jupphe\ plenty of 'seed' to be paswd on as well as 'food' to cover prr.*trr~;d needs. s It is because of this uce of Isa~ah'soracle that Paul has reshaped ~ t wc~rtirw ascl~blngthe act of glvlng to God and ~ v o i d ~ nthe g tern] onippu sub\cqtiem to his reference to hurnan rlghteousne~sIn 2 Cur 9 9 '%everthelr=, the Isalanlc context is mirrored at several points In Paul's exposltion,as can he m t t from the fbllowlng tabulat~on

Retaii~enf its ionnecuon w ~ t h2 < or 9 X (ti; TOV UIGVU corrr<pond, to na\.rorn), Pdul's qua* refer, tu d <,od-iearil~i:perxoi1 a 19 a1w lrldti~ttdby hi>rt-ad~)pttl~g tllc ~ I C B U I I~ ~ K U L & ~ ) V T 111 I )I)C
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ISAIAH I N 1 A N D 2 CORINTHIANS Isa. 55:l-13 LXX 1 yoit w h o thtrrt . . .and have tio tnoriey 2 eat what is good (&yu%) 5 Nations that d ~ not d know you will call o n you, and people . . . will run t o you because o f your G o d . . .,for he has glorified you. 11 my word. . .shall not return until it has accon~plishedall that I wanted 12 for you shall go out in joy 1 3 it will serve for the Lord as . . .an ewrlasting sign and will not c e a x

2 Cor. 9:7-13 9:12 the tlreds of thc sarnn 9:s abound in every p o d (&yu%v) work 9: 1 3 They glorrfj. G o d for your obedience . . . t o the gospel o f Christ and for the generosity o f your sharing wth then1 and with all. 9 1 0 H e whoaupphes seed. . .will increase the harvest o f your righteousness. 9:7 G o d lows a c h ~ r h tgiver l 9 1 1 that brings about thanksgiving t o <;ad 9:9 his righteousness endures forever

It can be concluded that Paul interpreted Isaiah 55 as a prophecy which is being fulfilled in the Christian community ofJews and gentiles as achieved by the collection for Jerusalem.

In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul has referred to the book of Isaiah in fifieen places, four tirnes through quotations and eleven timer in the form of quotation-like, evident, or at least probable, allusions; altogether, he utilized eighteen lsaianic oracles. The results of nly investigations into these references nlay be summarized as follows. Exr-form Adopted by Paul Regarding the text used by Paul, it can be stated that he has constantly cited h n l Greek versions. In twelve cases, he undoubtedly depends on the Septuagint;"' four, perhaps five of his references, however, show texts that deviate considerably from the Septuagintal tradition known to us, each testifying to a nianuscript that had been revised towards the Hebrew." Interestingly enough, all these references turn up in 1 Corinthians. Thus, it may well be that he made use of a different scroll of the book of Isaiah when writing his second letter to The revision presupposed by Paul had not been carried out the Corinthian~.'~

*' Cf. 1 Cor. 1:17 (lu.hl:l), 1') (Iw. Fhl4).20a (Is. l9:12);2:16 (Iw. 40:13); 1532 (lu.22:13):2 Cor.

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4:6 ( I s . Y:1[2]). 1l (lu. 5312); 5:17 (1%.43:IH-I9;48:3.6-7):6:2 (1s. 49:s); 7:6 ( h . 4'):l.l); 9:lO (Iw. 55:lO). Cf. I Cor. 1:2(h-c ( l a . 33:lX); 14:21 Ou.28:I 1-12).25 (lu. 45:IJ): 1554 (lsl.25:8);each timc,the verston used by Paul concurs more or less w t h Aquih, Synm~achusor Thedonon. Cf. Ilx, 1:XM (Is. 44:25). The quernon about the worduig o f l u . 4 2 9 as used rn 2 Car. 5:17 must remain open. 0 1 1 llrr ztnssronary jourricys. Rul would h d y have c v r t d ahout w & htm vlrlous ~rtptural scmk as mtght be inferred from 2 Tmi. 4: 13. It n niore likely that he rrsorrcd to die scmb rwilablc m the vyn.~bmp~nat h s respecnvr place* of mtdmcc. In dris context, rt a srpficant d ~ a t I (:orrothnns was written in Ephnus (I6:H) md 2 Corintbrm in Marcrionra ( 7 : s92-4). ;

ISAIAH IN 'I'fili NEW 'I'ES'I'AMENT

consistently, though; for the text of Isa. 29:14 LXX quoted in 1 Cor. 1:19 diverges frorn the Hebrew text in several respects." When reproducing the text of lsaianic oracles in his letters, only in three places has Paul accurately reproduced the wording of his Vnrlage.'' In most instances he has altered it by (a) rearranging the order of worcis,x5(b) changing their gramnlatical characteristics,% (c) n1odit;jing the syntax,R7(d) leaving out words and clauses,nnor (e) replacing individual words;xg sometimes, two or Inom of these measures are combined, and twice Paul has extensively rephrased his sources.'"' It is noteworthy that his liberty of modit;jing an Isaianic text is observable not only with allusions, as might be expected, but in two places also with quotations (1 <:or. 1:19; 14:21). All these tilodificatior~s seen1 to have been nude intentionally, in order to adapt the texts from Isaiah to Paul's argunientations and to underline his understanding of those texts. A special feature of his adopting Isaianic oracles is his practice of combining one text with another &III scripture, either juxtaposing them in one quotation (1 (:or. 15:54-55) or conflating them into one allusion (1 Cor. 1 :20a-c; 14:25; 2 Cor. 4:h; 5:17). I'uttrtiotl and S[qrrtficiinic~cfPdtt1's Isaiiittii R ~ f e r r t t ~ a All I'a~tl's quotations support his respective argunients, though each in a differznt way: I Cor. 1: 19 substantiates an assertion by indicating the nlotive of God's savlng through the word of the cross; 1421 provides the basis for a conclusion fn,tn the particular to the general by showing that speakirig in t o n g u e d o e s not cause obedience; 1554b-c warrants I'aaul's confidence by proving that death will finally be overc-orne;2 Cor. 6 2 a - b justifies an admonition by pointtng to its foundation, i.e., the calling of Paul. Each time, the quotation does not hnction on its own but is combined with an exposition s h o w i ~ ~itsg fulfil~nent(1 Cor. 1:20-21), a conclusion defining its relevance (1 422). a conunentary explaining its meaning (1.5:56-57). or a remark stating its applicability (2 <:or. 6:2c-d). It tollows fro111 this that Paul has thoroughly integrated his quotes into his argunientations so as to base the latter on the scriptures. Nearly the sanie holds true for his numerous allusions. Althougll not made explicit to the addressees, they add weight to Rul's arhmments, showing them

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The Hebrew text o i 1%. 2'1: 14 ts vrnon rm m1 rm n m m~ ('the w~sdomof rhnr wlse oten ,it,~ll perlrlr. and the ri~u-cr~rmc~~t of rlrrtr &wcrnrng 111cnshall k hidden'. drstrnct~vcfedtllrcs oithc Hcbrrw arc printed In ~tdlrrs). "' (:i I Cor. 15:32 (1%.22:13).54 ( l u . 25:X):2 (:or. h:2 (Ira. 4'):X). *' Ci. 1 Cor. I:17 (Ira.h l . l ) , 2 0(Ira 33:1X/44:25); 1425 ( l a . 45:14);2 Cor.4:11 (Iw. 53:12). (:i 1 Cor 1.17 (lw.hI:l).?Or(lsa. 1Y:l2):14:25 (Ira.45:14);2Cor.4:I 1 (Iw.i3:12):7:h(1s.49:lS); '>:I0( l u . 55:lO). " C f . 2 (:or. 4:h (Isa 9:1(21);7.6( l u . 4913). (:f. I (:or. 1 17 (Ira ~ r l : l ) : 7 : I (hI s . 40:13);2 Cor.7:1>( l a . 40:lS). C ' C ( : I t:<)r.I 10 (1%.20 14).20d-c (llil 33:18),20d (1%.J4:25);2 i:or.V:IO (Ira.55:lO). " Cf I Cor 15:21 ( I s . 28-1 1-12);7 (:or.5:17 (Ira. 43.1%-1')).

ISAIAH I N 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS

ro be deeply rooted In the scriptures In three places, Itala111c allus~onseven p n e support to h ~ respectwe s interpretations of quotat~onshorn Ica~ah" T h e s~gn~ficance of Paul's Isa~an~c references is cotfirmed by t h e ~ dr ~ s t r ~ b u non over h n first and second letters to the Cor~nthians Most of them are It)c.~ted111 o r near to those scctlons that are ot fundamental Importance for h n rcr\on~ngw ~ t hthe C h r n t ~ a ncornmunnty at C o ~ i ~ l ht h~ ds ~ a ~ o u r or1 s e wlsdo~ri, X Cor 1 18-3 4, h ~ treatlse s on the resurrection of the dead, 1 C o r ~ n t h ~ a n15, b alrd h ~ apology s of h ~ apostolate. s 2 Cor. 2 14-7.3 The relevance of h ~ quotas rlons from and a l l u ~ ~ o ntoc Imah 17 ranforced by the fact that In each case. the rnpectlve Isa~a~lic context 1s n11rrort.d at varlous point, in h ~ es x p o s ~ t ~ oIn n se\cral cases ~t must be ~ o n c e d r dthat the context tiiken Into account ~ncluder only a few ver\eF"? or shows up through conceptual rather than verbal links 93 J w t as often, however, the I,aicm~ctontext encorrlpdssec e1g11tto tuenty verws arrrl has caused iever'11 clear echoes In P a u l ' ~argumentation" In every tristance it IS ev~dentthat Paul d ~ not d Isolate the oracle quoted or alluded to t r r m ~ t sor~ginalcontext but ha\ Interpreted ~t ~n accordance u t t h that context

with onc exception, I'aul'j u\e of reference\ to lsa~ah~ n d ~ c a t te h\ ~ hc t tooh rlre oracle\ together w ~ t htheir context, to be propheclc-5 of God's rrvelat~orr r t i C h r ~ s "5 t In t h ~ franleworli, s he understood the texts c ~ t e dnc referring to (a) God's saving act in Christ as preached by I'aul and received in the Christian community: Isa. 29: l ( t 2 l (1 Oor. I :19); 19: 11-1 4/33: 17-24/ 4321-26 (1 <:or. 1:20); 40:s-36 (1 (:or. 2:lh); 45: 14-22 (1 <:or. 1 4 2 5 ) and 8: 16-9:1(2] (2 (:or. A:(,): 52: 13-54:6 (2 <:or. 4 : l l ) ; 1.3:20-14:2/ 48:3-9 (2 Cor. 5: 17);'4h (b) I'aul's apostolate: Isa. 61 :1-3 (1 <:or. 1:17); 42:h-9 (2 Lor. 5: 17); 19:4-X (2 Cor. h:2);49:tr23 (2 C o r . 7:h): (c) the comrnumty ofJews and gentiles in Christ: Isa. 5S:l-13 (2 Car. 9:10); (d) God's relationship with Israel: Isa. 28:7-13 (1 Cor. 14:21); (e) thc parousia: Isa. 24:23-35: 10 (I Cor. 15:51).

See I ( : o r 1:l'i,20: 1 ('nr 1 4 : 1 1 . l i : l ( or. 5 17 and h:2 Cf. I (:or. 1.17 (15'1 0 1 1-3). ?(Id ( 1 3 ~ . 141.11-14),?(Id ( [ > A . 44.24-20): 13.32 (152. 22.1 1-14), 2 (;<>I. 5:17 ([\a 42-6-'I), h ? (I5a 4'4:tXi Cl. 1 (:or. 1 19 (Isa. ?O:lCk11), 14:2I ( 1 % 28 ~ . 7-13, 25 (15~.45.I+??), 15:54 ( 1 ~24123-25 . 10). 2 C . o r 5.17 (Iw 48..1-')1: ' > . I 0 (Isa 55 1-13) Cf. 1 COT.I:?Od- c (1sa..33:17-24):2.16 (Isa 40:5--1i~):2C a r 4 6 (lsa X.l(r-21!,11 (l\a..il 13- 54 0). 2 Cnr 5: 17 ([\a 43.2G44.2j. 7-h (1\.i 4V.fi13) In 1 C o r . 15:32. Paul has interpreted 1sd. 22:13h ac expresslr~ga certaln atntudc to irCe w h ~ c hoccur5 u r all nlilr\ In I <:or. 2:!f, and 1 (:or. 4:1 1, Paul 1 1 ~ ~Isn~anit3 tests In order :c? characterize h e apo~toiatehilt irrt~ryni.tlic~u.I> prt~pJ~i.<,ir\ <)fthr rlatulr m d t l ~ ccontent oflli\ (;crrpcl.

