Like many commentators, Leclerc points out the puns in Isaiah 5:7: Yahweh expected mishpat but found mispach ; tsadaqa but found tse’aqa . But he notes that most commentators miss the connection of this wordplay with the larger context. The problem with the vineyard, after all, is not . . . . Continue Reading »
In his Yahweh Is Exalted in Justice , Thomas Leclerc points out the links between the opening condemnation of corrupt Jerusalem in Isaiah 1 and the vision of a restored Zion in 2:1-4. Both use the combination “word of Yahweh and torah” (1:10; order inverted in 2:3), and these are the . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 14:11 describes the king of Egypt descending to Sheol to speel on a bed of maggots and cover himself with worms. I’ve commented in a previous post on the connection of worms with ancient dyeing techniques, but there’s another aspect to this. Robes are a “Day 5” . . . . Continue Reading »
David Dorsey offers these neat contrasts between the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14 and Yahweh’s Suffering Davidic servant in the latter part of Isaiah: The king of Babylon smites ( nakah ), 14:6; the Servant is smitten ( nakah ), 53:4-5, 10. The king of Babylon slays and oppresses ( nagash ), . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah’s references to the Sabbath occur at the beginning (1:13) and end (56:2, 4, 6; 58:13; 66:23) of his prophecy. The book is framed by an initial condemnation of the Sabbath and a promise that all men will bow to Yahweh from Sabbath to Sabbath. Along the way, the word is used eight times. . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 19:14: The Lord has mixed her a spirit of distortion; they have led Egypt astray in all that it does, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. When Yahweh comes to Egypt, Isaiah says, He is going to throw Egypt’s advisors, wise men, sages, and prognosticators into confusion. The princes . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah prophesies that Egypt will have oppressors, but that the Lord will remove them (19:20). An altar in the center of Egypt, and a pillar of Yahweh at the boundary (v. 19) will mark Egypt as Yahweh’s land, and when they cry out the Lord will save. It is entirely an exodus story: Egyptians . . . . Continue Reading »
In judging Egypt, Yahweh threatens to mix together a drink that will make Egypt stagger, wander, and finally fall. He will mix the drink in the “innards” of Egypt, and Egypt will vomit (Isaiah 19:14). It is a judgment, but the ultimate aim is to clean the inner parts. Vomit is . . . . Continue Reading »
Yahweh’s coming to Egypt leaves that well-watered land desolated. The sea, the rivers, the Nile itself are dried up, and all the vegetation that grows by the waters withers and is blown away like chaff. No fish can live in the waters, and the fishermen hang up their nets and lament (Isaiah . . . . Continue Reading »
When the book of Exodus opens, the Hebrews are subjected to “hard” bondage (1:14; 6:9). Yahweh sees it, and graciously delivers them from the bondage, but hardness returns. Four times in Exodus, Yahweh charges that Israel, though delivered from the hard bondage of hard-hearted Pharaoh, . . . . Continue Reading »
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