Peter J. Leithart

What do we pray when we pray that God’s name would be hallowed? As Luther pointed out, God’s name is indeed hallowed, but we pray that He would be hallowed among us. How does that happen? Isaiah 5:16 gives us a clue. Yahweh of hosts is the holy ( qadosh ) God who is hallowed ( qadash ) . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 5:12 contains the highest concentration of terms for musical instruments in the Old Testament outside a liturgical setting. Even Daniel 3 is liturgical: When the seven instruments sound, everyone is supposed to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image. Elsewhere, lists of musical instruments are . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah warns the greedy and heavy drinkers that they are going to go into “exile” because of their ignorance (5:13). The land will be uncovered; its nakedness will be exposed (the verb galah means both “go into exile” and “uncover”). When they leave, . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah’s woe against the greedy uses liturgically charged terminology. “Woe to those who touch house to house” uses the verb naga’ , which is used some 28 times in Leviticus, far more than anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. “[Woe to those] who join field to . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah pronounces a woe against those who “add house to house and join field to field” (5:8). He imagines someone building house after house, walls or roof lines touching each other (the verb “add” actually means “touch”). He imagines someone buying the property . . . . Continue Reading »

The vineyard of Yahweh is the house of Israel, the men of Judah His plant. But when He finds only worthless grapes in the vineyard, he calls on the “inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judge” to judge between Himself and His vineyard (Isaiah 5:3). They will have to blame themselves. . . . . Continue Reading »

Most translations say that the Beloved planted his vineyard on a “fertil hill,” but Isaiah wrote that He planted it on “a horn, a son of oil” (Heb. beqeren ben-shamen ). Phrase might refer to a fertile hill, but that’s not what the words mean. The passage closest to . . . . Continue Reading »

In his essay in Paul’s New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology , Milbank suggests that we translate dikaiosune pisteos as “just solidarity through trust,” which Paul contrasts with all attempts to established solidarity through law or other means. . . . . Continue Reading »

According to Paul, the Son and Spirit come at the fullness of time, when the son (Israel) has reached majority. Has Israel reached majority? It might seem not. But, following up on the previous post, we can view the exile and restoration as the climax of Israel’s maturation. Israel failed in . . . . Continue Reading »

The return from Babylonian exile is, Isaiah says, an exodus that so far surpasses the earlier exodus that Israel will forget Egypt and Moses and all that. When it actually happens, everyone can see its sheen is far less brilliant than the first exodus. The new temple is a disappointing, pitiful . . . . Continue Reading »