ISAIAH IN 'THE NEW TES'TAMEN'I

These topics are not only nlutually interrelated; they constitute aspects of the Gospel that are both essential for the life of Paul's Christian addressees and cfistinctive to his apostolic work among the gentiles. Thus, the Isaianic references in his first and second letters to the Corinthians form an interpretative network that centres on Isaiah's prophecy of Christ but is based on the prophecy of Paul's calling. In this connection, it is quite remarkable that the texts crted are spread throughout the book of Isalah, h m chapter 8 to chapter 61. Most of the texts, though, are found In one of three clusters that can be ciiscerrled In chapten 25-29,4045 and 48-55. When interpreting these texts, Paul follo\vs a herxneneutics that interrelates his belief in Christ with his interpretation of Isaiah: on the one hand, it is God's revelation in Christ which uncovers the meaning of Isaiah's oracles; on the other hand, only these oracle$ clarify a number of significant aspects of livlng ni Christ. In this way, I'aul redds Isalanic texts as both wimessmg to and eluc~datingGod's saving act 111 Christ."'

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Many thanks to Dr Jacob Wright for checkung my En&$h, Dr Steve Moyue for helpzng to put my hrblrcal crunons rnto En&sh. and Brrkr Sqgelkow-Bemer for repeatedly proof-mdmg the manuwript Lady, rt should bc noted rhrr in order to xneet the requm:cna of tile ~ l u m crt, a hu been rlecersllry to keep &wus..~onof h e secondary htenturc to a nururnirrn

Chapter 9

Isaiah in Hebrews J. Cecil McCullough

The author of Hebrews has a deep interest in the Old Testament.' In view of this, it seems at first sight odd that he seems to make such little reference to the book of Isaiah, a book which is so widely quoted in the rest of the New Testament. There is one explicit quotation in Heb. 2:13 (Isa. 8:17-18). a few allusions' and some literary parallels/echoes which may or may not be coincidence." Conlpared with the quotations h m or allusions to the Psalms or the Pentateuch, however, Hebrews is indeed meagre in its direct or indirect references to Isaiah.' However, statistical comparisons of quotations or allusions d o not adequately reflect the importance of Isaiah in Hebrews. Recent discussions of intertextualiry" have not only studied explicit quotations and allusior~sfrom one text in another, fundamentally an exercise in source criticism,' but also have attempted to read one text in the light of the other, concentrating on concepts, not just verbal similarities, of the later work which echo those of the earlier work and which may have been provoked by a conscious or unconscious recalling of that work. They do this because no author is an island, living in isolation h n l the rest of the world. Rather, each writer works in the context of a pool of knowledge to which many streams have contributed. Occasionally authors will make explicit reference to a pamcular author, either to lend additional gruvitas to their work, or to justi6j their conclusions; ofien, however,authon take an idea from the conlmon heritage and develop it, adding their own distinctive contribution to the field of human knowledge. In

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He snakes at Icat 24 dtrcct ciwtzons from the Old Tc.mnrrnt and uses die Old Testanlent both to r e listcncrs. persuade and to ~ n r p ~ ha 1%. 1:11 (9:13/10:4); Isa. 26:20 (10:37); Isa. 3533 (12:12); lu. 4517 (5:')); l u . 5 3 1 2 (tk2X). (12:26): Ira. 1432 (11:10);Iw.2h:11 (10:27); Isa.h3:11 (13:20). '"sa.He 13:13 n~akesnine F X ~ I I references CI~ to the k n u t c u c h (Gen. 2 2 ; 22:17; E x d . 19:13: 24:H; 25:40; Deot. '3: 19;31 :dX; 32: 35,36; 3243) and ten to the Psahns (27; X:5-7; 22:23;4(3:7-9; 45:7-8; 95:711; 102: 21-28; l04:4; 110:4; 118:6). K.B. Hays. I?iir~x o j Smprun In the l n r m of Pdul (New Haven: Yale Un~veraltyk, 1980); S, Moyisc. 'Intcrtextuahcy and the Study of the Old Testanlent UI the New Tesnmcnt', In S. Maylw. ed., 'The Old T+srarnnn in ti* New Ti~arnml:I 3 q s in Honour o/'J.Lh'orth (Shefield: Sl~cficld Acadcln~cl'rens, 2000). pp. 14-41 and the hibhography quoted rhrrc; J. C:uller. 'Pmuppmuorts m d Intertcmaliry'. in The Pursuit q/SiIpu: Semiotirs, Litmatun!, Dnor1srnu11on (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Unlverslty P m . 1982),pp. 100-18. a Hays, Frko~s. pp. 9-10,

IIAIAZI IN 1 III NI W TI.FIAM1 N I

the caw o f the airthor o f H e b r e ~ cw, e \\111 \Iio\v that he doe\ refer \pecrfic'tlly t o Isarali, quotrng an authorrtatrve book ,a\ a \crrptural proof-text t o bol\ter hrc a r b ~ r ~ i i e rbut ~ t , that aI\o 1111portant ttieolog~t-altheme\ wl~rctiare found In I.id~ahare echoed arid developeci 111 Z-icbrcwc Natumlly rt \\auld be ~ r ~ ~ p o s \ r b l e , and. 111 nly \te\v, ult~~llately unhelpful, to try to \how that I \ ~ r a h19 the onlv book where strch conteptc exrct and, therefore, re tile o r ~ l y\ourcr for rnch corl~epts tlowever, three obrervattonc encourage us t o keep IC'II'I~ 111 n ~ r n t i u l i e n we read Hebrewc Frrct, thew 15 clear evrcience, fro111 the c x p l ~ c ~ t qnotatron arld from allu\ron\, that the author o f Hcbrewc \I..I~ fari~rlr~r ~rth Iearah, \ct ond, Isarah I\ Lery ~.\rdelyquoted and known In the re\t o f the New ~Iectanient,thlrci, tlie explrc~tquotatron frorll I\ar.ih and \everdl o f the ec hoes O C C ' L I ~111 see ~ I O I oI ~f 1c.11ah wilere rmportant tIieologrc'~ltheme$ found rn Hebrewc prcdornrnate I r i lookrng at the cluotatronr and ec hoe\ o f Iwrah In t-lebre\\r, we murt, o f cource, be very careful not to h r r r ~ go u r t\scnty-fir\t-century precupposrtroni to o u r divlrior~o f t h e book rnto three (or more) o u r re'ldrng o f I$a~ah,rnpartrc~~lar eep'1r'ite voluriler whrth rnodcrr~ccholar\ have found helpftll ' \uch a w'iy o f reatirrig lcalah would have been irnthrnhablc t o the author o f t-iebreur Wtirle he rn.iy not have had tlie whole book before t~rrnhe would have conrrdercd rt all to be the work of the pmphet IC'IIJ~(thoirgh hri rntcrc.ct 111 tlie hunlan .author \\a%prc)hablv IrrnrtedH). ~ n dw o ~ ~ have l d undentood rt .~tcordtnglv

T h r author ot'Hebreus q~rotccIta X 17-18 111 2 13 'And G ~ g ~ ~\1.111~ ~p ~i ~,111) t' i l truct III hnn" And agalrl, "Mere a111 I, and the thrldren (;od ha\ grvrn me"' There hac bee11 \ornc di\cur\ror~.zr to wflether the word\, 'I will put In) trurt rn hrrl~'(Cyo E n o p u ~xsxotOi% Cn' aii~tu),come from Itarah X o r n o t , c ~ r ~ the ce phrase coirld eytrally have come froin 2 \an] 72 3 (n~notO% T:(TO~UI CX' u ~ T Q ) o r I\a 12 2 (wsxotOhq Eooput t n ' ui1r3) But In vre\c oftlie fact that the '~utlior o f Hebrews quote5 Isa 8 18 rn the next sentence, the majorrt) of conlrnerltdtorc h.rve concluded that he ha\ I\ar.ih X 111 r~irnd' t l e ~ r t ~ t l r twrth ~ p J C'. l)odrrlcrrr, I:UII~Z< (t\i\t111./kt\ Ikah ./tuitld ( ( ~ o t t ~ r ~ gV.ir>et crr k A Ru}>reJ.t+Ietrktti%o})}~, 1~11alt1-.$9 '4 X C I I'lid11~1~~11t~rr ~ II~III Inrrodurr~orrirrrd (:~~rrtmrtrrtrry(A13 1'). Nc\v Yctrk. Ilottblcday. 7tWN))./\'no11 40-.i.i (LiNi?), Iso~irlt.i(r 06 12003) ' Narc 111rcorrc.;tcr. I f r h r ~ (A13 ~ r ~ ~36: N c u York I )<~ublcd.a).. ZlXil), p 231: C1 I3r.1ur1. Ili~trdirrr~lr a r r t r .\'c,ur,t 7~~,rienrtir I4 (.Ttilrrngcn Llotrr. 19x4).p f,3. (1 Spri q, l.'lipfrrc 'lrrr !ltthrc~t.t (I'arrr (;al~rliln,1')77), p 74,J Itirrrrg. l.'Eptrrr LIII.~ Il4hrr11s[ N c t r ~hitcl: 1)clnchau~A Ntc\tlr. t ' ) i i ] . tr5. A.\V. l t c ~ r l r r n r c.rrrd I'J Allcoc k (Lotrdorr Ep\r.orth I'rc\\. 1')70), p 211. E. (;ral)cr. I k r tlrrtf,a~rltr I l c . h ~ r (r N r u k r n h c r ~ Vluyt~.Herizrgrr Vcrldp rttd Ncitkrr~hctlcr Vcrldp. 1')'Nl). p. 140: H . W Montrti ~ . I ~111 I<)II v l .ih ' otnr\ fr<,nt I \ ti I N nttd I t i\ thcrcir,rc rc.~ronrhleto \tippow that v 13.1rj\~orcithc tn,rncit~. I t ~ l \prc, cll, I, u 17'

ISAIAH IN HEBREWS

There is general agreement that the author usually quotes h r n the LXX, though not from any n~anuscriptknown to us at the present day.'" If he is quoting, however, h r n Isa 8: 17-18 in the LXX version known to us, then he makes several changes, the most important of which is the addition of 'and again' between Isa. 8:17 and 18, giving the sentence: "'I will put nly trust in him". And ag~in,"Here am I, and the childrer~God has given me"'. It is unlikely that Synge is correct when he argues that these words were added by a later copyist." It is also unlikely that the author would have added the words because he was quoting not fro111 the book of Isaiah but h-om a Horilegium and thus would have been unaware that both phrases corne fiom the same passage." It is nlore likely that he is sin~plyfollowing the practice found again in Heb. 10:30 of dividing the quotation into two parts'3 in order to ir~aketwo distinct points which could not have been so clearly understood otherwise." In verses 12-1 3 he thus has three quotario~ls(one h t 1 1 the Psaln~s and two fron~Isaiah) each divided by '2nd again'. It is also probable, as Ellinbworth suggest$, that the emphasis in Hebrews' q~iotationsconlrno~ily falls towards the end, 'so it is possible that the quotations are divided in order to throw the emphasis on to the second line'.I5 The author is, therefore, nlaking three points, the last one of which depends on the fint two and is particularly inlportant for his argument. Jesus worships God (Ps. 22[LXX 211: 23); he trusts in God (Isa. X:17); he shows solidarity with his 'children' in so doing (Isa. 8: 18). What then is the context of the words in Heb. 2:13-14? The author has been arguing for the siiperiority of the name of the Son over that of the angels. He has assembled seven proof-texts in chapter 1 and then drawn some paraerletical cor~clusionsh l n then1 in chapter 2: 1-4. His introduction of t'salm 8

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Sec J.C. Mc(:ullough. ffrbrru~satlil rhr Old X~~l.rratnrrrt (unpuh. dlrs.. Belfast. 1971); md 'The Old Tertan~entQuotanons In Hchrews'. M7S 20 (1980). pp. 3h3f.;E.Afilhorn. Ihe .CYprr~gtnra I,br)nge iifs tfebrirnftnrth, fkhmm. p. Ifr9.

