My colleague Toby Sumpter suggests that Isaiah 22 ends with an image of the cross. Eliakim is compared to a peg on which hangs the glory of his father’s house, but the peg “gives way” and “breaks off” and is cut off. This is perhaps an image of the cross. The . . . . Continue Reading »
I offer my reflections on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 at www.firstthings.com/ . . . . . Continue Reading »
In Genesis 1:16, the sun and moon are set in the firmament as rulers of the day and night. The word “ruler” or “dominion” is taken from the verb mashal , memshalah . Stars are called “rulers” of night in Psalm 136:9. The LXX of Genesis 1:16 translates memshalah . . . . Continue Reading »
Shebna is rebuked for wanting to carve a tomb in Jerusalem (Isaiah 22:16). What could be wrong with that? Plenty. The repeated questions of Isaiah 22:16, and the emphatic locative (“what are you here ? Why are you here ? You hew a tomb here “) indicate that Shebna is presuming a higher . . . . Continue Reading »
In response to invasion and siege, the people of Jerusalem do all the natural things people do in crisis - they shore up defenses, ensure the water supply, take account of the available weapons (Isaiah 22:8-11). They do everything they can to avoid defeat, and the exile that will no doubt follow on . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 22:8-11 is organized roughly as a chiasm: A. He uncovered ( galah ) covering of Judah, v 8a B. You “look” ( navat ) to shields, v 8b C. You see breaches in the citadel, v 9a D. Waters of the lower pool, v 9b E. Houses broken to fill breaches, v 10 D’. Ditch to collect . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah says that Judah’s “covering” will be removed (22:8). Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, the word “covering” is used almost exclusively for the tabernacle coverings (22 of the 25 uses of the word occur in Exodus and Numbers). The covering that will be removed in . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah describes the leaders of Judah “bound” by enemy archers (22:3). They don’t fall by the sword (v. 2) because they are in disarray, thorough retreat, and so they are vulnerable to weapons that kill from a distance. Isaiah (or Yahweh) mourns for the fallen chiefs, those struck . . . . Continue Reading »
The word “weeping” occurs eight times in Isaiah’s prophecy. Four times the weeping is for Moab (15:2, 3, 5; 16:9). Weeping fills Moab to the four corners. Twice it is weeping for Jerusalem in the “valley of vision” prophecy (Isaiah 22:4, 12), where the speaker weeps . . . . Continue Reading »
Schleiermacher saw language as self-expression. Not unnaturally, on that theory, interpretation of language retraces the path of language back to the source, to the author’s intention. But Schleiermacher’s view of language is of a piece with his liberal experiential-expressivist . . . . Continue Reading »
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