Peter J. Leithart

As mentioned in previous posts, Isaiah’s list of ornaments and jewelry in 3:16-24 is reminiscent of the priestly garb. But it’s all being stripped off. The daughters of Zion are being de-ordained, de-consecrated. Except: Isaiah says that those who survive the stripping of the . . . . Continue Reading »

The folks at First Things have posted an article of mine on their web site: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2010/12/fire-of-love . . . . Continue Reading »

Poets have always known that love is a fire. It burns, it melts, it consumes, it heats; it can smolder and burn low, only to burst out again with new energy. Lovers give themselves to the flames, risk and hazard all they have… . Continue Reading »

When Yahweh creates a cloud by day and smoke, and the shining of fire flaming by night (Isaiah 4:5), He reestablishes His kabod , glory. According to the NASB, the glory is a defense, but the word translated as defense is used only two other times in the OT. In Psalm 19, it’s the chamber from . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah uses the loaded verb bara’ in 4:5, and, as my colleague toby Sumpter points out, this comes after a double reference to the Spirit (cf. Genesis 1:2) and before creation-related references to day, night, and possibly a firmament covering/canopy. But Isaiah’s “new . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 4:4 promises that Yahweh will wash the filth and purge the blood from the daughters of Zion and from the midst of Jerusalem. The initial part of the sentence is chiastically structured: A. When Yahweh has washed B. filth of daughters of Zion B’. and blood of Jerusalem A’. has . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah’s oracle against the “daughters of Zion” begins in 3:16 and doesn’t conclude until the end of chapter 4. The oracle as a whole has a fairly neat chiastic structure: A. Daughters of Zion and their walk, 3:16-17 B. In that day; beauty ( tiph’arah ): Yahweh . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah gives us a long list of ornaments and jewelry removed from the daughters of Zion (3:18-23). Like all biblical lists, this one is worth counting up. There are two ways of counting. When we count words (beginning with “beauty” in v 18, tiph’arah ), we get 24, double the . . . . Continue Reading »

Greeks sacrificed to share a meal with the gods, but Jane Harrison (in her classic Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Cambridge Library Collection - Classics) ) found another sort of sacrifice lurking in the dark corners of Greek religion. According to Harrison, “un-eaten sacrifices . . . . Continue Reading »

Vernant ( The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks ) writes of Greek sacrifice, “Because it is directed towards the gods and claims to include them with the group of guests in the solemnity and joy of the celebration, it evokes the memory of the ancient commensality when, seated together, . . . . Continue Reading »