ISAIAfl I N THII N E W 'I'I~S~I'AMI.,N'I' 111 2

0 movec the reader o n to the next ctage o f t h e arp1111ent ho\c could one whose riame IS above that o f the angel9 be the o n e w h o lrved and cuffered in d ~ rn d first-century I'alest~ne and. more rrllportantly, why d ~ the d the way JCSLIS \on of(;od have to suffer and bc humllrated rn t h ~ cway at all; T h e anrwer t o the tirct qucrtron 15 that ~t 15 ~ r l l y'for a lrttle whrle', a r e k r r n r r to the LXX tran\latlon o f Pcalm 8 If' T h e ancwer to the second 19 that he had to ldentlfi krlly wrth humankrnd ( H e b 2 17) It Ir rn connection w ~ t hthrr need for tonlplete rdent16catron wrth h ~ i m a n klnd that the author quote\ 1% 22 22 followed by Ica 8 17-18 H e ascurnes tlirt Jesut 1s the cpeaker In all three quotatroll\ and thrr>ugh then1 rs rhowrng colrdarrty wlth cufferrng hunlan belngc In the quotatron fmm I'calni 32 the author acsumec that Jesus rcjornlng with the congregatton to pralce (;od It 19, therefore, a colriiarrty rn worchrp o f (;od In the quotttrorl frr)ni Ira 8 17 Jecirr Chrrrt re expreesrng hrr own truct and confidencr rn (;od and thrr puttrng hrr tru\t rn G o d makec hrnl clnillar to hrr brethren In the quotatron frorn Ira X 18 he rdcntrfiec ever1 more fully wrth humankrnd by rtaridlng with the chrldrrn whorn G o d has grven hrrir Ldkrng acrdc the qucct1ori o f the orrgrnal cor~tcxt for the moment, and takrng the fundamental accumptron o f the author that Jcrur IS \pcakrrrg, thc vereec arc curtable proof-tcstc t o \ h o u that J e w \ wa\ rn solrdarrty wrth humankrnd rn hr\ truct 111 C;od 7 hat IS \\hy he had to be made for a lrttle w hrle lower than the angclr, that 19 whv he 15 '1 p e f i c t hrgh prrect In therr context rn Hebrewc, therefore, the wordc rn H e b 2 12-14 rnakc perfset FCIIW

T h e wordc o f lea 8 17, 18 taken rn thrrr Lonteut 111 Irar.rh arc cquallv rtrarghtfonvard I w a h ha\ been rprakrng t o the krng and the people of the couthern krngdom, encouragrng t h r m to have farth rn G o d rn facc of the 5yro-Ephrarriirte coalrtron, rather than run t o Accyrra to cave them H I
M T vcr\tiln oftlrtr p a \ \ . ~ va\ tlrr I lcbrru UMKU vm m i I\ sprtral rtld nrrrns ' I I M Jhtrr~ ~ a l~tdr t11.1r1(;od' Thc LXX tmnslntrorr (fiiurrt~nu;oiirbv ppuxir r t nap' iiyytinu;) can hc trrndrtcd. 'Yt,u t~rddetrtrrl Cjr .I Itttlr wllllc I'r\c.cr thm tltr rtrgch'. \r?th p p u ~ brt tnklr~gor1 a tetlrporal \enw rtrif hyyikotq u\cd to tr.rmlatc i P 7 5 K . '(;oif'

' " Thc author rould trot lr~vcuwd the

ISAIAH IN HEBREWS

'a remnant shall return' (Isa. 7 3 ) and 'swift to come is the spoil; speedy is the prey' (Isa. 8:3)17which are signs f i o ~ nGod." The words in their respective contexts in Isaiah and Hebrews rnake good sense, but they make very different sense in each book. Given these very different meanin@ ofthe two verses in the different contexts of Isaiah and in Hebrews, the question arises: what are the hern~eneuticalprinciples followed by the author of Hebrews which would have allowed hirn to put the words of the prophet Isaiah speaking about his children into the mouth ofJesus speaking about his followers? There are several important factors to be taken into cons~deranon111 answenng th~s. F~rttly,aswe stated earher," the author was q ~ ~ o tfrom ~ r ~the g Greek ver.iron of the Old Testament. rather than the ~ e b r e w , ~ a nthere d are two variations in the translat~onfound In the LXX w h ~ c hnuke the words more eas~lyadaptable for the author's purposes. The first concerns the addltlorl of a rai 111 v. 18 which gives the sins; 'Behold I and the children whom God has given rile anti they will be for s i p s and portents in Israel . . .'.The effkct of this change is to connect the first clause in v. 18 with the last clause in v. 17, and to disconnect the second half of v 18 from the first half. The transl,lt~on,therefore Is: 'And I will put my trust In hlm; behold 1 and the cli~ldrenwho111 <;od has given me and they w ~ l be l sips and portents'. The author of Hebrews takes the first two statements and the addition of the 'and' allows him to ignore the third. In the Hebrew text this reading would be inlpossible. The two statements (Isa. 8: 17b and 18a) are therefore taken to be afirnlatiorls of trust in God, expressed in the first phrase by the 'I' (in the interpretation of the author of Hebrews,Jesus himself), and in the second by '1' and his 'children', showing Jesus' solidarity with humankind; and the third (Isa. X:18b) is ignored. The second variation between the LXX and the M'T which is useful for the author concerns the addition of the mysterious rui E p d at the beginning of v. 17. The presence ofthese words 'and he will say' puts the \words which follo\v in v. 17 into the mouth of a third person, who has, as yet, not been mentioned." This opens the possibility for a New Testarnent interpreter to assume that the speaker is the Messiah, and so allows the author of Hebrews to put the words into the mouth of Iesus. The second Important factor 1s that the verse5 come &on1 a sectlon of scrlpturc whlch was well known 111 the carly church and whlch had been con~lderedby them to apply to and to have been fillfilled In Jesus C h r ~ s t W h ~ l ethe actual verse? 17 and 18 are not quoted anywhere else In the New

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B.S.Chdds, Itiatdt (OTL:Lou~svllle:Westrn~nsterJohn Knox, 2(K)1),p. 72. G.R.Cray.A Cnrirnl und Fircgcnral Comn~entiuyon the &wk u/lsaiuh I-XSVII (ICC;Edtnhur~h:T&'T Clark, 1')12),p. 256; E.J. K t s ~ m e ,7he Book offsaiah (Dublin: Brnwne 191 Nolan, 1926). 1.p. 108. Cf. note 10 a h . Cf. J. Van der Plocg. 'L'exi.gi~ede I'arrctcn testament dans I'kpim aux Hihnux'. R S 54 (1947). p.211.

ISAIAH I N 'I'HE N E W TESTAMENT

Testarrlerlt and are also c e l d ~ ~quoted ri by the rabble," never, to my knowledge, referrrng to ariyone other than the prophet, nevertheless, the sectron of lsarah from w h ~ c hthey cotne IS 'a well known quarry In whrch are found prophecies whrch J e w had fulfilled, and drfferent parts ofthe chapter [XI were used wrth different appl~cat~ons' Moreover the whole of chapten 6-9 was wrdely quoted In the early church, partrcular In Mdtthew '' As Ilodd p a n t s out, 'lfwe now look back lt will appear that there rs come grourid for behevrng that Isa. 0 1-9 7 rrlay have for~iiedfor early Chrlstran ctudents of the Old Testament a w g l e corriplex urllt of prophecy, beg~nnrngwrth the vrcron of the glory of God' '"It rr a paceage, therefore, whrch would have been known to the author and conree from .I eectlo~lof lsarah whrch had been thoroughly worked over bv the early Ctirr\tlan exegetes, and whrch had been Interpreted n~esslanrcally by the111 Just a5 Isa 8 8, 10 or 8 14 or 9 1-2 were applred to Jecuc In the early <:hr~ctlan conimunity, \o rt was very ea\y and obvlous to the author to apply 8 17-1 8 to 111111 and to ascurrle that they had been co~npletelyhlfilled In hrrn A t h ~ r dfactor rrlay be the author'\ vlew of Old Testanlent ccrrpture. As we have wen, he had l~ttlerriterect In the human aothors of the Old Testarne~it scrrpturec, but rather coricrdered thelr Lorltents to have bee11 spoken by God 25 For h1111,therefore, rt re God who re the cpeaker rn the whole of Isarah. In t-lebn.w\. however, Je\uc Chrr\t and God are r~iterchangeablewhat n sald of <;od or by (;od applre\ to Jecuc Chrrct Thrs 1s well, for example In Heb. 1:10 where a paccdge ti0111 l'\dIrii 102 (LXX 101) whrch orlg~nallyclearly referred to God I\ appl~edto Jew\ Agaln\t the background of these t\vo theological ac\unrptlonc, that rt rc God who IS the speaker rn the Old Testanlent and that what call be cald of God cat1 be s a d eq~rallyo f J e w , ~twould be an easy step to put the worcis of Ica 8.17-18 Into the ~iiouthofJe5uc Whrle t h ~ sIS posrlble, houever, there 1s no d~rectc v ~ d e ~ l from c e the eprstle that the author drd 111 fact take thrc hermerieut~calctep ?'

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l'locg, 'L'cseg+se'. ir 21 1: F Sclrroger. 1)er I @fiu~cr des Ikrhm~~bncfis eh S l ~ ~ f i a t r . r b(Regensburg: ~er Vcrlrg Frrc.drtch I'u\ret, 1908). p. 04. SJ. Kr
ISAIAH I N HEBREWS

The author, therefore, was returning to a well-known sectlon of lsarah w h ~ c hhad been ~nes'ilan~cally ~nterpretedIII the early C h r ~ \ t ~ corn~~~untttez rn and, using the LXX tramlatlon whlch he had before him, put the words Into the mouth of Jecus, who for h ~ n iWAS the con~pletefulfilment of the Old Testament scrtptures The secttori of lsa~ah(Isatah 6-9) from w h ~ c hthe author of Hebrew5 quoted, however. wa\ relevant not only for the particular wonis quoted, but also because of the w ~ d c rcontext of those words, a context In whlch the thetne of perseverance In fa~thIS predomtnant It Ie to that w ~ d c r context that we now turn

The .~uthorhved In a world of orcitnary, vuhlerab~epeople who hact been persecuted and who were In danger of fi~rtherpersecution They were, In fat t, a cornn~u~nty of Chrrst~anrwho were engaged In a pa~nfulctruggle for thew very euletence 'They were hard pressed by outside force^'^ and by lnternrl dttficult~es.~~ and t h ~ spressure haci taken or wac In danger of tak~ng1t5toll on t h e ~ rinternal sp~rrtualItve\ The author'\ \onlbrt. word\, 'l\ecall the fortner days \\,her:, atier you were enl~ghtened,you endured a hard struggle \nth suffcr:ng,somet:tlles belng publlcly exposed to abuse 2nd affl~ctlonand ~oI::cttn:es b a n g partner\ with thore so treated' (Heb 10 32f ),and hls warning that what was In the past tilay be only a foretaste of what 1s st111 to come ~n the future (Heb 12.4-5) reveal 4 corn~nun~ty w h ~ c hw ~ only s too aware of the poss~blefate whlch awlred them It I\ no wonder that he Ir concerned that they are In danger of 'L~lln:g away koni the h v ~ n gGoct' They are, therefore, orci~rlaryC h r ~ r t ~ apeople n Itvlug ordinary, dlfiic~~lt I~ves111 the first century h , they be de\troyed who have to be encouraged to per\evere 111 them t ~ ~ tlest The world of 1c11ah ~c at first 51ght rather different It 15 the \vorld of hlgh polrtlcs He begrns has book by referrlug to four hlnP o ~ u d a h(Uzz~ah, Joth'nn, Ahaz and Hezeh~ah)(1.1) and nli~tllof the book rs taken up d e a l ~ r ~ g wtth kings, k~ngdomcand atfalrc of state In the scctlon of lsa~ahwe anconcerned wlth, he addres~esK I I IA~ l l ~ zd~rectlyIn ~ h a p t e r7 and goes o n to addre\s the whole ~ : a t ~ oofJudali n He I~vec,therefore, ~na very d~fferentworld to that hinid 111 Hebrew\ Nevertheless, the two books are very rtnular In that both ronirnunltlec are addresstng extn-rile danger, whlc h raws the question of t h e ~ trust r 11: God In the caw of Isa~ah, the danger I\ t h ~ of t n.it~onal. I I ~ I ~ I ~ I I ~ ~ t ~ o nwhen the Sym-Ephra~rn~tecoal~tlorl attacks them In the care of Hebrews, the dmger 15 that of lo\n:g thew fa~ththrough 'turn~ngback'

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They \vould have hceir attackrtl IIV >oticty 111 general rr c\clurrve rrr~)irtrthcr~r~ I I V I I I ~111 .I phlralr\ttr worl~l.rllry wouU dl\o have bccl~ut~popuhrw~rhtlrcrr IbrrnrrJc\tr\lr colrrpatrtot5 ('i J (: h.1, C'rrlloogh. 'The Brckgrottr~dt c ~tlie Epirtlr to rhr Hchrrw5', IRS (Ir~rtltrr~rnrn~ rr tlir~cof' golrig to pre.iO,tbr a ltlll dncuniol~. A\ src. C ~ I I I I I I I I11) ~ low thclr C I I ~ ~ ~ U. I~ III~pcrhap. ~\ I I I . CYCII rllcir dtsc~pli~rc (Hrh. 13:1-16), ""OII tire f l ~ e t ~oftrsfit~g. te \ec Heb 1:IN;3.8-'I. 4.15:11.17. .lo-17; 12 8-4, oti thr rrccd fix ~~~li,idrttv wttt~i e l l o ~(:hrrrtlan\. Web, lik31-34; 13:3.

