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Loading...I’ve been talking about the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and giving some background on one of the earliest in particular, Isaiah of Jerusalem. Here I’d like to summarize what he teaches to help provide an idea of the sorts of things Israelite prophets were saying. A you’ll see, Isaiah is deeply involved with political and military issues connected with his nation.
The following brief exposition comes from my textbook The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction.
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The message of Isaiah, in essence, is that the people of Judah (the southern kingdom) have strayed from God; this is most evident in the social injustice that pervades society, but it is the leaders of the people who are principally at fault. These problems cannot be fixed simply by attending to proper religious rituals. The nation will be punished by God at the hands of the Assyrians.
Right off the bat Isaiah laments how the people of Israel (meaning, in this case, Judah) have fallen away from God. God had raised them as his own children, but they have rebelled. This is for Isaiah (and God) an astonishing thing:
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the LORD, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged. (1:3–4)
The sins of the people are largely social and political in nature. They have
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What is it about chapters 13-23 that indicates another writer was involved? Was the writer 2 Isaiah, 3 Isaiah, or yet another Isaiah?
It’s mainly that his concerns are no longer about the fate of Israel but with other nations; it may well be they go back to Isaiah himself — it’s a debated matter.
I thought the child Isaiah fathers in chapter 8 is the child he speaks of in chapter 7, especially because of 7:16 and 8:4. No?
I used to think that too, but it looks like the woman in ch. 7 is already pregnant and the one in ch. 8 is Isaiah’s wife who gets pregnant later.
This is so good!!!
I would pay double for my membership to be able to simply click and forward to my sister who loves the Bible but knows none of what is offered here, my son and a friend or two. If only I were computer savvy enough to put it into a pdf. and attach it to an email, I could do that now but it’s beyond me. Also, my thought is that it might result in new subscribers.
Great series! Apologies in advance for a random question that has nothing to do with your current series….:-)
Speaking of prophecy, everybody talks about how Jesus’ coming didn’t happen at 70 AD, but I’m amazed he made such a bold prediction about the temple destruction and it actually happened!
When Jesus allegedly predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, what in the world make him think that?? Was the geo-political environment very unstable and tense? Was that probably a common rumor of the time? I mean, that was a fantastic guess and prediction.
I know that there is no way to know for sure, but I was just curious if you had any guess, opinion or historical insight regarding the matter.
As it turns out there were other people making similar kinds of predictions; Josephus mentions several prophets saying comparable things. Usually they end up being killed by the Romans…. It might be kinda like someone saying today that there’s going to be a civil war in this country. Who knows, in some decades, it may well happen.
But isn’t it true that the gospels were written long after the temple had been destroyed, so there was nothing prophetic about it? It was just a recitation of history.
The Gospels are often incorporating older material, some of it going back to Jesus himself. One of the tasks is figuring out which sayings were originaly his; I personally think he probably did predict that the temple would be destroyed.
I found this post very informative. I apologize that my comment has nothing to do with the specific content of this post, but I just listened to your Unbelievable podcast discussion with Swinburne and in it learned that your wife is still a devout Christian. I had not heard that before and found it fascinating. I would love to see some content related to how you and your wife deal with having such different worldviews, and specifically how your wife responds to your views of the Bible (not innerant) and your views of suffering and the problem you believe it poses for those that share her worldview. I understand that is a personal issue and not related to the generally more scholarly content you post here, but it would be very interesting none the less!
Yes, she’s a Christian and is very intersted in theology. But it’s an incredibly liberal form of Christianity and the theology is very deeply philosophical. She has no time for empty piety. WE get along *great*! (She’s never thought of the Bible as inerrnat.)
This is interesting! I showed this comment to my wife who is struggling at the moment because she’s a Christian and I no longer am.
Does your wife believe Jesus rose from the dead? Asking this, because I’m wondering if there is a branch of within liberal Christianity that does not believe Jesus rose from the dead and is God in the flesh.
I don’t think she thinks he *literally* did in a physical way. I know lots of Christians who don’t think that it’s a literal event. Our problem is that we are so surrounded by evangelical thinking that it’s hard to believe that it’s possible to have anything but a literalistic interpretation of Christian Scripture and theology and still be a Christian. John Spong’s books deal with that — that might be a place for you both to go. (He was an active Episcopal bishop for many years, and was still active till his death last year).
Bart, do your wife and (by now) adult children go to church every Sunday ?
My kids are atheists and have been for a long time; I prefer not to talk about my wife’s personal religion (I’ve prbably already said to much)
Bart, I’m a layman loving books you’ve recommended by William Dever and Michael Coogan, as well as a Great Courses course by Jodi Magness of UNC. How highly, if at all, do you recommend Biblical Archaeology Review?
