Peter J. Leithart

There are three “quakes” in Matthew.  Twice the earth quakes, at the cross and at the resurrection (27:51; 28:2).  The other quake is a quaking of the sea (8:24). The quake of the sea in chapter 8 foreshadows the resurrection.  Jesus is in a boat, on the sea, sleeping; . . . . Continue Reading »

Webster ends his interesting Barthian discussion of the canon by noting that Christians should be grateful for the genealogies of modern thought that “trace the history, observe the corruptions of producers and their products, and so cast the mighty from their thrones.”  But in the . . . . Continue Reading »

John Webster ( Word and Church: Essays in Church Dogmatics ) notes the limits of current theories of hermeneutical “virtues.”  While they push in the right direction by reminding us that “fitting reading of a canonical text requires the acquisition of moral and spiritual . . . . Continue Reading »

INTRODUCTION Isaiah calls the people “hear” Yahweh’s torah (Isaiah 1:10), and the whole passage is framed by references to Yahweh’s words (vv. 10, 18, 20).  His main indictment against Judah is that they refuse to listen, and He responds by refusing to listen to them (v. . . . . Continue Reading »

“Your land is desolate,” Isaiah says to Judah, “your cities are burned with fire” (1:7).  That means they are under the curses of the covenant, such as those detailed in Leviticus 26:33, which warns about the “desolation” of the land and the wasting of . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah promises that Yahweh will replant Israel with cedar, shittah, myrtle, and “oil trees” (41:19).  It is a promise that the land will again be fertile and be turned from a desert to a grove and a garden.  But “oil tree” is rare, and is used several times in . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah says that Judah’s body politic has been beaten from head to foot (1:5-6).  There is no health in it, only a fourfold wounding - wounds, stripes, fresh/putrefying, sores; there is also a fourfold lack - the wounds are not closed, not bandaged, not softened, no oil. Two of these . . . . Continue Reading »

With a couple of slight modifications, I find Eddy Lanz’s structural analysis of Isaiah 1:1-2:2 ( http://www.lanz.li/engot/isaengstructure.pdf ) compelling: A. Vision of Isaiah re Judah and Jerusalem, 1:1 B. People rebel against and forsake Yahweh; therefore, they are beaten up, 1:2-6 C. Zion . . . . Continue Reading »

Sawyer also notes that Christian interpreters often used the gruesome description of the beaten body in Isaiah 1:6 as background and justification for describing the wounds of Christ in detail.  In traditional readings, Isaiah shows that “no part of his precious body was spared,” . . . . Continue Reading »

John Sawyer ( The Fifth Gospel: Isaiah in the History of Christianity ) summarizes the uses that Christians have made of the “ox and ass” of Isaiah 1:3: “Some commentators like Gregory of Nazianzus . . . interpret the ox as a symbol of the Jews and the ass as the gentiles loaded . . . . Continue Reading »