ISAIAH I N 'THE N E W 'TESTAMEN'I

Both authors deal with the challe~igeby a mixture of blunt wanling and positive exhortation and encouragement. In Hebrews the warnings are particularly stn)r~gand are found in particular in the three famous passages Heb. 6 :1 ff-.; 10:26ff.;and 12: 17. These passages are without doubt the most controversial in the epistle. In them the author is giving the stark warning that 'it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened . . .,if they then commit apostasy, since they crucif;i the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt' (6:4-6); that 'if we sin deliberately after receiving the krrowledge of the truth, there no longer renilins a sacrifice for sins' (Heb. 10:26) and that Esau 'found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears' (Heb. 12:17).This thenie of the dire consequences of turning away f i o n ~God, who has promised to provide for them and save them, is then driver1 home by the famous parable of the vineyard in Heb. 6:7-X where the land which bears thorns and thistles (in spite of the rain falling on it) is worthless and near to being cursed; its end is to be burned." I\aiah is equally blunt in his dire warnings to those who reject God's gifts and do not put their must iri him alone." H e also uses a parable taken fro111 horticulture to drive home his point (Isa. 5:t-7). At first sight there would seen1 to be little similarity between the two parables. Isaiah describes a vineyard whtch, in cptte of corlstant caw, produces wild grapes and is then left to becotnc a waste latid. The author of Hebrews describes a field that is well watered but nevertheless b r i n g forth brambltu and thistles and so is abandoned and fi~rallyburned. A closer look, however, shows important similarities. While the Masoretic test of Isaiah refers to 'wild grapes' which the exactly the same word vineyard produces, the LXX refers to 'thorns',&rav@a~, as that found in Hebrewc.'%Other similarities benveen the two passages listed by Verbrugge are: both the field and the virleyard are well cultivated; both are well watered; both will be burned." While there is no question of a formal allusion, Bruce is surely correct when he says that 'the figure here is to much the sarrre effect as Isaiah's vineyard song'"4 and it is unlikely, in my view, that the author of Hebrews would not have had the v i n q a d parable of lsaiah in rr~irldwhen he created hir own agr~cultilralimage. Both authors, however, go beyond mere warning when addressing the

cx~mplmolotrong ~dilionrtton111 H c b r e ~ rarc found In 2 1 4 . 3 12-19. ctc ""Other < f l u 8 5-7, oti~rrcxdmpln lnclutlc l u 8 21-22, Y 13-17 "

''

(.f V D Verbrugp, 'Towark r New Intcrprctauon of Hebrnvs 6 4-41', C7J 15 (1980).p 64, who exurunes the rebuonrhlp hctucm Isatah iarrd Hrhrcup 6 A~conlmgto Vrrbrugge, 'Hebrew 6 H',p 65, thc wutefind pmduccd m lwiah 5 w i d haw beon cot~noUcdh) periodic hurn~ilg Bruce. H&mr<,p 124 cf D A De Fzlv?. 'Hebrew 6 4-8 A Sono-rhctur~cdIm'csupuon (Fuc I)'. 7ynB i O l l (1999),p 52,uho wes u&rtln m the dynunro Botb w dlusmuons ofthc fdure to mpond appropnateiy to &\me patronage Thrs, of counc, doer not preclude an dusron u weu to D F U 20 ~ 22-28

ISAIAH IN HEBREWS

spiritual dangers of the recipients, dire as those warnings are, but offer positive encouragement. They d o that ill two ways: first by turning the attention o f the recipients to those w h o are or have been faithful, and second by turning the recipients' minds to God's mighty acts o f graciousness. In the case o f the author o f Hebrews the Christian cornnlunity itself is praised.The direst warni n g in Heb. 6:4-8 are followed by the assurance o f Heb. 6:9-10." H c also draws attention to the faithfulness o f those w h o have lived in the past by presenting in chapter 11 a gallery of saints, a 'cloud o f witnesses' w h o by their faithh~lness'received divine approval'. In the case o f Isaiah it is the prophet himself w h o is the example, who is remaining faithful in the face of temptation. In the words inmediately preceding those quoted in Hebrews, in Isa. 8:17a the prophet says:'l will wait for the Lord w h o is hiding his face from the house ofJacob, and I will hope in him'. This is very siniilar to the statement ill Heb. 1039. But it is especially in their turning of their readers' attention to God's gracious acts that the authors offer the most encouragement. After the dire threats ofjudgement of Isaiah 7 and 8 come the well-known poetic words of comfort of Isa. 9:2-7. In Hebrews, too, the readers' atterltiorl is constantly drawn to the great acts done by God through his Son, the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. H e is superior to the angels, Moses and the Levitical priesthood; he is the one whose sacrifice is complete (Heb. 9%); he is the Great High Priest w h o has entered the heavens t o intercede for humankind; he is the one w h o will return 'to save those w h o are eagerly waiting h r him' (Heb. Y:28); he is the 'pioneer and perfecter of our faith, w h o for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God' (Heb. 122). In fact, the whole thrust of the epistle to thc Hebrews is to direct Christians' gaze to what God has done through Jesus Christ and to admonish thern to respond accordingly. T h e whole of Isaiah 6-9, therefore, contains theological therries which are fundamental to the theology of Hebrews. In quoting Isa. 8:17-18 the author o f Hebrews is not only referring to words which he found to be particularly applicable to his immediate purposes in chapter 2, but he is also referring to a section o f the O l d Testarnerlt where an inlportant theological therne in Hebrews is illustrated particularly well. It is not possible to ascertain how deliberate this was, but the parallels iri thought cannot be ignored. Allttsiotri

It is almost impossible to determine when the author o f Hebrews is ~ n a k ~ ran lg allusiorl to a particular O l d Testament book. Certainly there are verbal echoes between Hebrews and lsaiah but since the phrases involved are relatively

''

(:f Hcb 10 39

ISAIAH I N T H E NEW TESTAMENT

co~~rni<)n one\, it IS 110t posclble to prove conclusively that they corlsntute alluclons to Isa~ahFor example, the phrase i r h t p i o &papriuq In Heb. 10:4 is also Found In Isa 0 7.27 9 but the use of thir verb w t h 'stn' 1s not untque to either Hebrews or lsa~ahThere are, however, three cases of verbal echo whach are unlque to Hebrews and Isaiah and which wlll now be constdered.

The use of &vat$~pcl,(as opposed to &&ipi.:o) wrth clpapriaq In the phrase x o M v irvsveyrtliv &papria
"

Thcrc drr 4 Idrgc rrurntrr of quotdtlons of the pa\sRr III the N m lesument: 52:5 (Rani. 2:24); 52 4 (7 ('M. h-17);5 2 7 (Kcrln. 10.15);52:l 1 (2 (:or. h:17); 52:15 ~ O I I I 15:21); . 5 3 1 (John 12:3X; Koni, i0:lh)..53 1 (Matt. 8:IA; 1 I'ct. '2.24). i3:6 (I Pet, 2:25): 53:7 (Aca R:32f.);53:9 (I Pet, 222; Rrv. 14.5).53.12 (1 ICt. 2.21). 51:I (<;a1 1-27);54.13 Oohn 6:45);55:3(Acts 13:34);55:lO(2 Cor. Y 10) 'The debire lids raged a5 a>whether lralah 53 \botlld bc taken r.i r unit completc 11t ~ n c l f o rwbetl~er l u 52: 1 .I-5.3: 12 twlo~tlgrto rile utiie porrli Blertklnsopp, liu~izlr40- 53, p. 35 I. arprs for the ttrtegrfly d t h passage; ~ H.M Orlllaky. Tlir .%-~uiIcd ',%mwrtrofrhc h r d ' jV1'Sitp 11; Letden: NrlU. lOf17),nr~dR . N .Whybray, buinli 40-66 (N(:H:(;rand Kspldrr: Eerdrndlis. 1075) argue against.

ISAIAI-I IN HEBREWS

lay tn tt, stnttlarly 'he was cut off fronl the land of the ltvlng' could be hyperhave led Orlrn5ky, bole to descrrbe extrerne sufferltig The\e rriib~pt~t~e.; Ilrlver, Whybray and SomlnM,among many others, to argue that there Is no ev~dencethat the Servant d ~ e d However, our concert1 tc not w ~ t hwhat the ortglrlal wrlter Intended, but with how the author of Hebrews understood tt W ~ t hthe clear reference to death t t ~the LXX of v 8 and the use rnade by the early church of the panage to refer to Jew\ Chrlrt, tt \eelni fatrly cercatn that the author wc)uld have as\umcd the de'atti of the Servant The second Issue 1s that of whether the Servant war considered to have suff5red vtcartously. Orl~nsky"'argued very \trongly that the arptntent for vtcarlous suffer~ngt\ an example of Chrttt~anelsegeslr, arid he has been followed by nuny scholars ctnce Whybray, for ex.~~nple, In the first part of htr book T?runks
''

'' <:tJ.A. S o ~ ~ r"lbd l . utld Auferstchung dr.i Ir~dc.tidcrr(;otterk~~echtc\. Jesjs 53. %IO'. L4Ci' 87 (1975). pp, .341-5.5, '''kt-lowcver, r reccllt comnrsnrrtor \tlch a\ Bleok~rru)ppdrgtlCI \tr~rlgl):that ' t h ~~drlgildgep(tlrtt> unmt.irakahly to phy\lcrl vtoletlce renllrttlp trl dcdth': barah: 40-55, p. ,553 ""Orl~nzk~. 'The So-iilllcd 'Snlrr~~r o/'flre Ltnl'. " R.N. Whyhray. ' I h a ~ r k s , ~ rf;lr ~ ~rrt lihnizrcd ~.~ I'r,?plrrr...in blrc.rprrrirttun ~~(ls,t~dir (kdplp(t7 5.1 (Sltrificld. JSO'I' 1'res.i. 107X), p. 70. " "StarilcJ' IS prtnrcd 111 a\\,, js. NAH, '\pr~lrkle
ISAIAH IN ?'HI NEW I'ESTAMENT

and also for I i n ~ n c t t conec, since the author of Hebrews w.lr us~ngthe LXX whtch hat B u u p ~ a o v r u~t ~ ,15 trot porstble, w ~ t h o u further t ev~dence,to a\\urne that the author of Hebrews had the rcadtng 'sprtnkled' In ht\ I;)rlagc and that, ttlc.refore, he nlay have constdered the Servant to have prtestly funct~on\ How then does Isaiah ciescr~bethe Servant in the 'fourth \ong" In Isa 52: 13, the tradlttonal begtnntng of the fourth \ong, there IS a statenlent conccrnlng the greatne\\ and glory of the Servant. 'Ueholci, nly \ervant shill prosper, he shall be esalted and ltfied up,arld shall he very htgh' Thtr thetne of the vtctorious, csalted Servant who carrtec out God's purposes of salvatton IS taken up agalrl In 53 1ltt' The thell~eof exaltat~on,therefore, Forrns an tncln$ion to 52 1-3-53 12 AF Chtlds \ays 'It IS htgtlly sigrnfitatlt t h ~ tthe d~vlne oracle 111 52 13 beg~ns,not with the \crvatlt's hutn~ltatlon,but with hts exaltatlorr, a therne that returns to cltrnax the cecond dtvtne spccc h concerning the cervant tn 53 1 Iff '' 1h1t In the trlterverltng venec, the enlpha\~\I F 011 ht\ hunl~l~atton and degradat~oti Wtltle there 15 plenty of ~ I \ C I I \ S I O I I a1110t1g Conlrllentator'i as to the prectte meaning of the descrtpttorts glven, the general t t ~ t c r ~oft the pa.icage 15 ab\olutely clear In\ appearance tc tnarred, he has n o form or comeline.~c,he 15 a man of .ior~)\vsand acclualnted w ~ t hgrief, \o 5trtcken 15 he, tn fact, that he 15 dccptscd and rejected, as ntle fmm whotn people htde tlletr faces He grew up 11kea tender shoot and l ~ k ea root out of artd ground The first tnay be .I referettce to a sucker whtch grr>wcout of the root of plant a i d IS removed by the farnler, the second nldy rekr to 111s tsolatton, gmwlng up unobtru\~vely,wtthout a kt~ownIttlcagc In ver\es 4-12, Isaiah expla~nsthe purpose of tht\ \ u f i n t t g It I\ not gratuitous hut accordii~g to God'c wtll 'He 1.i strllttcrr by God and affltctetf' Several tdea\ are precetlt here F~rsthe re ~dentltiedconlpletely \vtth 'uc'. 'he bore our s~cknes\and c ~ r r ~ our e d sufferings' (v 4), 'he wv~swounded because ofour sins and brutred for our ~n~cluit~ez' (L 5 ) l h ~ t as , we have seen, ceveral phra\e\ would have sugge\teci to t l ~ eauthor that the cuffertng Ma\ vlcarlou\ 't-lc bore our m r ' , 'the Lord has Iatd on httr~the p i l t of uc all' (v 6). and above all, 'he thrll bear t h e ~ rstnc' (v 11) and 'he bore the \Ins of many, and was handed over because ofthew ~ntclitttlc\'(V 12 LXX) It 1s to thic verce (Ira 53.17) 111 parttcular that the author referr in Heb 0 28, but In fact the Itnks between l c ~ ~ aand l l Hebrews go nlut h ti~rthert11dr1j u ~ t thts verse There are several Important \inl~larittctbetween the ptctltre of the Suffer~ngServant descr~betiabove In lca~ah53 and that of Jc\us In Hebrews. First, both begin by descrtb~ngthe cxrltatlon of the re.~pecttvefiqres 15 Both then go o n to de5crtbe hts hunnltat~on.'" 130th see hic sutf>rtng ac part of tile purpose5 of (;od for the \alVatlon of the world Both \ee IF euffertt~gto have been to deal wtth \tn It] Hebrew\ Jesur catnc. 'to put away ct11 by tlre