It’s terrific. Written for lay folk by experts. I’ve done seminars and lectures for the Biblical ARchaeological Society (which runs the journal) for 25 years.
Thank you!
An off topic question please Dr Ehrman: I’ve read a couple of times recently in religious magazine articles (written by people I assume know their stuff) that it was the ordinary people (laity), not the Bishops, who defeated the Arian heresy. But that’s not my understanding. I thought that the bishops overwhelmingly voted against it at Nicaea but it kept going because of (some) grass roots support. Am I wrong?
I’m not sure what that would mean.
And of course it was not “defeated” at all at Nicea; it emerged after the death of Constantine as the dominant view, since Constantius, his ultimate successor, was an Arian. It was at the end of the fourth century that it finalyl faced its demise.
“a young woman [not a “virgin”] has conceived and will bear a child, and you will call his name Immanuel”
1. What is the point of the author mentioning a young woman having a baby? What does this birth have to do with the situation?
2. Who is the baby?
1. He’s saying “Look, this woman is about ready to give birth. Before the kid is two years old, your problems will be solved.” It’s just a way of saying that you have to be patient. 2. We don’t know.
1. Was it just some random woman that happened to be pregnant and in his line of sight when he was writing? lol
Some scholars think that it was someone in the room, or possibly one of the king’s concubines.
Isn’t it possible, maybe even probable, that the young woman was the prophets’ own wife, who became pregnant in the next chapter and delivered a son? (Isaiah 8:3)
I used ot think that, but the problem is that she is already pregnant in ch 7 but is said later to become preegnant in ch. 8; so they appear to be different women.
For the literalists, I’m curious to know how Mary could be a virgin, given that Jesus supposedly had siblings ? The amount of supernatural gymnastics required to explain that one would put an already far fetched notion into the realm of absolute ridiculousness IMO.
The traditional Protestant idea is that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus but then she and Joseph had children.
The traditional Protestant idea is that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus but then she and Joseph had children.
Thank you Bart. Religions can justify or legitimate anything when they resort to that level of thinking.
Religions have the potential to offer so much more than what they currently offer. They are far removed from being the best versions of themselves. My hit prediction is that unless Christianity changes and tries to embrace modernity and the 21st century, it will come full circle and go back to being a minor sect, as it was in the beginning. People are losing interest, and rightly so iMO.
what is the evidence that chapters 13 through 23 were probably added by someone other than Isaiah?
It’s because the concerns seem different in some ways, no longer Isaiah’s fixation on Assyria and Israel but on Babylon and other nations. But it’s debated.
I can see that the figurative language would make it relatively easy, if one had an agenda, to interpret passages to support that agenda. You’d have to do a certain amount of fudging, but…
I was interested in reading this, but it looks like the article was truncated.
“The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the LORD, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged. (1:3–4)
The sins of the people are largely social and political in nature. They have ”
[It ends right there]
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It’s fascinating reading Isaiah and understanding the different interpretations of Scripture (Jewish and Christian)!
I can never make sense of the fact that when God punishes Israel (famine, war or whatever) for neglecting social responsibilities, the victims of that neglect suffer too!
It’s another huge problem. Why do the innocent suffer if God is punishing the guilty?
It’s confounding to me that an *omnipotent* all powerful God can’t persuade people to change their ways. God speaks of mercy, forgiveness and threatens judgement, but instead he sends Isaiah down to basically cast a spell so that they “hear but cannot understand, see but not perceive”. Jesus in Mark 4:9-12 and John in 12:39 -40 state (probably quote) the same verse. What’s the purpose of sending a prophet or savior to “dull the mind, stop the ears and shut the eyes” and then condemn people for not changing their ways, especially when “its by grace alone that we are saved”?
Yeah, good question. I guess the purpose is to make it so they can’t say they weren’t warned. Even though they weren’t allowed to hear the warning! Go figure….
Hello Professor Ehrman, I hope you are having an amazing day my friend. My question is on the city of Ur of Abraham. Where exactly is this city and does scholarship/archaeologists have a consensus on this, I have read Iraq, Turkey and a lot of other places. Could you provide me a good source so I can read and learn more on this? Thank you so much!
It was a major metropolitan city in Sumer, modern Iraq. It was discovered in 1625 and escavated starting in 1849. Its modern name is Tell Muqqayyar (it’s just a ruin)
Very much late to the party, but I’ve heard the claim (from secular types) that Isaiah 9:6 (For unto us a child is born etc) is some form of hymn for new Kings rather than a messianic passage. Is there any truth to this?
Yes, that’s how Isaiah scholars understand it, maybe in reference, say, to Hezekiah.