In an earlier post, I noted the connection between Isaiah 1:29 and Genesis 3: As Adam became ashamed by eating the fruit and being defeated by the serpent, so Judah will become shamed by the oak trees where she worships idols, where she spreads her legs to every passing john. There’s . . . . Continue Reading »
“I will turn My hand against you,” Yahweh says (Isaiah 1:25). Then, “I will turn your judges as at the first” (Isaiah 1:26). Despite the difference in English translation, the Hebrew verb is the same in both verses ( shub ). Then, Zion’s “turned ones” . . . . Continue Reading »
As a consuming fire, Yahweh “eats” the bread of His sacrifices As a consuming fire, He also purges and smelts His people, burning away the dross so that the gold can become more pure and glorious. These two processes are one. In consuming His food on the altar, Yahweh is . . . . Continue Reading »
Jerusalem, Isaiah charges, is full of “murderers.” That is to say, it is like a city of refuge - the same word is used some 20 times in Number 35 to describe both the “manslayer” who finds refuge, and the murderer who is put to death. Isaiah uses the image of a city of . . . . Continue Reading »
Maybe better: What did he say? Mary Beard’s review of Simon Hornblower’s final volume of commentary on Thucydides, and Robert Kagan’s recent book on the same, complicates matters. Thucydides wrote in sometimes incomprehensible Greek, and some of the most memorable and . . . . Continue Reading »
Stephen Greenblatt has an interesting piece on Merchant of Venice in the latest New York Review of Books . His most important insight is the isolation of the comic moment in the play. Merchant is all about Shylock’s hatred, and in the court scene “Portia . . . has devised a test . . . . Continue Reading »
Alan Jacobs gave a brilliant lecture at NSA yesterday afternoon - beautifully written and constructed, enormously informative, exploding with insight. Everything you’d expect from Jacobs. The thrust of the lecture was an exploration of the reading habits that are encouraged by the . . . . Continue Reading »
Latvus, in the aforementioned article, interestingly notes the parallel between Gedaliah’s instructions to the people to submit to and not fear Babylon, so that “it shall be well with you” and the Deuteronomic exhortation to obey Yahweh so that it will be well (Deuteronomy 4:40; . . . . Continue Reading »
In an article on 2 Kings 24-25 in The Postcolonial Biblical Reader , Kari Latvus notes tyhe two lists of deportees in 2 Kings 24:12a-14/15-17: “The writer’s interest is focused on those who are somehow connected to the royal court or have wealth or status in society based on certain . . . . Continue Reading »
Judah and the harlot city of Jerusalem have gone after idols, worshiping in terebinth groves and gardens. Yahweh intends to put an end to that worship (Isaiah 1:28-31). When He comes, He will make Judah ashamed of her trees and gardens. Instead of pleasant fruit, Judah will reap . . . . Continue Reading »
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