ISAIAH I N HEBREWS

sacrifice ot hlrnself The author of Hebrews, however, adds another Important metaphor Into hls t h ~ n h n ga, lnetaphor not found In I\alah 52-51,* that of w ~ t hhn people, who takes h ~ s Jesus C'hrat as the h ~ g hprlest who ~dent~fiec own blood Into the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 8-9) The author of Hebrews, therefore, by h ~ allu\~on r to Ica 53 12 and bv the pos3lble parallels In thought found throughout h15 book to Iwah 52-51. showed that he was probablb aware of the theological herltagtr available to the early Chrl~tlansthrough t h e ~ rreadlng of lca~ah He has gone bebond that herltage, however, by h ~ own s medltatlon on the b~gtirfi~an~e ot Jesur, and in particular bv h ~ sdevelopment of the h ~ g hpr~estly lrletaphor to eqres5 hl\ Chrl\tolog, To uqe the metaphor w t h w h i ~ hwe began. Isalah 1s an important strearn flow~nglnto the pond 6om whlih the author oi Hebrews drawr, but ~t IS not the only one Hrb. 5:9ilsi~. 45: 17 The phraje ow~rlp1a5uioviou 1r1 Heb 5 9 15 wmlar ( a p ~ rtrorn t the caw) to the aclnqpiav aiov~ovof Isa 45 17 dnd IS unlque to Hebrev.5 and l\aiah," though ~t 1s alco found In reversed order 111 the late marluscrlpts L Y 083 In the \ocalled short endlrlg of Mark The verbal snndar~ttesmay be co~ncldental,but rare words In Hebrews recelve a re\onance fro111the pd\\age In Isa~dhwhlch 1s hardlv accidental The author ofHebrews har been descr~btngthe great \alvati011 offered through the perte~thlgh pnest Jesus Chrlst He has been ,rppo~ntedto that t~sliby God, has learned o b e d ~ e n ~through e what he sufbed, and havlnp been niade perfect4v he has becorne the hource of eternal ~.llvattonto all who obey hlnr However. the very greatnee\ of God'q graclou\ dr t in Chr~ct tnahes ~t all the more lmperatlve to llcten and recpond to a, and so tins passage 1s Collowed, In chapter 0 , bv one of thr nloct urgent warnlngc, In tile eplstle There i r a close s~rnilaritybetween the a~gument,of the author of E leb~ewsand Isaiah 1,alah 45 contalns one ot the rnost n~ahmlficentpoem\ on rlrc grandeur of God in Irdrah The Lord alone 1s C;od and salvat~onIS to be tibrind In no one else ' Israel I\ saved by the I ORL) w ~ t heberla5rlng sdvat~ol~, bou hall not bc put to shame or contounded to all etern~ty'(Isa 45 17) T h ~ c *:llvatlorr15 un~cer\al'Turn to me and be saved, all thc ends of the earth' For I am God, and there i\ no other' (45 22) I t 1s al\o sure God'\ purposes will be r.trr~edout '1 have spoken, and I wdl brlng ~t to pas\, I have pnrposed, and 1 A 111 do ~ t (46 ' 11) But thls paean of prase 1s followed, ah In Hebrews, with the Unlwc the reference is taken to 'sprlnkk' In h a . 52 15 Howard Marshall, W.F. Moulton and A.S. Gcden, Conrofdancr to the G e t - k i\;M~*Z~mrnrrir (London: TKiT (:lark, 2002). p. 1015; and E H,itch and H.A. Rrdpadi. A (Toraordd~~-r lo tlic Seprr4agrrlt D I I ~the otlitr Creek I/Pf~.i,?n.i @fIrh~ Oid I b i , ~ ? n m(lrurii~~tiii~ ! rliu .ilpo
" Cf. I I

ISAIAH IN THE NEW 'SES'I'AMENI

stark warntng of chapter 48 In splte of God's greatness, Israel has faded and endangered <;od'c honour The h ~ l u r eof Israel tn lsa~ahas In Hebrew? 1s the farlure to I~ctenand obey (w 1,12,1h, 17-1 8) As Webb says 'God has opened h ~ heart s to thetn, he has gtveti then> ht\ law, he has spoken to thein through h15 prophets, but they llave not Ilctened, and they are ctill not lmten~ng! . and because t h ~ problen~ s tr sttll unrecolveci, thew return to the land wtll not b r ~ n g the ftrllness ofblesstng the) hope for ''" lcatah, therefon., proc.~desthe backdrop agatnst w h ~ c hthe threatcn~ngpa\sage$ whtch have caused ~ u c hconsternatton ~n modern \choIarly ~ I S C U \ \ I O I I should be read. By hts echo of the words of lcarah, therefore, the author of Hebrews 15, consc~ouslyor unconsc~ously, d r d ~ l r l gattetltton to parallel thought\ rn the author~tat~ve Iwah

The phrase uipci ruupov rut rpuytuv o t c u n both In Heb. 9 13,10 4 and tn the LXX ver\rori of l\a 1 1 1, and nowhen. else In the LXX Whtle the .irrn~lar~ty of word~ngnlay be cotnetdental, ~t IS worth whtle cons~derrngthe w ~ d e r context of the phrase 111 Isa~ahto a5certatn ~tc,rt-levance for Hebrews. lta~ah1 'recounts h ~ [<;ocl's] t ovenvhrlrn~nganger towards Israel, offers examples of the natton'\ rebelltous behavtor, anci then turns to God's efforts to brlng h ~ c people into obed~ence'5' Verses 10-17 deal 111 parttcular w ~ t hthe culnc acnv~ t yof Isnel, u hrch Is opulent but erilpty The propilet lays out nvo alternat~ve rne.in\ of relanng to God Otle way 15 thnn~ghrel~g~ous cemrnonles - cult perCor111ed 1x1 man~pulattvew*,iyc ( c v 10--15), the other tc tl~rtwgha Itfe of ethtcal purlty (vv 16, 17) I-le close\ w ~ t ha challenge to choose benveen these wavs (vv 18-20) 111 the phraw 'blood ofgolts and calve\' the author of Hebrews u5e5 the phrase III the wtie wav ar lca~ah It refer5 to the sacrtfic~alsystem of the F ~ n t Covenant 111 a i o ~ ~ t e~\ 1t 1 1 cstresses h 1t5 ~t~adequacy Ltke Isatah, the author of Hehrcwrs offer\ cometh~ngd~fferentJe\uc, tile Great H ~ g hPr~estand the need for a l ~ f cof grat~tudeatid fatthfulnecs to God A\ 111 the prevtous poss~ble allu*~ons, the author ha\ cirawn from Iwah, but has C:hrtrttantzed the concepts

W h ~ l ethc. d ~ f i r e n c eI\r l w o d ~ n would g preclude any ~ d e aof fornial cttat~on,'" the stnl~lartty111 Iniagery In the two pascages w~ouldsuggest that Isa. 35:3 was In the author'e nnnd when he wa5 a d n l o n ~ \ h ~ IIIC t ~ ghearers. A p n , there is evidence, however, that the autlior had the w d e r context of Isatah 35 In m ~ n d when ~ n a k n ~ h g~ 11lurton.a s cotltext In w h ~ c hjudgen~entand trtal are followed are, therefore, urged to take heart. Ifatrh 35 by hope arid where the l~etcr~en ' '

13 Wchh 171, tfr,u>qr of I U I I ~ I(1/ IC I Cc%tcrI \ 1'. 10cY6)p 1'1I 111ldrIwnlr p 17 I g ttx \rrb lnyrnurr In lulrh i<,~~lprrerl to &\wpfkmur~III Ilcbn,\r~.rhc d~ffcrentrdjertrve*.to Jcvrlhr tlw h d n b 2nd t l ~ cdlffrrt-nt \tomi order III hoth par*dpr\r (

ISAIAH IN HEBREWS

was also a passage which had an important influence on early Christian thinkand so would have been known to his listeners. It would have been easy for them to allow the well-known passage in Isaiah to enrich their understanding of the author of Hebrews' admonitions.

n Hab. 2 3 - 4 but the dnt~ncuvephrase p t ~ p o v Heb 10:37-38 IS a c ~ t a t ~ ofiom (ioov (ioov ('~na very l~ttlewh~le')IS almost certainly an allusion to Isa. 26x20 The pasage in Iwah IS one well known to the early church, b e ~ n gappended to the psalter In the LXX and used I~turgrcaUy~n the synagogue and the early church. It encourages people to endure wth perseverance and 1s part~cularly appropr~ateto the paraerletrcal purpoces of the author Once agaln, a very few wordc could lead the l~rtenento mcdltate on well-known pascages of Isa~ah.

Lindan in the introduction to his The Tlteology of the Latter to the Hebrews nlakes the point: 'the Letter to the Hebrews is so obviously fill1 of theoloby that the main problem is not how to dig it out, but how to present it in an assirrtilable form'.54 The same could be said for the book of Isaiah. In view of the complexities involved, this chapter has been lirnited to a discussion of the one explicit quotation and halfa dozen possible allusioris. In looking at the wider context h n l which the passages are taken, however, we suggest that Isaiah has had a niuch greater influence on Hebrews than the few explicit references mig1.1t suggest. Any reading of Hebrews is greatly enriched by taking account of Isaiah and the many resonances there with the theology of the book of Hebrews.

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Cf. Is.35: 5 - 4 3 md Matt. 11 :5: Luke 7:22. Lmdsn. '171~ 7kcof%y of the l~-trerlo the E.i&ms.p. XI.

Chapter 10

Isaiah in 1 Peter Steve Moyise

For the size of the book, 1 Peter ranks alongside Ronlans and Hebrews for the frequency of its explicit Old Testament quotations.' There are nine places where either an introductory formula (yiypamal; Ev ypa4ij) or explicit marker (&I; 6tor1;yap; rai) introduce words which can be traced to a specific Old Testament source.' In addition, it is alniost certain that the formula in 1 Pet. 2:6 ('For it stands in scripture') includes at least 1%. 118:22,Isa. 8: 14, Isa. 432021 and Exod. 19:6 in the words that follow (so UBS4).JAs for unmarked quotations, a good case can be rnade for Ps. 34:7 in 1 k t . 2:3, given that an explicit quotation is to follow (1 Pet. 3:lO-12) and Isa. 8:12-13 in 1 Pet. 3 : 1 4 15, given the unusual phraseology and the fact that Isa. 8:14 has already been quoted. The number of suggested allusions can run into tile hundreds%ut I ~ m i t a ~ oof mspace allow us to cons~deronly the cluster of references to lsalah 53 found m 1 Pet. 2:22-25. We will thus cons~derthe follow~ngs ~ texts: x 1:2425 (I-. 40:6-X); 2:6-8 (19. 28:16/8:14), 2:9 (Isa 43:20--21); 2:22-25 (Isa. 53:412); 3 . 1 4 1 5 (152. 8.12-13); 4:14 (Isa. 11:2), along wlth the important statement by the author concerrling his understanding of prophecy (1:10-1 2). 1 Per. 1:24-25 (ha. 40:68) I=. 4 0 5 - 8 A volce ays, 'Cry out!' And I s a d , 'What shall I cry?

