Review in: Interpretation 2012 66: 203
Review door: Andreas
SchueleGevonden op: http://int.sagepub.com/content/66/2/203.full.pdf+html
Isaiah 1–39
by Patricia K. Tull Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary. Smyth & Helwys, Macon, GA, 2010. 605 pp. $65.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-57312-071-5.
ESPECIALLY OVER the last couple of decades,
research in Isaiah has seen several new and innovative approaches to one of the
longest and most complex literary corpora of the Hebrew Bible. While traditional
scholarship concentrated on discovering the voice of the 8th-century prophet
behind later additions, recent contributions to Isaiah have shifted the
emphasis to other aspects of the book. Two in particular need to be mentioned.
First, there is an increasing awareness that the scribal activity that shaped
the book and that continued over several centuries is as literarily intriguing
and as theologically significant as the words of Isaiah ben Amoz. In this
perspective, the question of authorship and “originality” does not suggest
itself as the only, or even primary, key that unlocks the deeper levels of
meaning in Isaiah. Second, most if not all recent work on the book of Isaiah
explores its intertextual profile. The assumption is that this book in its
final form alludes and responds to other literary corpora of the HB, especially
other prophetic texts and parts of the Torah. Put in less technical terms, the
continuing work on Isaiah took place in a library that held copies of scrolls
such as Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Genesis, and Exodus. As a result,
Isaiah presents itself as a hub of the Scriptures to which it refers.
One of the main accomplishments of Patricia
Tull’s commentary is that it pays attention to these recent shifts and
innovations in Isaianic studies and so offers a comprehensive and up-to-date
introduction to Isaiah 1–39 for a broader audience. Written for the Smyth
& Helwys Series, this commentary is not only devoted to the reconstruction
of the texts’ own history but also to their reception in the NT and the
literature and art of (Western) Christianity. Tull provides a wealth of
information and resources that everyone who wishes to engage Isaiah at any
deeper level will greatly appreciate. It will not take the reader long to pick
up on the freshness and vibrancy of Tull’s scholarly work. The introduction
does not do it much justice. Here, Tull presents Isaiah in a more old-style
fashion as a book that emerged from the oracles of the historical prophet, to
which later generations of scribes added their share. Fortunately, the main
body of the commentary offers considerably more than a simply linear
reconstruction of the book’s different layers.
A commentary on a massive amount of text such as
Isaiah 1–39 with a vast and variegated array of genres and themes requires a
number of decisions about what to highlight and unfold in greater detail and
what to mention in passing. Clearly, the discussion of the first 12 chapters of
Isaiah, covering roughly half of the commentary, is also its heuristic
centerpiece. Here, the commentary truly shines in terms of the density of
exegetical observations, overviews of historical events and timelines, as well
as references to pieces of art and literature, making for a thick description
of the texture of Isaiah that readers will find both informative and inspiring.
Tull meticulously observes the characteristic flow of the texts from judgment
prophecy to visions of salvation, from expressions of despair to images of
hope, culminating in the praise song of ch. 12, which concludes the first of
the three major compositions of Isaiah 1–39. As in a previous monograph, Tull
highlights the symbolic use of vegetation and water imagery. While it may not
be surprising to find this in texts that emerged from an arid climate and a
largely agrarian society, Isaiah’s way of employing this imagery lends poetic
depth to everyday experience; the depiction of conquered and ravaged Jerusalem
as a “hut in a cucumber field,” the parable of the vinedresser and the
vineyard, the “stump of Jesse” as a symbol of messianic hope, as well as the
picture of Mount Zion’s paradisiacal exuberance and lushness—all these serve as
symbolic media to convey the prophetic message in the midst of harsh political
realities. Again, the introduction would have been a good place to prepare the
reader for the poetic and image-creating dimensions of prophetic language. As
Tull rightly observes in an excursus on prophecy in the ancient Near East, the
prophetic books of the Bible are more than collections of prophetic oracles with
additional narrative elements as glue. Rather, prophecy in the format of books
offers a way of transforming historical and political experience into a
symbolic universe, thus changing its frame of reference and allowing for the
perception of purpose and divine intentions.
For every commentator of “First Isaiah,” the
middle part of the book, comprising the oracles against the nations (chs.
13–23) and the so-called “Isaiah Apocalypse” (chs. 24–27), is somewhat of a
no-win territory. Apart from the numerous linguistic problems, chronology is a
major issue here. Like many other Isaiah scholars, Tull assumes that
significant portions of Isaiah 13–27 belong in the Babylonian and Persian
periods, which makes them roughly contemporaneous with Second and Third Isaiah.
However, if this assumption is essentially correct, then one would have to
interpret these chapters as part of an inner-Isaianic conversation (or even
controversy) about the role of nations, including Israel, in global history. In
many ways, Isaiah 13–27 witnesses to a darker and harsher view of the history
of nations than Isaiah 40–66, with the possible exception of Isaiah 66. For the
most part, Tull chooses not to engage these questions in any greater detail.
What she offers is, again, a wealth of interpretation and information regarding
the historical facts, names, and places associated with the texts, as well as
exemplary examinations of the intertextual web that connects Isaiah 13–27 with
other parts of the HB. Given that these particular chapters have received the
lion’s share of attention in recent debates about First Isaiah, one would have
hoped for Tull to position herself more clearly in this conversation.
Nonetheless, especially for those readers who seek basic orientation in the
thicket of some of the most difficult texts of Isaiah, this commentary is a
very reliable guide.
Another characteristic of this commentary that
deserves particular mention is the “connections” that Tull offers at the end of
each section. It is fair to say that she puts just as much effort into giving
Isaiah a place in today’s world as into the reconstruction of the world around
the book’s original audience. There is a lot of food for thought here that will
be especially useful for ministers and congregational leaders. The same is true
for Tull’s attention to the Jewish reception history of Isaiah, which she
presents with measurable sympathy but also with the necessary awareness of difference.
On a more critical note, some of the connections appear to be free associations
that do not always follow cogently from the textual work. For example,
concluding her discussion of Isa 11:6– 9, Tull points to the reckless practices
of modern animal farming. While probably very few people would disagree with
her critique, Isaiah’s vision of peace in the animal kingdom is not primarily a
matter of distorted ethical behavior. Rather, Isaiah challenges one of the key
characteristics of the natural order, namely predation. There is a sentiment
that creation is either still unfinished or fundamentally flawed—neither of
which is a standard assumption of Western Christian theology. The fact that
life sustains itself by feeding on other life is a deeply troubling reality
that seems to concern contemporary theology a lot less than it should, which
is one of the reasons why Isaiah’s vision of re-creation and peace deserves
more attention than it typically receives.
Patricia Tull’s remarkable volume on Isaiah is
an innovative introduction to this prophet just as much as it is a
“traditional” commentary. For this reason, one would hope to find it on the
book-shelves of ministers as well as in the syllabi of college and seminary
classes.
ANDREAS SCHUELE
UNION PRESBYTERIAN
SEMINARY
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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