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'

1 k t . t : 2 f25 You have been b o r n anew, n o t of perishable but of ~ m p e r ~ s h a bseed, le througli the l i v ~ n ganci enduring

AccorJln~to the h..t of quoouons tn UBS'. thr average tiumhzr ot r c m per qitoouon a Komna, 7 2.Hebrcu3,H I, I Peter, W 7. Gdlauan*, 12 5. 1 Cormthtans. 17 W.Mattheu, I0 8 6 ~ 14 8 (Pmv 10 12), 4 14 (Iu 11 2), 5 5 (Prw 3 35). Stoft yCypaz7a1 1 16 (Lev 19 2), S ~ o r i n ~ p i C ~Ecvi ypu+tj 2 6-8 ( l u 28 16),816rl 1 24-25 (Isa 40 6-W),yhp 2 25 ( l u 53 6), 3 10--12 (Ps 34 1.%17), rat 4 18 (Prov 11 31) 111 adhaon, 111 5 7,611 ~nnoduccsthe wordr ah@p i l e t ncpi lyrfov. whrch J H Ellrott, 1 Pew A Nw Tmmlntmn wth InROJwtron mrd Ckmmmtary (New York I>ouble&y. ZHH)). p 13, rciprds as a cttatton of Wa 12 13 PJ Achtemctcr, 1 Pem ( H r r ~ n c n r u , Mtnnrapolu Fvroess, 1996),p 739,deme thu and thrnks that PI 55 22 rs the w u x c In v ~ e wof the lack of crrurnty. tt a h n t vrcwed as an alluuon ELon. I P'cmqp 13.adds Hns I 6.9.2 1.2.25.Gcn 23 5 W Wornenunn,'Der cntc Penusbrref- elnc Taufrt.de d n Sdvmus". LNiV 19 (1910-20), pp 14365, found ovcr 50 diustons to Pulm 34, but WL 1chuncr. Hmmcurtc and Compor~nonrn I A.m (WUNT 2 30,Tuh~ngrnMohr Stchzck. 1989). pp 44-49 thtnks only ntnc of char haw an) rrrdtbltrty

I S A I A H IN

rw

Ni W 1 1 \IAMf N I

All pr.opli- rn. gran (n(in(1 n u p t X O ~ T O t, )h, r ~ r tonrtnntv ( m / b o < u d\@~wonori)I \ like (4s) t11c flo\\rr o f t h c ficlii ( T I W ; I / X ( > ~ ~ O ~ I ) I"hc gra5.i \brthcr.i, tlle flower tacIe\. \\lien ttlc brcdtli ot ttle LORI)hlo\\< up011 ~ t\t~rel\ , the p r ( ~ p l cJrr gras I lie g n s wither\. the flo\tcr ~ J C ~ C E I t
m/

0 1 1 the

(~rc\novrcy)\ronl ot (kid For ( h r o ~ i ) 'All f l c h I\ like grr\y (xcnu nu& & ~ o p r o q and ) ,111 its glen (fiitku uiir9;)11lc the flower oigra\\ ( ~ o p r o v ) Tlre gr.r\c \+ithcr\.drld t11c ttcmcr f.il1.i (Ckcncncv), btlt the \\orrl o i t h c Lord (*vptor,) endurct torC\cr (pcvet I i; rev ~liG\Tl)' TIlat \\r,rd IS thr good 11cw5th.ct \\a$ d t l l l O U I I <ed tO > O U

curfact*,the .titthor'\ potnt eeerrrr farrly ztra~ghtfimlard He a5soclrtes the new b ~ r t hof ht\ addre\ccei . ~ \ ~ t~l~i r r p e r ~ \ t ~iecci, a b l ethrough the agency of i e dtlre good 1 r e ~ that 5 wa\ tlre Ilv~rtgand endurrng \\~ordof ( ; ~ d ~, d e ~ r t ~ fa\ pre.ttlreci to then1 ?'he quotatlor1 both coritirnr\ the pol~rtthat (;od'i word t i endttr~rrg,addlrrg the cncounglng ' t h ~ v e r ' u , htle evok~ngr c o r r l r r ~ o ~euperlr errce of*thtrtp per~thrble('grasc') arrd equatrng thli wtth tlre lot of h~lrrr.urL111d rlrere ,tre hiir t l ~ q o rd~firencecbetween the M T anci the LXX text ('tt\ goodne\\') i\ \tr<~rlngely rendered accepted by KahIt3 and Ztegler (I) 665~1&vOp&nou('glory of n r a ~ ~ (2) ' ) ; ;nrv;r ('field') I$ rerrdered ~ciprou('gncs') In prrallel w ~ t hthe firzt t lau\c, (3) verte 7 15 omrtteci erltlrely ('The gra5.i wither\. the Wower frcie\, ul1e11thr hreath oftlle LORI, blo\\\ up011 ~ t\urrly , tlrc people rre grais'), (4) '7U ('fade') ~c rendered C{izcocv ('fill') In the first, 1 I'eter agree\ \vrth the LXX'i 66ju but agreer w ~ t hthe M T In ucrng a prt)lioun (ui>riiq)rrtlrer tharr the I XX'\ dvOpoxou 111 the rerlralrrlng three ci~fferen~e\, 1 Peter \ ~ d e swlth the LXX ' There rre two dltferer~te\bctweetr 1 I'etcr and both the M T .trrd LXX of 1c.1 40 6-8 The firer tc the inclui~onof dl; ('ltke') henvcerr o u p i ('fle\h') a r d ~opso; ('gr,trz'), t r a r ~ \ f o r ~ n ~the ~ r grrretrphor tnto a i11111leS ~ n c ethe author rrr'rLe\ frequcrlt ure of % a\ ;1 corrlparrtlve (27 t111rc5).t h ~ r15 rr~octl ~ l e l ya \tvlr\tic change, perhap\ lrlflllenced hv t l ~ ed q III the p'~rallelc.laute ('lrke the Ho\vcr of tlre field') " Tlrc second I r lriore iubctrnt~al,the repldcer~rcrltof 'our God' ~ l t 'Lord' h Tlrcre are \everdl po\c~hlcesplanattons for thlr. ( I ) thlc \%as tlrr read~ngof tire 1-XX test utrd by 1 l'eter (anti now found In 1.' 4tr2334.56 C'o 5yp") If t h ~ eI\ the cate, then our matn unc~rlwltnc\\ec (X, A, 13) repre\errt ;t text thrt has heerr c ~ ~ l h r ~ r to r e tlre d Hebrew Kahlfs and L~egler thtnk ~t I I ~ L I C1110re ~ Ilhelv that the text of 1 I'eter ha\ t~rfluenccdthew other LXX nl'tnuscrlpt.;, (2) a \tylrctlt change by 1 I'eter, perhap draulrrg o n the prrvlour verse of I.ia1a11(40 5), \\ htch speaks of the 'talvrt~onof C;od' a11d then \.~y\,'for the Lord ha\ cpokcrr'. (3) .I delrheratc theolog~calchange to thow

ISAIAH IN I PETER

that it is 'the word of/concerning Jesus' that endures forever. Elliott argues strongly for this, noting that 1 Pet. 1 :11-12 has already indicated that the prophets spoke about Christ and that this was the message that was proclaimed to them. Furthermore, 1 Pet. 1:25 goes on to identifi this enduring word with 'the good news that wvas announced to you'. Coupled with the fact that the author generally uses mjpioq for Jesus (1 :3; 2 2 ; 3: 15) and O E C ~for God the Father (1:2,3,5,21,23, etc.), the most likely conclusion is that the change is deliberate.' There is one hrther point to clarify. Does the substitution of 'Lord' for 'God' change the meaning from a subjective genitive ('the word spoken by God/Jesus') to an objective genitive ('the word about Jesus')? Isaiah was speaking about the trustworthiness of God's word and it is possible that 1 Peter now wishes to claim the same for Jesus. In that case, the identification that follows ('That word is the good news that was announced to you') must refer to the preaching of Jesus.%n the other hand, Elliott notes that the author claims that the prophets spoke about the 'sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory' and it is tltis message that was proclaimed to the readers (1: 12, 25b). He thus suggests that the change to 'Lord' has resulted in a change to an objective genitive.' Finally, while it is true that Isa. 40:(r-X is not an object of exegesis for the author, the citation does Illore than sirnply confirm what has already been said. ~ ancestors' (1:lX) are now For example, the 'futile ways inherited h n your associated with withering grass and universalized ('all flesh'). Indeed, given the hostile situation of the readers, the use of 'glory' for the transience of the grass might well evoke 'what gave every appearance of being the permanent, even eternal, power and glory of the Roman Elnpire'.'" Schutter speaks of the author's 'creative elaboration of the text's figurative dimensions', taking 2:1 to be an elaboration of the moral connotations of 'flesh', 2:2 (TOk o y t ~ o v&6ohov yuha) to refer back to the 'word of God' (bijpa, however) and 2:3 to consolidate the application of 'Lord' to Christ. However, he appears to go too far when he says 'the image of an infant's irrepressible urge to grow has been adroitly juxtaposed with the quotation's imagery of tnnsience'." '

' ' a

"

Ell~ott,1 1'rtt.r. p 3'91 Cchnttcr t~ndsthe studled d r ~ l b ~ p t ot t y 1 k t 2 3 ( t ! y t W U ~ EL l ~ t~ p q u f %b r u p t o ~as ) deirs~ve'\\hen the duthor proceeJ In 2 1 to a play on u o d s that pxrupporr a doublcmeaning tor the wvp~a;of tlte psalm. he relnovn anv porrlhle douhr that n~rghtrenurtl about whether hn apphcat~onof the l u ~ a hquoratton rest\ l ~ k r w xupon a double-nrcarrrr~p' Hmomall;u Wt,rd Bookr, IOXX), p 7'). though rhn 13 rornewhat m ~ o p t e dby lilr conunent that. ' To Peter, the message ofjerus and the meuape about Jesus arc the u r n r tnelnge.jus ar tliey are to Mark ( 1 1, 14-1 5) and to the author of Hebrews (2 3-4)' klllott. 1 I'rtrr. p 391 50 also Achtcme~cr,1 E'rfrr.p I42 A
ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1 fJet.2 : 6 8 (Isa. 28: 16/8:14) Isa 28 16 See. I am laylng rn Zlon a foundation stone (!Sob kyri EpkhC, EL< r a QcpUru Xrmv AiQov),a tested storre (noAurcAfi),a precious cornerstone (EKAEKTOV &wpoymvraiov Ev~tpov),a sure founddtlon (&i
1 Pet. 26-8 See, I am laying in Zion a stone @Souri&lpr iiv Xtiiv AiQov), a cornerstone chosen and precious (d~poycovlaiov t r i c r r h v Evrrpov); and whoever believes in him d l not be put to shame (06 KUTU~UXU~BQ).

Ps 1 18 72 The stone that the builders rejected has hecotne the chref cor~~erstone

To you then who belleve ( n r ~ f c w w r v )he , 1s precloul (fi riph). but for those who do not heheve. 'The $tone that the builders rejected has k c o n i e the very head of the corner' and 'A stone that makes them rtunible (AiQq x p m o p w r o ~ )and , a rock that makes them fall (nirpu mavCMAo11)'

Ram. 9 3 3 See. l am laying in Zion a stone (160~~i&lpt Ev Ztiuv Xibv) that wiU nuke people stumble (~P-~Pw~s). a rock that will make them fall (ntrpav mavliirhou), and whoever believes in hirn will not be put to shame (06 ~aru~quv&jas~a~).

Mark 12:10 Have you riot read this scripture: 'The stone that the builders rejected has beconie the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? Luke 20:17-18 What then does this text mean: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstotie'? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whotn it falls.

ISAIAH IN 1 PETER

The occurrence of these 'stone' texts in the gospels, Paul and 1 Peter (and use of the itnagery in Eph. 2:20) has beet1 pivotal in discussions of a possible testimony book,I2 collection of proof-texa's or early Christian hymnsi' as the source of some of the Old Testament quotations in the New Testament. The textual data and implications may be briefly summarized as follows:

4%

1. The presence of ~ a Eav i Ex' aGr@ nsno&@ ('and if anyone trusts in him') in the LXX of Isa. 8: 14, without a basis in the Hebrew text, already suggests a link with Isa. 28:16 in the eyes of the LXX translators. It is possible that 1QS 8:4ff. also offers evidence for a link between the Hebrew texts.'' 2. The M T of Isa. 8:14 says that God 'will beconle a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against'. The LXX turns this into a contrast. For the one who trusts, God will be a sanctuary and not a stone that causes stunlbling. 1 Peter and Konlans agree that the stone is not a cause of stumbling for those who believe ( h m Isa. 28:16) but insist that God has laid in Zion a stone that causes stumbling. This makes it unlikely that 1 I'eter and Ronlans are drawing directly on the LXX text of Isa. 8:14." 3. Luke is wimess to a development of the stone's destructive role. The stone that falls and crushes is probably an allusion to Dan. 2:34, but falling on the stone and being broken rnight well be an allusion to Isa. 8:15 ('they shall fall and be broken'). 4. All the quotations of Ps. 118:22 in the New Testament agree exactly with the LXX, which is an accurate rendering of the Hebrew. 5. 1 I'eter and Romans agree with the LXX against M T by including an abject (Cn' abt@)"for the verb 'believe' (nlarsGov) and using a form of rara~qiv@ ('ashamed') instead of the somewhat obscure WIT ('haste/ panic') . I R " "

"

Is

'' "

''

J R Harrrs, 7artmo1rtes (2 vok, Catnhrrdgc ( anthrrdge Unrvenrr) Press, 1916. 1920) C, H Dodd. dccordtuq to fhr hpctrn,s Ill< Slab-sfnurunof Nw Ierrertrmt 7hrnlqy (London Nnhet. 1052) E C; Wwyn, 7hr I-tnt I-/~tcflrrrlrof51 PP~CY (London Macnuihti. 1952) %I \chuttrr. Hmctc~uru,p 132, dnwtng on J Zreder. Clttrmuchrmnpu rur Scpruagtnfa drs Burhes karar (Murntcr, 1934) and I) rlusser.'Thc Dead Sca Sect and Pre-Paulrec <:hrtstmrry'. rn C Rahtn and Y Ya&n. eds, 'urrptii Htmsolymrfirna. 4 ucruulern. 1965). pp 2 1 5 4 6 Howcver. he d r r n n Flusscr's cl~rnichat 1 Pet 2 4ff arid IQS 8 I f f go hack t o A conmion LC&* The ncgaovc s not found 1x1 Aqulla. Theodouon or Fyrnmachus Mrsrng horn R but bhlfr a i d Zreglcr regard rt as o n g ~ n dJcrcmu. 'ls&y'. I7)NT 4. pp 268--80, ukc5 tha rs 'm hrm' dnd hence a rnentmrc tnterpnutson ofthc Hchrcw, hut Alhl thlt~ksthc 'elustvc effort to find a pn-Clnrsuan rnesraritc hackground for the C h r r s t o l q ~ c drnterpnuuon of stone rexu n nusplared the most rnlporunt harkgmut~da the use of Isr 28 16 rt Qumran to support the cott~mrmmty'sclastl~to hc the sol~drack of retuge and ~ndecdthc new Tenylc' M C Alhl, ' A d .k~pturr(:annot be Brokpn' Ilre form mtd Eurufrott o/ the h d y (:hrurmn Tcsumonra C~ollrrrrotu (Lctdcn Rr111,1999),p 2x4 Interesnngly, the object pronoun rs dlw 61und rn the Targum For the use of r a r a ~ a ~ u w D . J Watt?; Isatah 1-39 (WRC 24, L > r h Word Boots, 1985) th~nksthe LXX trarrslrtor pmhaMy read ttrrr rnstead of ww

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESI'AMtiN.1

6 1 1,eter agrees wrth l
tlng rnentlon of the foundat~onr(sir O E ~ E ~ I Uand ) ' " n o h v r ~ h f ianci , using oravSuhov ~n\teado f nrbpu Thrc pornt\ to etther Itterary dependence between I Peter and Romans or use o f a cornnlon \ource 7 1 I'eter differ, from l'aul In urlng the iubluncttve (oh pi1 ~ a ~ u t o ~ u v ~ f i ) instead o f the future (ob ~ u ~ u ~ o ~ v v O i l o cqruuot t) ~, n gthe t ~ test\ o iepar~ t e l yand ~ n c l n d ~ nconlnlent g b e n w e n then1 X I'aul u\cs the quotatlolls as pdrt o f h ~ euplanat~on \ for \v11) I\r.lel ha\ stumbled and <;er~ttlcsare findnlg calvat~on.I I'eter I\ rnore general, reierr~ngto tlie 'unbellevlng nelghbori and a u t h o r ~ t ~ eIns the I V I I I C ~w*hCo are engaged tn the ktnd of \octal hara\\ment o f the <:Ilrrit ~ a nC O I T ~ I I I L I I ~ I ~tllat I C C 11'1\ p r ~ v o k c dthli letter'

'"

1 I'etcr first allude\ t o Isa 28 16 and 1% 118.22 111 7:4 by exhorting lllr readers to, '<'onre t o him, a I I V I I I ~ \ti>tt(', though r(*li*ilrd by rllortali yet rhc~civr and prcr~orc.,In God'i 91ght'. H e then quotes Iia 28.1 h to make the po\ltlve potnt that For those w h o bel~cve.the stone IS prec-touc, and I\ I I8 22 ttl.tt 'the \tone that the butlders r(v\t7teii ha\ become the very head o i t h e cornrr' T h e t n ~ t ~ a l . ~ l l u r ~ oplay5 n an lrnportant I~terar).role, for (1) had the full text o f Isa. 28.16 been quoted at the begrnnnlg, h r co~tliinot have nlade the cornpartFon 'I~ke 11v1ngstones, let yourcelves bc b u ~ l Into t a ~ p ~ r ~ t IIOIIC~', i l a l for a bitlldlng 15 not conlprtced of nunlen)u\ cornr*r\totlec. (2) ~t \uggesti .I \c.nlantlc \ h ~ f iIn the nreannlg crf L K ~ E K T O Vand ~ v r t p o v When applied to burldlng stones, the rneanlng 15 i o n l e t h ~ n gltke '\elected' and '\%ell-hewn' WI~erl applied t o people, the rneanrng I\ Inore relat~on~ll, as 111 the tran\lat~on'c ho\en and prccloir\' It may even ,ugl~e\ta connectloll wlth the Servant o f 15.1 42 1 ('Here rc n ~ yservant, w h o m I uphold, nly cho\en, 111 wllonl nly ioul deltghts'), (3) ~t makec ~t clear that the Lx' ULTQ111 the quotatloll refer5 to (:hr~ct and not crrnply the (rnascullne) \tone. From a rhetorical polnt o f v~cwv,'the p r e l ~ m ~ n a r y allu\ton n~akecJ space Tor the cn>wnrng quotation t o fill, g ~ v ~ n gsense o f currrplct~onand appropr~atenc\~'." Ica 3 8 10 15 phrased ~ ~ e g ~ ~ t tho\e ~velw y ,h o belleve will not be put t o \harne I-fo\\ever, the oppo\rte o f \hame 15 'honour' (r~pfi),w h ~ c halthough cognate wltll Evs~pov,\hould probably bear t h ~ cnleanrng here. rather th'tn \orneth~ng

.I

If rt I \ tcrrrci t tirat tlrc iitnthlr otnlurorr of ru Otpr) I U I \ hetau\c I\a K 14 rcqutrr\ r \tortr orre C A I I rrrp o\cr rrthrr rllan r htrrlrd foundatrott \r<~rrc11 \o=c.it.i ttlr orrgtrr of thl\ text-trpc Itc\ III thc c \ \ O I I I ~ dc.11) tlrat C Ilrr\tra~rc115ed \&rrttrrr \c r t p t u r ~ lc ~ ~ l l t - ~ h~grri~trtrg tt~~~~\ In N I' t~rrrc\ 'And Lnpclrrt (.orrrrrrr /*. Ilmkcrt', p 287 ' FI J \rrr Kcnrhurg and \ h 4 q r r e lclrrh In 1 I'eter 2 C l O 4pplbrng Intcrtc\ttirlrt\ to tlrr \t~i
ISAIAH IN 1 PETER

like 'precious'. Thus in the exposition, 1 Peter is not so much repeating the christological point (NRSV:'he is precious') but making an ecclesiological point for believers - they will receive honour. On the other hand, for those who do not believe, Ps. 118:22 and Isa. 8:14 are applicable. O n their own, we might deduce that their purpose is to elucidate the role of Christ but 1 Peter adds a conclusion: 'They stumble because they disobey (bn~l0oOwy)the word, as they were destined to d o (rtst0qoav)'. This suggests that the main purpose of quoting 1's. 118:22 w a s 'primarily to evoke the builder's shame over their mistake and only secondarily to refer to Christ's exaltation'." As many commentators point out, the predestination theme involves a word-play a n the initial ri011p1 ('put, lay, appoint') of Isa. 28:16 (as quoted). Schutter is probably correct in seeing Isa. 28:16 as the key text but goes too far in trying to explain ewryt/ting else as a midrashic exegesis of it. 1 Pet. 2:9 (lsu. 43:20-21) Exod 195-6a Now therefore, ~fyou obey my votce and keep niy covenant, you shdl be nly treasured possesston out ofall the peoples Indeed, the wholc earth 15 mine, but you chall be for me prtettly kingdom (@aiAe~ovIepiIreupu) and a holy natlon (t0vcy hytov)

.I

1 Pet 2 9 But you are a chosen race ( y t v q ErAerr6v). a royal prttrthood ( ~ u i A e t o v ~ E ~ T & Uholy ~ Unatton ) . ~ (&tho5hytov), God's own people ( k l y cl; xeptnoiqatv). tn order that you nlay pruclann the mtghty dCtS ( 6 ~ TUG q & P & K ~&< ~ u w & ~ Aof ~ Thlfll E) who called you out ofdarkness Into hls marvellous ltght.

1%. 43:20b-21 to give drink to my chosen people (TO yCvn; pOU TO ~ K ~ E K T the~ people V ) , whom I formed for tnysclf (ncptenotqua~qv)so that ¶<pou they might declare tr~ypraise (TUG Stqy~idut).

The author of 1 I'eter 'advances his argument with a skilful selection ofC>T phrases (taken ti on^ the LXX) and all originally applied to Israel'.'"he implication appears to be that the author views the church as having replaced Israel as God's people, but there is no hint of such a pole~nicin the letter and he never speaks of the church as the 'new Israel'. Michaels suggests that the author is perhaps guilty of a certain 'naivete', in that he seems to ignore the fact that there ever was an old Israel. Indeed, it is surprising that he refers to the dispersed collection of aliens (1:l) as a 'race' ( y t v g ) , a desibmation later

""

'chutter, I-fmnencrrnr,p 134 E Ilc\t, 1 I'utrr (London Manhnll. Morm11& \con. 1970). p 107 Note Ax, the w e of the 'not pcoidlc and '11ot shown Inen)' colltraso 111 I Pet 2 10 60111 Hosea, a, a h , uxd tnf Paul In Ron1

')25

181

ISAIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

taken up by the Fathers (e.g. Clement, Stromateis 6.5.41) to refer to the church as 'the third race', though 1 Peter shows no interest in such categories.24 There are three differences between the quotation and the text of Isa. 43:20&21. First, instead of the first person verb n ~ p i ~ n o t q o a p q v('1 formed'), 1 Peter uses the noun raptroiqo~q('possession'). In the rest of the New Testatnent, the noun is usually qualified by a further noun such as 'salvation"1 Thess. 5 9 ) or 'glory'(2 Thess. 2:14). Second, 1 Peter speaks of ) than recounting (61qyLopu1) the praises/acts proclaiming ( E < a y y ~ k b rather of God. The change is surprising since PE,ayy~kkois not used elsewhere in the N T (except the shorter ending of Mark). Schutte?' suggests the change was prompted by Isa. 42:12 ('Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands') but since the LXX uses hvayyikXco, this still does not explain why the author of 1 Peter chose E&ryy~ko.26 Michaels is more convincing when he suggests the influence of Ps. 9:15 ( 8 x q tiv b e u y y ~ i h zaoaq raq aiv&oetq oou), especially as this would also explain the third difference, the use of iiq+ subjunctive to express purpose rather than an infinitive (61qy&i:io0at).*' 1 Per. 2:22-25 (lsa. 53:4, 5, 6, 7 , Y, 12) lsa. 53:4,5.6,7,9,12 Surely he has borne our ~nfirtnitres(7% bpap~iagqp&v 6tpe1)' . . . upon h ~ m was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed (713 p b ~ a h~0 6~fipdg t th0qp~v)'" . . All we like sheep have gone astray (cS; xpbfkI7a kn;cavf)0qp&v)". . . He was oppressed. and he w a q afflicted, yet he s ... did not open h ~ mouth" he had done no violence, and there u-ds no deceit In h a mouth (671 &vopiavO ~ K dnoiqoev 01563 ~bp60q&oh05Bv T@ mopart a6~06)' he poured out (naptSo0q)" himself unto death . . . he bore the srn of nnny (airzbg &pupsiu< x o M v dV7jvcyrev)"

"

1 R t . 2:22-25 i-le committed no sin, and no deceit ws found in hi mouth (&)lapriav o h knoiqaev o a k &pk&1 &ikq 8v T@ mopazl aClzo0)' When he was abused, he &d not r m r n abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten;" but he entrusted hmself (napcSihu)" to the one who judges justly. He himselfbore our sins (7% &pupria$ f i a v ak-rbc, h c u j v q ~ e v"') ~in h s body on the cross, so that, free fro111 sins, we might hvr far righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed (14 p h k l L&&IKE).~ For you were going asmy like sheep (fizr: yap & xpb@xrn ~Aavhpevot),"'but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Mrcharh. 1 Pew, p 107 The d c ~ r p u o ny e w < bwiemov n found only UI Isa 43 20 and addloons to Esther 8 12 m the L X X " Schutter,Hmnennrru, p 40 Ih .4( prnted out by Achtemcrer. 1 I'~fer, p 166 '-Mrchaels, I P r f q p 110 Howeber, his furrller Lonunmt that 'Rtcr has chosen an cqu~vllenttmn. but one rnore spec~ficallyfocuwd on worship' a denred by Achternc~er.1 Pew, p 166, and Ellrott, 1 I ' r f . p 439

ISAIAH IN 1 PETER

Debates about the use of Isaiah 53 in the gospels are complicated by the lack of expliat parallels with the language of the LXX.'~There is no such difficulty in 1 Peter, where a inixhlre of quotations and allusions make it the 111ost 'elaborate reorganisation or rewriting of Is. 53'" in the New Testament. Schutter thinks a definite pattern can be perceived, with quotations or allusions before 1 Pet. 2 2 4 coining from the second half of the passage (v, YV,vi) and those coming afier 1 Pet. 2:24 from the first half of the passage (ii, iii). The tpllce, as he calls it, comes i11 1 Pet. 1 2 4 , which combines the rdq kpupsiuq qpQv of53:4 (i) with the Zrvfiv~ylc~v of 53:12 (vii). In the context of an exhortation to slaves (1 Pet. 2181, 1 Peter's reworking of-the nzaterial makes three po~nts: 1 &\us' ~ n o c e n r eartd tmn-rt3talrahoti 'He comm~ttedno sin, and no deceit wal fOurld 111 hls mouth' Wlth one exception (hpnpstav for bvopiuv), this 1s tn verbatlni agreenlent w ~ t h Isa 53.9 The statement of non-retal~at~ondoes not draw directly on Isa 53 7 and may reflect Chrijtlan tradition Best thlilks the nupsStGou ('entrusted hiinself') points to the dlvine passive nuptSoeq (+washancieci over by God') in 15'1 53 12a. thus prov~dmga tranrltlon from Chr~stas evample to Chnst as redeemer 2 Jew\' artatrtl~lrthrrlcnt 'He himself bore our ,in&',a f u t t o ~of~ Isa 5'3 4 (TUG drpuprtu; fipiov) and 53 12b (apupsiuc, xohhmv uvjvtywtv), and 'by hi\ wounds you have been healed', using the smgular p w h y (only occurrence In the NT) and the passlve of luopat (In the seco~ldperson to apply to elther hi5 readers in gerleral or slave, m particular) The fint dllu\~onI\ glossed ' ~ nhls body on the cross', ulnmately an alluslon to the 'tree' of Lkut 21 23, though probably drawn from Chr~stlantradit~on(cf. Gal 1 1'3) Whether thic alluslon to ciuclfixio11 ('the clave's death') and the u5e of pohoy ('wound, bruise') is partl~ularlyal~lledat slaves is difficult to determ~neThe author also ubes the first perton for 'our siris', and the result is that 'we mlght h e ' 3 T h r rradcr'c prrdtcart~errt and talvarzoti 'For you were golng astray hhe sheep', uslng the same noun (~po/3u.cov)and verb (~huvuco)It 1s the pretence of yap that leads Ell~ottto classltj. this as a marked quotation though v 22 clearly has the stronger cla~mwith respect to verbal agreement I~ldeecl,the yap is rlot so much a speclfic text marker as an attempt to strengthen the link between the 'brulslng' arid sheep golng

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As timously pointed out by M . 0 Hooker.Jecir thla Servant (London- SP(:K, 1959). Schulter. Nemrrrieutu, p. 143 i% Achtet~~eler, 1 Pcier, p. 2(H),poino out, 1 Peter does not use any words 6om the vop-stem and

most Uely cotlforlr~s~tboth to hm own usage (2:22.21; 3:lX; 4:1,8) and to t h e nlorc frequerlt word ul lsa~ah53 (w 4,5,6,10, 11,12). Best, 1 Peter. p. 121. Achte~neler. 1 I'etcr, p. 2(W, hsputes this, sxnce the next verse allildes to Isa. 53:12b to make a d~ffererlrpoznt. UBS' Lsts 1 Pet. 2:25 2s a quotanon and the rest as allus~ons.NA" ~tahcizesall ofthem.

ISAIAH IN I'HE NEW IES'I'AMtN'I

astray " The concludl~lgcor~l~llerlt ('but riow you have retiirrled') rll~ght haw been cuggested by the hnk between t u r n ~ n g(rfx~orpk~+w) and healing (iuopul) found 111 the often-quoted lea. 0:10." Alterr~atively(though not neccstarily exclucively), ~t might have been sugge\ted by the chepherd imagery of Ezek~el34, w h ~ c hspeaks both of go~rlgamay (34 4) arici of being retur~led(34: 10).''

ICJ 8 1-7-17 1 l'et 3 1.1-15 I)o n o t call con.iprracv all that ttn, peoplc I3ut even it \ < I U do suffer for d o i n g \ \ t i ~ tI\ call< c. on,prnc\, anti d o n o t tear \\hat IC tear<, right.)otr arc b l e s e d I)o n o t icar what tile) o r h e in dread (rov SE +ofk>\aiiroG oil p q tear. and ifo n o t h e intlniriidted (rov 6 c @$qOfirr: oiAr p q r a p a y 0 j r r ) But t h e Lowrj +@ov abrtov irq @0(3qOfirc p q h r o f hoctc. htni you thall regard as hol) ( ~ u p t o v rapa;(Ojrc), hut in \ o u r Ireart\ \.nl~trf\i clbrov 6y1unarc). let titni b e ~ o t l fear, r .ind let C'hrrct a5 Lord ( r t ~ p t o vbc r o v Xpicrrov hrni bc t o u r d e a d ~ytaaarc)

'Though there 15 no ~ntroductoryformula or explicit marker to indrc.ate ,I yuotat~or~, ceveral t h ~ n gpoirtt in that d~rectron(1) the abrupt and to~rlewhat unutual phrase ~ c i vf i i *pov occurs in the LXX only at Ita X 11 arid I'rob 1 29, (2) t h ~ cIS followed by the satne nco verbs (i$o~qfJqr~: and T U ~ U X O ~asT E ) 111 LXX I\a 8 12,%(3) t h ~ s I\ tollowed by a conl~nandto t a n c t ~ h(C'hr~tt)the ~ k y ~ u o u ~.Isc )111 , LXX Iu H 13, (4) the author hac already Lord (nrptov uuotcd Ica H I4 111 1 I'et 1 8 This confirms that he has LXX Isa X 12-1 3 111 nirnd " But for what purposej 111 Itaiah, the prophet I\ berrtg told not to tl~are the fear or dread that ha5 overtaken ‘this people'. The gerlltlve Ir therefore \ubjective ('110 not fear what they fear') However, 111 1 Peter, the 'they' mu\t refer to the opponents ment~onedin the prevlotie verce, rhoce who are cauclng the reader5 to tuffer. It would thuc be \trartge for the author to urge hls readers not to fear what 111s opponent\ fear, for that \would be rrrelev'rnt 1 I'eter \urely

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4%Flllott, J I'pfrr p i37, reetcr 3 l t-17 Applt ~trgI i ~ t e r t ~ \ t ~ ~ 10 r l lthc t \ \lirdb 111sOT 111 rhc NT' krpruro 80 (2(M)Z)pp 275 80

ISAIAH IN 1 PETER

intends an objective genitive ('do not fear them') and Best thinks the author has sinlply ignored the Old Testament context and adopted its wording: In Isaiah the prophet is told riot to fear the king of Assyria as the Israelites do; here the meaning has been changed; when the words are isolated from their context they car1 be translated as it1 I Peter; the origtnal meaning 'do not fear with their fear' would be impossible in the context of 1 P e t e ~ . ~

Michaels thinks the answer lies in an ambiguity created by the singilar pronoun (aGToD) used in the LXX. In the Hebrew text, the third person singular looks back to 'this people' and is thus rightly transpronominal suffix (m) lated 'their fear'. However, Michaels suggests that the singular atroG changes the focus to an individual, namely the king of Assyria: 'Formally, Peter's modification of the LXX represents a move back in the direction of the Hebrew, yet Peter's context shows that he follows the LXX in assuming the pronoun to be an objective genitiv~'.'~This would be an interesting if cotnplex use of scripture, but it is not clear that the LXX's abroC does make the change Michaels suggest. It could just as easily refer back to 'this people' (b kuoq 0670~)as the Hebrew text did.

Isa I 1 2 1 Pet 4 14 The cprrtt of the LORD chall rest on hlm (rai If you are reviled for the name of Chrtrt, drvanuwrezai tn' alrrbv ~ v e f p aroc Beof), you are blessed, because (671) the sprrrt of the spmt ofwisdoni and undersundrng, glory, whrch is the Sptr~tof God, IS rectrng the sprrlt of co~tnseland ttxrght, on you (TOrfi< CKiSqq KUI TO roc Ow6 the sprrtt of knowledge arid the fear of the nveirpa t+'6p85 &vanuusrai) LORO

Isa. 1 1:2 is the only verse in the LXX where nvolipu, 0 ~ and 6 &~v a n a h occur together and Elliott r e g d s 1 Pet. 4:14 as a quotation because of the nlarker iirt, though most see it as an allusion. 1 Peter does not include any of the qualieing genitives of Isa. 11:2 but adds 'glory' (TOrqq 666qq). resulting in some 'uncharacteristically awkward prose',4" which has had its effect on textGiven the fact that the previous verse speaks of rejoicing ual transmissior~.~' 'when his glory is revealed', the switch to the present ('spirit of glory . . . is resting 011you*) calls for some explanation. Michaels thinks the author has the

Bat. 1 I'efm. p. 133. Selnyr~.I f'rlm, p. 192.1s olore defensrve: '46poS can rake either a subjecuve geniuve (fear felt hy someone) or an olyective genrcrvc (fear felt ~/'sorneone):and,cven rfthe former w s the consallcoon 111 Is, vtrr. 12. St. Peter was fully entided to u x the latter corrrauctron bere'. Mrchaels, 1 Peter. pp. 186-87. *' Achtenrerer, 1 Rtn,p. 308. " NA*' allots dl1 avenge o f I 4 lrnn per vcnc on thu page (1 Pet. 4:7-18) but are de\.ated to v. 14. Thne iriclude rwo longer readrng (wq; rui Guv&pw; ~ u r aplv at'rrok $kua+qp~imrrara 6 t bpd; S ~ u j c t a i )varlanoru , m the Cyrm o f rhe vcrh (dvunsruCrar),rhr use of a computid (Qnuwnuiiru~) and a different verb (Itvanhpnerui).

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ISAIAH I N THE NEW TESTAMENT

tradition of the Spirit's special presence in times of trouble (Matt. 10:19-21~ par.; Luke 21:13-15) in xriind and, on analogy with Isa. 11.2, if 'the "Spirit x ~ f God'' can be the spirit of all those things, it can be as well the spirit of Chistis glory'." For a connection between 'spirit' and 'glory', he cites 2 Cor. 3:8, 17-18. Spirit and glory are not oken linked in the LXX but interestingly, 66ta does occurs in Isa. 11:3 and also following the 'spirit of the Lord' prophecy in Isa. 6 1 2 . The occurrence in Isa. 1 1 3 does not seem very promising ('His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord') but in Isa. 61:2, the promise to the mourners that God wlll give them 'beauty for ashes' has become in the LXX, 'glory for ashes'. Schutter entertains the possibility that TO r f i ~ F6E,qq , . . nveilpa might itself be an Old Testament allusion (e.g. Pss 72: 19,79:9; Neh. 9:5; Dan. 3:52;Judith 9:8; 1 Macc. 14:10; 3 Macc. 2:9) hut does not think it is possible to specifi one particular text. Perhaps all we can say is that the author wished to strengthen the promise of the Spirit by alluding to the 'glory', that is, the very presence of God, in time of persecution. There are two differences between the LXX of Isa. 11 :2 and 1 Pet. 4~14. First, the verb is present (hvuaa6rru1) instead of filture ( b v a n a G a ~ ~ Second, a~). the endowment is promised to his readers (E+' 6p8;) rather than the anointed one (tn' abthv). Given that this is a well-known nlessianic text, it would appear that the author felt able to extract a different (though related) application for his readers. For Schutter, this confirms that the author is operating with a pesher-like hermcneutic similar to those at Qumran.

Concern~ngthis salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry ( E ~ E < ~ T ~~GauEcqpuuvqouv), vi inquir~ngabout the person or tlme ( E ~ Sriva ij xoiov ~ a t p o v )that the Spirit of Chrirt withm them indicated (EFjhou) when it testified in advance (npopup~upop~vov) to the suffer@ destined
According to the six passages studied, Isaiah knew about the imperishable word of the Gospel message (Isa. 40:6-a), the non-retaliatory character of Christ and his redemptive activity on behalf of the straying sheep (Isa. 53:412), the endownlent of the Spirit on those suffering in Christ's name (Isa. 11:2), the requirement to 'reverence the Lord' rather than give in to f a (Isa. 8:12-13). the duty of the people of God to proclaim his mighty acts (Isa.

ISAIAH IN 1 PETER

43:20-21) and the fact that the appointment of Christ will mean salvation fbr some and stun~blingfor others (Isa. 28:16/8:14). This links closely with the author's statement concerning prophecy that 'it was revealed to them that they were not serving thenlselves but you' (1 Pet. 1:12a),'%ut appears to be broader than 'the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory'. There is a variety of 'activities' mentioned in this 'theory' of prophecy. First, there is a searching activity (E

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